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diff --git a/44619-0.txt b/44619-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..89cae61 --- /dev/null +++ b/44619-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11065 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44619 *** + + THE EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE. Edited by Rev. W. R. NICOLL, D.D., Editor of + _London Expositor_. + + + 1ST SERIES IN 6 VOLS. + + =MACLAREN, Rev. Alex.=--COLOSSIANS--PHILEMON. + =DODS, Rev. Marcus.=--GENESIS. + =CHADWICK, Rev. Dean.=--ST. MARK. + =BLAIKIE, Rev. W. G.=--SAMUEL, 2 VOLS. + =EDWARDS, Rev. T. C.=--HEBREWS. + + + 2D SERIES IN 6 VOLS. + + =SMITH, Rev. G. A.=--ISAIAH, VOL. I. + =ALEXANDER, Bishop.=--EPISTLES OF ST. JOHN. + =PLUMMER, Rev. A.=--PASTORAL EPISTLES. + =FINDLAY, Rev. G. G.=--GALATIANS. + =MILLIGAN, Rev. W.=--REVELATION. + =DODS, Rev. Marcus.=--1ST CORINTHIANS. + + + 3D SERIES IN 6 VOLS. + + =SMITH, Rev. G. A.=--ISAIAH, VOL. II. + =GIBSON, Rev. J. M.=--ST. MATTHEW. + =WATSON, Rev. R. A.=--JUDGES--RUTH. + =BALL, Rev. C. J.=--JEREMIAH. CHAP. I-XX. + =CHADWICK, Rev. Dean.=--EXODUS. + =BURTON, Rev. H.=--ST. LUKE. + + + 4TH SERIES IN 6 VOLS. + + =KELLOGG, Rev. S. H.=--LEVITICUS. + =STOKES, Rev. G. T.=--ACTS, VOL. I. + =HORTON, Rev. R. F.=--PROVERBS. + =DODS, Rev. Marcus.=--GOSPEL ST. JOHN, VOL. I. + =PLUMMER, Rev. A.=--JAMES--JUDE. + =COX, Rev. S.=--ECCLESIASTES. + + + 5TH SERIES IN 6 VOLS. + + =DENNEY, Rev. J.=--THESSALONIANS. + =WATSON, Rev. R. A.=--JOB. + =MACLAREN, Rev. A.=--PSALMS, VOL. I. + =STOKES, Rev. G. T.=--ACTS, VOL. II. + =DODS, Rev. Marcus.=--GOSPEL ST. JOHN, VOL. II. + =FINDLAY, Rev. C. G.=--EPHESIANS. + + + 6TH SERIES IN 6 VOLS. + + =RAINY, Rev. R.=--PHILIPPIANS. + =FARRAR, Archdeacon F. W.=--1ST KINGS. + =BLAIKIE, Rev. W. G.=--JOSHUA. + =MACLAREN, Rev. A.=--PSALMS, VOL. II. + =LUMBY, Rev. J. R.=--EPISTLES OF ST. PETER. + =ADENEY, Rev. W. F.=--EZRA--NEHEMIAH--ESTHER. + + + 7TH SERIES IN 6 VOLS. + + =MOULE, Rev. H. C. G.=--ROMANS. + =FARRAR, Archdeacon F. W.=--2D KINGS. + =BENNETT, Rev. W. H.=--1ST AND 2D CHRONICLES. + =MACLAREN, Rev. A.=--PSALMS, VOL. III. + =DENNEY, Rev. James.=--2D CORINTHIANS. + =WATSON, Rev. R. A.=--NUMBERS. + + + 8TH AND FINAL SERIES IN 7 VOLS. + + =FARRAR, Archdeacon F. W.=--DANIEL. + =SKINNER, Rev. John.=--EZEKIEL. + =BENNETT, Rev. W. H.=--JEREMIAH. + =HARPER, Rev. Prof.=--DEUTERONOMY. + =ADENEY, Rev. W. F.=--SOLOMON AND LAMENTATIONS. + =SMITH, Rev. G. A.=--THE MINOR PROPHETS, 2 VOLS. + +☞ About 400 pages in each Volume. Prices for either series, six +volumes, $6.00. (Orders for 2 or more series same rate will be sent +by Express, prepaid.) (Separate vols. $1.50, postpaid.) Descriptive +circular sent on application. + + + + + THE SECOND BOOK + OF + SAMUEL. + + + + + + BY THE REV. PROFESSOR + W. G. BLAIKIE, D.D., LL.D., + NEW COLLEGE, EDINBURGH. + + + + + + NEW YORK: + A. C. ARMSTRONG AND SON, + 51 EAST 10TH STREET, NEAR BROADWAY, + 1898. + + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + CHAPTER I. + + PAGE + + DAVID'S LAMENT FOR SAUL AND JONATHAN 1 + + CHAPTER II. + + BEGINNING OF DAVID'S REIGN AT HEBRON 14 + + CHAPTER III. + + BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR 26 + + CHAPTER IV. + + CONCLUSION OF CIVIL WAR 38 + + CHAPTER V. + + ASSASSINATION OF ABNER AND ISHBOSHETH 50 + + CHAPTER VI. + + DAVID KING OF ALL ISRAEL 62 + + CHAPTER VII. + + THE KINGDOM ESTABLISHED 73 + + CHAPTER VIII. + + THE ARK BROUGHT UP TO JERUSALEM 85 + + CHAPTER IX. + + PROPOSAL TO BUILD A TEMPLE 97 + + CHAPTER X. + + FOREIGN WARS 109 + + CHAPTER XI. + + ADMINISTRATION OF THE KINGDOM 121 + + CHAPTER XII. + + DAVID AND MEPHIBOSHETH 134 + + CHAPTER XIII. + + DAVID AND HANUN 146 + + CHAPTER XIV. + + DAVID AND URIAH 158 + + CHAPTER XV. + + DAVID AND NATHAN 169 + + CHAPTER XVI. + + PENITENCE AND CHASTISEMENT 181 + + CHAPTER XVII. + + ABSALOM AND AMNON 193 + + CHAPTER XVIII. + + ABSALOM BANISHED AND BROUGHT BACK 205 + + CHAPTER XIX. + + ABSALOM'S REVOLT 217 + + CHAPTER XX. + + DAVID'S FLIGHT FROM JERUSALEM 229 + + CHAPTER XXI. + + FROM JERUSALEM TO MAHANAIM 241 + + CHAPTER XXII. + + ABSALOM IN COUNCIL 253 + + CHAPTER XXIII. + + ABSALOM'S DEFEAT AND DEATH 265 + + CHAPTER XXIV. + + DAVID'S GRIEF FOR ABSALOM 277 + + CHAPTER XXV. + + THE RESTORATION 289 + + CHAPTER XXVI. + + DAVID AND BARZILLAI 301 + + CHAPTER XXVII. + + THE INSURRECTION OF SHEBA 314 + + CHAPTER XXVIII. + + THE FAMINE 326 + + CHAPTER XXIX. + + LAST BATTLES AND THE MIGHTY MEN 338 + + CHAPTER XXX. + + THE SONG OF THANKSGIVING 350 + + CHAPTER XXXI. + + THE LAST WORDS OF DAVID 363 + + CHAPTER XXXII. + + THE NUMBERING OF ISRAEL 376 + + CHAPTER XXXIII. + + THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL 388 + + + + + CHAPTER I. + + _DAVID'S LAMENT FOR SAUL AND JONATHAN._ + + 2 SAMUEL i. + + +David had returned to Ziklag from the slaughter of the Amalekites +only two days before he heard of the death of Saul. He had returned +weary enough, we may believe, in body, though refreshed in spirit by +the recovery of all that had been taken away, and by the possession +of a vast store of booty besides. But in the midst of his success, +it was discouraging to see nothing but ruin and confusion where the +homes of himself and his people had recently been; and it must have +needed no small effort even to plan, and much more to execute, the +reconstruction of the city. But besides this, a still heavier feeling +must have oppressed him. What had been the issue of that great battle +at Mount Gilboa? Which army had conquered? If the Israelites were +defeated, what would be the fate of Saul and Jonathan? Would they be +prisoners now in the hands of the Philistines? And if so, what would +be his duty in regard to them? And what course would it be best for +him to take for the welfare of his ruined and distracted country? + +He was not kept long in suspense. An Amalekite from the camp of +Israel, accustomed, like the Bedouin generally, to long and rapid +runs, arrived at Ziklag, bearing on his body all the tokens of a +disaster, and did obeisance to David, as now the legitimate occupant +of the throne. David must have surmised at a glance how matters +stood. His questions to the Amalekite elicited an account of the +death of Saul materially different from that given in a former part +of the history, "As I happened by chance upon Mount Gilboa, behold +Saul 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. 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: 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, and the +bracelet that was upon his arm, and have brought them hither to my +lord." There is no reason to suppose that this narrative of Saul's +death, in so far as it differs from the previous one, is correct. +That this Amalekite was somehow near the place where Saul Fell, and +that he witnessed all that took place at his death, there is no cause +to doubt. That when he saw that both Saul and his armour-bearer +were dead he removed the crown and the bracelet from the person of +the fallen king, and stowed them away among his own accoutrements, +may likewise be accepted without any difficulty. Then, managing to +escape, and considering what he would do with the ensigns of royalty, +he decided to carry them to David. To David he accordingly brought +them, and no doubt it was to ingratiate himself the more with him, +and to establish the stronger claim to a splendid recompense, that +he invented the story of Saul asking him to kill him, and of his +complying with the king's order, and thus putting an end to a life +which already was obviously doomed. + +In his belief that his pretended despatching of the king would +gratify David, the Amalekite undoubtedly reckoned without his host; +but such things were so common, so universal in the East, that we +can hardly divest ourselves of a certain amount of compassion for +him. Probably there was no other kingdom, round and round, where +this Amalekite would not have found that he had done a wise thing in +so far as his own interests were concerned. For helping to despatch +a rival, and to open the way to a throne, he would probably have +received cordial thanks and ample gifts from one and all of the +neighbouring potentates. To David, the matter appeared in a quite +different light. He had none of that eagerness to occupy the throne +on which the Amalekite reckoned as a universal instinct of human +nature. And he had a view of the sanctity of Saul's life which the +Amalekite could not understand. His being the Lord's anointed ought +to have withheld this man from hurting a hair of his head. Sadly +though Saul had fallen back, the divinity that doth hedge a king +still encompassed him. "Touch not mine anointed" was still God's +word concerning him. This miserable Amalekite, a member of a doomed +race, appeared to David by his own confession not only a murderer, +but a murderer of the deepest dye. He had destroyed the life of +one who in an eminent sense was "the Lord's anointed." He had done +what once and again David had himself shrunk from doing. It is no +wonder that David was at once horrified and provoked,--horrified at +the unblushing criminality of the man; provoked at his effrontery, +at his doing without the slightest compunction what, at an immense +sacrifice, he had twice restrained himself from doing. No doubt he +was irritated, too, at the bare supposition on which the Amalekite +reckoned so securely, that such a black deed could be gratifying to +David himself. So without a moment's hesitation, and without allowing +the astonished youth a moment's preparation, he caused an attendant +to fall upon him and kill him. His sentence was short and clear, "Thy +blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee +saying, I have slain the Lord's anointed." + +In this incident we find David in a position in which good men are +often placed, who profess to have regard to higher principles than +the men of the world in regulating their lives, and especially +in the estimate which they form of their worldly interests and +considerations. That such men are sincere in the estimate they thus +profess to follow is what the world is very slow to believe. Faith in +any moral virtue that rises higher than the ordinary worldly level is +extremely rare among men. The world fancies that every man has his +price--sometimes that every woman has her price. Virtue of the heroic +quality that will face death itself rather than do wrong is what it +is most unwilling to believe in. Was it not this that gave rise to +the memorable trial of Job? Did not the great enemy, representing +here the spirit of the world, scorn the notion that at bottom Job +was in any way better than his neighbours, although the wonderful +prosperity with which he had been gifted made him appear more ready +to pay honour to God? It is all a matter of selfishness, was Satan's +plea; take away his prosperity, and lay a painful malady on his body, +his religion will vanish, he will curse Thee to Thy face. He would +not give Job credit for anything like disinterested virtue--anything +like genuine reverence for God. And was it not on the same principle +the tempter acted when he brought his threefold temptation to our +Lord in the wilderness? He did not believe in the superhuman virtue +of Jesus; he did not believe in His unswerving loyalty to truth and +duty. He did not believe that He was proof at once against the lust +of the flesh, and the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. At +least he did not believe till he tried, and had to retreat defeated. +When the end of His life drew near Jesus could say, "The prince of +this world cometh, but hath nothing in Me." There was no weakness in +Jesus to which he could fasten his cord--no trace of that worldliness +by which he had so often been able to entangle and secure his victims. + +So likewise Simon the sorcerer fancied that he only needed to offer +money to the Apostles to secure from them the gift of the Holy Ghost. +"Thy money perish with thee!" was the indignant rebuke of Peter. It is +the same refusal to believe in the reality of high principle that has +made so many a persecutor fancy that he could bend the obstinacy of the +heretic by the terrors of suffering and torture. And on the other hand, +no nobler sight has ever been presented than when this incredulous +scorn of the world has been rebuked by the firmness and triumphant +faith of the noble martyr. What could Nebuchadnezzar have thought when +the three Hebrew children were willing to enter the fiery furnace? What +did Darius think of Daniel when he shrank not from the lions' den? How +many a rebuke and surprise was furnished to the rulers of this world +in the early persecutions of the Christians, and to the champions of +the Church of Rome in the splendid defiance hurled against them by the +Protestant martyrs! The men who formed the Free Church of Scotland were +utterly discredited when they affirmed that rather than surrender the +liberties of their Church they would part with every temporal privilege +which they had enjoyed from connection with the State. Such is the +spirit of the world; if it will not rise to the apparent level of the +saints, it delights to pull down the saints to its own. These pretences +to superior virtue are hypocrisy and pharisaism; test their professions +by their worldly interests, and you will find them soon enough on a +level with yourselves. + +The Amalekite that thought to gratify David by pretending that he had +slain his rival had no idea that he was wronging him; in his blind +innocency he seems to have assumed as a matter of course that David +would be pleased. It is not likely the Amalekite had ever heard of +David's noble magnanimity in twice sparing Saul's life when he had an +excellent pretext for taking it, if his conscience had allowed him. +He just assumed that David would feel as he would have felt himself. +He simply judged of him by his own standard. His object was to show +how great a service he had rendered him, and thus establish a claim +to a great reward. Never did heartless selfishness more completely +overreach itself. Instead of a reward, this impious murderer had +earned a fearful punishment. An Israelite might have had a chance of +mercy, but an Amalekite had none--the man was condemned to instant +death. One can hardly fancy his bewilderment,--what a strange man was +this David! What a marvellous reverence he had for God! To place him +on a throne was no favor, if it involved doing anything against "the +Lord's anointed!" And yet who shall say that in his estimate of this +proceeding David did more than recognize the obligation of the first +commandment? To him God's will was all in all. + +Dismissing this painful episode, we now turn to contemplate David's +conduct after the intelligence reached him that Saul was dead. David +was now just thirty (2 Sam. v. 4); and never did man at that age, or +at any age, act a finer part. The death, and especially the sudden +death, of a relative or a friend has usually a remarkable effect on the +tender heart, and especially in the case of the young. It blots out all +remembrance of little injuries done by the departed; it fills one with +regret for any unkind words one may have spoken, or any unkind deeds +one may ever have done to him. It makes one very forgiving. But it must +have been a far more generous heart than the common that could so soon +rid itself of every shred of bitter feeling toward 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 favourable in Saul's character. How beautiful +does the spirit of forgiveness appear in such a light! Yet how hard do +many feel it to be to exercise this spirit in any case, far less in all +cases! How terrible a snare the unforgiving spirit is liable to be to +us, and how terrible an obstacle to peaceful communion with God! "For +if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father in +heaven forgive your trespasses." + +The feelings of David toward Saul and Jonathan were permanently +embodied in a song which he composed for the occasion. It seems to +have been called "The Song of the Bow," so that the rendering of +the Revised Version--"he taught them the Song of the Bow," gives +a much better sense than the old--"he taught them the use of the +bow." The song was first written in the book of Jasher; and it was +ordered by David to be taught to the people as a permanent memorial +of their king and his eldest son. The writing of such a song, the +spirit of admiration and eulogy which pervades it, and the unusual +enactment that it should be taught to the people, show how far +superior David was to the ordinary feelings of jealousy, how full +his heart was of true generosity. There was, indeed, a political end +which it might advance; it might conciliate the supporters of Saul, +and smooth David's way to the throne. But there is in it such depth +and fulness of feeling that one can think of it only as a genuine +cardiphonia--a true voice of the heart. The song dwells on all that +could be commended in Saul, and makes no allusion to his faults. His +courage and energy in war, his happy co-operation with Jonathan, his +advancement of the kingdom in elegance and comfort, are all duly +celebrated. David appears to have had a real affection for Saul, if +only it had been allowed to bloom and flourish. His martial energy +had probably awakened his admiration before he knew him personally; +and when he became his minstrel, his distressed countenance would +excite his pity, while his occasional gleams of generous feeling +would thrill his heart with sympathy. The terrible effort of Saul +to crush David was now at an end, and like a lily released from a +heavy stone, the old attachment bloomed out speedily and sweetly. +There would be more true love in families and in the world, more of +expansive, responsive affection, if it were not so often stunted by +reserve on the one hand, and crushed by persecution on the other. + +The song embalms very tenderly the love of Jonathan for David. +Years had probably elapsed since the two friends met, but time had +not impaired the affection and admiration of David. And now that +Jonathan's light was extinguished, a sense of desolation fell on +David's heart, and the very throne that invited his occupation seemed +dark and dull under the shadow cast on it by the death of Jonathan. +As a prize of earthly ambition it would be poor indeed; and if ever +it had seemed to David a proud distinction to look forward to, such +a feeling would appear very detestable when the same act that opened +it up to him had deprived him for ever of his dearest friend, his +sweetest source of earthly joy. The only way in which it was possible +for David to enjoy his new position was by losing sight of himself; +by identifying himself more closely than ever with the people; +by regarding the throne as only a position for more self-denying +labours for the good of others. And in the song there is evidence of +the great strength and activity of this feeling. The sentiment of +patriotism burns with a noble ardour; the national disgrace is most +keenly felt; the thought of personal gain from the death of Saul +and Jonathan is entirely swallowed up by grief for the public loss. +"Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest +the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the +uncircumcised triumph!" In David's view, it is no ordinary calamity +that has fallen on Israel. It is no common men that have fallen, but +"the beauty of Israel," her ornament and her glory, men that were +never known to flinch or to flee from battle, men that were "swifter +than eagles, and stronger than lions." It is not in any obscure +corner that they have fallen, but "on her high places," on Mount +Gilboa, at the head of a most conspicuous and momentous enterprise. +Such a national loss was unprecedented in the history of Israel, +and it seems to have affected David and the nation generally as the +slaughter at Flodden affected the Scots, when it seemed as if all +that was great and beautiful in the nation perished--"the flowers o' +the forest were a' weed awa'." + +A word on the general structure of this song. It is not a song that +can be classed with the Psalms. Nor can it be said that in any marked +degree it resembles the tone or spirit of the Psalms. Yet this need not +surprise us, nor need it throw any doubt either as to the authorship of +the song or the authorship of the Psalms. The Psalms, we must remember, +were avowedly composed and designed for use in the worship of God. +If the Greek term _psalmoi_ denotes their character, they were songs +designed for use in public worship, to be accompanied with the lyre, +or harp, or other musical instruments suitable for them. The special +sphere of such songs was--the relation of the human soul to God. These +songs might be of various kinds--historical, lyrical, dramatical; but +in all cases the paramount subject was, the dealings of God with man, +or the dealings of man with God. It was in this class of composition +that David excelled, and became the organ of the Holy Ghost for the +highest instruction and edification of the Church in all ages. But it +does not by any means follow that the poetical compositions of David +were restricted to this one class of subject. His muse may sometimes +have taken a different course. His poems were not always directly +religious. In the case of this song, whose original place in the book +of Jasher indicated its special character, there is no mention of the +relation of Saul and Jonathan to God. The theme is, their services +to the nation, and the national loss involved in their death. The +soul of the poet is profoundly thrilled by their death, occurring in +such circumstances of national disaster. No form of words could have +conveyed more vividly the idea of unprecedented loss, or thrilled +the nation with such a sense of calamity. There is not a line of the +song but is full of life, and hardly one that is not full of beauty. +What could more touchingly indicate the fatal nature of the calamity +than that plaintive entreaty--"Tell it not in Gath, publish it not +in the streets of Askelon"? How could the hills be more impressively +summoned to show their sympathy than in that invocation of everlasting +sterility--"Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let +there be rain upon you, or fields of offerings"? What gentler veil +could be drawn over the horrors of their bloody death and mutilated +bodies than in the tender words, "Saul and Jonathan were loving and +pleasant in their lives, and in their deaths they were not divided"? +And what more fitting theme for tears could have been furnished to the +daughters of Israel, considering what was probably the prevalent taste, +than that Saul had "clothed them with scarlet and other delights, and +put on ornaments of gold upon their apparel"? Up to this point Saul +and Jonathan are joined together; but the poet cannot close without +a special lamentation for himself over him whom he loved as his own +soul. And in one line he touches the very kernel of his own loss, as +he touches the very core of Jonathan's heart--"thy love to me was +wonderful, passing the love of women." Such is the Song of the Bow. +It hardly seems suitable to attempt to draw spiritual lessons out of +a song, which, on purpose, was placed in a different category. Surely +it is enough to point out the exceeding beauty and generosity of +spirit which sought in this way to embalm the memory and perpetuate the +virtues of Saul and Jonathan; which blended together in such melodious +words a deadly enemy and a beloved friend; which transfigured one of +the lives so that it shone with the lustre and the beauty of the other; +which sought to bury every painful association, and gave full and +unlimited scope to the charity that thinketh no evil. _De mortuis nil +nisi bonum_, was a heathen maxim,--"Say nothing but what is good of the +dead." Surely no finer exemplification of the maxim was ever given than +in this "Song of the Bow." + +To "thoughts that breathe and words that burn," like those of this +song, David could not have given expression without having his whole +soul stirred with the desire to repair the national disaster, and +by God's help bring back prosperity and honour to Israel. Thus, +both by the afflictions that saddened his heart and the stroke of +prosperity that raised him to the throne, he was impelled to that +course of action which is the best safeguard under God against the +hurtful influences both of adversity and prosperity. Affliction might +have driven him into his shell, to think only of his own comfort; +prosperity might have swollen him with a sense of his importance, and +tempted him to expect universal admiration;--both would have made him +unfit to rule; by the grace of God he was preserved from both. He was +induced to gird himself for a course of high exertion for the good of +his country; the spirit of trust in God, after its long discipline, +had a new field opened for its exercise; and the self-government +acquired in the wilderness was to prove its usefulness in a higher +sphere. Thus the providence of his heavenly Father was gradually +unfolding His purposes concerning him; the clouds were clearing off +his horizon; and the "all things" that once seemed to be "against +him" were now plainly "working together for his good." + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + _BEGINNING OF DAVID'S REIGN AT HEBRON._ + + 2 SAMUEL ii. 1-7. + + +The death of Saul did not end David's troubles, nor was it for a +good many years that he became free to employ his whole energies +for the good of the kingdom. It appears that his chastisement for +his unbelieving spirit, and for the alliance with Achish to which +it led, was not yet completed. The more remote consequences of that +step were only beginning to emerge, and years elapsed before its evil +influence ceased altogether to be felt. For in allying himself with +Achish, and accompanying his army to the plain of Esdraelon, David +had gone as near to the position of a traitor to his country as he +could have gone without actually fighting against it. That he should +have acted as he did is one of the greatest mysteries of his life; +and the reason why it has not attracted more notice is simply because +the worst consequences of it were averted by his dismissal from the +Philistine army through the jealousy and suspicion of their lords. +But for that step David must have been guilty of gross treachery +either in one direction or another; either to his own countrymen, by +fighting against them in the Philistine army; or to King Achish, by +suddenly turning against him in the heat of the battle, and creating +a diversion which might have given a new chance to his countrymen. +In either case the proceeding would have been most reprehensible. + +But to his own countrymen he would have made himself especially +obnoxious if he had lent himself to Achish in the battle. Whether +he contemplated treachery to Achish is a secret that seems never to +have gone beyond his own bosom. All the appearances favoured the +supposition that he would fight against his country, and we cannot +wonder if, for a long time, this made him an object of distrust and +suspicion. If we would understand how the men of Israel must have +looked on him, we have only to fancy how we should have viewed a +British soldier if, with a troop of his countrymen, he had followed +Napoleon to the field of Waterloo, and had been sent away from the +French army only through the suspicion of Napoleon's generals. In +David's case, all his former achievements against the Philistines, +all that injustice from Saul which had driven him in despair to +Achish, his services against the Amalekites, his generous use of +the spoil, as well as his high personal character, did not suffice +to counteract the bad impression of his having followed Achish to +battle. For after a great disaster the public mind is exasperated; +it is eager to find a scapegoat on whom to throw the blame, and it +is unmeasured in its denunciations of any one who can be plausibly +assailed. Beyond all doubt, angry and perplexed as the nation was, +David would come in for a large share of the blame; his alliance with +Achish would be denounced with unmeasured bitterness; and, probably +enough, he would have to bear the brunt of many a bitter calumny in +addition, as if he had instigated Achish, and given him information +which had helped him to conquer. + +His own tribe, the tribe of Judah, was far the friendliest, and the +most likely to make allowance for the position in which he had been +placed. They were his own flesh and blood; they knew the fierce and +cruel malignity with which Saul had hunted him down, and they knew +that, as far as appearances went, his chances of getting the better +of Saul's efforts were extremely small, and the temptation to throw +himself into the hands of Achish correspondingly great. Evidently, +therefore, the most expedient course he could now take was to establish +himself in some of the cities of Judah. But in that frame of recovered +loyalty to God in which he now was, he declined to take this step, +indispensable though it seemed, until he had got Divine direction +regarding it. "It came to pass, after this, that David inquired of the +Lord saying, Shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah? And the Lord +said unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And He +said, Unto Hebron." The form in which he made the inquiry shows that +to his mind it was very clear that he ought to go up to one or another +of the cities of Judah; his advisers and companions had probably the +same conviction; but notwithstanding, it was right and fitting that no +such step should be taken without his asking direction from God. And +let us observe that, on this occasion, prayer was not the last resort +of one whom all other refuge had failed, but the first resort of one +who regarded the Divine approval as the most essential element for +determining the propriety of the undertaking. + +It is interesting and instructive to ponder this fact. The first +thing done by David, after virtually acquiring a royal position, was +to ask counsel of God. His royal administration was begun by prayer. +And there was a singular appropriateness in this act. For the great +characteristic of David, brought out especially in his Psalms, is +the reality and the nearness of his fellowship with God. We may find +other men who equalled him in every other feature of character--who +were as full of human sympathy, as reverential, as self-denying, as +earnest in their efforts to please God and to benefit men; but we +shall find no one who lived so closely under God's shadow, whose +heart and life were so influenced by regard to God, to whom God was +so much of a personal Friend, so blended, we may say, with his very +existence. David therefore is eminently himself when asking counsel +of the Lord. And would not all do well to follow him in this? True, +he had supernatural methods of doing this, and you have only natural; +he had the Urim and Thummim, you have only the voice of prayer; but +this makes no real difference, for it was only in great national +matters that he made use of the supernatural method; in all that +concerned his personal relations to God it was the other that he +employed. And so may you. But the great matter is to resemble David +in his profound sense of the infinite value and reality of Divine +direction. Without this your prayers will always be more or less +matters of formality. And being formal, you will not feel that you +get any good of them. Is it really a profound conviction of yours +that in every step of your life God's direction is of supreme value? +That you dare not even change your residence with safety without +being directed by Him? That you dare not enter on new relations +in life,--new business, new connections, new recreations--without +seeking the Divine countenance? That endless difficulties, troubles, +complications, are liable to arise, when you simply follow your own +notions or inclinations without consulting the Lord? And under the +influence of that conviction do you try to follow the rule, "In all +thy ways acknowledge Him"? And do you endeavour to get from prayer +a trustful rest in God, an assurance that He will not forsake you, +a calm confidence that He will keep His word? Then, indeed, you +are treading in David's footsteps, and you may expect to share his +privilege--Divine direction in your times of need. + +The city of Hebron, situated about eighteen miles to the south of +Jerusalem, was the place to which David was directed to go. It was a +place abounding in venerable and elevating associations. It was among +the first, if not the very first, of the haunts of civilised men in the +land--so ancient that it is said to have been built seven years before +Zoan in Egypt (Numb. xiii. 22). The father of the faithful had often +pitched his tent under its spreading oaks, and among its olive groves +and vine-clad hills the gentle Isaac had meditated at eventide. There +Abraham had watched the last breath of his beloved Sarah, the partner +of his faith and the faithful companion of his wanderings; and there +from the sons of Heth he had purchased the sepulchre of Machpelah, +where first Sarah's body, then his own, then that of Isaac were laid to +rest. There Joseph and his brethren had brought up the body of Jacob, +in fulfilment of his dying command, laying it beside the bones of +Leah. It had been a halting-place of the twelve spies when they went +up to search the land; and the cluster of grapes which they carried +back was cut from the neighbouring valley, where the finest grapes +of the country are found to this day. The sight of its venerable +cave had doubtless served to raise the faith and courage of Joshua +and Caleb, when the other spies became so feeble and so faithless. In +the division of the land it had been assigned to Caleb, one of the +best and noblest spirits the nation ever produced; afterwards it was +made one of the Levitical cities of refuge. More recently, it had +been one of the places selected by David to receive a portion of the +Amalekite spoil. No place could have recalled more vividly the lessons +of departed worth and the victories of early faith, or abounded more +in tokens of the blessedness of fully following the Lord. It was a +token of God's kindness to David that He directed him to make this city +his headquarters. It was equivalent to a new promise that the God of +Abraham and of Isaac and Jacob would be the God of David, and that his +public career would prepare the way for the mercies in the prospect of +which they rejoiced, and sustain the hope to which they looked forward, +though they did not in their time see the promise realised. + +It was a further token of God's goodness that no sooner had David +gone up to Hebron than "the men of Judah came and anointed him king +over the house of Judah." Judah was the imperial or premier tribe, +and though this was not all that God had promised to David, it was +a large instalment. The occasion might well awaken mingled emotions +in his breast--gratitude for mercies given and solicitude for the +responsibility of a royal position. With his strong sense of duty, +his love of righteousness and hatred of wickedness, we should expect +to find him strengthening himself in the purpose to rule only in the +fear of God. It is just such views and purposes as these we find +expressed in the hundred and first Psalm, which internal evidence +would lead us to assign to this period of his life:-- + + "I will sing of mercy and of judgment: + Unto Thee, O Lord, will I sing. + I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. + O when wilt Thou come unto me? + I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. + I will set no base thing before mine eyes: + I hate the work of them that turn aside; + It shall not cleave to me. + A froward heart shall depart from me: + I will know no evil thing. + Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I destroy; + Him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I + suffer. + Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land that they + may dwell with me: + He that walketh in a perfect way, he shall minister unto me. + He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house; + He that speaketh falsehood shall not be established before + mine eyes. + Morning by morning will I destroy all the wicked of the land; + To cut off all the workers of iniquity from the city of the + Lord."[1] + +By a singular coincidence, the first place to which the attention +of David was called, after his taking possession of the royal +position, was the same as that to which Saul had been directed in +the same circumstances--namely, Jabesh-gilead. It was far away from +Hebron, on the other side of Jordan, and quite out of the scope of +David's former activities; but he recognised a duty to its people, +and he hastened to perform it. In the first place, he sent them a +gracious and grateful message of thanks for the kindness shown to +Saul, the mark of respect they had paid him in burying his body. +Every action of David's in reference to his great rival evinces +the superiority of his spirit to that which was wont to prevail in +similar circumstances. Within the Scriptures themselves we have +instances of the dishonour that was often put on the body of a +conquered rival. The body of Jehoram, cast ignominiously by Jehu, +in mockery of his royal state, into the vineyard of Naboth, which +his father Ahaz had unrighteously seized, and the body of Jezebel, +flung out of the window, trodden under foot, and devoured by dogs +are instances readily remembered. The shocking fate of the dead body +of Hector, dragged thrice round the walls of Troy after Achilles' +chariot, was regarded as only such a calamity as might be looked for +amid the changing fortunes of war. Mark Antony is said to have broken +out into laughter at the sight of the hands and head of Cicero, which +he had caused to be severed from his body. The respect of David for +the person of Saul was evidently a sincere and genuine feeling; and +it was a sincere pleasure to him to find that this feeling had been +shared by the Jabeshites, and manifested in their rescuing Saul's +body and consigning it to honourable burial. + +In the next place, he invokes on these people a glowing benediction +from the Lord: "The Lord show kindness and truth to you;" and he +expresses his purpose also to requite their kindness himself. "Kindness +and truth." There is something instructive in the combination of these +two words. It is the Hebrew way of expressing "true kindness," but +even in that form, the words suggest that kindness is not always true +kindness, and mere kindness cannot be a real blessing unless it rest +on a solid basis. There is in many men an amiable spirit which takes +pleasure in gratifying the feelings of others. Some manifest it to +children by loading them with toys and sweetmeats, or taking them to +amusements which they know they like. But it does not follow that such +kindness is always true kindness. To please one is not always the +kindest thing you can do for one, for sometimes it is a far kinder +thing to withhold what will please. True kindness must be tested by its +ultimate effects. The kindness that loves best to improve our hearts, +to elevate our tastes, to straighten our habits, to give a higher tone +to our lives, to place us on a pedestal from which we may look down on +conquered spiritual foes, and on the possession of what is best and +highest in human attainment,--the kindness that bears on the future, +and especially the eternal future, is surely far more true than that +which, by gratifying our present feelings, perhaps confirms us in many +a hurtful lust. David's prayer for the men of Jabesh was an enlightened +benediction: "God show you kindness and truth." And so far as he may +have opportunity, he promises that he will show them the same kindness +too. + +We need not surely dwell on the lesson which this suggests. Are +you kindly disposed to any one? You wish sincerely to promote his +happiness, and you try to do so. But see well to it that your +kindness is true. See that the day shall never come when that which +you meant so kindly will turn out to have been a snare, and perhaps a +curse. Think of your friend as an immortal being, with either heaven +or hell before him, and consider what genuine kindness requires of +you in such a case. And in every instance beware of the kindness +which shakes the stability of his principles, which increases the +force of his temptations, and makes the narrow way more distasteful +and difficult to him than ever. + +There can be no doubt that David was moved by considerations of +policy as well as by more disinterested motives in sending this +message and offering this prayer for the men of Jabesh-gilead. +Indeed, in the close of his message he invites them to declare for +him, and follow the example of the men of Judah, who have made him +king. The kindly proceeding of David was calculated to have a wider +influence than over the men of Jabesh, and to have a conciliating +effect on all the friends of the former king. It would have been +natural enough for them to fear, considering the ordinary ways of +conquerors and the ordinary fate of the friends of the conquered, +that David would adopt very rigid steps against the friends of his +persecutors. By this message sent across the whole country and across +the Jordan, he showed that he was animated by the very opposite +spirit: that, instead of wishing to punish those who had served +with Saul, he was quite disposed to show them favour. Divine grace, +acting on his kindly nature, made him forgiving to Saul and all his +comrades, and presented to the world the spectacle of an eminent +religious profession in harmony with a noble generosity. + +But the spirit in which David acted towards the friends of Saul did +not receive the fitting return. The men of Jabesh-gilead appear +to have made no response to his appeal. His peaceable purpose +was defeated through Abner, Saul's cousin and captain-general of +his army, who set up Ishbosheth, one of Saul's sons, as king in +opposition to David. Ishbosheth himself was but a tool in Abner's +hands, evidently a man of no spirit or activity; and in setting him +up as a claimant for the kingdom, Abner very probably had an eye to +the interests of himself and his family. It is plain that he acted +in this matter in that spirit of ungodliness and wilfulness of which +his royal cousin had given so many proofs; he knew that God had given +the kingdom to David, and afterwards taunted Ishbosheth with the +fact (iii. 9); perhaps he looked for the reversion of the throne if +Ishbosheth should die, for it needed more than an ordinary motive to +go right in opposition to the known decree of God. The world's annals +contain too many instances of wars springing from no higher motive +than the ambition of some Diotrephes to have the pre-eminence. You +cry shame on such a spirit; but while you do so take heed lest you +share it yourselves. To many a soldier war is welcome because it is +the pathway to promotion, to many a civilian because it gives for the +moment an impulse to the business with which he is connected. How +subtle and dangerous is the feeling that secretly welcomes what may +spread numberless woes through a community if only it is likely to +bring some advantage to ourselves! O God, drive selfishness from the +throne of our hearts, and write on them in deepest letters Thine own +holy law, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." + +The place chosen for the residence of Ishbosheth was Mahanaim, in +the half-tribe of Manasseh, on the east side of the Jordan. It is a +proof how much the Philistines must have dominated the central part +of the country that no city in the tribe of Benjamin and no place +even on the western side of the Jordan could be obtained as a royal +seat for the son of Saul. Surely this was an evil omen. Ishbosheth's +reign, if reign it might be called, lasted but two short years. No +single event took place to give it lustre. No city was taken from +the Philistines, no garrison put to flight, as at Michmash. No deed +was ever done by him or done by his adherents of which they might +be proud, and to which they might point in justification of their +resistance to David. Ishbosheth was not the wicked man in great +power, spreading himself like the green bay-tree, but a short-lived, +shrivelled plant, that never rose above the humiliating circumstances +of its origin. Men who have defied the purpose of the Almighty have +often grown and prospered, like the little horn of the Apocalypse; +but in this case of Ishbosheth little more than one breath of the +Almighty sufficed to wither him up. Yes, indeed, whatever may be the +immediate fortunes of those who unfurl their own banner against the +clear purpose of the Almighty, there is but one fate for them all in +the end--utter humiliation and defeat. Well may the Psalm counsel +all, "Kiss ye the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, +if once His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that +put their trust in Him." + +FOOTNOTE: + +[1] From the use of the expression "city of the Lord," it has been +inferred by some critics that this Psalm must have been written after +the capture and consecration of Jerusalem. But there is no reason +why Hebron might not have been called at that time "the city of the +Lord." The Lord had specially designated it as the abode of David; and +that alone entitled it to be so called. Those who have regarded this +Psalm as a picture of a model household or family have never weighed +the force of the last line, which marks the position of a king, not +a father. The Psalm is a true statement of the principles usually +followed by David in public rule, but not in domestic administration. + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + _BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR._ + + 2 SAMUEL ii. 12-32 + + +The well-meant and earnest efforts of David to ward off strife and +bring the people together in recognising him as king were frustrated, +as we have seen, through the efforts of Abner. Unmoved by the solemn +testimony of God, uttered again and again through Samuel, that He had +rejected Saul and found as king a man after His own heart; unmoved by +the sad proceedings at Endor, where, under such awful circumstances, +the same announcement of the purpose of the Almighty had been repeated; +unmoved by the doom of Saul and his three sons on Mount Gilboa, where +such a striking proof of the reality of God's judgment on his house +had been given; unmoved by the miserable state of the kingdom, overrun +and humiliated by the Philistines and in the worst possible condition +to bear the strain of a civil war,--this Abner insisted on setting up +Ishbosheth and endeavouring to make good his claims by the sword. It +was never seen more clearly how "one sinner destroyeth much good." + +As to the immediate occasion of the war, David was quite innocent, +and Abner alone was responsible; but to a feeling and patriotic +heart like David's, the war itself must have been the occasion of +bitter distress Did it ever occur to him to think that in a sense +he was now brought, against his will, into the position which he had +professed to King Achish to be willing to occupy, or that, placed as +he now was in an attitude of opposition to a large section of his +countrymen, he was undergoing a chastisement for what he was rash +enough to say and to do then? + +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. We must not forget that +the Philistines had still great influence in the land, and very likely +they were in possession of Gibeah, after having rifled Saul's palace +and appropriated all his private property. With this powerful enemy +to be dealt with ultimately, it was the interest of Abner to avoid a +collision of the whole forces on either side, and spare the slaughter +which such a contest would have involved. There is some obscurity in +the narrative now before us, both at this point and at other places. +But it would appear that, when the two armies were ranged on opposite +sides of the "pool" or reservoir at Gibeon, Abner made the proposal +to Joab that the contest should be decided by a limited number of +young men on either side, whose encounter would form a sort of play or +spectacle, that their brethren might look on, and, in a sense, enjoy. +In the circumstances, it was a wise and humane proposal, although we +get something of a shock from the frivolous spirit that could speak of +such a deadly encounter as "play." + +David was not present with his troops on this occasion, the management +of them being entrusted to Joab, his sister's son. Here was another +of the difficulties of David--a difficulty which embarrassed him for +forty years. He was led to commit the management of his army to his +warlike nephew, although he appears to have been a man very unlike +himself. Joab is much more of the type of Saul than of David. He is +rough, impetuous, worldly, manifesting no faith, no prayerfulness, +no habit or spirit of communion with God. Yet from the beginning +he threw in his lot with David; he remained faithful to him in the +insurrection of Absalom; and sometimes he gave him advice which was +more worthy to be followed than his own devices. But though Joab was +a difficulty to David, he did not master him. The course of David's +life and the character of his reign were determined mainly by those +spiritual feelings with which Joab appears to have had no sympathy. It +was unfortunate that the first stage of the war should have been in the +hands of Joab; he conducted it in a way that must have been painful to +David; he stained it with a crime that gave him bitter pain. + +The practice of deciding public contests by a small and equal number of +champions on either side, if not a common one in ancient times, was, +at any rate, not very rare. Roman history furnishes some memorable +instances of it: that of Romulus and Aruns, and that of the Horatii +and the Curiatii; while the challenge of Goliath and the proposal to +settle the strife between the Philistines and the Hebrews according +to the result of the duel with him had taken place not many years +before. The young men were accordingly chosen, twelve on either side; +but they rushed against each other with such impetuosity that the whole +of them fell together, and the contest remained undecided as before. +Excited probably by what they had witnessed, the main forces on either +side now rushed against each other; and when the shock of battle +came, the victory fell to the side of David, and Abner and his troops +were signally defeated. On David's side, there was not a very serious +loss, the number of the slain amounting to twenty; but on the side of +Abner the loss was three hundred and sixty. To account for so great +an inequality we must remember that in Eastern warfare it was in the +pursuit that by far the greatest amount of slaughter took place. That +obstinate maintenance of their ground which is characteristic of modern +armies seems to have been unknown in those times. The superiority of +one of the hosts over the other appears usually to have made itself +felt at the beginning of the engagement; the opposite force, seized +with panic, fled in confusion, followed close by the conquerors, whose +weapons, directed against the backs of the fugitive, were neither +caught on shields, nor met by counter-volleys. Thus it was that Joab's +loss was little more than the twelve who had fallen at first, while +that of Abner was many times more. + +Among those who had to save themselves by flight after the battle +was Abner, the captain of the host. Hard in pursuit of him, and of +him only, hastened Asahel, the brother of Joab. It is not easy to +understand all the circumstances of this pursuit. We cannot but +believe that Asahel was bent on killing Abner, but probably his hope +was that he would get near enough to him to discharge an arrow at +him, and that in doing so he would incur no personal danger. But +Abner appears to have remarked him, and to have stopped his flight +and faced round to meet him. Abner seems to have carried sword and +spear; Asahel had probably nothing heavier than a bow. It was fair +enough in Abner to propose that if they were to be opponents, Asahel +should borrow armour, that they might fight on equal terms. But this +was not Asahel's thought. He seems to have been determined to follow +Abner, and take his opportunity for attacking him in his own way. +This Abner would not permit; and, as Asahel would not desist from his +pursuit, Abner, rushing at him, struck him with such violence with +the hinder end of his spear that the weapon came out behind him. "And +Asahel fell down there, and died in the same place; and it came to +pass that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and +died stood still." Asahel was a man of consequence, being brother of +the commander of the army and nephew of the king. The death of such +a man counted for much, and went far to restore the balance of loss +between the two contending armies. It seems to have struck a horror +into the hearts of his fellow-soldiers; it was an awful incident of +the war. It was strange enough to see one who an hour ago was so +young, so fresh and full of life, stretched on the ground a helpless +lump of clay; but it was more appalling to remember his relation to +the two greatest men of the nation--David and Joab. Certainly war +is most indiscriminate in the selection of its victims; commanders +and their brothers, kings and their nephews, being as open to its +catastrophes as any one else. Surely it must have sent a thrill +through Abner to see among the first victims of the strife which he +had kindled one whose family stood so high, and whose death would +exasperate against him so important a person as his brother Joab. + +The pursuit of the defeated army was by-and-bye interrupted by +nightfall. In the course of the evening the fugitives somewhat +rallied, and concentrated on the top of a hill, in the wilderness of +Gibeon. And here the two chiefs held parley together. The proceedings +were begun by Abner, and begun by a question that was almost +insolent. "Abner called to Joab and said, Shall the sword devour for +ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? +how long shall it be ere thou bid the people return from following +their brethren?" It was an audacious attempt to throw on Joab and +Joab's master the responsibility of the war. We get a new glimpse of +Abner's character here. If there was a fact that might be held to be +beyond the possibility of question, it was that Abner had begun the +contest. Had not he, in opposition to the Divine King of the nation, +set up Ishbosheth against the man called by Jehovah? Had not he +gathered the army at Mahanaim, and moved towards Gibeon, on express +purpose to exclude David, and secure for his nominee what might be +counted in reality, and not in name only, the kingdom of Israel? Yet +he insolently demanded of Joab, "Shall the sword devour for ever?" +He audaciously applies to Joab a maxim that he had not thought of +applying to himself in the morning--"Knowest thou not that it will be +bitterness in the latter end?" This is a war that can be terminated +only by the destruction of one half of the nation; it will be a +bitter enough consummation, which half soever it may be. Have you no +regard for your "brethren," against whom you are fighting, that you +are holding on in this remorseless way? + +It may be a marvellously clever thing, in this audacious manner, to +throw upon an opponent all the blame which is obviously one's own. +But no good man will do so. The audacity that ascribes its own sins +to an opponent is surely the token of a very evil nature. We have no +reason to form a very high opinion of Joab, but of his opponent in +this strife our judgment must be far worse. An insincere man, Abner +could have no high end before him. If David was not happy in his +general, still less was Ishbosheth in his. + +Joab's answer betrayed a measure of indignation. "As God liveth, unless +thou hadst spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone up +every one from following his brother." There is some ambiguity in these +words. The Revised Version renders, "If thou hadst not spoken, surely +then in the morning the people had gone away, nor followed every one +his brother." The meaning of Joab seems to be that, apart from any +such ill-tempered appeal as Abner's, it was his full intention in the +morning to recall his men from the pursuit, and let Abner and his +people go home without further harm. Joab shows the indignation of +one credited with a purpose he never had, and with an inhumanity and +unbrotherliness of which he was innocent. Why Joab had resolved to +give up further hostilities at that time, we are not told. One might +have thought that had he struck another blow at Abner he might have so +harassed his force as to ruin his cause, and thus secure at once the +triumph of David. But Joab probably felt very keenly what Abner accused +him of not feeling: that it was a miserable thing to destroy the lives +of so many brethren. The idea of building up David's throne on the dead +bodies of his subjects he must have known to be extremely distasteful +to David himself. Civil war is such a horrible thing, that a general +may well be excused who accepts any reason for stopping it. 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. + +And David must have grieved exceedingly when he heard what had taken +place. The slaughter of nearly four hundred of God's nation was a +terrible thought; still more terrible it was to think that in a sense +he had been the occasion of it--it was done to prevent him from +occupying the throne. No doubt he had reason to be thankful that when +fighting had to be done, the issue was eminently favourable to him +and his cause. But he must have been grieved that there should be +fighting at all. He must have felt somewhat as the Duke of Wellington +felt when he made the observation that next to the calamity of +losing a battle was that of gaining a victory. Was this what Samuel +had meant when he came that morning to Bethlehem and anointed him +in presence of his family? Was this what God designed when He was +pleased to put him in the place of Saul? If this was a sample of what +David was to bring to his beloved people, would it not have been +better had he never been born? Very strange must God's ways have +appeared to him. How different were his desires, how different his +dreams of what should be done when he got the kingdom, from this +day's work! Often he had thought how he would drive out the enemies +of his people; how he would secure tranquillity and prosperity to +every Hebrew homestead; how he would aim at their all living under +their vine and under their fig-tree, none making them afraid. But +now his reign had begun with bloodshed, and already desolation had +been carried to hundreds of his people's homes. Was this the work, O +God, for which Thou didst call me from the sheep-folds? Should I not +have been better employed "following the ewes great with young," and +protecting my flock from the lion and the bear, rather than sending +forth men to stain the soil of the land with the blood of the people +and carry to their habitations the voice of mourning and woe? + +If David's mind was exercised in this way by the proceedings near the +pool of Gibeon, all his trust and patience would be needed to wait +for the time when God would vindicate His way. After all, was not his +experience somewhat like that of Moses when he first set about the +deliverance of his people? Did he not appear to do more harm than +good? Instead of lightening the burdens of his people, did he not +cause an increase of their weight? But has it not been the experience +of most men who have girded themselves for great undertakings in the +interest of their brethren? Nay, was it not the experience of our +blessed Lord Himself? At His birth the angels sang, "Glory to God in +the highest; on earth peace; goodwill to men!" And almost the next +event was the massacre at Bethlehem, and Jesus Himself even in His +lifetime found cause to say, "Think not that I am come to send peace +on the earth; I am not come to send peace, but a sword." What a sad +evidence of the moral disorder of the world! The very messengers of +the God of peace are not allowed to deliver their messages in peace, +but even as they advance toward men with smiles and benedictions, are +fiercely assailed, and compelled to defend themselves by violence. +Nevertheless the angels' song is true. Jesus did come to bless the +world with peace. "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give unto +you; not as the world giveth give I unto you." The resistance of +His enemies was essentially a feeble resistance, and that stronger +spirit of peace which Jesus brought in due time prevailed mightily +in the earth. So with the bloodshed in David's reign. It did not +hinder David from being a great benefactor to his kingdom in the +end. It did not annul the promise of God. It did not neutralise +the efficacy of the holy oil. This was just one of the many ways +in which his faith and his patience were tried. It must have shown +him even more impressively than anything that had yet happened the +absolute necessity of Divine direction in all his ways. For it is far +easier for a good man to bear suffering brought on himself by his +actions, than to see suffering and death entailed on his brethren in +connection with a course which has been taken by him. + +In that audacious speech which Abner addressed to Joab, there occurs an +expression worthy of being taken out of the connection in which it was +used and of being viewed with wider reference. "Knowest thou not that +it will be bitterness in the latter end?" Things are to be viewed by +rational beings not merely in their present or immediate result, but +in their final outcome, in their ultimate fruits. A very commonplace +truth, I grant you, this is, but most wholesome, most necessary to be +cherished. For 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! Youthful child of fortune, +who are revelling to-day in wealth which is counted by hundreds of +thousands, and which seems as if it could never be exhausted, remember +how dangerous those gambling habits are into which you are falling; +remember that the gambler's biography is usually a short, and often +a tragic, one; and when you hear the sound of the pistol with which +one like yourself has ended his miserable existence, remember it all +began by disregarding the motto, written over the gambler's path, +"Knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end?" You +merry-hearted and amusing companion, to whom the flowing bowl, and the +jovial company, and the merry jest and lively song are so attractive, +the more you are tempted to go where they are found remember that +rags and dishonour, dirt and degradation, form the last stage of +the journey,--"the latter end bitterness" of the course you are now +following. You who are wasting in idleness the hours of the morning, +remember how you will repent of it when you have to make up your +leeway by hard toil at night. I have said that things are to be viewed +by rational beings in their relations to the future as well as the +present. It is not the part of a rational being to accumulate disaster, +distress, and shame for the future. Men that are rational will far +rather suffer for the present if they may be free from suffering +hereafter. Benefit societies, life insurance, annuity schemes--what are +they all but the devices of sensible men desirous to ward off even +the possibility of temporal "bitterness in the latter end"? And may +not this wisdom, this good sense, be applied with far more purpose to +the things that are unseen and eternal? Think of the "bitterness in +the end" that must come of neglecting Christ, disregarding conscience, +turning away from the Bible, the church, the Sabbath, grieving the +Spirit, neglecting prayer! Will not many a foretaste of this bitterness +visit you even while yet you are well, and all things are prospering +with you? Will it not come on you with overpowering force while you lie +on your death-bed? Will it not wrap your soul in indescribable anguish +through all eternity? + +Think then of this "bitterness in the latter end"! Now is the +accepted time. In the deep consciousness of your weakness, let your +prayer be that God would restrain you from the folly to which your +hearts are so prone, that, by His Holy Spirit, He would work in you +both to will and to do of His good pleasure. + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + _CONCLUSION OF THE CIVIL WAR._ + + 2 SAMUEL iii. 1-21. + + +The victory at the pool of Gibeon was far from ending the opposition +to David. In vain, for many a day, weary eyes looked out for the dove +with the olive leaf. "There was long war between the house of Saul +and the house of David." The war does not seem to have been carried +on by pitched battles, but rather by a long series of those fretting +and worrying little skirmishes which a state of civil war breeds, even +when the volcano is comparatively quiet. 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 in +its invisible support because God was against it; it was weak in its +champion Ishbosheth, a feeble man, with little or no power to attract +people to his standard; its only element of strength was Abner, and +even he could not make head against such odds. Good and evil so often +seem to balance each other, existing side by side in a kind of feeble +stagnation, and giving rise to such a dull feeling on the part of +onlookers, that we cannot but think with something like envy of the +followers of David even under the pain of a civil war, cheered as they +were by constant proofs that their cause was advancing to victory. + +And now we get a glimpse of David's domestic mode of life, which, +indeed, is far from satisfactory. His wives were now six in number; of +some of them we know nothing; of the rest what we do know is not always +in their favour. The earliest of all was "Ahinoam, the Jezreelitess." +Her native place, or the home of her family, was Jezreel, that part +of the plain of Esdraelon where the Philistines encamped before Saul +was defeated (1 Sam. xxix. 12), and afterwards, in the days of Ahab, +a royal residence of the kings of Israel (1 Kings xviii. 46) and the +abode of Naboth, who refused to part with his vineyard in Jezreel to +the king (1 Kings xxi.). Of Ahinoam we find absolutely no mention in +the history; if her son Amnon, the oldest of David's family, reflected +her character, we have no reason to regret the silence (2 Sam. xiii.). +The next of his wives was Abigail, the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, +of whose smartness and excellent management we have a full account in +a former part of the history. Her son is called Chileab, but in the +parallel passage in Chronicles Daniel; we can only guess the reason +of the change; but whether it was another name for the same son, or +the name of another son, the history is silent concerning him, and +the most probable conjecture is that he died early. His third wife +was Maachah, the daughter of Talmai the Geshurite. This was not, as +some have rather foolishly supposed, a member of those Geshurites in +the south against whom David led his troop (1 Sam. xxvii. 8), for it +is expressly stated that of that tribe "he left neither man nor woman +alive." It was of Geshur in Syria that Talmai was king (2 Sam. xv. +8); it formed one of several little principalities lying between +Mount Hermon and Damascus: but we cannot commend the alliance; for +these kingdoms were idolatrous, and unless Maachah was an exception, +she must have introduced idolatrous practices into David's house. Of +the other three wives we have no information. And in regard to the +household which he thus established at Hebron, we can only regret that +the king of Israel did not imitate the example that had been set there +by Abraham, and followed in the same neighbourhood by Isaac. What a +different complexion would have been given to David's character and +history if he had shown the self-control in this matter that he showed +in his treatment of Saul! Of how many grievous sins and sorrows did +he sow the seed when he thus multiplied wives to himself! How many a +man, from his own day down to the days of Mormonism, did he silently +encourage in licentious conduct, and furnish with a respectable example +and a plausible excuse for it! How difficult did he make it for many +who cannot but acknowledge the bright aspect of his spiritual life +to believe that even in that it was all good and genuine! 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. + +We have already said that polygamy was not imputed to David as a sin +in the sense that it deprived him of the favour of God. But we cannot +allow that this permission was of the nature of a boon. We cannot but +feel how much better it would have been if the seventh commandment +had been read by David with the same absolute, unbending limitation +with which it is read by us. It would have been better for him and +better for his house. Puritan strictness of morals is, after all, a +right wholesome and most blessed thing. Who shall say that the sum of +a man's enjoyment is not far greatest in the end of life when he has +kept with unflinching steadfastness his early vow of faithfulness, +and, as his reward, has never lost the freshness and the flavour +of his first love, nor ceased to find in his ever-faithful partner +that which fills and satisfies his heart? Compared to this, the life +of him who has flitted from one attachment to another, heedless of +the soured feelings or, it may be, the broken hearts he has left +behind, and whose children, instead of breathing the sweet spirit of +brotherly and sisterly love, scowl at one another with the bitter +feelings of envy, jealousy, and hatred, is like an existence of wild +fever compared to the pure tranquil life of a child. + +In such a household as David's, occasions of estrangement must +have been perpetually arising among the various branches, and it +would require all his wisdom and gentleness to keep these quarrels +within moderate bounds. In his own breast, that sense of delicacy, +that instinct of purity, which exercises such an influence on a +godly family, could not have existed; the necessity of reining in +his inclinations in that respect was not acknowledged; and it is +remarkable that in the confessions of the fifty-first Psalm, while +he specifies the sins of blood-guiltiness and seems to have been +overwhelmed by a sense of his meanness, injustice, and selfishness, +there is no special allusion to the sin of adultery, and no +indication of that sin pressing very heavily upon his conscience. + +Whether it be by design or not, it is an instructive circumstance +that it is immediately after this glimpse of David's domestic life +that we meet with a sample of the kind of evils which the system of +royal harems is ever apt to produce. Saul too had had his harem; and +it was a rule of succession in the East that the harem went with the +throne. To take possession of the one was regarded as equivalent to +setting up a claim to the other. When therefore Ishbosheth heard that +Abner had taken one of his father's concubines, he looked on it as a +proof that Abner had an eye to the throne for himself. He accordingly +demanded an explanation from Abner, but instead of explanation or +apology, he received a volley of rudeness and defiance. Abner knew +well that without him Ishbosheth was but a figure-head, and he was +enraged by treatment that seemed to overlook all the service he had +rendered him and to treat him as if he were some second or third-rate +officer of a firm and settled kingdom. Perhaps Abner had begun to see +that the cause of Ishbosheth was hopeless, and was even glad in his +secret heart of an excuse for abandoning an undertaking which could +bring neither success nor honour. "Am I a dog's head, which against +Judah do show kindness this day unto the house of Saul thy father, +to his brethren, and to his friends, and have not delivered thee +into the hand of David, that thou chargest me to-day with a fault +concerning this woman? So do God to Abner, and more also, except, as +the Lord hath sworn to David, even so I do to him, to translate the +kingdom from the house of Saul, and to set up the throne of David +over Israel and over Judah from Dan even to Beersheba." + +The proverb says, "When rogues fall out, honest men get their own." +How utterly unprincipled the effort of Abner and Ishbosheth was is +evident from the confession of the former that God had sworn to +David to establish his throne over the whole land. Their enterprise +therefore bore impiety on its very face; and we can only account for +their setting their hands to it on the principle that keen thirst +for worldly advantage will drive ungodly men into virtual atheism, +as if God were no factor in the affairs of men, as if it mattered +not that He was against them, and that it is only when their schemes +show signs of coming to ruin that they awake to the consciousness +that there is a God after all! And how often we see that godless men +banded together have no firm bond of union; the very passions which +they are united to gratify begin to rage against one another; they +fall into the pit which they digged for others; they are hanged on +the gallows which they erected for their foes. + +The next step in the narrative brings us to Abner's offer to David to +make a league with him for the undisputed possession of the throne. +Things had changed now very materially from that day when, in the +wilderness of Judah, David reproached Abner for his careless custody +of the king's person (1 Sam. xxvi. 14). What a picture of feebleness +David had seemed then, while Saul commanded the whole resources of +the kingdom! Yet in that day of weakness David had done a noble +deed, a deed made nobler by his very weakness, and he had thereby +shown to any that had eyes to see which party it was that had God +on its side. And now this truth concerning him, against which Abner +had kicked and struggled in vain, was asserting itself in a way not +to be resisted. Yet even now there is no trace of humility in the +language of Abner. He plays the great man still. "Behold, my hand +shall be with thee, to bring about all Israel to thee." He approaches +King David, not as one who has done him a great wrong, but as one +who offers to do him a great favour. 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. If he expected that David would leap into his arms +at the mention of such an offer, he was mistaken. This was not the +way for a rebel to come to his king. David was too much dissatisfied +with his past conduct, and saw too clearly that it was only stress +of weather that was driving him into harbour now, to show any great +enthusiasm about his offer. On the contrary, he laid down a stiff +preliminary condition; and with the air of one who knew his place and +his power, he let Abner know that if that condition were not complied +with, he should not see his face. We cannot but admire the firmness +shown in this mode of meeting Abner's advances; but we are somewhat +disappointed when we find what the condition was--that Michal, +Saul's daughter, whom he had espoused for a hundred foreskins of the +Philistines, should be restored to him as his wife. The demand was +no doubt a righteous one, and it was reasonable that David should be +vindicated from the great slur cast on him when his wife was given to +another; moreover, it was fitted to test the genuineness of Abner's +advances, to show whether he really meant to acknowledge the royal +rights of David; but we wonder that, with six wives already about +him, he should be so eager for another, and we shrink from the reason +given for the restoration--not that the marriage tie was inviolable, +but that he had paid for her a very extraordinary dowry. And most +readers, too, will feel some sympathy with the second husband, who +seems to have had a strong affection for Michal, and who followed her +weeping, until the stern military voice of Abner compelled him to +return. All we can say about him is, that his sin lay in receiving +another man's wife and treating her as his own; the beginning of the +connection was unlawful, although the manner of its ending on his +part was creditable. Connections formed in sin must sooner or later +end in suffering; and the tears of Phaltiel would not have flowed now +if that unfortunate man had acted firmly and honourably when Michal +was taken from David. + +But it is not likely that in this demand for the restoration of +Michal David acted on purely personal considerations. He does not +seem to have been above the prevalent feeling of the East which +measured the authority and dignity of the monarch by the rank and +connections of his wives. Moreover, as David laid stress on the way +in which he got Michal as his wife, it is likely that he desired to +recall attention to his early exploits against the Philistines. He +had probably found that his recent alliance with King Achish had +brought him into suspicion; he wished to remind the people therefore +of his ancient services against those bitter and implacable enemies +of Israel, and to encourage the expectation of similar exploits in +the future. The purpose which he thus seems to have had in view was +successful. For when Abner soon after made a representation to the +elders of Israel in favour of King David and reminded them of the +promise which God had made regarding him, it was to this effect: "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." It +seems to have been a great step towards David's recognition by the +whole nation that they came to have confidence in him in leading them +against the Philistines. Thus he received a fresh proof of the folly +of his distrustful conclusion, "There is nothing better for me than +that I should escape into the land of the Philistines." It became +more and more apparent that nothing could have been worse. + +One is tempted to wonder if David ever sat down to consider what would +probably have happened if, instead of going over to the Philistines, he +had continued to abide in the wilderness of Judah, braving the dangers +of the place and trusting in the protection of his God. Some sixteen +months after, the terrible invasion of the Philistines took place, and +Saul, overwhelmed with terror and despair, was at his wits' end for +help. How natural it would have been for him in that hour of despair to +send for David if he had been still in the country and ask his aid! How +much more in his own place would David have appeared bravely fronting +the Philistines in battle, than hovering in the rear of Achish and +pretending to feel himself treated ill because the Philistine lords had +required him to be sent away! Might he not have been the instrument of +saving his country from defeat and disgrace? And if Saul and Jonathan +had fallen in the battle, would not the whole nation have turned as +one man to him, and would not that long and cruel civil war have been +entirely averted? It is needless to go back on the past and think how +much better we could have acted if unavailing regret is to be the only +result of the process; but it is a salutary and blessed exercise if it +tends to fix in our minds--what we doubt not it fixed in David's--how +infinitely better for us it is to follow the course marked out for us +by our heavenly Father, with all its difficulties and dangers, than to +walk in the light of our own fire and in the sparks of our own kindling. + +It appears that Abner set himself with great vigour 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, as we have seen--no doubt to +his own confusion and 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, and believing that the +feeling in favour of his family would be eminently strong in that +tribe, he took special pains to attach them to David, and as he was +himself likewise a Benjamite, 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 (1 Sam. xi. 15). 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. Having +once made overtures to David, he showed an honourable promptitude +in fulfilling the promise under which he had come. No man can atone +for past sin by doing his duty at a future time; but if anything +could have blotted out from David's memory the remembrance of Abner's +great injury to him and to the nation, it was the zeal with which he +exerted himself now to establish David's claims over all the country, +and especially where his cause was feeblest--in the tribe of Benjamin. + +It must have been a happy day in David's history when Abner set out +from Hebron to convene the assembly of the tribes that was to call +him with one voice to the throne. It was the day long looked for come +at last. The dove had at length come with the olive leaf, and peace +would now reign among all the tribes of Israel. And we may readily +conceive him, with this prospect so near, expressing his feelings, +if not in the very words of the thirty-seventh Psalm, at any rate in +language of similar import:-- + + "Fret not thyself because of evil-doers, + Neither be thou envious against them that work + unrighteousness + For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, + And wither as the green herb. + Trust in the Lord and do good; + Dwell in the land, and follow after faithfulness. + Delight thyself also in the Lord, + And He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. + Commit thy way unto the Lord, + Trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. + And He shall make thy righteousness to go forth as the light, + And thy judgment as the noonday. + Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; + Fret not thyself because of him that prospereth in his way, + Because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. + For evil-doers shall be cut off; + But those that wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the + land." + +But a crime was now on the eve of being perpetrated destined for the +time to scatter all King David's pleasing expectations and plunge him +anew into the depths of distress. + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + _ASSASSINATION OF ABNER AND ISHBOSHETH._ + + 2 SAMUEL iii. 22-39; iv. + + +It is quite possible that, in treating with Abner, David showed too +complacent a temper, that he treated too lightly his appearance in +arms against him at the pool of Gibeon, and that he neglected to +demand an apology for the death of Asahel. Certainly it would have +been wise had some measures been taken to soothe the ruffled temper +of Joab and reconcile him to the new arrangement. This, however, was +not done. David was so happy in the thought that the civil war was to +cease, and that all Israel were about to recognise him as their king, +that he would not go back on the past, or make reprisals even for the +death of Asahel. He was willing to let bygones be bygones. Perhaps, +too, he thought that if Asahel met his death at the hand of Abner, it +was his own rashness that was to blame for it. Anyhow he was greatly +impressed with the value of Abner's service on his behalf, and much +interested in the project to which he was now going forth--gathering +all Israel to the king, to make a league with him and bind themselves +to his allegiance. + +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 he was able to appear at Hebron with +the most popular evidence of success that a general could bring--a +large amount of spoil. No doubt Joab was elated with his success, and +was in that very temper when a man is most disposed to resent his being +overlooked and to take more upon him than is meet. When he heard of +David's agreement with Abner, he was highly displeased. First he went +to the king, and scolded him for his simplicity in believing Abner. +It was but a stratagem of Abner's to allow him to come to Hebron, +ascertain the state of David's affairs, and take his own steps more +effectively in the interest of his opponent. Suspicion reigned in +Joab's heart; the generosity of David's nature was not only not shared +by him, but seemed silliness itself. His rudeness to David is highly +offensive. He speaks to him in the tone of a master to a servant, or +in the tone of those servants who rule their master. "What hast thou +done? Behold, Abner came unto thee; why is it that thou hast sent him +away, and he is quite gone? Thou knowest Abner the son of Ner, that +he came to deceive thee, and to know thy going out and thy coming in, +and to know all that thou doest." David is spoken to like one guilty +of inexcusable folly, 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 (ver. 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. If assassination be mean +among civilians, it is eminently mean among soldiers. 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 an important and delicate +negotiation with the other tribes of Israel, since the arrangement +which he hoped to bring about was likely to be broken off by the news +of his shameful death. At no moment are the feelings of men less to be +trifled with than when, after long and fierce alienation, they are on +the point of coming together. Abner had brought the tribes of Israel to +that point, but now, like a flock of birds frightened by a shot, they +were certain to fly asunder. All this danger Joab set at nought, the +one thought of taking revenge for the death of his brother absorbing +every other, and making him, like so many other men when excited by a +guilty passion, utterly regardless of every consequence provided only +his revenge was satisfied. + +How did David act toward Joab? Most kings would at once have put +him to death, and David's subsequent action towards the murderers +of Ishbosheth shows that, even in his judgment, this would have +been the proper retribution on Joab for his bloody deed. But David +did not feel himself strong enough to deal with Joab according to +his deserts. It might have been better for him during the rest +of his life if he had acted with more vigour now. But instead of +making an example of Joab, he contented himself with pouring out +on him a vial of indignation, publicly washing his hands of the +nefarious transaction, and pronouncing on its author and his family +a terrible malediction. We cannot but shrink from the way in which +David brought in Joab's family to share his curse: "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 on the sword, +or that lacketh bread." Yet we must remember that according to the +sentiment of those times a man and his house were so identified that +the punishment due to the head was regarded as due to the whole. In +our day we see a law in constant operation which visits iniquities +of the parents upon the children with a terrible retribution. The +drunkard's children are woeful sufferers for their parent's sin; the +family of the felon carries a stigma for ever. We recognise this as +a law of Providence; but we do not act on it ourselves in inflicting +punishment. In David's time, however, and throughout the whole Old +Testament period, punishments due to the fathers were formally +shared by their families. When Joshua sentenced Achan to die for +his crime in stealing from the spoils of Jericho a wedge of gold +and a Babylonish garment, his wife and children were put to death +along with him. In denouncing the curse on Joab's family as well as +himself, David therefore only recognised a law which was universally +acted on in his day. The law may have been a hard one, but we are not +to blame David for acting on a principle of retribution universally +acknowledged. We are to remember, too, that David was now acting in +a public capacity, and as the chief magistrate of the nation. If he +had put Joab to death, his act would have involved his family in many +a woe; in denouncing his deeds and calling for retribution on them +generation after generation, he only carried out the same principle +a little further. 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. + +Having thus disposed of Joab, David had next to dispose of the dead +body of Abner. He determined that every circumstance connected +with Abner's funeral should manifest the sincerity of his grief at +his untimely end. In the first place, he caused him to be buried +at Hebron. We know of the tomb at Hebron where the bodies of the +patriarchs lay; if it was at all legitimate to place others in that +grave, we may believe that a place in it was found for Abner. In the +second place, the mourning company attended the funeral with rent +clothes and girdings of sackcloth, while the king himself followed +the bier, and at the grave both king and people gave way to a burst +of tears. In the third place, the king pronounced an elegy over him, +short, but expressive of his sense of the unworthy death which had +come to such a man:-- + + "Should Abner die as a fool dieth? + Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters; + As a man falleth before the children of iniquity, so didst + thou fall." + +Had he died the death of one taken in battle, his bound hands and his +feet in fetters would have denoted that after honourable conflict he +had been defeated in the field, and that he died the death due to +a public enemy. Instead of this, he had fallen before the children +of iniquity, before men mean enough to betray him and murder him, +while he was under the protection of the king. In the fourth place, +he sternly refused to eat bread till that day, so full of darkness +and infamy, should have passed away. The public manifestations of +David's grief showed very clearly how far he was from approving of +the death of Abner. And they had the desired effect. 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 favour. "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. +For ages and ages, the two methods of dealing with a reluctant +people, generosity and severity, have been pitted against each +other, and always with the effect that severity fails and generosity +succeeds. There were many who were indignant at the clemency shown +by Lord Canning after the Indian mutiny. They would have had him +inspire terror by acts of awful severity. But the peaceful career +of our Indian empire and the absence of any attempt to renew the +insurrection since that time show that the policy of clemency was the +policy of wisdom and of success. + +Still another step was taken by David that shows how painfully he +was impressed by the death of Abner. To "his servants"--that is, his +cabinet or his staff--he said in confidence, "Know ye not that there +is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?" He recognised +in Abner one of those men of consummate ability who are born to rule, +or at least to render the highest service to the actual ruler of a +country by their great influence over men. It seems very probable +that he looked to him as his own chief officer for the future. Rebel +though he had been, he seemed quite cured of his rebellion, and +now that he cordially acknowledged David's right to the throne, he +would probably have been his right-hand man. Abner, Saul's cousin, +was probably a much older man than Joab, who was David's nephew, +and who could not have been much older than David himself. The loss +of Abner was a great personal loss especially as it threw him more +into the hands of these sons of Zeruiah, Joab and Abishai, whose +impetuous, lordly temper was too much for him to restrain. The +representation to his confidential servants, "I am weak, and these +men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too strong for me," was an appeal to +them for cordial help in the affairs of the kingdom, in order that +Joab and his brother might not be able to carry everything their own +way. David, like many another man, needed to say, Save me from my +friends. We get a vivid glimpse of the perplexities of kings, and of +the compensations of a humbler lot. Men in high places, worried by +the difficulties of managing their affairs and servants, and by the +endless annoyances to which their jealousies and their self-will give +rise, may find much to envy in the simple, unembarrassed life of the +humblest of the people. + +From the assassination of Abner, the real source of the opposition +that had been raised to David, the narrative proceeds to the +assassination of Ishbosheth, the titular king. "When Saul's son +heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands were feeble, and all +the Israelites were troubled." The contrast is striking between his +conduct under difficulty and that of David. In the history of the +latter, faith often faltered in times of trouble, and the spirit of +distrust found a footing in his soul. But these occasions occurred +in the course of protracted and terrible struggles; they were +exceptions to his usual bearing; faith commonly bore him up in his +darkest trials. Ishbosheth, on the other hand, seems to have had +no resource, no sustaining power whatever, under visible reverses. +David's slips were like the temporary falling back of the gallant +soldier when surprised by a sudden onslaught, or when, fagged and +weary, he is driven back by superior numbers; but as soon as he +has recovered himself, he dashes back undaunted to the conflict. +Ishbosheth was like the soldier who throws down his arms and rushes +from the field as soon as he feels the bitter storm of battle. With +all his falls, there was something in David that showed him to be +cast in a different mould from ordinary men. He was habitually aiming +at a higher standard, and upheld by the consciousness of a higher +strength; he was ever and anon resorting to "the secret place of the +Most High," taking hold of Him as his covenant God, and labouring to +draw down from Him the inspiration and the strength of a nobler life +than that of the mass of the children of men. + +The godless course which Ishbosheth had followed in setting up a +claim to the throne in opposition to the Divine call of David not +only lost him the distinction he coveted, but cost him his life. +He made himself a mark for treacherous and heartless men; and one +day, while lying in his bed at noon, 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. + +Saul appears to have attacked the Beerothites, and given their +property to his favourites (comp. 1 Sam. xxii. 7 and 2 Sam. xxi. 2). +A curse went with the transaction; Ishbosheth, one of Saul's sons, +was murdered by two of those who were enriched by the unhallowed +deed; and many years after, his bloody house had to yield up seven of +his sons to justice, when a great famine showed that for this crime +wrath rested on the land. + +The murderers of Ishbosheth, Baanah and Rechab, mistaking the character +of David as much as it had been mistaken by the Amalekite who pretended +that he had slain Saul, 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. Mean and selfish themselves, they thought +other men must be the same. They were among those poor creatures who +are unable to rise above their own poor level in their conceptions of +others. When they presented themselves before David, he showed all +his former superiority to selfish, jealous feelings. He was roused +indeed to the highest pitch of indignation. We can hardly conceive the +astonishment and horror with which they would receive his answer, "As +the Lord liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity, when +one told me saying, Behold, Saul is dead, thinking to have brought good +tidings, I took hold on him and slew him in Ziklag, who thought that +I would have given him a reward for his tidings. How much more when +wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house upon his bed! +Shall I not therefore require his blood at your hand, and take you away +from the earth?" Simple death was not judged a severe enough punishment +for such guilt; as they had cut off the head of Ishbosheth after +killing him, so after they were slain their hands and their feet were +cut off; and thereafter they were hanged over the pool in Hebron--a +token of the execration in which the crime was held. Here was another +evidence that deeds of violence done to his rivals, so far from finding +acceptance, were detestable in the eyes of David. And here was another +fulfilment of the resolution which he had made when he took possession +of the throne--"I will early destroy all the wicked of the land, that I +may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord." + +These rapid, instantaneous executions by order of David have raised +painful feelings in many. Granting that the retribution was justly +deserved, and granting that the rapidity of the punishment was +in accord with military law, ancient and modern, and that it was +necessary in order to make a due impression on the people, still it +may be asked, How could David, as a pious man, hurry these sinners +into the presence of their Judge without giving them any exhortation +to repentance or leaving them a moment in which to ask for mercy? +The question is undoubtedly a difficult one. But the difficulty +arises in a great degree from our ascribing to David and others the +same knowledge of the future state and the same vivid impressions +regarding it that we have ourselves. We often forget that to those +who lived in the Old Testament the future life was wrapped in far +greater obscurity than it is to us. That good men had no knowledge +of it, we cannot allow; but certainly they knew vastly less about +it than has been revealed to us. And the general effect of this +was that the consciousness of a future life was much fainter even +among good men then than now. They did not think about it; it was +not present to their thoughts. There is no use trying to make David +either a wiser or a better man than he was. There is no use trying +to place him high above the level or the light of his age. If it be +asked, How did David feel with reference to the future life of these +men? the answer is, that probably it was not much, if at all, in his +thoughts. That which was prominent in his thoughts was that they had +sacrificed their lives by their atrocious wickedness, and the sooner +they were punished the better. If he thought of their future, he +would feel that they were in the hands of God, and that they would +be judged by Him according to the tenor of their lives. It cannot be +said that compassion for them mingled with David's feelings. The one +prominent feeling he had was that of their guilt; for that they must +suffer. And David, like other soldiers who have shed much blood, was +so accustomed to the sight of violent death, that the horror which it +usually excites was no longer familiar to him. + +It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ that has brought life and +immortality to light. So far from the future life being a dim and +shadowy revelation, it is now one of the clearest doctrines of the +faith. It is one of the doctrines which every earnest preacher of +the Gospel is profoundly earnest in dwelling on. That death ushers +us into the presence of God, that after death cometh the judgment, +that every one of us is to give account of himself to God, that the +final condition of men is to be one of misery or one of life, are +among the clearest revelations of the Gospel. And this fact invests +every man's death with profound significance in the Christian's +view. That the condemned criminal may have time to prepare, our +courts of law invariably interpose an interval between the sentence +and the punishment. Would only that men were more consistent here! +If we shudder at the thought of a dying sinner appearing in all the +blackness of his guilt before God, let us think more how we may +turn sinners from their wickedness while they live. Let us see the +atrocious guilt of encouraging them in ways of sin that cannot but +bring on them the retribution of a righteous God. O ye who, careless +yourselves, laugh at the serious impressions and scruples of others; +ye who teach those that would otherwise do better to drink and gamble +and especially to scoff; ye who do your best to frustrate the prayers +of tender-hearted fathers and mothers whose deepest desire is that +their children may be saved; ye, in one word, who are missionaries +of the devil and help to people hell--would that you pondered your +awful guilt! For "whosoever shall cause any of the least of these to +offend, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his +neck and he were cast into the depths of the sea." + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + _DAVID KING OF ALL ISRAEL._ + + 2 SAMUEL v. 1-9. + + +After seven and a half years of opposition,[2] David was now left +without a rival, and the representatives of the whole tribes came to +Hebron to anoint him king. They gave three reasons for their act, +nearly all of which, however, would have been as valid at the death +of Saul as they were at this time. + +The first was that David and they were closely related--"Behold, +we are thy bone and thy flesh;" rather an unusual reason, but in +the circumstances not unnatural. For David's alliance with the +Philistines had thrown some doubt on his nationality; it was not very +clear at that time whether he was to be regarded as a Hebrew or as a +naturalized Philistine; but now the doubts that had existed on that +point had all disappeared; conclusive evidence had been afforded +that David was out-and-out a Hebrew, and therefore that he was not +disqualified for the Hebrew throne. + +This conclusion is confirmed by what they give as their second +reason--his former exploits and services against their enemies. +"Also, in time past, when Saul was king, thou wast he that leddest +out and broughtest in Israel." In former days, David had proved +himself Saul's most efficient lieutenant; he had been at the head of +the armies of Israel, and his achievements in that capacity pointed +to him as the fit and natural successor of Saul. + +The third reason is the most conclusive--"The Lord said to thee, +Thou shalt feed My people Israel, and thou shalt be a captain over +Israel." It was little to the credit of the elders that this reason, +which should have been the first, and which needed no other reasons +to confirm it, was given by them as the last. The truth, however, is, +that if they had made it their first and great reason, they would +on the very face of their speech have condemned themselves. Why, if +this was the command of God, had they been so long of carrying it +out? Ought not effect to have been given to it at the very first, +independent of all other reasons whatsoever? The elders cannot but +give it a place among their reasons for offering him the throne; +but it is not allowed to have its own place, and it is added to the +others as if they needed to be supplemented before effect could be +given to it. The elders did not show that supreme regard to the +will of God which ought ever to be the first consideration in every +loyal heart. It is the great offence of multitudes, even among those +who make a Christian profession, that while they are willing to +pay regard to God's will as one of many considerations, they are +not prepared to pay supreme regard to it. It may be taken along +with other considerations, but it is not allowed to be the chief +consideration. Religion may have a place in their life, but not the +first place. But can a service thus rendered be acceptable to God? +Can God accept the second or the third place in any man's regard? +Does not the first commandment dispose of this question: "Thou shalt +have no other gods before Me"? + +"So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and King +David made a league with them in Hebron before the Lord; and they +anointed David king over Israel." + +It was a happy circumstance that David was able to neutralise the +effects of the murders of Abner and Ishbosheth, and to convince the +people that he had no share in these crimes. Notwithstanding the +prejudice against his side which in themselves they were fitted to +create in the supporters of Saul's family, they did not cause any +further opposition to his claims. The tact of the king removed any +stumbling-block that might have arisen from these untoward events. +And thus the throne of David was at last set up, amid the universal +approval of the nation. + +This was a most memorable event in David's history. It was the +fulfilment of one great instalment of God's promises to him. It was +fitted very greatly to deepen his trust in God, as his Protector and +his Friend. To be able to look back on even one case of a Divine +promise distinctly fulfilled to us is a great help to faith in all +future time. For David to be able to look back on that early period +of his life, so crowded with trials and sufferings, perplexities and +dangers, and to mark how God had delivered him from every one of +them, and, in spite of the fearful opposition that had been raised +against him, had at last seated him firmly on the throne, was well +fitted to advance the spirit of trust to that place of supremacy +which it gained in him. After such an overwhelming experience, it was +little wonder that his trust in God became so strong, and his purpose +to serve God so intense. The sorrows of death had compassed him, and +the pains of Hades had taken hold on him, yet the Lord had been with +him, and had most wonderfully delivered him. And in token of his +deliverance he makes his vow of continual service, "O Lord, truly I +am Thy servant; I am Thy servant and the son of Thine handmaid; Thou +hast loosed my bonds. I will offer to Thee the sacrifices of praise, +and will call upon the name of the Lord." + +We can hardly pass from this event in David's history without +recalling his typical relation to Him who in after-years was to +be known as the "Son of David." The resemblance between the early +history of David and that of our blessed Lord in some of its features +is too obvious to need to be pointed out. Like David, Jesus spends +His early years in the obscurity of a country village. Like him, He +enters on His public life under a striking and convincing evidence +of the Divine favour--David by conquering Goliath, Jesus by the +descent of the Spirit at His baptism, and the voice from heaven which +proclaimed, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." +Like David, soon after His Divine call Jesus is led out to the +wilderness, to undergo hardship and temptation; but, unlike David, +He conquers the enemy at every onset. Like David, Jesus attaches to +Himself a small but valiant band of followers, whose achievements +in the spiritual warfare rival the deeds of David's "worthies" in +the natural. Like David, Jesus is concerned for His relatives; +David, in his extremity, commits his father and mother to the king +of Moab: Jesus, on the cross, commits His mother to the beloved +disciple. In the higher exercises of David's spirit, too, there is +much that resembles the experiences of Christ. The convincing proof +of this is, that most of the Psalms which the Christian Church has +ever held to be Messianic have their foundation in the experiences +of David. It is impossible not to see that in one sense there must +have been a measureless distance between the experience of a sinful +man like David and that of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Divinity of +His person, the atoning efficacy of His death, and the glory of His +resurrection, Jesus is high above any of the sons of men. Yet there +must likewise have been some marvellous similarity between Him and +David, seeing that David's words of sorrow and of hope were so often +accepted by Jesus to express His own emotions. Strange indeed it is +that the words in which David, in the twenty-second Psalm, pours out +the desolation of his spirit, were the words in which Jesus found +expression for His unexampled distress upon the cross. Strange, +too, that David's deliverances were so like Christ's that the same +language does for both; nay, that the very words in which Jesus +commended His soul to the Father, as it was passing from His body, +were words which had first been used by David. + +But it does not concern us at present to look so much at the general +resemblances between David and our blessed Lord, as at the analogy in +the fortunes of their respective kingdoms. And here the most obvious +feature is the bitter opposition to their claims offered in both +instances even by those who might have been expected most cordially +to welcome them. Of both it might be said, "They came unto their own, +but their own received them not." First, David is hunted almost to +death by Saul; and then, even after Saul's death, his claims are +resisted by most of the tribes. So in His lifetime Jesus encounters +all the hatred and opposition of the scribes and Pharisees; and even +after His resurrection, the council do their utmost to denounce His +claims and frighten His followers. Against the one and the other the +enemy brings to bear all the devices of hatred and opposition. When +Jesus rose from the grave, we see Him personally raised high above +all the efforts of His enemies; when David was acknowledged king by +all Israel, he reached a corresponding elevation. And now that David +is recognised as king, how do we find him employing his energies? +It is to defend and bless his kingdom, to obtain for it peace and +prosperity, to expel its foes, to secure to the utmost of his power +the welfare of all his people. From His throne in glory, Jesus does +the same. And what encouragement may not the friends and subjects of +Christ's kingdom derive from the example of David! For if David, once +he was established in his kingdom, spared no effort to do good to his +people, if he scattered blessings among them from the stores which he +was able to command, how much more may Christ be relied on to do the +same! Has He not been placed far above all principality and power, +and every name that is named, and been made "Head over all things for +the Church which is His body"? Rejoice then, ye members of Christ's +kingdom! Raise your eyes to the throne of glory, and see how God has +set His King upon His holy hill of Zion! And be encouraged to tell +Him of all your own needs and the troubles and needs of His Church; +for has He not ascended on high, and led captivity captive, and +received gifts for men? And if you have faith as a grain of mustard +seed, will you not ask, and shall you not receive according to your +faith? Will not God supply all your need according to His riches in +glory by Christ Jesus? + + * * * * * + +From the spectacle at Hebron, when all the elders of Israel confirmed +David on the throne, and entered into a solemn league with reference +to the kingdom, we pass with David to the field of battle. The +first enterprise to which he addressed himself was the capture of +Jerusalem, or rather of the stronghold of Zion. It is not expressly +stated that he consulted God before taking this step, but we can +hardly suppose that he would do it without Divine direction. From +the days of Moses, God had taught His people that a place would be +appointed by Him where He would set His name; Jerusalem was to be +that place; and it cannot be thought that when David would not even +go up to Hebron without consulting the Lord, he would proceed to make +Jerusalem his capital without a Divine warrant. + +No doubt the place was well known to him. It had already received +consecration when Melchizedek reigned in it, "king of righteousness +and king of peace." In the days of Joshua its king was Adonizedek, +"lord of righteousness"--a noble title, brought down from the days +of Melchizedek, however unworthy the bearer of it might be of the +designation, for he was the head of the confederacy against Joshua +(Josh. x. 1, 3), and he ended his career by being hanged on a tree. +After the slaughter of the Philistine, David had carried his head +to Jerusalem, or to some place so near that it might be called by +that name; very probably Nob was the place, which, according to an +old tradition, was situated on the slope of Mount Olivet. Often in +his wanderings, when his mind was much occupied with fortresses +and defences, the image of this place would occur to him; observing +how the mountains were round about Jerusalem, he would see how well +it was adapted to be the metropolis of the country. But this could +not be done while the stronghold of Zion was in the hands of the +Jebusites, and while the Jebusites were so numerous that they might +be called "the people of the land." + +So impregnable was this stronghold deemed, that any attempt that +David might make to get possession of it was treated with contempt. +The precise circumstances of the siege are somewhat obscure; if we +compare the marginal readings and the text in the Authorized Version, +and still more in the Revised Version, we may see what difficulty +our translators had in arriving at the meaning of the passage. The +most probable supposition is that the Jebusites placed their lame +and blind on the walls, to show how little artificial defence the +place needed, and defied David to touch even these sorry defenders. +Such defiance David could not but have regarded as he regarded the +defiance of Goliath--as an insult to that mighty God in whose name +and in whose strength he carried on his work. Advancing in the same +strength in which he advanced against Goliath, he got possession of +the stronghold. To stimulate the chivalry of his men he had promised +the first place in his army to whoever, by means of the watercourse, +should first get on the battlements and defeat the Jebusites. Joab +was the man who made this daring and successful attempt. Reaping +the promised reward, he thereby raised himself to the first place +in the now united forces of the twelve tribes of Israel. After the +murder of Abner, he had probably been degraded; but now, by his dash +and bravery, he established his position on a firmer basis than +ever. While he contributed by this means to the security and glory +of the kingdom, he diminished at the same time the king's personal +satisfaction, inasmuch as David could not regard without anxiety the +possession of so much power and influence by so daring and useful, +but unscrupulous and bold-tempered, a man. + +The place thus taken was called the city, and sometimes the castle, +of David, and it became from this time his residence and the capital +of his kingdom. Much though the various sites in Jerusalem have been +debated, it is surely beyond reasonable doubt that the fortress +thus occupied was Mount Zion, the same height which still exists in +the south-western corner of the area which came to be covered by +Jerusalem. This seems to have been the only part that the Jebusites +had fortified, and with the loss of this stronghold their hold of +other parts of Jerusalem was lost. Henceforth, as a people, they +disappear from Jerusalem, although individual Jebusites might still, +like Araunah, hold patches of land in the neighbourhood (2 Sam. +xxiv. 16). The captured fortress was turned by David into his royal +residence. And seeing that a military stronghold was very inadequate +for the purposes of a capital, he began, by the building of Millo, +that extension of the city which was afterwards carried out by others +on so large a scale. + +By thus taking possession of Mount Zion and commencing those +extensions which helped to make Jerusalem so great and celebrated +a city, David introduced two names into the sacred language of the +Bible which have ever since retained a halo, surpassing all other +names in the world. Yet, very obviously, it was nothing in the +little hill which has borne the name of Zion for so many centuries, +nor in the physical features of the city of Jerusalem, that has +given them their remarkable distinction. Neither is it for mere +historical or intellectual associations, in the common sense of +the term, that they have attained their eminence. It would not be +difficult to find more picturesque rocks than Zion and more striking +cities than Jerusalem. It would not be difficult to find places more +memorable in art, in science, and intellectual culture. That which +gives them their unrivalled pre-eminence is their relation to God's +revelation of Himself to man. 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. The very idea +of God makes them great. + +But they impress much more than our imagination. 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 +for ever memorable, even if it had been signalized by nothing else. +Unless David was illuminated from above to a far greater degree than +we have any reason to believe, he could have little thought, when he +captured that citadel, what a marvellous chapter in the world's history +he was beginning. Century after century, millennium after millennium +has passed; and still Zion and Jerusalem draw all eyes and hearts, and +pilgrims from the ends of the earth, as they look even on the ruins of +former days, are conscious of a thrill which no other city in all the +world can give. Nor is that all. When a name has to be found on earth +for the home of the blessed in heaven, it is the new Jerusalem; when +the scene of heavenly worship, vocal with the voice of harpers harping +with their harps, has to be distinguished, it is said to be Mount Zion. +Is not all this a striking testimony that nothing so ennobles either +places or men as the gracious fellowship of God? View this distinction +of Jerusalem and Mount Zion, if you choose, as the result of mere +natural causes. Though the effect must be held far beyond the efficacy +of the cause, yet you have this fact: that the places in all the world +that to civilized mankind have become far the most glorious are those +with which it is believed that God maintained a close and unexampled +connection. View it, as it ought to be viewed, as a supernatural +result; count the fellowship of God at Jerusalem a real fellowship, and +His Spirit a living Spirit; count the presence of Jesus Christ to have +been indeed that of God manifest in the flesh; you have now a cause +really adequate to the effect, and you have a far more striking proof +than before of the dignity and glory which God's presence brings. Would +that every one of you might ponder the lesson of Jerusalem and Zion! O +ye sons of men, God has drawn nigh to you, and He has drawn nigh to you +as a God of salvation. Hear then His message! "For if they escaped not +who refused Him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape if +we refuse Him that speaketh from heaven." + +FOOTNOTE: + +[2] There is difficulty in adjusting all the dates. In chap. ii. 10, +it is said that Ishbosheth reigned two years. The usual explanation +is that he reigned two years before war broke out between him and +David. Another supposition is that there was an interregnum in Israel +of five and a half years, and that Ishbosheth reigned the last two +years of David's seven and a half. The accuracy of the text has been +questioned, and it has been proposed (on very slender MS. authority) +to read that Ishbosheth reigned _six_ years in place of two. + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + _THE KINGDOM ESTABLISHED._ + + 2 SAMUEL v. 10-25. + + +The events in David's reign that followed the capture of Mount Zion +and the appointment of Jerusalem as the capital of the country were +all of a prosperous kind. "David," we are told, "waxed greater and +greater, for the Lord of hosts was with him." "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." + +In these words we find two things: a fact and an explanation. The +fact is, that now the tide fairly turned in David's history, and +that, instead of a sad chronicle of hardship and disappointment, the +record of his reign becomes one of unmingled success and prosperity. +The fact is far from an unusual one in the history of men's lives. +How often, even in the case of men who have become eminent, has the +first stage of life been one of disappointment and sorrow, and the +last part one of prosperity so great as to exceed the fondest dreams +of youth. Effort after effort has been made by a young man to get a +footing in the literary world, but his books have proved comparative +failures. At last he issues one which catches in a remarkable degree +the popular taste, and thereafter fame and fortune attend him, and +lay their richest offerings at his feet. A similar tale is to be told +of many an artist and professional man. And even persons of more +ordinary gifts, who have found the battle of life awfully difficult +in its earlier stages, have gradually, through diligence and +perseverance, acquired an excellent position, more than fulfilling +every reasonable desire for success. No man is indeed exempt from +the risk of failure if he chooses a path of life for which he has +no special fitness, or if he encounters a storm of unfavourable +contingencies; but it is an encouraging thing for those who begin +life under hard conditions, but with a brave heart and a resolute +purpose to do their best, that, as a general rule, the sky clears as +the day advances, and the troubles and struggles of the morning yield +to success and enjoyment later in the day. + +But in the present instance we have not merely a statement of the +fact that the tide turned in the case of David, giving him prosperity +and enlargement in every quarter, but an explanation of the fact--it +was due to the gracious presence and favour of God. This by no +means implies that his adversities were due to an opposite cause. +God had been with him in the wilderness, save when he resorted to +deceit and other tricks of carnal policy; but He had been with him +to try him and to train him, not to crown him with prosperity. But +now, the purpose of the early training being accomplished, God is +with him to "grant him all his heart's desire and fulfil all his +counsel." If God, indeed, had not been with him, sanctifying his +early trials, He would not have been with him in the end, crowning +him with loving-kindness and tender mercies. But in the time of their +trials, God is with His people more in secret, hid, at least, from +the observation of the world; when the time comes for conspicuous +blessing and prosperity, He comes more into view in His own gracious +and bountiful character. In the case of David, God was not only +with him, but David "perceived" it; he was conscious of the fact. +His filial spirit recognized the source of all his prosperity and +blessing, as it had done when he was enabled in his boyhood to slay +the lion and the bear, and in his youth to triumph over Goliath. +Unlike many successful men, who ascribe their success so largely to +their personal talents and ways of working, he felt that the great +factor in his success was God. If he possessed talents and had used +them to advantage, it was God who had given them originally, and it +was God who had enabled him to employ them well. But in every man's +career, there are many other elements to be considered besides his +own abilities. There is what the world calls "luck," that is to say +those conditions of success which are quite out of our control; as +for instance in business the unexpected rise or fall of markets, +the occurrence of favourable openings, the honesty or dishonesty +of partners and connections, the stability or the vicissitudes of +investments. The difference between the successful man of the world +and the successful godly man in these respects is, that the one +speaks only of his luck, the other sees the hand of God in ordering +all such things for his benefit. This last was David's case. Well +did he know that the very best use he could make of his abilities +could not ensure success unless God was present to order and direct +to a prosperous issue the ten thousand incidental influences that +bore on the outcome of his undertakings. And when he saw that these +influences were all directed to this end, that nothing went wrong, +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 +honour Me, I will honour." + +But is this way of claiming to be specially favoured and blessed by +God not objectionable? Is it not what the world calls "cant"? Is it +not highly offensive in any man to claim to be a favourite of Heaven? +Is this not what hypocrites and fanatics are so fond of doing, and is +it not a course which every good, humble-minded man will be careful +to avoid? + +This may be a plausible way of reasoning, but one thing is +certain--it has not the support of Scripture. If it be an offence +publicly to recognise the special favour and blessing with which it +has pleased God to visit us, David himself was the greatest offender +in this respect the world has ever known. What is the great burden +of his psalms of thanksgiving? Is it not an acknowledgment of the +special mercies and favours that God bestowed on him, especially in +his times of great necessity? And does not the whole tenor of the +Psalms and the whole tenor of Scripture prove that good men are to +take especial note of all the mercies they receive from God, and +are not to confine them to their own bosom, but to tell of all His +gracious acts and bless His name for ever and ever? "They shall +abundantly utter the memory of Thy great goodness, and shall sing of +Thy righteousness." That God is to be acknowledged in all our ways, +that God's mercy in choosing us in Christ Jesus and blessing us with +all spiritual blessings in Him is to be especially recognized, and +that we are not to shrink from extolling God's name for conferring +on us favours infinitely beyond what belong to the men of the world, +are among the plainest lessons of the word of God. + +What the world is so ready to believe is, that this cannot be done +save in the spirit of the Pharisee who thanked God that he was not +as other men. And whenever a worldly man falls foul of one who owns +the distinguishing spiritual mercies that God has bestowed on him, +it is this accusation he is sure to hurl at his head. But this just +shows the recklessness and injustice of the world. Strange indeed if +God in His word has imposed on us a duty which cannot be discharged +but in company with those who say, "Stand by thyself; come not nigh; +I am holier than thou"! The truth is, the world cannot or will not +distinguish between the Pharisee, puffed up with the conceit of his +goodness, and for this goodness of his deeming himself the favourite +of Heaven, and the humble saint, conscious that in him dwelleth no +good thing, and filled with adoring wonder at the mercy of God in +making of one so unworthy a monument of His grace. The one is as +unlike the other as light is to darkness. What good men need to bear +in mind is, that when they do make mention of the special goodness +of God to them they should be most careful to do so in no boastful +mood, but in the spirit of a most real, and not an assumed or formal, +humility. And seeing how ready the world is to misunderstand and +misrepresent the feeling, and to turn into a reproach what is done +as a most sincere act of gratitude to God, it becomes them to be +cautious how they introduce such topics among persons who have no +sympathy with their view. "Cast not your pearls before swine," said +our Lord, "lest they turn again and rend you." "Come near," said the +Psalmist, "and hear, _all ye that fear God_, and I will declare what +He hath done for my soul." + +Midway between the two statements before us on the greatness and +prosperity which God conferred on David, mention is made of his +friendly relations with the king of Tyre (ver. 11). The Phœnicians +were not included among the seven nations of Palestine whom the +Israelites were to extirpate, so that a friendly alliance with them +was not forbidden. It appears that Hiram was disposed for such an +alliance, and David accepted of his friendly overtures. There is +something refreshing in this peaceful episode in a history and in a +time when war and violence seem to have been the normal condition of +the intercourse of neighbouring nations. Tyre had a great genius for +commerce; and the spirit of commerce is alien from the spirit of war. +That it is always a nobler spirit cannot be said; for while commerce +_ought_ to rest on the idea of mutual benefit, and many of its sons +honourably fulfil this condition, it often degenerates into the most +atrocious selfishness, and heeds not what havoc it may inflict on +others provided it derives personal gain from its undertakings. What +an untold amount of sin and misery has been wrought by the opium +traffic, as well as by the traffic in strong drink, when pressed by +cruel avarice on barbarous nations that have so often lost all of +humanity they possessed through the fire-water of the _Christian_ +trader! But we have no reason to believe that there was anything +specially hurtful in the traffic which Tyre now began with Israel, +although the intercourse of the two countries afterwards led to other +results pernicious to the latter--the introduction of Phœnician +idolatry and the overthrow of pure worship in the greater part of +the tribes of Israel. Meanwhile what Hiram does is to send to David +cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons, by means of whom a more +civilized style of dwelling is introduced; and the new city which +David has commenced to build, and especially the house which is to +be his own, present features of skill and beauty hitherto unknown in +Israel. For, amid all his zeal for higher things, the young king of +Israel does not disdain to advance his kingdom in material comforts. +Of these, as of other things of the kind, he knows well that they are +good if a man use them lawfully; and his effort is at once to promote +the welfare of the kingdom in the amenities and comforts of life, +and to deepen that profound regard for God and that exalted estimate +of His favour which will prevent His people from relying for their +prosperity on mere outward conditions, and encourage them ever to +place their confidence in their heavenly Protector and King. + +We pass by, as not requiring more comment than we have already +bestowed on a parallel passage (2 Sam. iii. 2-5), the unsavoury +statement that "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. The moral +element involved in the arrangement he does not seem to have at all +apprehended; and consequently, amid all the glory and prosperity that +God has given him, he thoughtlessly multiplies the evil that was to +spread havoc and desolation in his house. + +We proceed, therefore, to what occupies the remainder of this +chapter--the narrative of his wars with the Philistines. Two +campaigns against these inveterate enemies of Israel are recorded, +and the decisive encounter in both cases took place in the +neighbourhood of Jerusalem. + +The narrative is so brief that we have difficulty in apprehending all +the circumstances. The first invasion of the Philistines took place +soon after David was anointed king over all Israel. It is not said +whether this occurred before David possessed himself of Mount Zion, +nor, considering the structure common in Hebrew narrative, does the +circumstance that in the history it follows that event prove that it +was subsequent to it in the order of time. On the contrary, there is +an expression that seems hardly consistent with this idea. We read +(ver. 17) that when David heard of the invasion he "went _down_ into +the hold." Now, this expression could not be used of the stronghold +of Zion, for that hill is on the height of the central plateau, and +invariably the Scriptures speak of "going up to Zion." If he had +possession of Mount Zion, he would surely have gone to it when the +Philistines took possession of the plain of Rephaim. The hold to which +he went down must have been in a lower position; indeed, "the hold" +is the expression used of the place or places of protection to which +David resorted when he was pursued by Saul (see 1 Sam. xxii. 4). +Further, when we turn to the twenty-third chapter of this book, which +records some memorable incidents of the war with the Philistines, we +find (vers. 13, 14) that when the Philistines pitched in the valley +of Rephaim David was in a hold near the cave of Adullam. The valley +of Rephaim, or "the giants," is an extensive plain to the south-west +of Jerusalem, forming a great natural entrance to the city. When we +duly consider the import of these facts, we see that the campaign was +very serious, and David's difficulties very great. The Philistines +were encamped in force on the summit of the plateau near the natural +metropolis of the country. David was encamped in a hold in the low +country in the south-west, making use of that very cave of Adullam +where he had taken refuge in his conflicts with Saul. This was far +from a hopeful state of matters. To the eye of man, his position may +have appeared very desperate. Such an emergency was a fit time for a +solemn application to God for direction. "David inquired of the Lord, +saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? Wilt Thou deliver them into +mine hand? And the Lord said unto David, Go up, for I will doubtless +deliver the Philistines into thine hand." Up, accordingly, David went, +attacked the Philistines and smote them at a place called Baal-perazim, +somewhere most likely between Adullam and Jerusalem. The expression +"The Lord hath broken forth on mine enemies before me, as the breach +of waters," seems to imply that He broke the Philistine host into two, +like flooded water breaking an embankment, preventing them from uniting +and rallying, and sending them in two detachments into flight and +confusion. Considering the superior position of the Philistines, and +the great advantage they seem to have had over David in numbers also, +this was a signal victory, even though it did not reduce the foe to +helplessness. + +For when the Philistines had got time to recover, they again came +up, pitched again in the plain of Rephaim, and appeared to render +unavailing the signal achievement of David at Baal-perazim. Again +David inquired what he should do. The reply was somewhat different +from before. David was not to go straight up to face the enemy, as +he had done before. He was to "fetch a compass behind them," that +is, as we understand it, to make a circuit, so as to get in the +enemy's rear over against a grove of mulberry trees. That tree has +not yet disappeared from the neighbourhood of Jerusalem; a mulberry +tree still marks the spot in the valley of Jehoshaphat where, +according to tradition, Isaiah was sawn asunder (Stanley's "Sinai +and Palestine"). When he should hear "the sound of a going" (Revised +Version, "the sound of a march") in the tops of the mulberry trees, +then he was to bestir himself. It is difficult to conceive any +natural cause that should give rise to a sound like that of a march +"in the tops of the mulberry trees;" but if not a natural, it must +have been a supernatural indication of some sound that would alarm +the Philistines and make the moment favourable for an attack. It is +probable that the presence of David and his troop in the rear of the +Philistines was not suspected, the mulberry trees forming a screen +between them. When David got his opportunity, he availed himself +of it to great advantage; he inflicted a thorough defeat on the +Philistines, and smiting them from Geba to Gazer, he appears to have +all but annihilated their force. In this way, he gave the _coup de +grâce_ to his former allies. + +We have said that it appears to have been during these campaigns +against the Philistines that the incidents took place which are +recorded fully in the twenty-third chapter of this book. It does not +seem possible that these incidents occurred at or about the time when +David was flying from Saul, at which time the cave of Adullam was +one of his resorts. Neither is it likely that they occurred during +the early years of David's reign, while he was yet at strife with +the house of Saul. At least, it is more natural to refer them to the +time when the Philistines, having heard that David had been anointed +king over Israel, came up to seek David, although we do not consider +it impossible that they occurred in the earlier period of his reign. +The record shows how wonderfully the spirit of David had passed into +his men, and what splendid deeds of courage were performed by them, +often in the face of tremendous odds. We get a fine glimpse here of +one of the great sources of David's popularity--his extraordinary +_pluck_ as we now call it, and readiness for the most daring +adventures, often crowned with all but miraculous success. In all +ages, men of this type have been marvellous favourites with their +comrades. The annals of the British army, and still more the British +navy, contain many such records. And even when we go down to pirates +and freebooters, we find the odium of their mode of life in many +cases remarkably softened by the splendour of their valour, by their +running unheard-of risks, and sometimes by sheer daring and bravery +obtaining signal advantages over the greatest odds. The achievements +of David's "three mighties," as well as of his "thirty," formed +a splendid instance of this kind of warfare. All that we know of +them is comprised within a few lines, but when we call to mind the +enthusiasm that used to be awakened all over our own country by the +achievements of Nelson and his officers, or more recently by General +Gordon, of China and Egypt, we can easily understand the thrilling +effect which these wonderful tales of valour would have throughout +all the tribes of Israel. + +The personal affection for David and his heroes which would thus +be formed must have been very warm, nay, even enthusiastic. In the +case of David, whatever may have been true of the others, all the +influence thus acquired was employed for the welfare of the nation +and the glory of God. The supreme desire of his heart was that the +people might give all the glory to Jehovah, and derive from these +brilliant successes fresh assurances how faithful God was to His +promises to Israel. Alike as a man of piety and a man of patriotism, +he made this his aim. Knowing as he did what was due to God, and +animated by a profound desire to render to God His due, he would have +been horrified had he intercepted in his own person aught of the +honour and glory which were His. But for the people's sake also, as a +man of patriotism, his desire was equally strong that God should have +all the glory. What were military successes however brilliant to the +nation, or a reputation however eminent, compared to their enjoying +the favour and friendship of God? Success--how ephemeral it was; +reputation--as transient as the glow of a cloud beside the setting +sun; but God's favour and gracious presence with the nation was a +perpetual treasure, enlivening, healing, strengthening, guiding for +evermore. "Happy is that people that is in such a case; yea, happy is +that people whose God is the Lord." + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + _THE ARK BROUGHT UP TO JERUSALEM._ + + 2 SAMUEL vi. + + +The first care of David when settled on the throne had been to obtain +possession of the stronghold of Zion, on which and on the city which +was to surround it he fixed as the capital of the kingdom and the +dwelling-place of the God of Israel. This being done, he next set +about bringing up the ark of the testimony from Kirjath-jearim, where +it had been left after being restored by the Philistines in the early +days of Samuel. David's first attempt to place the ark on Mount Zion +failed through want of due reverence on the part of those who were +transporting it; but after an interval of three months the attempt +was renewed, and the sacred symbol was duly installed on Mount Zion, +in the midst of the tabernacle prepared by David for its reception. + +In bringing up the ark to Jerusalem, the king showed a commendable +desire to interest the whole nation, as far as possible, in the +solemn service. He gathered together the chosen men of Israel, thirty +thousand, and went with them to bring up the ark from Baale of +Judah, which must be another name for Kirjath-jearim, distant from +Jerusalem about ten miles. The people, numerous as they were, grudged +neither the time, the trouble, nor the expense. A handful might have +sufficed for all the actual labour that was required; but thousands +of the chief people were summoned to be present, and that on the +principle both of rendering due honour to God, and of conferring a +benefit on the people. It is not a handful of professional men only +that should be called to take a part in the service of religion; +Christian people generally should have an interest in the ark of +God; and other things being equal, that Church which interests the +greatest number of people and attracts them to active work will not +only do most for advancing God's kingdom, but will enjoy most of +inward life and prosperity. + +The joyful spirit in which this service was performed by David +and his people is another interesting feature of the transaction. +Evidently it was not looked on as a toilsome service, but as a +blessed festival, adapted to cheer the heart and raise the spirits. +What was the precise nature of the service? It was to bring into +the heart of the nation, into the new capital of the kingdom, the +ark of the covenant, that piece of sacred furniture which had been +constructed nearly five hundred years before in the wilderness of +Sinai, the memorial of God's holy covenant with the people, and the +symbol of His gracious presence among them. In spirit it was bringing +God into the very midst of the nation, and on the choicest and most +prominent pedestal the country now supplied setting up a constant +memento of the presence of the Holy One. Rightly understood, the +service could bring joy only to spiritual hearts; it could give +pleasure to none who had reason to dread the presence of God. To +those who knew Him as their reconciled Father and the covenant God +of the nation, it was most attractive. It was as if the sun were +again shining on them after a long eclipse, or as if the father of +a loved and loving family had returned after a weary absence. God +enthroned on Zion, God in the midst of Jerusalem--what happier or +more thrilling thought was it possible to cherish? God, the sun and +shield of the nation, occupying for His residence the one fitting +place in all the land, and sending over Jerusalem and over all the +country emanations of love and grace, full of blessing for all that +feared His name! The happiness with which this service was entered on +by David and his people is surely the type of the spirit in which all +service to God should be rendered by those whose sins He has blotted +out, and on whom He has bestowed the privileges of His children. + +But the best of services may be gone about in a faulty way. There may +be some criminal neglect of God's will that, like the dead fly in +the apothecary's pot of ointment, causes the perfume to send forth a +stinking savour. And so it was on this occasion. God had expressly +directed that when the ark was moved from place to place it should be +borne on poles on the shoulders of the Levites, and never carried in a +cart, like a common piece of furniture. But in the removal of the ark +from Kirjath-jearim, this direction was entirely overlooked. Instead of +following the directions given to Moses, the example of the Philistines +was copied when they sent the ark back to Bethshemesh. The Philistines +had placed it in a new cart, and the men of Israel now did the same. +What induced them to follow the example of the Philistines rather than +the directions of Moses, we do not know, and can hardly conjecture. It +does not appear to have been a mere oversight. It had something of a +deliberate plan about it, as if the law given in the wilderness were +now obsolete, and in so small a matter any method might be chosen that +the people liked. It was substituting a heathen example for a Divine +rule in the worship of God. We cannot suppose that David was guilty +of deliberately setting aside the authority of God. On his part, it +may have been an error of inadvertence. But that somewhere there was +a serious offence is evident from the punishment with which it was +visited (1 Chron. xv. 13). The jagged bridlepaths of those parts are +not at all adapted for wheeled conveyances, and when the oxen stumbled, +and the ark was shaken, Uzzah, who was driving the cart, put forth +his hand to steady it. "The anger of God," we are told, "was kindled +against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he +died by the ark of God." His effort to steady the ark must have been +made in a presumptuous way, without reverence for the sacred vessel. +Only a Levite was authorized to touch it, and Uzzah was apparently a +man of Judah. The punishment may seem to us hard for an offence which +was ceremonial rather than moral; but in that economy, moral truth +was taught through ceremonial observances, and neglect of the one was +treated as involving neglect of the other. The punishment was like the +punishment of Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, for offering strange +fire in their censers. It may be that both in their case, and in the +case of Uzzah, there were unrecorded circumstances, unknown to us, +making it clear that the ceremonial offence was not a mere accident, +but that it was associated with evil personal qualities well fitted to +provoke the judgment of God. The great lesson for all time is to beware +of following our own devices in the worship of God when we have clear +instructions in His word how we are to worship Him. + +This lamentable event put a sudden end to the joyful service. It +was like the bursting of a thunderstorm on an excursion party that +rapidly sends every one to flight. And it is doubtful whether the +spirit shown by David was altogether right. He was displeased +"because the Lord had made a breach upon Uzzah, and he called the +name of the place Perez-uzzah to this day. And David was afraid of +the Lord that day and said, How shall the ark of the Lord come to +me? So David would not remove the ark of the Lord into the city of +David; but David carried it aside into the house of Obed-edom the +Gittite." The narrative reads as if David resented the judgment which +God had inflicted, and in a somewhat petulant spirit abandoned the +enterprise because he found God too hard to please. That some such +feeling should have fluttered about his heart was not to be wondered +at; but surely it was a feeling to which he ought not to have given +entertainment, as it certainly was one on which he ought not to have +acted. If God was offended, David surely knew that He must have had +good ground for being so. It became him and the people, therefore, +to accept God's judgment, humble themselves before Him, and seek +forgiveness for the negligent manner in which they had addressed +themselves to this very solemn service. Instead of this David throws +up the matter in a fit of sullen temper, as if it were impossible to +please God in it, and the enterprise must therefore be abandoned. He +leaves the ark in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite, returning to +Jerusalem crestfallen and displeased, altogether in a spirit most +opposite to that in which he had set out. + +It may happen to you that some Christian undertaking on which you +have entered with great zeal and ardour, and without any surmise +that you are not doing right, is not blessed, but meets with some +rough shock, that places you in a very painful position. In the +most disinterested spirit, you have tried perhaps to set up in +some neglected district a school or a mission, and you expect all +encouragement and approbation from those who are most interested in +the welfare of the district. Instead of receiving approval, you find +that you are regarded as an enemy and an intruder. You are attacked +with unexampled rudeness, sinister aims are laid to your charge, +and the purpose of your undertaking is declared to be to hurt and +discourage those whom you were bound to aid. The shock is so violent +and so rude that for a time you cannot understand it. On the part of +man it admits of no reasonable justification whatever. But when you +go into your closet, and think of the matter as permitted by God, +you wonder still more why God should thwart you in your endeavour +to do good. Rebellious feelings hover about your heart that if God +is to treat you in this way, it were better to abandon His service +altogether. But surely no such feeling is ever to find a settled +place in your heart. You may be sure that the rebuff which God has +permitted you to encounter is meant as a trial of your faith and +humility; and if you wait on God for further light and humbly ask a +true view of God's will; if, above all, you beware of retiring in +sullen silence from God's active service, good may come out of the +apparent evil, and you may yet find cause to bless God even for the +shock that made you so uncomfortable at the time. + +The Lord does not forsake His people, nor leave them for ever under +a cloud. It was not long before the downcast heart of David was +reassured. When the ark had been left at the house of Obed-edom, +Obed-edom was not afraid to take it in. Its presence in other +places had hitherto been the signal for disaster and death. Among +the Philistines, in city after city, at Bethshemesh, and now at +Perez-uzzah, it had spread death on every side. Obed-edom was no +sufferer. Probably he was a God-fearing man, conscious of no purpose +but that of honouring God. A manifest blessing rested on his house. +"The God of heaven," says Bishop Hall, "pays liberally for His +lodging." It is not so much God's ark in our time and country that +needs a lodging, but God's servants, God's poor, sometimes persecuted +fugitives flying from an oppressor, very often pious men in foreign +countries labouring under infinite discouragements to serve God. The +Obed-edom who takes them in will not suffer. Even should he be put to +loss or inconvenience, the day of recompense draweth nigh. "I was a +stranger, and ye took Me in." + +Again, then, King David, encouraged by the experience of Obed-edom, +goes forth in royal state to bring up the ark to Jerusalem. The error +that had proved so fatal was now rectified. "David said, None ought +to carry the ark of God but the Levites, for them hath the Lord +chosen to carry the ark of God and to minister unto Him for ever" (1 +Chron. xv. 2). In token of his humility and his conviction that every +service that man renders to God is tainted and needs forgiveness, +oxen and fatlings were sacrificed ere the bearers of the ark had +well begun to move. The spirit of enthusiastic joy again swayed the +multitude, brightened probably by the assurance that no judgment +need now be dreaded, but that they might confidently look for the +smile of an approving God. The feelings of the king himself were +wonderfully wrought up, and he gave free expression to the joy of his +heart. There are occasions of great rejoicing when all ceremony is +forgotten, and no forms or appearances are suffered to stem the tide +of enthusiasm as it gushes right from the heart. It was an occasion +of this kind to David. The check he had sustained three months before +had only dammed up his feelings, and they rolled out now with all the +greater volume. His soul was stirred by the thought that the symbol +of Godhead was now to be placed in his own city, close to his own +dwelling; that it was to find an abiding place of rest in the heart +of the kingdom, on the heights where Melchizedek had reigned, close +to where he had blessed Abraham, and which God had destined as His +own dwelling from the foundations of the world. Glorious memories +of the past, mingling with bright anticipations of the future, +recollections of the grace revealed to the fathers, and visions of +the same grace streaming forth to distant ages, as generation after +generation of the faithful came up here to attend the holy festivals, +might well excite that tumult of emotion in David's breast before +which the ordinary restraints of royalty were utterly flung aside. +He sacrificed, he played, he sang, he leapt and danced before the +Lord, with all his might; he made a display of enthusiasm which the +cold-hearted Michal, as she could not understand it nor sympathise +with it, had the folly to despise and the cruelty to ridicule. The +ordinary temper of the sexes was reversed--the man was enthusiastic; +the woman was cold. Little did she know of the springs of true +enthusiasm in the service of God! To her faithless eye, the ark +was little more than a chest of gold, and where it was kept was of +little consequence; her carnal heart could not appreciate the glory +that excelleth; her blind eye could see none of the visions that had +overpowered the soul of her husband. + +A few other circumstances are briefly noticed in connection with the +close of the service, when the ark had been solemnly enshrined within +the tabernacle that David had reared for it on Mount Zion. + +The first is that "David offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings +before the Lord." The burnt-offering was a fresh memorial of sin, and +therefore a fresh confession that even in connection with that very +holy service there were sins to be confessed, atoned for, and forgiven. +For there is this great difference between the service of the formalist +and the service of the earnest worshipper: that while the one can +see nothing faulty in his performance, the other sees a multitude of +imperfections in his. Clearer light and a clearer eye, even the light +thrown by the glory of God's purity on the best works of man, reveal +a host of blemishes, unseen in ordinary light and by the carnal eye. +Our very prayers need to be purged, our tears to be wept over, our +repentances repented of. Little could the best services ever done by +him avail the spiritual worshipper if it were not for the High-priest +over the house of God who ever liveth to make intercession for him. + +Again, we find David after the offering of the burnt-offerings and the +peace-offerings "blessing the people in the name of the Lord of hosts." +This was something more than merely expressing a wish or offering a +prayer for their welfare. It was like the benediction with which we +close our public services. The benediction is more than a prayer. The +servant of the Lord appears in the attitude of dropping on the heads +of the people the blessing which he invokes. Not that he or any man can +convey heavenly blessings to a people that do not by faith appropriate +them and rejoice in them. But the act of benediction implies this: +These blessings are yours if you will only have them. They are +provided, they are made over to you, if you will only accept them. The +last act of public worship is a great encouragement to faith. When the +peace of God that passeth all understanding, or the blessing of God the +Father, Son and Holy Ghost, or the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and +the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost are invoked over +your heads, it is to assure you that if you will but accept of them +through Jesus Christ, these great blessings are actually yours. True, +there is no part of our service more frequently spoiled by formality; +but there is none richer with true blessing to faith. So when David +blessed the people, it was an assurance to them that God's blessing +was within their reach; it was theirs if they would only take it. How +strange that any hearts should be callous under such an announcement; +that any should fail to leap to it, as it were, and rejoice in it, as +glad tidings of great joy! + +The third thing David did was to deal to every one of Israel, both +man and woman, a loaf of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a +flagon of wine. It was a characteristic act, worthy of a bountiful +and generous nature like David's. It may be that associating bodily +gratifications with Divine service is liable to abuse, that the taste +which it gratifies is not a high one, and that it tempts some men +to attend religious services for the same reason as some followed +Jesus--for the loaves and fishes. Yet Jesus did not abstain on some +rare occasions from feeding the multitude, though the act was +liable to abuse. The example both of David and of Jesus may show us +that though not habitually, yet occasionally, it is both right and +fitting that religious service should be associated with a simple +repast. There is nothing in Scripture to warrant the practice, +adopted in some missions in very poor districts, of feeding the +people habitually when they come up for religious service, and there +is much in the argument that such a practice degrades religion and +obscures the glory of the blessings which Divine service is designed +to bring to the poor. But occasionally the rigid rule may be somewhat +relaxed, and thus a sort of symbolical proof afforded that godliness +is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is +and of that which is to come. + +The last thing recorded of David is, that he returned to bless his +house. The cares of the State and the public duties of the day +were not allowed to interfere with his domestic duty. Whatever may +have been his ordinary practice, on this occasion at least he was +specially concerned for his household, and desirous that in a special +sense they should share the blessing. It is plain from this that, +amid all the imperfections of his motley household, he could not +allow his children to grow up ignorant of God, thus dealing a rebuke +to all who, outdoing the very heathen in heathenism, have houses +without an altar and without a God. It is painful to find that the +spirit of the king was not shared by every member of his family. +It was when he was returning to this duty that Michal met him and +addressed to him these insulting words: "How glorious was the king +of Israel to-day, who uncovered himself to-day in the eyes of the +handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamefully +uncovers himself." On the mind of David himself, this ebullition +had no effect but to confirm him in his feeling, and reiterate his +conviction that his enthusiasm reflected on him not shame but glory. +But a woman of Michal's character could not but act like an icicle +on the spiritual life of the household. She belonged to a class +that cannot tolerate enthusiasm in religion. In any other cause, +enthusiasm may be excused, perhaps extolled and admired: in the +painter, the musician, the traveller, even the child of pleasure; +the only persons whose enthusiasm is unbearable are those who are +enthusiastic in their regard for their Saviour, and in the answer +they give to the question, "What shall I render to the Lord for all +His benefits toward me?" There are, doubtless, times to be calm, +and times to be enthusiastic; but can it be right to give all our +coldness to Christ and all our enthusiasm to the world? + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + _PROPOSAL TO BUILD A TEMPLE._ + + 2 SAMUEL vii. + + +The spirit of David was essentially active and fond of work. He was +one of those who are ever pressing on, not content to keep things as +they are, moving personally towards improvement, and urging others +to do the same. Even in Eastern countries, with their proverbial +stillness and conservatism, such men are sometimes found, but they +are far more common elsewhere. Great undertakings do not frighten +them; they have spirit enough for a lifetime of effort, they never +seem weary of pushing on. When they look on the disorders of the +world they are not content with the languid utterance, "Something +must be done;" they consider what it is possible for them to do, and +gird themselves to the doing of it. + +For some time David seems to have found ample scope for his active +energies in subduing the Philistines and other hostile tribes that +were yet mingled with the Israelites, and that had long given them +much annoyance. His friendship with Hiram of Tyre probably gave a +new impulse to his mind, and led him to project many improvements +in Jerusalem and elsewhere. When all his enemies were quieted, and +he sat in his house, he began to consider to what work of internal +improvement he would now give his attention. Having recently removed +the Ark, and placed it in a tabernacle on Mount Zion, constructed +probably in accordance with the instructions given to Moses in the +wilderness, he did not at first contemplate the erection of any +other kind of building for the service of God. It was while he sat +in his new and elegant house that the idea came into his mind that +it was not seemly that he should be lodged in so substantial a home, +while the Ark of God dwelt between curtains. Curtains might have +been suitable, nay, necessary, in the wilderness, where the Ark had +constantly to be moved about; and even in the land of Israel, while +the nation was comparatively unsettled, curtains might still have +been best; but now that a permanent resting-place had been found for +the Ark, was it right that there should be such a contrast between +the dwelling-place of David and the dwelling-place of God? It was +the very argument that was afterwards used by Haggai and Zechariah +after the return from captivity, to rouse the languid zeal of their +countrymen for the re-erection of the house of God. "Is it time for +you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses and this house lie waste?" + +A generous heart, even though it be a godless one, is uncomfortable +when surrounded by elegance and luxury, while starvation and misery +prevail in its neighbourhood. We see in our day the working of this +feeling in those cases, unhappily too few, where men and women born +to gold and grandeur feel wretched unless they are doing something +to equalise the conditions of life by helping those who are born to +rags and wretchedness. To the feelings of the godly a disreputable +place of worship, contrasting meanly with the taste and elegance of +the hall, or even the villa, is a pain and a reproach. There is not +much need at the present day for urging the unseemliness of such a +contrast, for the tendency of our time is toward handsome church +buildings, and in many cases towards extravagance in the way of +embellishment. What we have more need to look at is the disproportion +of the sums paid by rich men, and even by men who can hardly be +called rich, in gratifying their own tastes and in extending the +kingdom of Christ. We are far from blaming those who, having great +wealth, spend large sums from year to year on yachts, on equipages, +on picture galleries, on jewellery and costly furnishings. Wealth +which remunerates honest and wholesome labour is not all selfishly +thrown away. But it is somewhat strange that we hear so seldom of +rich Christian men devoting their superfluous wealth to maintaining +a mission station with a whole staff of labourers, or to the rearing +of colleges, or hospitals, or Christian institutions, which might +provide on a large scale for Christian activity in ways that might +be wonderfully useful. It is in this direction that there is most +need to press the example of David. When shall this new enlargement +of Christian activity take place? Or when shall men learn that the +pleasure of spreading the blessings of the Gospel by the equipment +and maintenance of a foreign missionary or mission station far +exceeds anything to be derived from refinements and luxuries of which +they themselves are the object and the centre? + +When the thought of building a temple occurred to David, he conferred +on the subject with the prophet Nathan. The Scripture narrative +is so brief that it gives us no information about Nathan, except +in connection with two or three events in which he had a share. +Apparently he was a prophet of Jerusalem, on intimate terms with David, +and perhaps attached to his court. When first consulted on the subject +by the king, he gave him a most encouraging answer, but without having +taken any special steps to ascertain the mind of God. He presumed that +as the undertaking was itself so good, and as David generally was so +manifestly under Divine guidance, nothing was to be said but that he +should go on. "Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine +heart, for the Lord is with thee." That same night, however, a message +came to Nathan that gave a new complexion to the proposal. He was +instructed to remind David, first, that God had never complained of +His tabernacle-dwelling from the day when He brought up the children +of Israel to that hour, and had never given a hint that He desired a +house of cedar. Further, he was commissioned to convey to David the +assurance of God's continued interest and favour towards him--of that +interest which began by taking him from the sheepfold to make him king +over Israel, and which had been shown continuously in the success +which had been given him in all his enterprises, and the great name he +had acquired, entitling him to rank with the great men of the earth. +Towards the nation of Israel, too, God was actuated by the same feeling +of affectionate interest; they would be planted, set firm in a place +of their own, delivered from the thraldom of enemies, and allowed to +prosper and expand in peace and comfort. Still further--and this was a +very special blessing--Nathan was to inform David that, unlike Saul, he +was not to be the only one of his race to occupy the throne; his son +would reign after he was gathered to his fathers, the kingdom would +be established in his hands, and the throne of his kingdom would be +established for ever. To this favoured son of his would be entrusted +the honour of building the temple, God would be his Father, and he +would be God's son. If he should fall into sin, he would be chastised +for his sin, but not destroyed. The Divine mercy would not depart from +him as it had departed from Saul. The kernel of the message was in +these gracious concluding words--"Thine house and thy kingdom shall be +established for ever before thee; thy throne shall be established for +ever." + +Here, certainly, was a very remarkable message, containing both +elements of refusal and elements of encouragement. The proposal which +David had made to build a temple was declined. The time for a change, +though drawing near, had not yet arrived. The curtain-canopied +tabernacle had been designed by God to wean His people from those +sensuous ideas of worship to which the magnificent temples of Egypt +had accustomed them, and to give them the true idea of a spiritual +service, though not without the visible emblem of a present God. +The time had not yet arrived for changing this simple arrangement. +God could impart His blessing in the humble tent as well as in the +stately temple. As long as it was God's pleasure to dwell in the +tabernacle, so long might David expect that His grace would be +imparted there. So we may say, that so long as it is manifestly +God's pleasure that a body of His worshippers shall occupy a humble +tabernacle, so long may they expect that He will shine forth there, +imparting that fulness of grace and blessing which is the true and +only glory of any place of worship. + +But the message through Nathan contained also elements of +encouragement, chiefly with reference to David's offspring, and to the +stability and permanence of his throne. To appreciate the value of +this promise for the future, we must bear in mind the great insecurity +of new dynasties in Eastern countries, and the fearful tragedies that +were often perpetrated to get rid of the old king's family, and prepare +the way for some ambitious and unscrupulous usurper. + +We hardly need to recall the tragic end of Saul, the base murder of +Ishbosheth, or the painful deaths of Asahel and Abner. We have but to +think of what happened in the sister kingdom of the ten tribes, from +the death of the son of its first king, Jeroboam, on to its final +extinction. What an awful record the history of that kingdom presents +of conspiracies, murders, and massacres! How miserable a distinction +it was to be of the seed royal in those days! It only made one the +more conspicuous a mark for the poisoned cup or the assassin's +dagger. It associated with the highest families of the realm horrors +and butcheries of which the poorest had no cause even to dream. Any +one who had been raised to a throne could not but sicken at the +thought of the atrocities which his very elevation might one day +bring upon his children. A new king could hardly enjoy his dignity +but by steeling his heart against every feeling of parental love. + +And, moreover, these constant changes of the royal family were very +hurtful to the kingdom at large. They divided it into sections that +raged against each other with terrible fury. For of all wars civil +wars are the worst for the fierceness of the passions they evoke, and +the horrors which they inflict. Scotland and England too have had too +much experience of these conflicts in other days. Many generations +have elapsed since they were ended, but we have many memorials +still of the desolation which they spread, while our progress and +prosperity, ever since they passed away, show us clearly of what a +multitude of mercies they robbed the land. + +To David, therefore, it was an unspeakable comfort to be assured that +his dynasty would be a stable dynasty; that his son would reign after +him; that a succession of princes would follow with unquestioned +right to the throne; and that if his son, or his son's son, should +commit sins deserving of chastisement, that chastisement would not +be withheld, but it would not be fatal, it would bring the needed +correction, and thus the throne would be secure for ever. A father +naturally desires peace and prosperity for his children, and if he +extends his view down the generations, the desire is strong that it +may be well with them and with their seed for ever. But no father, +in ordinary circumstances, can flatter himself that his posterity +shall escape their share of the current troubles and calamities of +life. David, but for this assurance, must have looked forward to +his posterity encountering their share of those nameless horrors to +which royal children were often born. It was an unspeakable privilege +to learn, as he did now, that his dynasty would be alike permanent +and secure; that, as a rule, his children would not be exposed to +the atrocities of Oriental successions; that they would be under +the special care and protection of God; that their faults would be +corrected without their being destroyed; and that this state of +blessing would continue for ages and ages to come. + +The emotions roused in David by this communication were +alike delightful and exuberant. He takes no notice of the +disappointment--of his not being permitted to build the temple. +Any regret that this might occasion is swallowed up by his delight +in the store of blessing actually promised. And here we may see +a remarkable instance of God's way of dealing with His people's +prayers. Virtually, if not formally, David had asked of God to permit +him to build a temple to His name. That petition, bearing though it +did very directly on God's glory, is not vouchsafed. God does not +accord that privilege to David. But in refusing him that request, +He makes over to him mercies of far higher reach and importance. He +refuses his immediate request only to grant to him far above all +that he was able to ask or think. And how often does God do so! +How often, when His people are worrying and perplexing themselves +about their prayers not being answered, is God answering them in a +far richer way! Glimpses of this we see occasionally, but the full +revelation of it remains for the future. You pray to the degree of +agony for the preservation of a beloved life; it is not granted; +God appears deaf to your cry; a year or two after, things happen +that would have broken your friend's heart or driven reason from its +throne; you understand now why God did not fulfil your petition. Oh +for the spirit of trust that shall never charge God foolishly! Oh +for the faith that does not make haste, but waits patiently for the +Lord,--waits for the explanation that shall come in the end, at the +revelation of Jesus Christ! + +It is a striking scene that is presented to us when "David went in, +and sat before the Lord." It is the only instance in Scripture in +which any one is said to have taken the attitude of sitting while +pouring his heart out to God. Yet the nature of the communion was +in keeping with the attitude. David was like a child sitting down +beside his father, to think over some wonderfully kind expression of +his intentions to him, and pour out his full heart into his ear. We +may observe in the address of David how pervaded it is by the tone +of wonder. This, indeed, is its great characteristic. He expresses +wonder at the past, at God's selecting one obscure in family and +obscure in person; he wonders at the present: How is it Thou hast +brought me thus far? and still more he wonders at the future, the +provision made for the stability of his house in all time coming. +"And is this the manner of man, O Lord God?"[3] All true religious +feeling is pervaded by an element of wonder; it is this element that +warms and elevates it. In David's case it kindles intense adoration +and gratitude, with reference both to God's dealings with himself +and His dealings with Israel. "What one nation in the earth is like +Thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people +to Himself, and to make Him a name, and to do for you great things +and terrible, for Thy land, before Thy people, which Thou redeemedst +to Thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods?" This wonder +at past goodness, moreover, begets great confidence for the future. +And David warmly and gratefully expresses this confidence, and looks +forward with exulting feelings to the blessings reserved for him and +his house. And finally he falls into the attitude of supplication, +and prays that it may all come to pass. Not that he doubts God's +word; the tone of the whole prayer is the tone of gratitude for the +past and confidence in the future. But he feels it right to take up +the attitude of a suppliant, to show, as we believe, that it must +all come of God's free and infinite mercy; that not one of all the +good things which God had promised could be claimed as a right, for +the least and the greatest were due alike to the rich grace of a +sovereign God. "Therefore now let it please Thee to bless the house +of Thy servant, that it may continue for ever before Thee; for Thou, +O Lord God, hast spoken it, and with Thy blessing let the house of +Thy servant be blessed for ever." Appropriate ending for a remarkable +prayer! appropriate, too, not for David only, but for every Christian +praying for his country, and for every Christian father praying for +his family! "With Thy blessing," bestowed alike in mercy and in +chastisement, in what Thou givest and in what Thou withholdest, but +making all things work together for eternal good--"With Thy blessing +let the house of Thy servant be blessed for ever." + +We seem to see in this prayer the very best of David--much intensity +of feeling, great humility, wondering gratitude, holy intimacy and +trust, and supreme satisfaction in the blessing of God. We see him +walking in the very light of God's countenance, and supremely happy. +We see Jacob's ladder between earth and heaven, and the angels of +God ascending and descending on it. Moreover, we see the infinite +privilege which is involved in having God for our Father, and in +being able to realise that He is full of most fatherly feelings +to us. The joy of David in this act of fellowship with God was +the purest of which human beings are capable. It was indeed a joy +unspeakable and full of glory. Oh that men would but acquaint +themselves with God and be at peace! Let it be our aim to cherish as +warm sentiments of trust in God, and to look forward to the future +with equal satisfaction and delight. + +A very important question arises in connection with this chapter, +to which we have not yet adverted, but which we cannot pass by. +In that promise of God respecting the stability of David's throne +and the perpetual duration of his dynasty, was there any reference +to the Messiah, any reference to the spiritual kingdom of which +alone it could be said with truth that it was to last for ever? The +answer to this question is very plain, because some of the words +addressed by God to David are quoted in the New Testament as having +a Messianic reference. "To which of the angels said He at any time, +I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to Me a son?" (Heb. i. +5). If we consider, too, how David's dynasty really came to an end +as a reigning family some five hundred years after, we see that the +language addressed to him was not exhausted by the fortunes of his +family. In the Divine mind the prophecy reached forward to the time +of Christ, and only in Christ was it fully verified. And it seems +plain from some words of St. Peter on the day of Pentecost that David +understood this. He knew that "God had sworn to him that of the fruit +of his loins, according to the flesh, He would raise up Christ to sit +on His throne" (Acts ii. 30). 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. To +us who look back on that day the reasons for gladness and gratitude +are far stronger than they were even to him. Then let us prize the +glorious fact that the Son of David has come, even the Son of God, +who hath given us understanding that we may know Him that is true. +And while we prize the truth, let us embrace the privilege; let us +become one with Him in whom we too become sons of God, and with whom +we may cherish the hope of reigning for ever as kings and priests, +when He comes to gather His redeemed that they may sit with Him on +the throne of His glory. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[3] The expression is very obscure, whether we take the affirmative +form of the Revised Version or the interrogative form of the +Authorised Version. "And this, too, after the manner of men, O Lord +God!" (R.V.) We must choose between these opposite meanings. We +prefer the interrogative form of the A.V. David's wonder being the +more excited that God's ways were here so much above man's. + + + + + CHAPTER X. + + _FOREIGN WARS._ + + 2 SAMUEL viii. 1-14. + + +The transitions of the Bible, like those of actual life, are often +singularly abrupt; that which now hurries us from the scene of elevated +communion with God to the confused noise and deadly struggles of the +battle-field is peculiarly startling. We are called to contemplate +David in a remarkable light, as a professional warrior, a man of the +sword, a man of blood; wielding the weapons of destruction with all +the decision and effect of the most daring commanders. That the sweet +singer of Israel, from whose tender heart those blessed words poured +out to which the troubled soul turns for composure and peace, should +have been so familiar with the horrors of the battle-field, is indeed +a surprise. We can only say that he was led to regard all this rough +work as indispensable to the very existence of his kingdom, and to +the fulfilment of the great ends for which Israel had been called. +Painful and miserable though it was in itself, it was necessary for +the accomplishment of greater good. The bloodthirsty spirit of these +hostile nations would have swallowed up the kingdom of Israel, and +left no trace of it remaining. The promise to Abraham, "In thee and in +thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed," would have +ceased to have any basis for its fulfilment. Painful though it was to +deal death and destruction on every side, it would have been worse to +see the nation of Israel destroyed, and the foundation of the world's +greatest blessings swept for ever away. + +The "rest from all his enemies round about," referred to in the first +verse of the seventh chapter, seems to refer to the nearer enemies +of the kingdom, while the wars mentioned in the present chapter were +mostly with enemies more remote. The most important of the wars now +to be considered was directed against the occupants of that large +territory lying between Palestine and the Euphrates which God had +promised to Abraham, although no command had been given to dispossess +the inhabitants, and therefore it could be held only in tributary +subjection. In some respects, David was the successor of Joshua as +well as of Moses. He had to continue Joshua's work of conquest, as +well as Moses' work of political arrangement and administration. The +nations against whom he had now to go forth were most of them warlike +and powerful; some of them were banded together in leagues against +him, rendering his enterprise very perilous, and such as could have +been undertaken by no one who had not an immovable trust in God. The +twentieth Psalm seems to express the feelings with which the godly +part of the nation would regard him as he went forth to these distant +and perilous enterprises:-- + + The Lord answer thee in the day of trouble; + The name of the God of Jacob set thee up on high; + Send thee help from the sanctuary, + And strengthen thee out of Zion; + Remember all thy offerings, + And accept thy burnt-sacrifice; [Selah + Grant thee thy heart's desire, + And fulfil all thy counsel. + We will triumph in thy salvation, + And in the name of our God we will set up our banners: + The Lord fulfil all thy petitions. + Now know I that the Lord saveth His anointed; + He will answer him from His holy heaven + With the saving strength of His right hand. + Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, + But we will make mention of the name of the Lord our God. + They are bowed down and fallen; + But we are risen, and stand upright. + Save, Lord; + Let the King answer us when we call. + +It is an instructive fact that the history of these wars is given +so shortly. A single verse is all that is given to most of the +campaigns. This brevity shows very clearly that another spirit than +that which moulded ordinary histories guided the composition of +this book. It would be beyond human nature to resist the temptation +to describe great battles, the story of which is usually read with +such breathless interest, and which gratify the pride of the people +and reflect glory on the nation. It is not the object of Divine +revelation to furnish either brief annals or full details of wars +and other national events, except in so far as they have a spiritual +bearing--a bearing on the relation between God and the people. From +first to last the purpose of the Bible is simply to unfold the +dispensation of grace,--God's progress in revelation of His method of +making an end of sin, and bringing in everlasting righteousness. + +We shall briefly notice what is said regarding the different +undertakings. + +1. The first campaign was against the Philistines. Not even their +disastrous discomfiture near the plain of Rephaim had taught +submission to that restless people. On this occasion David carried +the war into their own country, and took some of their towns, +establishing garrisons there, as the Philistines had done formerly +in the land of Israel. There is some obscurity in the words which +describe one of his conquests. According to the Authorised Version, +"He took Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines." The +Revised Version renders, "He took the bridle of the mother city out +of the hand of the Philistines." The parallel passage in 1 Chron. +xviii. 1 has it, "He took Gath and her towns out of the hand of the +Philistines." This last rendering is quite plain; the other passage +must be explained in its light. Gath, the city of King Achish, to +which David had fled twice for refuge, now fell into his hands. The +loss of Gath must have been a great humiliation to the Philistines; +not even Samson had ever inflicted on them such a blow. And the +policy that led David (it could hardly have been without painful +feelings) to possess himself of Gath turned out successful; the +aggressive spirit of the Philistines was now fairly subdued, and +Israel finally delivered from the attacks of a neighbour that had +kept them for many generations in constant discomfort. + +2. His next campaign was against Moab. As David himself had at +one time taken refuge in Gath, so he had committed his father and +mother to the custody of the king of Moab (1 Sam. xxii. 3, 4). +Jewish writers have a tradition that after a time the king put his +parents to death, and that this was the origin of the war which he +carried on against them. That David had received from them some +strong provocation, and deemed it necessary to inflict a crushing +blow for the security of that part of his kingdom, it seems hardly +possible to doubt. Ingratitude was none of his failings, nor would +he who was so grateful to the men of Jabesh-gilead for burying Saul +and his sons have been severe on Moab if Moab had acted the part +of a true friend in caring for his father and mother. When we read +of the severity practised on the army of Moab, we are shocked. And +yet it is recorded rather as a token of forbearance than a mark of +severity. How came it that the Moabite army was so completely in +David's power? Usually, as we have seen, when an army was defeated +it was pursued by the victors, and in the course of the flight +a terrible slaughter ensued. But the Moabite army had come into +David's power comparatively whole. This could only have been through +some successful piece of generalship, by which David had shut them +up in a position where resistance was impossible. Many an Eastern +conqueror would have put the whole army to the sword; David with a +measuring line measured two-thirds for destruction and a full third +for preservation. Thus the Moabites in the south-east were subdued as +thoroughly as the Philistines in the south-west, and brought tribute +to the conqueror, in token of their subjection. The explanation of +some commentators that it was not the army, but the fortresses, +of Moab that David dealt with is too strained to be for a moment +entertained. It proceeds on a desire to make David superior to his +age, on unwillingness to believe, what, however, lies on the very +surface of the story, that in the main features of his warlike policy +he fell in with the maxims and spirit of the time. + +3. The third of his campaigns was against Hadadezer, the son of +Rehob, king of Zobah. It is said in the chapter before us that +the encounter with this prince took place "as he went to recover +his border at the river Euphrates;" in the parallel passage of 1 +Chronicles it is "as he went to establish his dominion by the river +Euphrates." The natural interpretation is, that David was on his way +to establish his dominion by the river Euphrates, when this Hadadezer +came out to oppose him. The terms of the covenant of God with Abraham +assigned to him the land "from the river of Egypt to the great river, +the river Euphrates" (Gen. xv. 18), and when the territory was again +defined to Joshua, its boundary was "from the wilderness and this +Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates." Under the +provisions of this covenant, as made by Him whose is the earth and +the fulness thereof, David held himself entitled to fix the boundary +of his dominion by the banks of the river. In what particular form he +designed to do this, we are not informed; but whatever may have been +his purpose, Hadadezer set himself to defeat it. The encounter with +Hadadezer could not but have been serious to David, for his enemy had +a great force of military chariots and horsemen against whom he could +oppose no force of the same kind. Nevertheless, David's victory was +complete; and in dealing with that very force in which he himself +was utterly deficient, he was quite triumphant; for he took from his +opponent a thousand and seven hundred horsemen, as well as twenty +thousand footmen. There must have been some remarkable stroke of +genius in this achievement, for nothing is more apt to embarrass and +baffle a commonplace general than the presence of an opposing force +to which his army affords no counterpart. + +4. But though David had defeated Hadadezer, not far, as we suppose, +from the base of Mount Hermon, his path to the Euphrates was by no +means clear. Another body of Syrians, the Syrians of Damascus, +having come from that city to help Hadadezer, seem to have been too +late for this purpose, and to have encountered David alone. This, +too, was a very serious enterprise for David; for though we are +not informed whether, like Hadadezer, they had arms which the king +of Israel could not match, it is certain that the army of so rich +and civilized a state as Syria of Damascus would possess all the +advantages that wealth and experience could bestow. But in his battle +with them, David was again completely victorious. The slaughter +was very great--two-and-twenty thousand men. This immense figure +illustrates our remark a little while ago: that the slaughter of +defeated and retreating armies was usually prodigious. So entire was +the humiliation of this proud and ancient kingdom, that "the Syrians +became servants to David, and brought presents," thus acknowledging +his suzerainty over them. Between the precious things that were thus +offered to King David and the spoil which he took from captured +cities, he brought to Jerusalem an untold mass of wealth, which he +afterwards dedicated for the building of the Temple. + +5. In one case, the campaign was a peaceful one. "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 had smitten him, for +Hadadezer had wars with Toi." The kingdom of Toi lay in the valley +between the two parallel ranges of Lebanon and anti-Lebanon, and it +too was within the promised boundary, which extended to "the entering +in of Hamath." Accordingly, the son of Toi brought with him vessels +of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass; these also did +King David dedicate to the Lord. The fame of David as a warrior was +now such, at least in these northern regions, that further resistance +seemed out of the question. Submission was the only course when the +conqueror was evidently supported by the might of Heaven. + +6. In the south, however, there seems to have been more of a spirit of +opposition. No particulars of the campaign against the Edomites are +given; but it is stated that David put garrisons in Edom; "throughout +all Edom put he garrisons, and all the Edomites became servants to +David." The placing of garrisons through all their country shows how +obstinate these Edomites were, and how certain to have returned to +fresh acts of hostility had they not been held in restraint by these +garrisons. From the introduction to Psalm lx. it would appear that the +insurrection of Edom took place while David was in the north contending +with the two bodies of Syrians that opposed him--the Syrians of Zobah +and those of Damascus. It would appear that Joab was detached from the +army in Syria in order that he might deal with the Edomites. In the +introduction to the Psalm, twelve thousand of the Edomites are said to +have fallen in the Valley of Salt. In the passage now before us, it is +said that eighteen thousand Syrians fell in that valley. The Valley of +Salt is in the territory of Edom. It may be that a detachment of Syrian +troops was sent to aid the Edomites, and that both sustained a terrible +slaughter. Or it may be that, as in Hebrew the words for Syria and Edom +are very similar (ארם and אדם), the one word may by accident have been +substituted for the other. + +7. Mention is also made of the Ammonites, the Amalekites, and the +Philistines as having been subdued by David. Probably in the case of +the Philistines and the Amalekites the reference is to the previous +campaign already recorded, while the Ammonite campaign may be the one +of which we have the record afterwards. But the reference to these +campaigns is accompanied with no particulars. + +Twice in the course of this chapter we read that "the Lord gave David +victory whithersoever he went." It does not appear, however, that the +victory was always purchased with ease, or the situation of David and +his armies free from serious dangers. The sixtieth Psalm, the title +of which ascribes it to this period, makes very plain allusion to a +time of extraordinary trouble and disaster in connection with one of +these campaigns. "O God, Thou hast cast us off; Thou hast scattered +us; Thou hast been displeased: oh turn Thyself to us again." It is +probable that when David first encountered the Syrians he was put +to great straits, his difficulty being aggravated by his distance +from home and the want of suitable supplies. If the Edomites, taking +advantage of his difficulty, chose the time to make an attack on +the southern border of the kingdom, and if the king was obliged to +diminish his own force by sending Joab against Edom, with part of his +men, his position must have been trying indeed. But David did not let +go his trust in God; courage and confidence came to him by prayer, +and he was able to say, "Through God we shall do valiantly; for He it +is that shall tread down all our enemies." + +The effect of these victories must have been very striking. In the +Song of the Bow, David had celebrated the public services of Saul, +who had "clothed the daughters of Israel in scarlet, with other +delights, who had put on ornaments of gold on their apparel"; but +all that Saul had done for the kingdom was now thrown into the shade +by the achievements of David. With all his bravery, Saul had never +been able to subdue his enemies, far less to extend the limits of +the kingdom. David accomplished both; and it is the secret of the +difference that is expressed in the words, "The Lord gave victory +to David whithersoever he went." It is one of the great lessons +of the Old Testament that the godly man can and does perform his +duty better than any other man, because the Lord is with him: that +whether he be steward of a house, or keeper of a prison, or ruler +of a kingdom, like Joseph; or a judge and lawgiver, like Moses; or +a warrior, like Samson, or Gideon, or Jephthah; or a king, like +David, or Jehoshaphat, or Josiah; or a prime minister, like Daniel, +his godliness helps him to do his duty as no other man can do his. +This is especially a prominent lesson in the book of Psalms; it is +inscribed on its very portals; for the godly man, as the very first +Psalm tells us, "shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, +that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not +wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." + +In these warlike expeditions, King David foreshadowed the spiritual +conquests of the Son of David, who went forth "conquering and to +conquer," staggered for a moment, as in Gethsemane, by the rude shock +of confederate enemies, but through prayer regaining his confidence +in God, and triumphing in the hour and power of darkness. That noble +effusion of fire and feeling, the sixty-eighth Psalm, seems to have +been written in connection with these wars. The soul of the Psalmist +is stirred to its depths; the majestic goings of Jehovah, recently +witnessed by the nation, have roused his most earnest feelings, +and he strains every nerve to produce a like feeling in the people. +The recent exploits of the king are ranked with His doings when He +marched before His people through the wilderness, and Mount Sinai +shook before Him. Great delight is expressed in God's having taken +up His abode on His holy hill, in the exaltation of His people in +connection with that step, and likewise in looking forward to the +future and anticipating the peaceful triumphs when "princes should +come out of Egypt, and Ethiopia stretch forth her arms to God." +Benevolent and missionary longings mingle with the emotions of the +conqueror and the feelings of the patriot. + + "Sing unto the Lord, ye kingdoms of the earth; + Oh, sing praises unto the Lord, + To Him that rideth upon the heaven of heavens that are of + old. + Lo, He uttereth His voice, and that a mighty voice." + +It is interesting to see how in this extension of his influence among +heathen nations, the Psalmist began to cherish and express these +missionary longings, and to call on the nations to sing praises +unto the Lord. It has been remarked that, in the ordinary course of +Providence, the Bible follows the sword, that the seed of the Gospel +falls into furrows that have been prepared by war. Of this missionary +spirit we find many evidences in the Psalms. It was delightful to +the Psalmist to think of the spiritual blessings that were to spread +even beyond the limits of the great empire that now owned the sway +of the king of Israel. Mount Zion was to become the birth-place of +the nations; from Egypt and Babylonia, from Philistia, Tyre, and +Ethiopia, additions were to be made to her citizens (Ps. lxxxvii.). +"The people shall be gathered together, and the nations, to serve +the Lord" (Ps. cii. 22). "All the ends of the earth shall remember +and turn to the Lord, and all the kindreds of the nations shall +worship before Him" (Ps. xxii. 27). "All nations whom Thou hast made +shall come and worship before Thee, O Lord; and they shall glorify +Thy name" (Ps. lxxxvi. 9). "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye +lands. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts +with praise" (Ps. c. 1, 4). + +Alas, the era of wars has not yet passed away. Even Christian nations +have been woefully slow to apply the Christian precept, "Inasmuch +as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men." But let us at least +make an earnest endeavour that if there must be war, its course may +be followed up by the heralds of mercy, and that wherever there may +occur "the battle of the warrior, and garments rolled in blood," +there also it may speedily be proclaimed, "Unto us a Child is born, +unto us a Son is given, and the government is on His shoulders: and +His name is called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, the Everlasting +Father, Prince of Peace" (Isa. ix. 6). + + + + + CHAPTER XI. + + _ADMINISTRATION OF THE KINGDOM._ + + 2 SAMUEL viii. 15-18. + + +If the records of David's warlike expeditions are brief, still +more so are the notices of his work of peace. How he fulfilled his +royal functions when there was no war to draw him from home, and to +engross the attention both of the king and his officers of state, is +told us here in the very briefest terms, barely affording even the +outline of a picture. Yet it is certain that the activity of David's +character, his profound interest in the welfare of his people, and +his remarkable talent for administration, led in this department to +very conspicuous and remarkable results. Some of the Psalms afford +glimpses both of the principles on which he acted, and the results +at which he aimed, that are fitted to be of much use in filling up +the bare skeleton now before us. In this point of view, the subject +may become interesting and instructive, as undoubtedly it is highly +important. For we must remember that it was with reference to the +spirit in which he was to rule that David was called the man after +God's heart, and that he formed such a contrast to his predecessor. +And further we are to bear in mind that in respect of the moral and +spiritual qualities of his reign David had for his Successor the Lord +Jesus Christ. "The Lord God will give unto Him the throne of His +servant David," said the angel Gabriel to Mary, "and He shall reign +over the house of Judah for ever, and of His kingdom there shall be +no end." It becomes us to make the most of what is told us of the +peaceful administration of David's kingdom, in order to understand +the grounds on which our Lord is said to have occupied His throne. + +The first statement in the verses before us is comprehensive and +suggestive: "And David reigned over all Israel; and David executed +judgment and justice unto all his people." The first thing pointed +out to us here is the catholicity of his kingly government, embracing +_all_ Israel, _all_ people. He did not bestow his attention on one +favoured section of the people, to the neglect or careless oversight +of the rest. He did not, for example, seek the prosperity of his own +tribe, Judah, to the neglect of the other eleven. In a word, there was +no favouritism in his reign. This is not to say that he did not like +some of his subjects better than the rest. There is every reason to +believe that he liked the tribe of Judah best. But whatever preferences +of this kind he may have had--and he would not have been man if he +had had none--they did not limit or restrict his royal interest; they +did not prevent him from seeking the welfare of every portion of the +land, of every section of the people. Just as, in the days when he was +a shepherd, there were probably some of his sheep and lambs for which +he had a special affection, yet that did not prevent him from studying +the welfare of the whole flock and of every animal in it with most +conscientious care; so was it with his people. The least interesting of +them were sacred in his eyes. They were part of his charge, and they +were to be studied and cared for in the same manner as the rest. In +this he reflected that universality of God's care on which we find the +Psalmist dwelling with such complacency: "The Lord is good to all; and +His tender mercies are over all His works. The eyes of all wait upon +Thee; and Thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest Thine +hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing." And may we not +add that this quality of David's rule foreshadowed the catholicity of +Christ's kingdom and His glorious readiness to bestow blessing on every +side? "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I will +give you rest." "On the last, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood +and cried, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink." "Where +there is neither Jew nor Greek, circumcision nor uncircumcision, bond +nor free; but Christ is all and in all." "Ye are all one in Christ +Jesus." + +In the next place, we have much to learn from the statement that the +most prominent thing that David did was to "execute judgment and +justice to the people." That was the solid foundation on which all +his benefits rested. And these words are not words of form or words +of course. For it is never said that Saul did anything of the kind. +There is nothing to show that Saul was really interested in the +welfare of the people, or that he took any pains to secure that just +and orderly administration on which the prosperity of his kingdom +depended. And most certainly they are not words that could have been +used of the ordinary government of Oriental kings. Tyranny, injustice, +oppression, robbery of the poor by the rich, government by favourites +more cruel and unprincipled than their masters, imprisonments, fines, +conspiracies, and assassinations, were the usual features of Eastern +government. And to a great extent they are features of the government +of Syria and other Eastern countries even at the present day. It +is in vivid contrast to all these things that it is said, "David +executed judgment and justice." Perhaps there is no need for assigning +a separate meaning to each of these words; they may be regarded as +just a forcible combination to denote the all-pervading justice which +was the foundation of the whole government. He was just in the laws +which he laid down, and just in the decisions which he gave. He was +inaccessible to bribes, proof against the influence of the rich and +powerful, and deaf in such matters to every plea of expediency; he +regarded nothing but the scales of justice. What confidence and comfort +an administration of this kind brought may in some measure be inferred +from the extraordinary satisfaction of many an Eastern people at this +day when the administration of justice is committed even to foreigners, +if their one aim will be to deal justly with all. On this foundation, +as on solid rock, a ruler may go on to devise many things for the +welfare of his people. But apart from this any scheme of general +improvement which may be devised is sure to be a failure, and all the +money and wisdom and practical ability that may be expended upon it +will only share the fate of the numberless cart-loads of solid material +in the "Pilgrim's Progress" that were cast into the Slough of Despond. + +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. "Give the king Thy +judgments, O God, and Thy righteousness to the king's son. He shall +judge Thy people with righteousness, and Thy poor with judgment." The +beauty of a just government is seen most clearly in its treatment of +the poor. It is the poor who suffer most from unrighteous rulers. Their +feebleness makes them easier victims. Their poverty prevents them from +dealing in golden bribes. If they have little individually wherewith +to enrich the oppressor, their numbers make up for the small share of +each. Very beautiful, therefore, is the government of the king who +"shall judge the poor of the people, who shall save the children of the +needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor." 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 rather attract him. His interest and his sympathy are moved +by the cry of the destitute. He would fain lighten the burdens that +weigh them down so heavily, and give them a better chance in the +struggle of life. He would do something to elevate their life above the +level of mere hewers of wood and drawers of water. He recognises fully +the brotherhood of man. + +And in all 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. The one +condition on which that help was given was, that they should own +their poverty, and acknowledge Him as their Benefactor, and accept +all as a free gift at His hands. + +But more than that, the condition of the poor in the natural sense +was very interesting to Jesus. It was with that class He threw in +His lot. It was among them He lived; it was their sorrows and trials +He knew by personal experience; it was their welfare for which He +laboured most. Always accessible to every class, most respectful +to the rich, and ever ready to bestow His blessings wherever they +were prized, yet it was true of Christ that "He spared the poor and +needy and saved the souls of the needy." And in a temporal point +of view, one of the most striking effects of Christ's religion is, +that it has so benefited, and tends still more to benefit, the poor. +Slavery and tyranny are among its most detested things. Regard for +man as man is one of its highest principles. It detects the spark of +Divinity in every human soul, grievously overlaid with the scum and +filth of the world; and it seeks to cleanse and brighten it, till +it shine forth in clear and heavenly lustre. It is a most Christian +thought that the gems in the kingdom of God are not to be found +merely where respectability and culture disguise the true spiritual +condition of humanity, but even among those who outwardly are lost +and disreputable. Not the least honourable of the reproachful terms +applied to Jesus was--"the Friend of publicans and sinners." + +We are not to think of David, however, as being satisfied if he +merely secured justice to the poor and succeeded in lightening their +yoke. His ulterior aim was to fill his kingdom with active, useful, +honourable citizens. This is plain from the beautiful language of +some of the Psalms. Both for old and young, he had a beautiful +ideal. "The righteous shall flourish as the palm tree; he shall +grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of +the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still +bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing" +(Ps. xcii. 12-14). And so for the young his desire was--"That our +sons may be as plants, grown up in their youth; that our daughters +may be as corner-stones, polished after the similitude of a palace." +Moral beauty, and especially the beauty of active and useful lives, +was the great object of his desire. Can anything be better or more +enlightened as a royal policy than that which we thus see to have +been David's--in the first place, a policy of universal justice; in +the second place, of special regard for those who on the one hand are +most liable to oppression and on the other are most in need of help +and encouragement; and in the third place, a policy whose aim is to +promote excellence of character, and to foster in the young those +graces and virtues which wear longest, which preserve the freshness +and enjoyment of life to the end, and which crown their possessors, +even in old age, with the respect and the affection of all? + +The remaining notices of David's administration in the passage before +us are simply to the effect that the government consisted of various +departments, and that each department had an officer at its head. + +1. There was the military department, at the head of which was Joab, +or rather he was over "the host"--the great muster of the people +for military purposes. A more select body, "the Cherethites and the +Pelethites," seems to have formed a bodyguard for the king, or a band +of household troops, and was under a separate commander. The troops +forming "the host" were divided into twelve courses of twenty-four +thousand each, regularly officered, and for one month of the year the +officers of one of the courses, and probably the people, or some of +them, attended on the king at Jerusalem (1 Chron. xxvii. 1). Of the +most distinguished of his soldiers who excelled in feats of personal +valour, David seems to have formed a legion of honour, conspicuous +among whom were the thirty honourable, and the three who excelled in +honour (2 Sam. xxiii. 28). It is certain that whatever extra power +could be given by careful organization to the fighting force of the +country, the army of Israel under David possessed it in the fullest +degree. + +2. There was the civil department, at the head of which were +Jehoshaphat the recorder and Seraiah the scribe or secretary. While +these were in attendance on David at Jerusalem, they did not supersede +the ordinary home rule of the tribes of Israel. Each tribe had still +its prince or ruler, and continued, under a general superintendence +from the king, to conduct its local affairs (1 Chron. xxvii. 16-22). +The supreme council of the nation continued to assemble on occasions +of great national importance (1 Chron. xxviii. 1), and though its +influence could not have been so great as it was before the institution +of royalty, it continued an integral element of the constitution, and +in the time of Rehoboam, through its influence and organization (1 +Kings xii. 3, 16), the kingdom of the ten tribes was set up, almost +without a struggle (1 Chron. xxiii. 4). This home-rule system, besides +interesting the people greatly in the prosperity of the country, +was a great check against the abuse of the royal authority; and it +is a proof that the confidence of Rehoboam in the stability of his +government, confirmed perhaps by a superstitious view of that promise +to David, must have been an absolute infatuation, the product of utter +inexperience on his part, and of the most foolish counsel ever tendered +by professional advisers. + +3. Ecclesiastical administration. The capture of Jerusalem and its +erection into the capital of the kingdom made a great change in +ecclesiastical arrangements. For some time before it would have been +hard to tell where the ecclesiastical capital was to be found. Shiloh +had been stripped of its glory when Ichabod received his name, and +the Philistine armies destroyed the place. Nob had shared a similar +fate at the hands of Saul. The old tabernacle erected by Moses in +the wilderness was at Gibeon (1 Chron. xxi. 29), and remained there +even after the removal of the ark to Zion (1 Kings iii. 4). At +Hebron, too, there must have been a shrine while David reigned there. +But from the time when David brought up the ark to Jerusalem, that +city became the greatest centre of the national worship. There the +services enjoined by the law of Moses were celebrated; it became the +scene of the great festivals of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. + +We are told that the heads of the ecclesiastical department were +Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar. These +represented the elder and the younger branches of the priesthood. +Zadok was the lineal descendant of Eleazar, Aaron's son (1 Chron. +vi. 12), and was therefore the constitutional successor to the +high-priesthood. Ahimelech the son of Abiathar represented the +family of Eli, who seems to have been raised to the high-priesthood +out of order, perhaps in consequence of the illness or incompetence +of the legitimate high-priest. It is of some interest to note the +fact that under David two men were at the head of the priesthood, +much as it was in the days of our Lord, when Annas and Caiaphas are +each called the high-priest. The ordinary priests were divided into +four-and-twenty courses, and each course served in its turn for a +limited period, an arrangement which still prevailed in the days of +Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist. A systematic arrangement +of the Levites was likewise made; some were allocated to the service +of the Temple, some were porters, some were singers, and some were +officers and judges. Of the six thousand who filled the last-named +office, "chief fathers" as they were called, nearly a half were +allocated among the tribes east of the Jordan, as being far from the +centre, and more in need of oversight. It is probable that this large +body of Levites were not limited to strictly judicial duties, but +that they performed important functions in other respects, perhaps as +teachers, physicians, and registrars. It is not said that Samuel's +schools of the prophets received any special attention, but the deep +interest that David must have taken in Samuel's work, and his early +acquaintance with its effects, leave little room to doubt that these +institutions were carefully fostered, and owed to David some share of +the vitality which they continued to exhibit in the days of Elijah +and Elisha. It is very probable that the prophets Gad and Nathan were +connected with these institutions. + +It is scarcely possible to say how far these careful ecclesiastical +arrangements were instrumental in fostering the spirit of genuine +piety. But there is too much reason to fear that even in David's time +that element was very deficient. The bursts of religious enthusiasm +that occasionally rolled over the country were no sure indications of +piety in a people easily roused to temporary gushes of feeling, but +deficient in stability. There often breathes in David's psalms a sense +of loneliness, a feeling of his being a stranger on the earth, that +seems to show that he wanted congenial company, that the atmosphere was +not of the godly quality he must have wished. The bloody Joab was his +chief general, and at a subsequent period the godless Ahithophel was +his chief counsellor. It is even probable that the intense piety of +David brought him many secret enemies. The world has no favour for men, +be they kings or priests, that repudiate all compromise in religion, +and insist on God being regarded with supreme and absolute honour. +Where religion interferes with their natural inclinations and lays them +under inviolable obligations to have regard to the will of God, they +rebel in their hearts against it, and they hate those who consistently +uphold its claims. The nation of Israel appears to have been pervaded +by an undercurrent of dislike to the eminent holiness of David, which, +though kept in check by his distinguished services and successes, at +last burst out with terrific violence in the rebellion of Absalom. That +villainous movement would not have had the vast support it received, +especially in Jerusalem, if even the people of Judah had been saturated +with the spirit of genuine piety. We cannot think much of the piety of +a people that rose up against the sweet singer of Israel and the great +benefactor of the nation, and that seemed to anticipate the cry, "Not +this man, but Barabbas." + +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. Spiritual order, spiritual +harmony: God in His own place, and self, with all its powers and +interests, as well as our brethren, our neighbours, and the world, +all in their's--this is the great requisite in the individual heart. +The development of this holy order in the _individual_ soul; the +development of _family_ graces, the due Christian ordering of homes; +the development of _public_ graces--patriotism, freedom, godliness, in +the State, and in the Church of the spirit that seeks the instruction +of the ignorant, the recovery of the erring, the comforting of the +wretched, and the advancement everywhere of the cause of Christ--in +a word, the increase of spiritual wealth--these very specially are +objects to which in all times, but especially in quiet times, all +hearts and energies should be turned. What can be more honourable, +what can be more blessed, than to help in advancing these? More life, +more grace, more prayer, more progress, more missionary ardour, more +self-denying love, more spiritual beauty--what higher objects can the +Christian minister aim at? And how better can the Christian king or +the Christian statesman fulfil and honour his office than by using his +influence, so far as he legitimately may, in furthering the virtues and +habits characteristic of men that fear God while they honour the king? + + + + + CHAPTER XII. + + _DAVID AND MEPHIBOSHETH._ + + 2 SAMUEL ix. + + +The busy life which King David was now leading did not prevent memory +from occasionally running back to his early days and bringing before +him the friends of his youth. Among these remembrances of the past, +his friendship and his covenant with Jonathan were sure to hold a +conspicuous place. On one of these occasions the thought occurred +to him that possibly some descendant of Jonathan might still be +living. He had been so completely severed from his friend during +the last years of his life, and the unfortunate attempt on the part +of Ishbosheth had made personal intercourse so much more difficult, +that he seems not to have been aware of the exact state of Jonathan's +family. It is evident that the survival of any descendant of his +friend was not publicly known, and probably the friends of the youth +who was discovered had thought it best to keep his existence quiet, +being of those who would give David no credit for higher principles +than were current between rival dynasties. Even Michal, Jonathan's +sister, does not seem to have known that a son of his survived. It +became necessary, therefore, to make a public inquiry of his officers +and attendants. "Is there yet any that is left of the house of +Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?" It was not +essential that he should be a child of Jonathan's; any descendant of +Saul's would have been taken for Jonathan's sake. + +It is a proof that the bloody wars in which he had been engaged had +not destroyed the tenderness of his heart, that the very chapter +which follows the account of his battles opens with a yearning of +affection--a longing for an outlet to feelings of kindness. It +is instructive, too, to find the proof of love to his neighbour +succeeding the remarkable evidence of supreme regard to the honour of +God recently given in the proposal to build a temple. This period of +David's life was its golden era, and it is difficult to understand +how the man that was so remarkable at this time for his regard +for God and his interest in his neighbour should soon afterwards +have been betrayed into a course of conduct that showed him most +grievously forgetful of both. + +This proceeding of David's in making inquiry for a fit object of +beneficence may afford us a lesson as to the true course of enlightened +kindness. Doubtless David had numberless persons applying for a share +of his bounty; yet he makes inquiry for a new channel in which it may +flow. The most clamorous persons are seldom the most deserving, and if +a bountiful man simply recognises, however generously, even the best of +the cases that press themselves on his notice, he will not be satisfied +with the result; he will feel that his bounty has rather been frittered +away on miscellaneous undertakings, than that it has achieved any solid +and satisfying result. It is easy for a rich man to fling a pittance to +some wretched-looking creature that whines out a tale of horror in his +ear; but this may be done only to relieve his own feelings, and harm +instead of good may be the result. Enlightened benevolence aims at +something higher than the mere relief of passing distress. Benevolent +men ought not to lie at the mercy either of the poor who ask their +charity, or of the philanthropic Christians who appeal for support to +their schemes. Pains must be taken to find out the deserving, to find +out those who have the strongest claim. Even the open-handed, whose +purse is always at hand, and who are ready for every good work, may be +neglecting some case or class of cases which have far stronger claims +on them than those which are so assiduously pressed on their notice. + +And hence we may see that it is right and fitting, especially in +those to whom Providence has given much, to cast over in their minds, +from time to time, the state of their obligations, and think whether +among old friends, or poor relations, or faithful but needy servants +of God, there may not be some who have a claim on their bounty. There +are other debts besides money debts it becomes you to look after. In +youth, perhaps, you received much kindness from friends and relatives +which at the time you could not repay; but now the tables are turned; +you are prosperous, they or their families are needy. And these cases +are apt to slip out of mind. It is not always hard-heartedness that +makes the prosperous forget the less fortunate; it is often utter +thoughtlessness. It is the neglect of that rule which has such a +powerful though silent effect when it is carried out--Put yourself +in their place. Imagine how you would feel, strained and worried to +sleeplessness through narrow means, and seeing old friends rolling +in wealth, who might, with little or no inconvenience, lighten the +burden that is crushing you so painfully. It is a strange thing that +this counsel should be more needed by the rich than by the poor. +Thoughtlessness regarding his neighbours is not a poor man's vice. +The empty house is remembered, even though it costs a sacrifice to +send it a little of his own scanty supplies. Few men are so hardened +as not to feel the obligation to show kindness when that obligation +is brought before them. What we urge is, that no one should lie at +the mercy of others for bringing his obligations before him. Let him +think for himself; and especially let him cast his eye round his own +horizon, and consider whether there be not some representatives of +old friends or old relations to whom kindness ought to be shown. + +To return to the narrative. The history of Mephibosheth, Jonathan's +son, had been a sad one. When Israel was defeated by the Philistines +on Mount Gilboa, and Saul and Jonathan were slain, he was but an +infant; and his nurse, terror-stricken at the news of the disaster, +in her haste to escape had let him fall, and caused an injury which +made him lame for life. What the manner of his upbringing was, we +are not told. When David found him, he was living with Machir, the +son of Ammiel, of Lo-debar, on the other side of the Jordan, in +the same region where his uncle Ishbosheth had tried to set up his +kingdom. Mephibosheth became known to David through Ziba, a servant +of Saul's, a man of more substance than principle, as his conduct +showed at a later period of his life. Ziba, we are told, had fifteen +sons and twenty servants. He seems to have contrived to make himself +comfortable notwithstanding the wreck of his master's fortunes, more +comfortable than Mephibosheth, who was living in another man's house. + +There seems to have been a surmise among David's people that this +Ziba could tell something of Jonathan's family; but evidently he +was not very ready to do so; for it was only to David himself that +when sent for he gave the information, and that after David had +emphatically stated his motive--not to do harm, but to show kindness +for Jonathan's sake. The existence of Mephibosheth being thus made +known, he is sent for and brought into David's presence. And we +cannot but be sorry for him when we mark his abject bearing in the +presence of the king. When he was come unto David, "he fell on his +face and did reverence." And when David explained his intentions, +"he bowed himself and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest +look on such a dead dog as I am?" Naturally of a timid nature, and +weakened in nerve by the accident of his infancy, he must have grown +up under great disadvantages. His lameness excluded him from sharing +in any youthful game or manly exercise, and therefore threw him +into the company of the women who, like him, tarried at home. What +he had heard of David had not come through a friendly channel, had +come through the partisans of Saul, and was not likely to be very +favourable. He was too young to remember the generous conduct of +David in reference to his father and grandfather; and those who were +about him probably did not care to say much about it. + +Accustomed to think that his wisest course was to conceal from David +his very existence, and looking on him with the dread with which +the family of former kings regarded the reigning monarch, he must +have come into his presence with a strange mixture of feeling. He +had a profound sense of the greatness which David had achieved and +the honour implied in his countenance and fellowship. But there was +no need for his humbling himself so low. There was no need for his +calling himself a dog, a dead dog,--the most humiliating image it +was possible to find. We should have thought him more worthy of his +father if, recognizing the high position which David had attained +by the grace of God, he had gracefully thanked him for the regard +shown to his father's memory, and shown more of the self-respect +which was due to Jonathan's son. In his subsequent conduct, in the +days of David's calamity, Mephibosheth gave evidence of the same +disinterested spirit which had shone so beautifully in Jonathan, but +his noble qualities were like a light twinkling among ruins or a +jewel glistening in a wreck. + +This shattered condition both of mind and body, however, commended +him all the more to the friendly regard of David. Had he shown +himself a high-minded, ambitious youth, David might have been +embarrassed how to act towards him. Finding him modest and +respectful, he had no difficulty in the case. The kindness which he +showed him was twofold. In the first place, he restored to him all +the land that had belonged to his grandfather; and in the second +place, he made him an inmate of his own house, with a place at his +table, the same as if he had been one of his own sons. And that +he might not be embarrassed with having the land to care for, he +committed the charge of it to Ziba, who was to bring to Mephibosheth +the produce or its value. + +Every arrangement was thus made that could conduce to his comfort +His being a cripple did not deprive him of the honour of a place +at the royal table, little though he could contribute to the +lustre of the palace. For David bestowed his favours not on the +principle of trying to reflect lustre on himself or his house, but +on the principle of doing good to those who had a claim on his +consideration. The lameness and consequent awkwardness, that would +have made many a king ashamed of such an inmate of his palace only +recommended him the more to David. Regard for outward appearances was +swallowed up by a higher regard--regard for what was right and true. + +It might be thought by some that such an incident as this was hardly +worthy of a place in the sacred record; but the truth is, that David +seldom showed more of the true spirit of God than he did on this +occasion. The feeling that led him to seek out any stray member of the +house in order to show kindness to him was the counterpart of that +feeling that has led God from the very beginning to seek the children +of men, and that led Jesus to seek and to save that which was lost. +For that is truly the attitude in which God has ever placed Himself +towards our fallen race. The sight to be seen in this world has not +been that of men seeking after God, but that of God seeking after men. +All day long He has been stretching forth His hands, and inviting the +children of men to taste and see that He is gracious. If we ask for +the principle that unifies all parts of the Bible, it is this gracious +attitude of God towards those who have forfeited His favour. The Bible +presents to us the sight of God's Spirit striving with men, persevering +in the thankless work long after He has been resisted, and ceasing only +when all hope of success through further pleading is gone. + +There were times when this process was prosecuted with more than +common ardour; and at last there came a time when the Divine +pleadings reached a climax, and God, who at sundry times and in +divers manners spake to the fathers by the prophets, spake to them +at last by His own Son. And what was the life of Jesus Christ but +a constant appeal to men, in God's name, to accept the kindness +which God was eager to show them? Was not His invitation to all that +laboured and were heavy laden, "Come unto Me, and I will give you +rest"? Did He not represent the Father as a householder, making a +marriage feast for his son, sending forth his servants to bid the +guests to the wedding, and when the natural guests refused, bidding +them go to the highways and the hedges, and fetch the lame and the +blind and any outcast they could find, because he longed to see +guests of some kind enjoying the good things he had provided? The +great crime of the ancient Jews was rejecting Him who had come in +the name of the Lord to bless them. Their crowning condemnation was, +not that they had failed to keep the Ten Commandments, though that +was true; not that they had spent their lives in pleasing themselves +instead of pleasing God, though that also was true; but that they +had rejected God's unspeakable gift, and requited the Eternal Son, +when He came from heaven to bless them, with the cursed death of the +cross. But even after they had committed that act of unprecedented +wickedness, God's face would not be wholly turned away from them. The +very attitude in which Jesus died, with His hands outstretched on the +tree, would still represent the attitude of the Divine heart towards +the very murderers of His Son. "I, if I be lifted up, will draw all +men toward Me." "Unto you first, God, having raised up His Son Jesus, +hath sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his +iniquities." "Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins +may be blotted out." + +Here, my friends, is the most glorious feature of the Christian +religion. Happy those of you who have apprehended this attitude of +your most gracious Father, who have believed in His love, and who +have accepted His grace! For not only has God received you back into +His family, and given you a name and a place in His temple better +than that of sons and daughters, but He has restored to you your lost +inheritance. "If children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs +with Jesus Christ." Nay, more, He has not only restored to you your +lost inheritance, but He has conferred on you an inheritance more +glorious than that of which sin deprived you. "Blessed be the God and +Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy +hath begotten us again unto a lively hope through the resurrection +of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and +undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who +are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to +be revealed in the last day." + +But if the grace of God in thus stretching out His hands to sinful +men and offering them all the blessings of salvation is very +wonderful, it makes the case of those all the more terrible, all +the more hopeless, who treat His invitations with indifference, and +turn their backs on an inheritance the glory of which they do not +see. How men should be so infatuated as to do this it were hard +to understand, if we had not ample evidence of it in the godless +tendencies of our natural hearts. Still more mysterious is it to +understand how God should fail to carry His point in the case of +those to whom He stretches out His hands. But of all considerations +there is none more fitted to astonish and alarm the careless than +that they are capable of refusing all the appeals of Divine love, +and rejecting all the bounty of Divine grace. If this be persevered +in, what a rude awakening you will have in the world to come, when +in all the bitterness of remorse you will think on the glories that +were once within your reach, but with which you trifled when you +had the chance! How foolish would Mephibosheth have been if he had +disbelieved in David's kindness and rejected his offer! But David was +sincere, and Mephibosheth believed in his sincerity. May we not, must +we not, believe that God is sincere? If a purpose of kindness could +arise in a human heart, how much more in the Divine heart, how much +more in the heart of Him the very essence of whose nature is conveyed +to us in the words of the beloved disciple--"God is love"! + +There is yet another application to be made of this passage in +David's history. We have seen how it exemplifies the duty incumbent +on us all to consider whether kindness is not due from us to the +friends or the relatives of those who have been helpful to ourselves. +This remark is not applicable merely to temporal obligations, but +also, and indeed emphatically, to spiritual. We should consider +ourselves in debt to those who have conferred spiritual benefits upon +us. Should a descendant of Luther or Calvin, of Latimer or Cranmer +or Knox, appear among us in need of kindness, what true Protestant +would not feel that for what he owed to the fathers it was his duty +to show kindness to the children? But farther back even than this was +a race of men to whom the Christian world lies under still deeper +obligations. It was the race of David himself, to which had belonged +"Moses and Aaron among His priests, Samuel with them that called +on His name," and, in after-times, Isaiah and Jeremiah, Ezekiel +and Daniel; Peter, and James, and John, and Paul; and, outshining +them all, like the sun of heaven, Jesus of Nazareth, the Saviour of +men. With what models of lofty piety has that race furnished every +succeeding generation! From the study of their holy lives, their +soaring faith, their burning zeal, what blessing has been derived in +the past, and what an impulse will yet go forth to the very end of +time! No wonder though the Apostle had great sorrow and continual +heaviness in his heart when he thought of the faithless state of +the people, "to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and +the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God"! +Yet none are more in need of your friendly remembrance at this day +than the descendants of these men. It becomes you to ask, "Is there +yet any that is left of their house to whom we may show kindness +for Jesus' sake?" For God has not finally cast them off, and Jesus +has not ceased to care for those who were His brethren according +to the flesh. If there were no other motive to induce us to seek +the good of the Jews, this consideration should surely prevail. +Ill did the world requite its obligation during the long ages when +all manner of contumely and injustice was heaped upon the Hebrew +race, as if Jesus had never prayed, "Father, forgive them; they +know not what they do." Their treatment by the Gentiles has been so +harsh that, even when better feelings prevail, they are slow, like +Mephibosheth,--to believe that we mean them well. They may have done +much to repel our kindness, and they may appear to be hopelessly +encrusted with unbelief in Him whom we present as the Saviour. But +charity never faileth; and in reference to them as to other objects +of philanthropic effort, the exhortation holds good, "Let us not be +weary in well-doing; for in due season we shall reap if we faint not." + +Such kindness to those who are in need is not only a duty of religion, +but tends greatly to commend it. Neglect of those who have claims on +us, while objects more directly religious are eagerly prosecuted, is +not pleasing to God, whether the neglect take place in our lives or in +the destination of our substance at death. "Give, and it shall be given +unto you: good measure, pressed down and shaken together and running +over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye +mete withal, it shall be measured to you again." + + + + + CHAPTER XIII. + + _DAVID AND HANUN._ + + 2 SAMUEL x. + + +Powerful though David had proved himself in every direction in the +art of war, his heart was inclined to peace. A king who had been +victorious over so many foes had no occasion to be afraid of a people +like the Ammonites. It could not have been from fear therefore that, +when Nahash the king of the Ammonites died, David resolved to send +a friendly message to his son. Not the least doubt can be thrown +on the statement of the history that what moved him to do this was +a grateful remembrance of the kindness which he had at one time +received from the late king. The position which he had gained as a +warrior would naturally have made Hanun more afraid of David than +David could be of Hanun. The king of Israel could not have failed +to know this, and it might naturally occur to him that it would be +a kindly act to the young king of Ammon to send him a message that +showed that he might thoroughly rely on his friendly intentions. The +message to Hanun was another emanation of a kindly heart. If there +was anything of policy in it, it was the policy of one who felt that +so many things are continually occurring to set nations against one +another as to make it most desirable to improve every opportunity of +drawing them closer together. + +It is a happy thing for any country when its rulers and men of +influence are ever on the watch for opportunities to strengthen +the spirit of friendship. It is a happy thing in the Church when +the leaders of different sections are more disposed to measures +that conciliate and heal than to measures that alienate and divide. +In family life, and wherever men of different views and different +tempers meet, this peace-loving spirit is of great price. Men that +like fighting, and that are ever disposed to taunt, to irritate, +to divide, are the nuisances of society. Men that deal in the soft +answer, in the message of kindness, and in the prayer of love, +deserve the respect and gratitude of all. + +It is a remarkable thing that, of all the nations that were settled +in the neighbourhood of the Israelites, the only one that seemed +desirous to live on friendly terms with them was that of Tyre. Even +those who were related to them by blood,--Edomites, Midianites, +Moabites, Ammonites,--were never cordial, and often at open +hostility. Though their rights had been carefully respected by the +Israelites on their march from Sinai to Palestine, no feeling of +cordial friendship was established with any of them. None of them +were impressed even so much as Balaam had been, when in language so +beautiful he blessed the people whom God had blessed. None of them +threw in their lot with Israel, in recognition of their exalted +spiritual privileges, as Hobab and his people had done near Mount +Sinai. Individuals, like Ruth the Moabitess, had learned to recognise +the claims of Israel's God and the privileges of the covenant, but no +entire nation had ever shown even an inclination to such a course. +These neighbouring nations continued therefore to be fitting symbols +of that world-power which has so generally been found in antagonism +to the people of God. Israel while they continued faithful to God +were like the lily among thorns; and Israel's king, like Him whom +he typified, was called to rule in the midst of his enemies. The +friendship of the surrounding world cannot be the ordinary lot of +the faithful servant, otherwise the Apostle would not have struck +such a loud note of warning. "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye +not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever, +therefore, would be the friend of the world is the enemy of God." + +Between the Ammonites and the Israelites collisions had occurred on two +former occasions, on both of which the Ammonites appear to have been +the aggressors. The former of these was in the days of Jephthah. The +defeat of the Ammonites at that time was very thorough, and probably +unexpected, and, like other defeats of the same kind, it no doubt left +feelings of bitter hatred rankling in the breasts of the defeated +party. The second was the collision at Jabesh-gilead at the beginning +of the reign of Saul. The king of the Ammonites showed great ferocity +and cruelty on that occasion. When the men of Jabesh, brought to bay, +begged terms of peace, the bitter answer was returned that it would +be granted only on condition that every man's right eye should be put +out. It was then that Saul showed such courage and promptitude. In the +briefest space he was at Jabesh-gilead in defence of his people, and by +his successful tactics inflicted on the Ammonites a terrible defeat, +killing a great multitude and scattering the remainder, so that not any +two of them were left together. Men do not like to have a prize plucked +from their hands when they are on the eve of enjoying it. After such +a defeat, Nahash could not have very friendly feelings to Saul. And +when Saul proclaimed David his enemy, Nahash would naturally incline +to David's side. There is no record of the occasion on which he showed +kindness to him, but in all likelihood it was at the time when he +was in the wilderness, hiding from Saul. If, when David was near the +head of the Dead Sea, and therefore not very far from the land of the +Ammonites, or from places where they had influence, Nahash sent him +any supplies for his men, the gift would be very opportune, and there +could be no reason why David should not accept of it. Anyhow, the act +of kindness, whatever it was, made a strong impression on his heart. It +was long, long ago when it happened, but love has a long memory, and +the remembrance of it was still pleasant to David. And now the king of +Israel purposes to repay to the son the debt he had incurred to the +father. Up to this point it is a pretty picture; and it is a great +disappointment when we find the transaction miscarry, and a negotiation +which began in all the warmth and sincerity of friendship terminate in +the wild work of war. + +The fault of this miscarriage, however, was glaringly on the other +side. Hanun was a young king, and it would only have been in accordance +with the frank and unsuspecting spirit of youth had he received +David's communication with cordial pleasure, and returned to it an +answer in the same spirit in which it was sent. But his counsellors +were of another mind. They persuaded their master that the pretext +of comforting him on the death of his father was a hollow one, and +that David desired nothing but to spy out the city and the country, +with a view to bring them under his dominion. It is hard to suppose +that they really believed this. It was they, not David, that wished +a pretext for going to war. And having got something that by evil +ingenuity might be perverted to this purpose, they determined to treat +it so that it should be impossible for David to avoid the conflict. +Hanun appears to have been a weak prince, and to have yielded to their +counsels. Our difficulty is to understand how sane men could have acted +in such a way. The determination to provoke war, and the insolence of +their way of doing it, appear so like the freaks of a madman, that we +cannot comprehend how reasonable men should in cold blood have even +dreamt of such proceedings. Perhaps at this early period they had an +understanding with those Syrians that afterwards came to their aid, and +thought that on the strength of this they could afford to be insolent. +The combined force which they could bring into the field would be such +as to make even David tremble. + +It is hardly necessary to say a word to bring out the outrageous +character of their conduct. First, there was the repulse of David's +kindness. It was not even declined with civility; it was repelled +with scorn. It is always a serious thing to reject overtures of +kindness. Even the friendly salutations of dumb animals are entitled +to a friendly return, and the man that returns the caresses of his +dog with a kick and a curse is a greater brute than the animal that +he treats so unworthily. Kindness is too rare a gem to be trampled +under foot. Even though it should be mistaken kindness, though the +form it takes should prove an embarrassment rather than a help, a +good man will appreciate the motive that prompted it, and will be +careful not to hurt the feelings of those who, though they have +blundered, meant him well. None are more liable to make mistakes +than young children in their little efforts to please; meaning to be +kind, they sometimes only give trouble. The parent that gives way to +irritation, and meets this with a volley of scolding, deals cruelly +with the best and tenderest part of the child's nature. There are +few things more deserving to be attended to through life than the +habit not only of appreciating little kindnesses, but showing that +you appreciate them. How much more sweetly might the current run in +social life if this were universally attended to! + +But Hanun not only repelled David's kindness, but charged him with +meanness, and virtually flung in his face a challenge to war. To +represent his apparent kindness as a mean cover of a hostile purpose +was an act which Hanun might think little of, but which was fitted to +wound David to the quick. Unscrupulous natures have a great advantage +over others in the charges they may bring. In a street collision +a man in dirty clothing is much more powerful for mischief than +one in clean raiment. Rough, unscrupulous men are restrained by no +delicacy from bringing atrocious charges against those to whom these +charges are supremely odious. They have little sense of the sin of +them, and they toss them about without scruple. Such poisoned arrows +inflict great pain, not because the charges are just, but because +it is horrible to refined natures even to hear them. There are two +things that make some men very sensitive--the refinement of grace, +and the refinement of the spirit of courtesy. The refinement of grace +makes all sin odious, and makes a charge of gross sin very serious. +The refinement of courtesy creates great regard to the feelings of +others, and a strong desire not to wound them unnecessarily. In +circles where real courtesy prevails, accusations against others +are commonly couched in very gentle language. Rough natures ridicule +this spirit, and pride themselves on their honesty in calling a +spade a spade. Evidently Hanun belonged to the rough, unscrupulous +school. Either he did not know how it would make David writhe to be +accused of the alleged meanness, or, if he did know, he enjoyed the +spectacle. It gratified his insolent nature to see the pious king of +Israel posing before all the people of Ammon as a sneak and a liar, +and to hear the laugh of scorn and hatred resounding on every side. + +To these offences Hanun added yet another--scornful treatment of +David's ambassadors. In the eyes of all civilized nations the +persons of ambassadors were held sacred, and any affront or injury +to them was counted an odious crime. Very often men of eminent +position, venerable age, and unblemished character were chosen for +this function, and it is quite likely that David's ambassadors to +Hanun were of this class. When therefore these men were treated with +contumely--half their beards, which were in a manner sacred, shorn +away, their garments mutilated, and their persons exposed--no grosser +insult could have been inflicted. When the king and his princes were +the authors of this treatment, it must have been greatly enjoyed +by the mass of the people, whose coarse glee over the dishonoured +ambassadors of the great King David one can easily imagine. It is +a painful moment when true worth and nobility lie at the mercy of +insolence and coarseness, and have to bear their bitter revilings. +Such things may happen in public controversy in a country where +the utmost liberty of speech is allowed, and when men of ruffian +mould find contumely and insult their handiest weapons. In times of +religious persecution the most frightful charges have been hurled at +the heads of godly men and women, whose real crime is to have striven +to the utmost to obey God. Oh, how much need there is of patience to +bear insult as well as injury! And insult will sometimes rouse the +temper that injury does not ruffle. Oh for the spirit of Christ, who, +when He was reviled, reviled not again! + +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. But all of them no doubt smarted +under the defeats which David had inflicted either on them or on +their neighbours, and when a large subsidy was allotted to them to +begin with, in addition to whatever booty might fall to their share +if David should be subdued, it is no great wonder that an immense +addition was made to the forces of the Ammonites. It became in fact +a very formidable opposition; all the more that they were very +abundantly supplied with chariots and horsemen, of which arm David +had scarcely any. He met them first by sending out Joab and "all +the host" of the mighty men. The whole resources of his army were +forwarded. And when Joab came to the spot, he found that he had a +double enemy to face. The Ammonite army came out from the city to +encounter him, while the Syrian army were encamped in the country, +ready to place him between two fires when the battle began. To guard +against this, Joab divided his force into two. The Syrian host was +the more formidable body; therefore Joab went in person against +it, at the head of a select body of troops chosen from the general +army. The command of the remainder was given to his brother Abishai, +who was left to deal with the Ammonites. If either section found +its opponent too much for it, aid was to be given by the other. No +fault can be found either with the arrangements made by Joab for +the encounter or the spirit in which he entered on the fight. "Be +of good courage," he said to his men, "and let us play the men for +our people, and for the cities of our God; and the Lord do that +which seemeth to Him good." It was just such an exhortation as David +himself might have given. Some were trusting in chariots and some in +horses, but they were remembering the name of the Lord their God. The +first movement was made by Joab and his part of the army against the +Syrians; it was completely successful; the Syrians fled before him, +chariots and horsemen and all. When the Ammonite army saw the fate of +the Syrians they did not even hazard a conflict, but wheeled about +and made for the city. Thus ended their first proud effort to sustain +and complete the humiliation of King David. The hired troops on which +they had leaned so much turned out utterly untrustworthy; and the +wretched Ammonites found themselves _minus_ their thousand talents, +without victory, and without honour. + +But their allies the Syrians were not disposed to yield without +another conflict. Determined to do his utmost, Hadarezer, king of +the Syrians of Zobah, sent across the Euphrates, and prevailed on +their neighbours 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 Hadarezer is apparent from the number +of the slain (ver. 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 hundred chariots, and forty thousand horsemen (1 +Chron. xix. 18, "footmen"), 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 Hadarezer transferred +their allegiance to David. The Syrian power was completely broken; +all help was withdrawn from the Ammonites, who were now left to bear +the brunt of their quarrel alone. Single-handed, they had to look +for the onset of the army which had so remarkably prevailed against +all the power of Syria, and to answer to King David for the outrage +they had perpetrated on his ambassadors. Very different must their +feelings have been now from the time when they began to negotiate +with Syria, and when, doubtless, they looked forward so confidently +to the coming defeat and humiliation of King David. + +It requires but a very little consideration to see that the wars +which are so briefly recorded in this chapter must have been most +serious and perilous undertakings. The record of them is so short, +so unimpassioned, so simple, that many readers are disposed to think +very little of them. But when we pause to think what it was for the +king of Israel to meet, on foreign soil, confederates so numerous, so +powerful, and so familiar with warfare, we cannot but see that these +were tremendous wars. They were fitted to try the faith as well as +the courage of David and his people to the very utmost. In seeking +dates for those psalms that picture a multitude of foes closing on +the writer, and that record the exercises of his heart, from the +insinuations of fear at the beginning to the triumph of trust and +peace at the end, we commonly think only of two events in David's +life,--the persecution of Saul and the insurrection of Absalom. But +the Psalmist himself could probably have enumerated a dozen occasions +when his danger and his need were as great as they were then. He must +have passed through the same experience on these occasions as on the +other two; and the language of the Psalms may often have as direct +reference to the former as to the latter. We may understand, too, +how the destruction of enemies became so prominent a petition in his +prayers. What can a general desire and pray for, when he sees a hostile +army, like a great engine of destruction, ready to dash against all +that he holds dear, but that the engine may be shivered, deprived of +all power of doing mischief--in other words, that the army may be +destroyed? The imprecations in the Book of Psalms against his enemies +must be viewed in this light. The military habit of the Psalmist's +mind made him think only of the destruction of those who, in opposing +him, opposed the cause of God. It ought not to be imputed as a crime +to David that he did not rise high above a soldier's feelings; that +he did not view things from the point of view of Christianity; that +he was not a thousand years in advance of his age. The one outlet +from the frightful danger which these Syrian hordes brought to him +and his people was that they should be destroyed. Our blessed Lord +gave men another view when He said, "The Son of man is come not to +destroy men's lives, but to save them." He familiarised us with other +modes of conquest. When He appeared to Saul on the way to Damascus, +and turned the persecutor into the chief of apostles, He showed that +there are other ways than that of destruction for delivering His Church +from its enemies. "I send thee to open their eyes, and to turn them +from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God." This +commission to Saul gives us reason for praying, with reference to the +most clever and destructive of the enemies of His Church, that by His +Spirit He would meet them too, and turn them into other men. And not +until this line of petition has been exhausted can we fall back in +prayer on David's method. Only when their repentance and conversion +have become hopeless are we entitled to pray God to destroy the +grievous wolves that work such havoc in His flock. + + + + + CHAPTER XIV. + + _DAVID AND URIAH._ + + 2 SAMUEL xi. + + +How ardently would most, if not all readers, of the life of David +have wished that it had ended before this chapter! Its golden era has +passed away, and what remains is little else than a chequered tale +of crime and punishment. On former occasions, under the influence of +strong and long-continued temptations, we have seen his faith give +way and a spirit of dissimulation appear; but these were like spots +on the sun, not greatly obscuring his general radiance. What we now +encounter is not like a spot, but a horrid eclipse; it is not like +a mere swelling of the face, but a bloated tumour that distorts the +countenance and drains the body of its life-blood. To human wisdom +it would have seemed far better had David's life ended now, so +that no cause might have been given for the everlasting current of +jeer and joke with which his fall has supplied the infidel. Often, +when a great and good man is cut off in the midst of his days and +of his usefulness, we are disposed to question the wisdom of the +dispensation; but when we find ourselves disposed to wonder whether +this might not have been better in the case of David, we may surely +acquiesce in the ways of God. + +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 characterise it is the quiet but +terrible words with which the chapter ends--"But the thing that David +had done displeased the Lord." In the fearless march of providence we +see many a proof of the courage of God. It is God alone that could +have the fortitude to place in the Holy Book this foul story of sin +and shame. He only could deliberately encounter the scorn which it +has drawn down from every generation of ungodly men, the only wise +God, who sees the end from the beginning, who can rise high above +all the fears and objections of short-sighted men, and who can quiet +every feeling of uneasiness on the part of His children with the +sublime words, "Be still, and know that I am God." + +The truth is, that though David's reputation would have been brighter +had he died at this point of his career, the moral of his life, so to +speak, would have been less complete. There was evidently a sensual +element in his nature, as there is in so many men of warm, emotional +temperament; and he does not appear to have been alive to the danger +involved in it. It led him the more readily to avail himself of +the toleration of polygamy, and to increase from time to time the +number of his wives. Thus provision was made for the gratification +of a disorderly lust, which, if he had lived like Abraham or Isaac, +would have been kept back from all lawless excesses. And when evil +desire has large scope for its exercise, instead of being satisfied +it becomes more greedy and more lawless. Now, this painful chapter +of David's history is designed to show us what the final effect of +this was in his case--what came ultimately of this habit of pampering +the lust of the flesh. And verily, if any have ever been inclined to +envy David's liberty, and think it hard that such a law of restraint +binds them while he was permitted to do as he pleased, let them study +in the latter part of his history the effects of this unhallowed +indulgence; let them see his home robbed of its peace and joy, his +heart lacerated by the misconduct of his children, his throne seized +by his son, while he has to fly from his own Jerusalem; let them +see him obliged to take the field against Absalom, and hear the air +rent by his cries of anguish when Absalom is slain; let them think +how even his deathbed was disturbed by the noise of revolt, and how +legacies of blood had to be bequeathed to his successor almost with +his dying breath,--and surely it will be seen that the license which +bore such wretched fruits is not to be envied, and that, after all, +the way even of royal transgressors is hard. + +But a fall so violent as that of David does not occur all at once. It +is generally preceded by a period of spiritual declension, and in all +likelihood there was such an experience on his part. Nor is it very +difficult to find the cause. For many years back David had enjoyed +a most remarkable run of prosperity. His army had been victorious +in every encounter; his power was recognized by many neighbouring +states; immense riches flowed from every quarter to his capital; +it seemed as if nothing could go wrong with him. When everything +prospers to a man's hand, it is a short step to the conclusion that +he can do nothing wrong. How many great men in the world have been +spoiled by success, and by unlimited, or even very great power! In +how many hearts has the fallacy obtained a footing, that ordinary +laws were not made for them, and that they did not need to regard +them! David was no exception; he came to think of his will as the +great directing force within his kingdom, the earthly consideration +that should regulate all. + +Then there was the absence of that very powerful stimulus, the pressure +of distress around him, which had driven him formerly so close to +God. His enemies had been defeated in every quarter, with the single +exception of the Ammonites, a foe that could give him no anxiety; and +he ceased to have a vivid sense of his reliance on God as his Shield. +The pressure of trouble and anxiety that had made his prayers so +earnest was now removed, and probably he had become somewhat remiss and +formal in prayer. We little know how much influence our surroundings +have on our spiritual life till some great change takes place in them; +and then, perhaps, we come to see that the atmosphere of trial and +difficulty which oppressed us so greatly was really the occasion to us +of our highest strength and our greatest blessings. + +And further, there was the fact that David was idle, at least without +active occupation. Though it was the time for kings to go forth to +battle, and though his presence with his army at Rabbah would have +been a great help and encouragement to his soldiers, he was not there. +He seems to have thought it not worth his while. Now that the Syrians +had been defeated, there could be no difficulty with the Ammonites. +At evening-tide he arose from off his bed and walked on the roof of +his house. He was in that idle, listless mood in which one is most +readily attracted by temptation, and in which the lust of the flesh +has its greatest power. And, as it has been remarked, "oft the sight +of means to do ill makes ill deeds done." If any scruples arose in +his conscience they were not regarded. To brush aside objections to +anything on which he had set his heart was a process to which, in his +great undertakings, he had been well accustomed; unhappily, he applies +this rule when it is not applicable, and with the whole force of his +nature rushes into temptation. + +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. + +Then follow his vain endeavours to conceal his crime, frustrated +by the high self-control of Uriah. Yes, though David gets him +intoxicated he cannot make a tool of him. Strange that this Hittite, +this member of one of the seven nations of Canaan, whose inheritance +was not a blessing but a curse, shows himself a paragon in that +self-command, the utter absence of which, in the favoured king of +Israel, has plunged him so deeply in the mire. Thus ends the second +act of the tragedy. + +But the next is far the most awful. 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. Do you remember, David, how shocked you were when Joab slew +Abner? Do you remember your consternation at the thought that you +might be held to approve of the murder? Do you remember how often +you have wished that Joab were not so rough a man, that he had more +gentleness, more piety, more concern for bloodshedding? And here +are you making this Joab your confidant in sin, and your partner in +murder, justifying all the wild work his sword has ever done, and +causing him to believe that, in spite of all his holy pretensions +David is just such a man as himself. + +Surely it was a horrible sin--aggravated, too, in many ways. It +was committed 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. And that head of the nation had been +signally favoured by God, and had been exalted in room of one whose +selfishness and godlessness had caused him to be deposed from his +dignity. Then there was the profession made by David of zeal for +God's service and His law, his great enthusiasm in bringing up the +ark to Jerusalem, his desire to build a temple, the character he had +gained as a writer of sacred songs, and indeed as the great champion +of religion in the nation. Further, there was the mature age at +which he had now arrived, a period of life at which sobriety in the +indulgence of the appetites is so justly and reasonably expected. And +finally, there was the excellent character and the faithful services +of Uriah, entitling him to the high rewards of his sovereign, rather +than the cruel fate which David measured out to him--his home rifled +and his life taken away. + +How then, it may be asked, can the conduct of David be accounted for? +The answer is simple enough--on the ground of original sin. Like +the rest of us, he was born with proclivities to evil--to irregular +desires craving unlawful indulgence. When divine grace takes +possession of the heart it does not annihilate sinful tendencies, +but overcomes them. It brings considerations to bear on the +understanding, the conscience, and the heart, that incline and enable +one to resist the solicitations of evil, and to yield one's self to +the law of God. It turns this into a habit of the life. It gives one +a sense of great peace and happiness in resisting the motions of sin, +and doing the will of God. It makes it the deliberate purpose and +desire of one's heart to be holy; it inspires one with the prayer, +"Oh that my ways were directed to keep Thy statutes! Then shall I not +be ashamed, when I have respect unto all Thy commandments." + +But, meanwhile, the cravings of the old nature are not wholly +destroyed. "The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit +lusteth against the flesh." It is as if two armies were in collision. +The Christian who naturally has a tendency to sensuality may feel +the craving for sinful gratification even when the general bent of +his nature is in favour of full compliance with the will of God. In +some natures, especially strong natures, both the old man and the new +possess unusual vehemence; the rebellious energisings of the old are +held in check by the still more resolute vigour of the new; but if it +so happen that the opposition of the new man to the old is relaxed +or abated, then the outbreak of corruption will probably be on a +fearful scale. Thus it was in David's nature. The sensual craving, +the law of sin in his members, was strong; but the law of grace, +inclining him to give himself up to the will of God, was stronger, +and usually kept him right. There was an extraordinary activity +and energy of character about him; he never did things slowly, +tremblingly, timidly; the wellsprings of life were full, and gushed +out in copious currents; in whatever direction they might flow, they +were sure to flow with power. But at this time the energy of the new +nature was suffering a sad abatement; the considerations that should +have led him to conform to God's law had lost much of their usual +power. Fellowship with the Fountain of life was interrupted; the +old nature found itself free from its habitual restraint, and its +stream came out with the vehemence of a liberated torrent. It would +be quite unfair to judge David on this occasion as if he had been one +of those feeble creatures who, as they seldom rise to the heights of +excellence, seldom sink to the depths of daring sin. + +We make these remarks simply to account for a fact, and by no +means to excuse a crime. Men are liable to ask, when they read of +such sins done by good men, Were they really good men? Can that +be genuine goodness which leaves a man liable to do such deeds of +wickedness? If so, wherein are your so-called good men better than +other men? We reply, They are better than other men in this,--and +David was better than other men in this,--that the deepest and most +deliberate desire of their hearts is to do as God requires, and +to be holy as God is holy. This is their habitual aim and desire; +and in this they are in the main successful. If this be not one's +habitual aim, and if in this he do not habitually succeed, he can +have no real claim to be counted a good man. Such is the doctrine of +the Apostle in the seventh chapter of the Romans. Any one who reads +that chapter in connection with the narrative of David's fall can +have little doubt that it is the experience of the new man that the +Apostle is describing. The habitual attitude of the heart is given +in the striking words, "I delight in the law of God after the inward +man." I see how good God's law is; how excellent is the stringent +restraint it lays on all that is loose and irregular, how beautiful +the life which is cast in its mould. But for all that, I feel in me +the motions of desire for unlawful gratifications, I feel a craving +for the pleasures of sin. "I see another law in my members, warring +against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the +law of sin which is in my members." But how does the Apostle treat +this feeling? Does he say, "I am a human creature, and, having these +desires, I may and I must gratify them"? Far from it! He deplores the +fact, and he cries for deliverance. "O wretched man that I am, who +shall deliver me from the body of this death?" And his only hope of +deliverance is in Him whom he calls his Saviour. "I thank God through +Jesus Christ our Lord." In the case of David, the law of sin in his +members prevailed for the time over the new law, the law of his mind, +and it plunged him into a state which might well have led him too to +say, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me?" + +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. An hour's sleep may leave Samson at the mercy of +Delilah, and when he awakes his strength is gone. 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. +You may contend vigorously against ninety-and-nine forms of sin, but +if you yield to the hundredth the consequences will be deadly. You may +fling away a whole box of matches, but if you retain one it is quite +sufficient to set fire to your house. A single soldier finding his way +into a garrison may open the gates to the whole besieging army. One sin +leads on to another and another, especially if the first be a sin which +it is desirable to conceal. Falsehood and cunning, and even treachery, +are employed to promote concealment; unprincipled accomplices are +called in; the failure of one contrivance leads to other contrivances +more sinful and more desperate. If there is a being on earth more to be +pitied than another it is the man who has got into this labyrinth. What +a contrast his perplexed feverish agitation to the calm peace of the +straightforward Christian! "He that walketh uprightly walketh surely; +but he that perverteth his way shall be known." + +Never let any one read this chapter of 2 Samuel without paying the +profoundest regard to its closing words--"But the thing that David had +done displeased the Lord." In that "but" lies a whole world of meaning. + + + + + CHAPTER XV. + + _DAVID AND NATHAN._ + + 2 SAMUEL xii. 1-12; 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 (as we have already seen) 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, 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 the concluding verses of this chapter (vv. 26-31) +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; for Joab was besieging it when David first +saw Bathsheba, and there is no reason to suppose that a people like +the Ammonites would be able to hold the mere outworks of the city for +two or three whole years against such an army as David's and such a +commander as Joab. It seems far more likely that Joab's first success +against Rabbah was gained soon after the death of Uriah, and that his +message to David to come and take the citadel in person was sent not +long after the message that announced Uriah's death. + +In that case the order of events would be 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 honour of +conquering the place. It rather surprises one to find Joab declining +an honour 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. The cruelties practised +by David on the Ammonites send a thrill of horror through us as we +read them. No doubt they deserved a severe chastisement; the original +offence was an outrage on every right feeling, an outrage on the law +of nations, a gratuitous and contemptuous insult; and in bringing +these vast Syrian armies into the field they had subjected even the +victorious Israelites to grievous suffering and loss, in toil, in +money, and in lives. + +Attempts have been made to explain away the severities inflicted +on the Ammonites, but it is impossible to explain away a plain +historical narrative. It was the manner of victorious warriors in +those countries to steel their hearts against all compassion toward +captive foes, and David, kind-hearted though he was, did the same. +And if it be said that surely his religion, if it were religion of +the right kind, ought to have made him more compassionate, we reply +that at this period his religion was in a state of collapse. When his +religion was in a healthy and active state, it showed itself in the +first place by his regard for the honour of God, for whose ark he +provided a resting-place, and in whose honour he proposed to build +a temple. Love to God was accompanied by love to man, exhibited in +his efforts to show kindness to the house of Saul for the sake of +Jonathan, and to Hanun for the sake of Nahash. But now the picture +is reversed; he falls into a cold state of heart toward God, and in +connection with that declension we mark a more than usually severe +punishment inflicted on his enemies. Just as the leaves first become +yellow and finally drop from the tree in autumn, when the juices that +fed them begin to fail, so the kindly actions that had marked the +better periods of his life first fail, then turn to deeds of cruelty +when that Holy Spirit, who is the fountain of all goodness, being +resisted and grieved by him, withholds His living power. + +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; he might have left Joab to complete the conquest and enjoy the +honour which his sword had substantially won. 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 terrible 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, his temper is commonly +irritable. Unhappy in his inmost soul, he is in the temper that most +easily becomes savage when provoked. No one can imagine that David's +conscience was at rest. He must have had that restless feeling which +every good man experiences after doing a wrong act, before coming to +a clear apprehension of it; he must have been eager to escape from +himself, and Joab's request to him to come to Rabbah and end the war +must have been very opportune. In the excitement of war he would +escape for a time the pursuit of his conscience; but he would be +restless and irritable, and disposed to drive out of his way, in the +most unceremonious manner, whoever or whatever should cross his path. + +We now return with him to Jerusalem. He had added another to his long +list of illustrious victories, and he had carried to the capital +another vast store of spoil. The public attention would be thoroughly +occupied with these brilliant events; and a king entering his capital +at the head of his victorious troops, and followed by waggons laden +with public treasure, need not fear a harsh construction on his +private actions. The fate of Uriah might excite little notice; the +affair of Bathsheba would soon blow over. The brilliant victory that +had terminated the war seemed at the same time to have extricated the +king from a personal scandal. David might flatter himself that all +would now be peace and quiet, and that the waters of oblivion would +gather over that ugly business of Uriah. + +"But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord." + +"And the Lord sent Nathan unto David." + +Slowly, sadly, silently the prophet bends his steps to the palace. +Anxiously and painfully he prepares himself for the most distressing +task a prophet of the Lord ever had to go through. He has to +convey God's reproof to the king; he has to reprove one from whom, +doubtless, he has received many an impulse towards all that is high +and holy. Very happily he clothes his message in the Eastern garb of +parable. 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! "Thus saith the +Lord God of Israel, I 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 moreover have +given thee such and such things. Wherefore hast thou despised the +commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? Thou hast killed +Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast slain him with the sword +of the children of Ammon." + +It is not difficult to fancy the look of the king as the prophet +delivered his message--how at first when he said, "Thou art the man," +he would gaze at him eagerly and wistfully, like one at a loss to +divine his meaning; and then, as the prophet proceeded to apply his +parable, how, conscience-stricken, his expression would change to one +of horror and agony; how the deeds of the last twelve months would +glare in all their infamous baseness upon him, and outraged Justice, +with a hundred glittering swords, would seem all impatient to devour +him. + +It is no mere imagination that, in a moment, the mind may be so +quickened as to embrace the actions of a long period; and that with +equal suddenness the moral aspect of them may be completely changed. +There are moments when the powers of the mind as well as those of the +body are so stimulated as to become capable of exertions undreamt +of before. The dumb prince, in ancient history, who all his life +had never spoken a word, but found the power of speech when he saw +a sword raised to cut down his father, showed how danger could +stimulate the organs of the body. The sudden change in David's +feeling now, like the sudden change in Saul's on the way to Damascus, +showed what electric rapidity may be communicated to the operations +of the soul. It showed too what unseen and irresistible agencies of +conviction and condemnation the great Judge can bring into play when +it is His will to do so. As the steam hammer may be so adjusted as +either to break a nutshell without injuring the kernel, or crush a +block of quartz to powder, so the Spirit of God can range, in His +effects on the conscience, between the mildest feeling of uneasiness +and the bitterest agony of remorse. "When He is come," said our +blessed Lord, "He shall reprove the world of sin." How helpless men +are under His operation! How utterly was David prostrated! How were +the multitudes brought down on the day of Pentecost! Is there any +petition we more need to press than that the Spirit be poured out to +convince of sin, whether as it regards ourselves or the world? Is it +not true that the great want of the Church the want of is a sense of +sin, so that confession and humiliation are become rare, and our very +theology is emasculated, because, where there is little sense of sin, +there can be little appreciation of redemption? And is not a sense of +sin that which would bring a careless world to itself, and make it +deal earnestly with God's gracious offers? How striking is the effect +ascribed by the prophet Zechariah to that pouring of the spirit of +grace and supplication upon the house of David and the inhabitants of +Jerusalem, when "they shall look on Him whom they have pierced, and +shall mourn for Him as one mourneth for an only son, and shall be in +bitterness for Him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn." +Would that our whole hearts went out in those invocations of the +Spirit which we often sing, but alas! so very tamely-- + + "Come, Holy Spirit, come, + Let Thy bright beams arise; + Dispel the darkness from our minds, + And open all our eyes. + + "Convince us of our sin, + Lead us to Jesus' blood, + And kindle in our breast the flame + Of never-dying love." + +We cannot pass from this aspect of David's case without marking the +terrible power of self-deception. Nothing blinds men so much to the +real character of a sin as the fact that it is their own. Let it +be presented to them in the light of another man's sin, and they +are shocked. It is easy for one's self-love to weave a veil of fair +embroidery, and cast it over those deeds about which one is somewhat +uncomfortable. It is easy to devise for ourselves this excuse and +that, and lay stress on one excuse and another that may lessen the +appearance of criminality. But nothing is more to be deprecated, +nothing more to be deplored, than success in that very process. +Happy for you if a Nathan is sent to you in time to tear to rags +your elaborate embroidery, and lay bare the essential vileness of +your deed! Happy for you if your conscience is made to assert its +authority, and cry to you, with its awful voice, "Thou art the man!" +For if you live and die in your fool's paradise, excusing every sin, +and saying peace, peace, when there is no peace, there is nothing +for you but the rude awakening of the day of judgment, when the hail +shall sweep away the refuge of lies! + +After Nathan had exposed the sin of David he proceeded to declare +his sentence. It was not a sentence of death, in the ordinary sense +of the term, but it was a sentence of death in a sense even more +difficult to bear. It consisted of three things--first, the sword +should never depart from his house; second, out of his own house +evil should be raised against him, and a dishonoured harem should +show the nature and extent of the humiliation that would come upon +him; and thirdly, a public exposure should thus be made of his sin, +so that he would stand in the pillory of Divine rebuke, and in the +shame which it entailed, before all Israel, and before the sun. When +David confessed his sin, Nathan told him that the Lord had graciously +forgiven it, but at the same time a special chastisement was to mark +how concerned God was for the fact that by his sin he had caused the +enemy to blaspheme--the child born of Bathsheba was to die. + +Reserving this last part of the sentence and David's bearing in +connection with it for future consideration, let us give attention +to the first portion of his retribution. "The sword shall never +depart from thy house." 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 the sword, the sword was never to depart +from him. He had robbed Uriah of his wife; his neighbours would in +like manner rob and dishonour 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 towards him. What a sad and ominous +prospect! Men naturally look for peace in old age; the evening of +life is expected to be calm. But for him there was to be no calm; and +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. Oh let not any suppose +that, because God's children are saved by His mercy from eternal +punishment, it is a light thing for them to despise the commandments +of the Lord! "Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy +backslidings shall reprove thee; know therefore and see that it is an +evil thing and bitter that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and +that thy fear is not in Me, saith the Lord of hosts." + +Pre-eminent in its bitterness was that part of David's retribution +which made his own house the source from which his bitterest trials +and humiliations should arise. For the most part, it is in extreme +cases only that parents have to encounter this trial. It is only in +the wickedest households, and in households for the most part where +the passions are roused to madness by drink, that the hand of the +child is raised against his father to wound and dishonour him. It was +a terrible humiliation to the king of Israel to have to bear this +doom, and especially to that king of Israel who in many ways bore +so close a resemblance to the promised Seed, who was indeed to be +the progenitor of that Seed, so that when Messiah came He should be +called "the Son of David." Alas! the glory of this distinction was to +be sadly tarnished. "Son of David" was to be a very equivocal title, +according to the character of the individual who should bear it. In +one case it would denote the very climax of honour; in another, the +depth of humiliation. Yes, that household of David's would reek with +foul lusts and unnatural crimes. From the bosom of that home where, +under other circumstances, it would have been so natural to look +for model children, pure, affectionate, and dutiful, there would +come forth monsters of lust and monsters of ambition, whose deeds of +infamy would hardly find a parallel in the annals of the nation! +In the breasts of some of these royal children the devil would find +a seat where he might plan and execute the most unnatural crimes. +And that city of Jerusalem, which he had rescued from the Jebusites, +consecrated as God's dwelling-place, and built and adorned with the +spoils which the king had taken in many a well-fought field, would +turn against him in his old age, and force him to fly wherever a +refuge could be found as homeless, and nearly as destitute, as in the +days of his youth when he fled from Saul! + +And lastly, his retribution was to be public. He had done his part +secretly, but God would do His part openly. There was not a man or +woman in all Israel but would see these judgments coming on a king +who had outraged his royal position and his royal prerogatives. How +could he ever go in and out happily among them again? How could he +be sure, when he met any of them, that they were not thinking of his +crime, and condemning him in their hearts? How could he meet the hardly +suppressed scowl of every Hittite, that would recall his treatment of +their faithful kinsman? What a burden would he carry ever after, he +that used to wear such a frank and honest and kindly look, that was so +affable to all that sought his counsel, and so tender-hearted to all +that were in trouble! And what outlet could he find out of all this +misery? There was but one he could think of. If only God would forgive +him; if He, whose mercy was in the heavens, would but receive him again +of His infinite condescension into His fellowship, and vouchsafe to him +that grace which was not the fruit of man's deserving, but, as its very +name implied, of God's unbounded goodness, then might his soul return +again to its quiet rest, though life could never be to him what it was +before. And this, as we shall presently see, is what he set himself +very earnestly to seek, and what of God's mercy he was permitted to +find. O sinner, if thou hast strayed like a lost sheep, and plunged +into the very depths of sin, know that all is not lost with thee! There +is one way yet open to peace, if not to joy. Amid the ten thousand +times ten thousand voices that condemn thee, there is one voice of love +that comes from heaven and says, "Return unto Me, and I will return +unto you, saith the Lord." + + + + + CHAPTER XVI. + + _PENITENCE AND CHASTISEMENT._ + + 2 SAMUEL xii. 13-25. + + +When Nathan ended his message, plainly and strongly though he had +spoken, David indicated no irritation, made no complaint against the +prophet, but simply and humbly confessed--"I have sinned." It is so +common for men to be offended when a servant of God remonstrates +with them, and to impute their interference to an unworthy motive, +and to the desire of some one to hurt and humiliate them, that it is +refreshing to find a great king receiving the rebuke of the Lord's +servant in a spirit of profound humility and frank confession. Very +different was the experience of John the Baptist when he remonstrated +with Herod. Very different was the experience of the famous Chrysostom +when he rebuked the emperor and empress for conduct unworthy of +Christians. Very different has been the experience of many a faithful +minister in a humbler sphere, when, constrained by a sense of duty, he +has gone to some man of influence in his flock, and spoken seriously +to him of sins which bring a reproach on the name of Christ. Often it +has cost the faithful man days and nights of pain; girding himself for +the duty has been like preparing for martyrdom; and it has been really +martyrdom when he has had to bear the long malignant enmity of the +man whom he rebuked. However vile the conduct of David may have been, +it is one thing in his favour that he receives his rebuke with perfect +humility and submission; he makes no attempt to palliate his conduct +either before God or man; but sums up his whole feeling in these +expressive words, "I have sinned against the Lord." + +To this frank acknowledgment Nathan replied that the Lord had put +away his sin, so that he would not undergo the punishment of death. +It was his own judgment that the miscreant who had stolen the ewe +lamb should die, and as that proved to be himself, it indicated +the punishment that was due to him. That punishment, however, the +Lord, in the exercise of His clemency, had been pleased to remit. +But a palpable proof of His displeasure was to be given in another +way--the child of Bathsheba was to die. It was to become, as it were, +the scapegoat for its father. In those times father and child were +counted so much one that the offence of the one was often visited on +both. When Achan stole the spoil at Jericho, not only he himself, but +his whole family, shared his sentence of death. In this case of David +the father was to escape, but the child was to die. It may seem hard, +and barely just. But death to the child, though in form a punishment, +might prove to be great gain. It might mean transference to a higher +and brighter state of existence. It might mean escape from a life +full of sorrows and perils to the world where there is no more pain, +nor sorrow, nor death, because the former things are passed away. + +We cannot pass from the consideration of David's great penitence +for his sin without dwelling a little more on some of its features. +It is in the fifty-first Psalm that the working of his soul is +best unfolded to us. No doubt it has been strongly urged by certain +modern critics that that psalm is not David's at all; that it belongs +to some other period, as the last verse but one indicates, when +the walls of Jerusalem were in ruins;--most likely the period of +the Captivity. But even if we should have to say of the last two +verses that they must have been added at another time, we cannot but +hold the psalm to be the outpouring of David's soul, and not the +expression of the penitence of the nation at large. If ever psalm +was the expression of the feelings of an individual it is this one. +And if ever psalm was appropriate to King David it is this one. For +the one thing which is uppermost in the soul of the writer is his +personal relation to God. The one thing that he values, and for which +all other things are counted but dung, is friendly intercourse with +God. This sin no doubt has had many other atrocious effects, but the +terrible thing is that it has broken the link that bound him to God, +it has cut off all the blessed things that come by that channel, it +has made him an outcast from Him whose lovingkindness is better than +life. Without God's favour life is but misery. He can do no good to +man; he can do no service to God. It is a rare thing even for good +men to have such a profound sense of the blessedness of God's favour. +David was one of those who had it in the profoundest degree; and as +the fifty-first Psalm is full of it, as it forms the very soul of its +pleadings, we cannot doubt that it was a psalm of David. + +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 lovingkindnesses. 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 the 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 for ever of Thy +friendship, for then life would be but darkness and anguish; depose +me not for ever from Thy ministry, continue to me yet the honour 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. But as we have seen, the Divine +displeasure against him is to be openly manifested in another form, +because, in addition to his personal sin, he has given occasion to +the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. + +This is an aggravation 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! +What a keen eye the world has for the inconsistencies of Christians! +With what remorseless severity does it come down on them when they +fall into these inconsistencies! Sins that would hardly be thought +of if committed by others,--what a serious aspect they assume when +committed by them! Had it been Nebuchadnezzar, for example, that +treated Uriah as David did, who would have thought of it a second +time? What else could you expect of Nebuchadnezzar? Let a Christian +society or any other Christian body be guilty of a scandal, how do +the worldly newspapers fasten on it like treasure-trove, and exult +over their humbled victim, like Red Indians dancing their war dances +and flourishing their tomahawks over some miserable prisoner. The +scorn is very bitter, and sometimes it is very unjust; yet perhaps +it has on the whole a wholesome effect, just because it stimulates +vigilance and carefulness on the part of the Church. But the worst +of the case is, that on the part of unbelievers it stimulates that +blasphemy which is alike dishonouring to God and pernicious to man. +Virtually this blasphemy denies the whole work of the Holy Spirit in +the hearts of men. It denies the reality of any supernatural agency +of the Spirit in one more than in all. And denying the work of the +Spirit, it makes men careless about the Spirit; it neutralises the +solemn words of Christ, "Ye must be born again." It throws back +the kingdom of God, and it turns back many a pilgrim who had been +thinking seriously of beginning the journey to the heavenly city, +because he is now uncertain whether such a city exists at all. + +Hardly has Nathan left the king's house when the child begins to +sicken, and the sickness becomes very great. We should have expected +that David would be concerned and distressed, but hardly to the +degree which his distress attained. In the intensity of his anxiety +and grief there is something remarkable. A new-born infant could +scarcely have taken that mysterious hold on a father's heart which +a little time is commonly required to develop, but which, once it +is there, makes the loss even of a little child a grievous blow, +and leaves the heart sick and sore for many a day. But there is +something in an infant's agony which unmans the strongest heart, +especially when it comes in convulsive fits that no skill can allay. +And should one, in addition, be tortured with the conviction that +the child was suffering on one's own account, one's distress might +well be overpowering. And this was David's feeling. His sin was ever +before him. As he saw that suffering infant he must have felt as if +the stripes that should have fallen on him were tearing the poor +babe's tender frame, and crushing him with undeserved suffering. +Even in ordinary cases, it is a mysterious thing to see an infant in +mortal agony. It is solemnizing to think that the one member of the +family who has committed no actual sin should be the first to reap +the deadly wages of sin. It leads us to think of mankind as one tree +of many branches; and when the wintry frost begins to prevail it is +the youngest and tenderest branchlets that first droop and die. Oh! +how careful should those in mature years be, and especially parents, +lest by their sins they bring down a retribution which shall fall +first on their children, and perhaps the youngest and most innocent +of all! Yet how often do we see the children suffering for the sins +of their parents, and suffering in a way which, in this life at +least, admits of no right remedy! In that "bitter cry of outcast +London," which fell some years ago on the ears of the country, by +far the most distressing note was the cry of infants abandoned by +drunken parents before they could well walk, or living with them in +hovels where blows and curses came in place of food and clothing +and kindness--children brought up without aught of the sunshine of +love, every tender feeling nipped and shrivelled in the very bud by +the frost of bitter, brutal cruelty. And if in ordinary families +children are not made to suffer so palpably for their parents' sins, +yet suffer they do in many ways sufficiently serious. Wherever there +is a bad example, wherever there is a laxity of principle, wherever +God is dishonoured, the sin reacts upon the children. Their moral +texture is relaxed; they learn to trifle with sin, and, trifling with +sin, to disbelieve in the retribution for sin. And where conscience +has not been altogether destroyed in the parent, and remorse for sin +begins to prevail, and retribution to come, it is not what he has to +suffer in his own person that he feels most deeply, but what has to +be borne and suffered by his children. Does any one ask why God has +constituted society so that the innocent are thus implicated in the +sin of the guilty? The answer is, that this arises not from God's +constitution, but from man's perversion of it. Why, we may ask, do +men subvert God's moral order? Why do they break down His fences and +embankments, and, contrary to the Divine plan, let ruinous streams +pour their destructive waters into their homes and enclosures? If the +human race had preserved from the beginning the constitution which +God gave them, obeyed His law both individually and as a social body, +such things would not have been. But reckless man, in his eagerness +to have his own way, disregards the Divine arrangement, and plunges +himself and his family into the depths of woe. + +There is something even beyond this, however, that arrests our notice +in the behaviour of David. Though Nathan had said that the child +would die, he set himself most earnestly, by prayer and fasting, to +get God to spare him. Was this not a strange proceeding? It could +be justified only on the supposition that the Divine judgment was +modified by an unexpressed condition that, if David should humble +himself in true repentance, it would not have to be inflicted. +Anyhow, we see him throwing his whole soul into these exercises: +engaging in them so earnestly that he took no regular food, and in +place of the royal bed he was content to lie upon the earth. His +earnestness in this was well fitted to show the difference between a +religious service gone through with becoming reverence, because it +is the proper thing to do, and the service of one who has a definite +end in view, who seeks a definite blessing, and who wrestles with God +to obtain it. But David had no valid ground for expecting that, even +if he should repent, God would avert the judgment from the child; +indeed, the reason assigned for it showed the contrary--because he +had given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. + +And so, after a very weary and dismal week, the child died. But +instead of abandoning himself to a tumult of distress when this event +took place, he altogether changed his demeanour. His spirit became +calm, "he 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." It seemed to his servants +a strange proceeding. The answer of David showed that there was a +rational purpose in it. So long as he thought it possible that the +child's life might be spared, he not only continued to pray to that +effect, but he did everything to prevent his attention from being +turned to anything else, he did everything to concentrate his soul +on that one object, and to let it appear to God how thoroughly it +occupied his mind. 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 highly wrong. It 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 re-union was not impossible, though it could not take +place in this life. "I shall go to him, but he shall not return unto +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, but "I shall go to +him, and 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. Blessed, truly, are the dead who die +in the Lord, and, however painful the stroke that removed them, +blessed are their surviving friends. Ye shall go to them, though they +shall not return to you. How you are to recognise them, how you are +to commune with them, in what place they shall be, in what condition +of consciousness, you cannot tell; but "you shall go to them;" the +separation shall be but temporary, and who can conceive the joy of +re-union, re-union never to be broken by separation for evermore? + +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 towards +extracting from the miserable transaction such salutary lessons as it +might be capable of yielding. With a wonderful effort of magnanimity, +he resolved to place himself in the pillory of public shame, to expose +his memory to all the foul treatment which the scoffers and libertines +of every after-age might think fit to heap on it. It is unjust to +David, when unbelievers rail against him for his sin in the matter +of Uriah, to overlook the fact that 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. "O the depth of +the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable +are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!" + + + + + CHAPTER XVII. + + _ABSALOM AND AMNON._ + + 2 SAMUEL xiii. 1-37. + + +A living sorrow, says the proverb, is worse than a dead. The dead +sorrow had been very grievous to David; what the living sorrow, of +which this chapter tells us, must have been, we cannot conceive. +It is his own disorderly lusts, reappearing in his sons, that are +the source of this new tragedy. It is often useful for parents to +ask whether they would like to see their children doing what they +allow in themselves; and in many cases the answer is an emphatic +"No." 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. + +It is a very repulsive picture of sensuality that this chapter +presents. One would suppose that Amnon and Absalom had been +accustomed to the wild orgies of pagan idolatry. Nathan had rebuked +David because he had given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to +blaspheme. He had afforded them a pretext for denying the work of the +Holy Spirit in regeneration and sanctification, and for affirming +that so-called holy men were just like the rest of mankind. This +in God's eyes was a grievous offence. Amnon and Absalom are now +guilty of the same offence in another form, because they afford a +pretext for ungodly men to say that the families of holy men are no +better--perhaps that they are worse--than other families. But as +David himself in the matter of Uriah is an exception to the ordinary +lives of godly men, so his home is an exception to the ordinary tone +and spirit of religious households. Happily we are met with a very +different ideal when we look behind the scenes into the better class +of Christian homes, whether high or low. It is a beautiful picture of +the Christian home, according to the Christian ideal, we find, for +example, in Milton's _Comus_--pure brothers, admiring a dear sister's +purity, and jealous lest, alone in the world, she should fall in +the way of any of those bloated monsters that would drag an angel +into their filthy sty. Commend us to those homes where brothers and +sisters, sharing many a game, and with still greater intimacy pouring +into each other's ears their inner thoughts and feelings, never utter +a jest, or word, or allusion with the slightest taint of indelicacy, +and love and honour each other with all the higher affection that +none of them has ever been near the haunts of pollution. It is easy +to ridicule innocence, to scoff at young men who "flee youthful +lusts;" yet who will say that the youth who is steeped in fashionable +sensuality is worthy to be the brother and companion of pure-minded +maidens, or that his breath will not contaminate the atmosphere of +their home? What easy victories Belial gains over many! How easily he +persuades them that vice is manly, that impurity is grand, that the +pig's sty is a delightful place to lie down in! How easily he induces +them to lay snares for female chastity, and put the devil's mask on +woman's soul! But "God is not mocked; whatsoever a man soweth, that +shall he also reap; for he that soweth to the flesh shall of the +flesh reap corruption, while he that soweth to the Spirit shall of +the Spirit reap life everlasting." + +In Scripture some men have very short biographies; Amnon is one of +these. And, like Cain, all that is recorded of him has the mark of +infamy. We can easily understand that it was a great disaster to him +to be a king's son. To have his position in life determined and all +his wants supplied without an effort on his part; to be surrounded +by such plenty that the wholesome necessity of denying himself was +unknown, and whatever he fancied was at once obtained; to be so +accustomed to indulge his legitimate feelings that when illegitimate +desires rose up it seemed but natural that they too should be +gratified; thus to be led on in the evil ways of sensual pleasure +till his appetite became at once bloated and irrepressible; to be +surrounded by parasites and flatterers, that would make a point of +never crossing him nor uttering a disagreeable word, but constantly +encouraging his tastes,--all this was extremely dangerous. And when +his father had set him the example, it was hardly possible he would +avoid the snare. There is every reason to believe that before he is +presented to us in this chapter he was already steeped in sensuality. +It was his misfortune to have a friend, Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, +David's brother, "a very subtil man," who at heart must have been +as great a profligate as himself. For if Jonadab had been anything +but a profligate, Amnon would never have confided to him his odious +desire with reference to his half-sister, and Jonadab would never +have given him the advice that he did. What a blessing to Amnon, at +this stage of the tragedy, would have been the faithful advice of +an honest friend--one who would have had the courage to declare the +infamy of his proposal, and who would have so placed it in the light +of truth that it would have shocked and horrified even Amnon himself! +In reality, the friend was more guilty than the culprit. The one was +blinded by passion; the other was self-possessed and cool. The cool +man encourages the heated; the sober man urges on the intoxicated. +O ye sons of wealth and profligacy, it is sad enough that you are +often so tempted by the lusts that rise up in your own bosoms, but +it is worse to be exposed to the friendship of wretches who never +study your real good, but encourage you to indulge the vilest of your +appetites, and smooth for you the way to hell! + +The plan which Jonadab proposes for Amnon to obtain the object of +his desire is founded on a stratagem which he is to practise on his +father. He is to pretend sickness, and under this pretext to get +matters arranged by his father as he would like. To practise deceit +on a father was a thing not unknown even among the founders of the +nation; Jacob and Jacob's sons had resorted to it alike. But it had +been handed down with the mark of disgrace attached to it by God +Himself. In spite of this it was counted both by Jonadab and Amnon +a suitable weapon for their purpose. And so, as every one knows, it +is counted not only a suitable, but a smart and laughable, device, +in stage plays without number, and by the class of persons whose +morality is reflected by the popular stage. Who so suitable a person +to be made a fool of as "the governor"? Who so little to be pitied +when he becomes the dupe of his children's cunning? "Honour thy +father and thy mother," was once proclaimed in thunder from Sinai, +and not only men's hearts trembled, but the very earth shook at the +voice. But these were old times and old-fashioned people. Treat your +father and mother as useful and convenient tools, inasmuch as they +have control of the purse, of which you are often in want. But as +they are not likely to approve of the objects for which you would +spend their money; as they are sure, on the other hand, to disapprove +of them strongly, exercise your ingenuity in hoodwinking them as to +your doings, and if your stratagem succeed, enjoy your chuckle at +the blindness and simplicity of the poor old fools! If this be the +course that commends itself to any son or daughter, it indicates a +heart so perverted that it would be most difficult to bring it to +any sense of sin. All we would say is, See what kind of comrades you +have in this policy of deceiving parents. See this royal blackguard, +Amnon, and his villainous adviser Jonadab, resorting to the very same +method for hoodwinking King David; see them making use of this piece +of machinery to compass an act of the grossest villainy that ever +was heard of; and say whether you hold the device to be commended by +their example, and whether you feel honoured in treading a course +that has been marked before you by such footprints. + +If anything more was needed to show the accomplished villainy of Amnon, +it is his treatment of Tamar after he has violently compassed her ruin. +It is the story so often repeated even at this day,--the ruined victim +flung aside in dishonour, and left unpitied to her shame. There is no +trace of any compunction on the part of Amnon at the moral murder he +has committed, at the life he has ruined; no pity for the once blithe +and happy maiden whom he has doomed to humiliation and woe. She has +served his purpose, king's daughter though she is; let her crawl into +the earth like a poor worm to live or to die, in want or in misery; +it is nothing to him. The only thing about her that he cares for is, +that she may never again trouble him with her existence, or disturb +the easy flow of his life. We think of those men of the olden time as +utter barbarians who confined their foes in dismal dungeons, making +their lives a continual torture, and denying them the slightest +solace to the miseries of captivity. But what shall we say of those, +high-born and wealthy men, it may be, who doom their cast-off victims +to an existence of wretchedness and degradation which has no gleam of +enjoyment, compared with which the silence and loneliness of a prison +would be a luxury? Can the selfishness of sin exhibit itself anywhere +or anyhow more terribly? What kind of heart can be left to the seducer, +so hardened as to smother the faintest touch of pity for the woman he +has made wretched for ever; so savage as to drive from him with the +roughest execrations the poor confiding creature without whom he used +to vow, in the days of her unsuspecting innocence, that he knew not how +to live! + +In a single word, our attention is now turned to the father of both +Amnon and Tamar. "When King David heard of all these things, he was +very wroth." Little wonder! But was this all? Was no punishment found +for Amnon? Was he allowed to remain in the palace, the oldest son +of the king, with nothing to mark his father's displeasure, nothing +to neutralise his influence with the other royal children, nothing +to prevent the repetition of his wickedness? Tamar, of course, was +a woman. Was it for this reason that nothing was done to punish +her destroyer? It does not appear that his position was in any way +changed. We cannot but be indignant at the inactivity of David. Yet +when we think of the past, we need not be surprised. David was too +much implicated in the same sins to be able to inflict suitable +punishment for them. It is those whose hands are clean that can +rebuke the offender. Let others try to administer reproof--their own +hearts condemn them, and they shrink from the task. Even the king of +Israel must wink at the offences of his son. + +But if David winked, Absalom did nothing of the kind. Such treatment +of his full sister, if the king chose to let it alone, could not be +let alone by the proud, indignant brother. He nursed his wrath, and +watched for his opportunity. Nothing short of the death of Amnon +would suffice him. And that death must be compassed not in open fight +but by assassination. At last, after two full years, his opportunity +came. A sheepshearing at Baal-hazor gave occasion for a feast, to +which the king and all his sons should be asked. His father excused +himself on the ground of the expense. Absalom was most unwilling to +receive the excuse, reckoning probably that the king's presence would +more completely ward off any suspicion of his purpose, and utterly +heedless of the anguish his father would have felt when he found +that, while asked professedly to a feast, it was really to the murder +of his eldest son. David, however, refuses firmly, but he gives +Absalom his blessing. Whether this was meant in the sense in which +Isaac blessed Jacob, or whether it was merely an ordinary occasion +of commending Absalom to the grace of God, it was a touching act, +and it might have arrested the arm that was preparing to deal such a +fatal blow to Amnon. On the contrary, Absalom only availed himself of +his father's expression of kindly feeling to beg that he would allow +Amnon to be present. And he succeeded so well that permission was +given, not to Amnon only, but to all the king's sons. To Absalom's +farm at Baal-hazor accordingly they went, and we may be sure that +nothing would be spared to make the banquet worthy of a royal family. +And now, while the wine is flowing freely, and the buzz of jovial +talk fills the apartment, and all power of action on the part of +Amnon is arrested by the stupefying influence of wine, the signal is +given for his murder. See how closely Absalom treads in the footsteps +of his father when he summons intoxicating drink to his aid, as David +did to Uriah, when trying to make a screen of him for his own guilt. +Yes, from the beginning, drink, or some other stupefying agent, has +been the ready ally of the worst criminals, either preparing the +victim for the slaughter or maddening the murderer for the deed. +But wherever it has been present it has only made the tragedy more +awful and the aspect of the crime more hideous. Give a wide berth, +ye servants of God, to an agent with which the devil has ever placed +himself in such close and deadly alliance! + +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 flinch 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. When +Shakespeare would paint the murder of a royal guest, the deed is +done in the dead of night, with no living eye to witness it, with no +living arm at hand capable of arresting the murderous weapon. But +here is a murderer of his guest who does not scruple to have the deed +done in broad daylight in presence of all his guests, in presence +of all the brothers of his victim, while the walls resound to the +voice of mirth, and each face is radiant with festive excitement. Out +from some place of concealment rush the assassins with their deadly +weapons; next moment the life-blood of Amnon spurts on the table, and +his lifeless body falls heavily to the ground. Before the excitement +and horror of the assembled guests has subsided Absalom has made his +escape, and before any step can be taken to pursue him he is beyond +reach in Geshur in Syria. + +Meanwhile an exaggerated report of the tragedy reaches King David's +ears,--Absalom has slain all the king's sons, and there is not one of +them left. Evil, at the bottom of his heart, must have been David's +opinion of him when he believed the story, even in this exaggerated +form. "The king arose and rent his clothes, and lay on the earth; and +all his servants stood round with their clothes rent." Nor was it till +Jonadab, his cousin, assured him that only Amnon could be dead, that +the terrible impression of a wholesale massacre was removed from his +mind. But who can fancy what the circumstances must have been, when +it became a relief to David to know that Absalom had murdered but one +of his brothers? Jonadab evidently thought that David did not need to +be much surprised, inasmuch as this murder was a foregone conclusion +with Absalom; it had been determined on ever since the day when Amnon +forced Tamar. Here is a new light on the character of Jonadab. He knew +that Absalom had determined that Amnon should die. It was no surprise +to him to hear that this purpose was carried out with effect. Why did +he not warn Amnon? Could it be that he had been bribed over to the side +of Absalom? He knew the real state of the case before the king's sons +arrived. For when they did appear he appealed to David whether his +statement, previously given, was not correct. + +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! It does not appear that David's grief over Amnon was of the +passionate kind that he showed afterwards when Absalom was slain; but, +though quieter, it must have been very bitter. 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! What hope could he entertain for the welfare of his +soul? What balm could he find for such a wound? + +And it was not Amnon only he had to think of. These three of his +children, Amnon, Tamar, Absalom, in one sense or another, were now +total wrecks. From these three branches of his family tree no fruit +could ever come. Nor could the dead now bury its dead. Neither the +remembrance nor the effect of the past could ever be wiped out. It +baffles us to think how David was able to carry such grief. "David +mourned for his son every day." It was only the lapse of time that +could blunt the edge of his distress. + +But surely there must have been terrible faults in David's upbringing +of his family before such results as these could come. Undoubtedly +there were. First of all, there was the number of his wives. This +could not fail to be a source of much jealousy and discord among +them and their children, especially when he himself was absent, as +he must often have been, for long periods at a time. Then there +was his own example, so unguarded, so unhallowed, at a point where +the utmost care and vigilance had need to be shown. Thirdly, there +seems to have been an excessive tenderness of feeling towards his +children, and towards some of them in particular. He could not bear +to disappoint; his feelings got the better of his judgment; when the +child insisted the father weakly gave way. He wanted the firmness and +the faithfulness of Abraham, of whom God had said, "I know him that +he will _command_ his children and his household after him, and they +shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment." Perhaps, +too, busy and often much pressed as he was with affairs of state, +occupied with foreign wars, with internal improvements, and the +daily administration of justice, he looked on his house as a place +of simple relaxation and enjoyment, and forgot that there, too, he +had a solemn charge and most important duty. Thus it was that David +failed in his domestic management. It is easy to spy out his defects, +and easy to condemn him. But let each of you who have a family to +bring up look to himself. You have not all David's difficulties, but +you may have some of them. The precept and the promise is, "Train +up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not +depart from it." It is not difficult to know the way he should +go--the difficulty lies in the words, "Train up." To train up is +not to force, nor is it merely to lay down the law, or to enforce +the law. It is to get the whole nature of the child to move freely +in the direction wished. To do this needs on the part of the parent +a combination of firmness and love, of patience and decision, of +consistent example and sympathetic encouragement. But it needs also, +on the part of God, and therefore to be asked in earnest, believing +prayer, that wondrous power which touches the springs of the heart, +and draws it to Him and to His ways. Only by this combination of +parental faithfulness and Divine grace can we look for the blessed +result, "when he is old he will not depart from it." + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII. + + _ABSALOM BANISHED AND BROUGHT BACK._ + + 2 SAMUEL xiii. 38, 39; xiv. + + +Geshur, to which Absalom fled after the murder of Amnon, accompanied +in all likelihood by the men who had slain him, was a small kingdom +in Syria, lying between Mount Hermon and Damascus. Maacah, Absalom's +mother, was the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur, so that Absalom +was there among his own relations. There is no reason to believe +that Talmai and his people had renounced the idolatrous worship that +prevailed in Syria. For David to ally himself in marriage with an +idolatrous people was not in accordance with the law. In law, Absalom +must have been a Hebrew, circumcised the eighth day; but in spirit he +would probably have no little sympathy with his mother's religion. +His utter alienation in heart from his father; the unconcern with +which he sought to drive from the throne the man who had been so +solemnly called to it by God; the vow which he pretended to have +taken, when away in Syria, that if he were invited back to Jerusalem +he would "serve the Lord," all point to a man infected in no small +degree with the spirit, if not addicted to the practice, of idolatry. +And the tenor of his life, so full of cold-blooded wickedness, +exemplified well the influence of idolatry, which bred neither fear +of God nor love of man. + +We have seen that Amnon had not that profound hold on David's heart +which Absalom had; and therefore it is little wonder that when time +had subdued the keen sensation of horror, the king "was comforted +concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead." There was no great blank left +in his heart, no irrepressible craving of the soul for the return +of the departed. But it was otherwise in the case of Absalom,--"the +king's heart was towards him." David was in a painful dilemma, +placed between two opposite impulses, the judicial and the paternal; +the judicial calling for the punishment of Absalom, the paternal +craving his restoration. Absalom in the most flagrant way had broken +a law older even than the Sinai legislation, for it had been given +to Noah after the flood--"Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall +his blood be shed." But the deep affection of David for Absalom not +only caused him to shrink from executing that law, but made him most +desirous to have him near him again, pardoned, penitent as he no +doubt hoped, and enjoying all the rights and privileges of the king's +son. The first part of the chapter now before us records the manner +in which David, in great weakness, sacrificed the judicial to the +paternal, sacrificed his judgment to his feelings, and the welfare +of the kingdom for the gratification of his affection. For it was +too evident that Absalom was not a fit man to succeed David on the +throne. If Saul was unfit to rule over God's people, and as God's +vicegerent, much more was Absalom. Not only was he not the right kind +of man, but, as his actions had showed, he was the very opposite. By +his own wicked deed he was now an outlaw and an exile; he was out of +sight and likely to pass out of mind; and it was most undesirable +that any step should be taken to bring him back among the people, +and give him every chance of the succession. Yet in spite of all this +the king in his secret heart desired to get Absalom back. And Joab, +not studying the welfare of the kingdom, but having regard only to +the strong wishes of the king and of the heir-apparent, devised a +scheme for fulfilling their desire. + +That collision of the paternal and the judicial, which David removed +by sacrificing the judicial, brings to our mind a discord of the same +kind on a much greater scale, which received a solution of a very +different kind. The sin of man created the same difficulty in the +government of God. The judicial spirit, demanding man's punishment, +came into collision with the paternal, desiring his happiness. How +were they to be reconciled? This is the great question on which the +priests of the world, when unacquainted with Divine revelation, +have perplexed themselves since the world began. When we study the +world's religions, we see very clearly that it has never been held +satisfactory to solve the problem as David solved his difficulty, +by simply sacrificing the judicial. The human conscience refuses to +accept of such a settlement. It demands that some satisfaction shall +be made to that law of which the Divine Judge is the administrator. +It cannot bear to see God abandoning His judgment-seat in order that +He may show indiscriminate mercy. Fantastic and foolish in the last +degree, grim and repulsive too, in many cases, have been the devices +by which it has been sought to supply the necessary satisfaction. +The awful sacrifices of Moloch, the mutilations of Juggernaut, the +penances of popery, are most repulsive solutions, while they all +testify to the intuitive conviction of mankind that something in the +form of atonement is indispensable. But if these solutions repel +us, not less satisfactory is the opposite view, now so current, +that nothing in the shape of sin-offering is necessary, that no +consideration needs to be taken of the judicial, that the infinite +clemency of God is adequate to deal with the case, and that a true +belief in His most loving fatherhood is all that is required for the +forgiveness and acceptance of His erring children. In reality this +is no solution at all; it is just David's method of sacrificing the +judicial; it satisfies no healthy conscience, it brings solid peace +to no troubled soul. The true and only solution, by which due regard +is shown both to the judicial and the paternal, is that which is so +fully unfolded and enforced in the Epistles of St. Paul. "God was +in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing unto men +their trespasses.... For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew +no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." + +Returning to the narrative, we have next to examine the stratagem of +Joab, designed to commit the king unwittingly to the recall of Absalom. +The idea of the method may quite possibly have been derived from +Nathan's parable of the ewe lamb. The design was to get the king to +give judgment in an imaginary case, and thus commit him to a similar +judgment in the case of Absalom. But there was a world-wide difference +between the purpose of the parable of Nathan and that of the wise woman +of Tekoah. Nathan's parable was designed to rouse the king's conscience +as against his feelings; the woman of Tekoah's, as prompted by Joab, +to rouse his feelings as against his conscience. Joab found a fitting +tool for his purpose in a wise woman of Tekoah, a small town in the +south of Judah. She was evidently an accommodating and unscrupulous +person; but there is no reason to compare her to the woman of Endor, +whose services Saul had resorted to. She seems to have been a woman +of dramatic faculty, clever at personating another, and at acting a +part. Her skill in this way becoming known to Joab, he arranged with +her to go to the king with a fictitious story, and induce him now to +bring back Absalom. Her story bore that she was a widow who had been +left with two sons, one of whom in a quarrel killed his brother in +the field. All the family were risen against her to constrain her to +give up the murderer to death, but if she did so her remaining coal +would be quenched, and neither name nor remainder left to her husband +on the face of the earth. On hearing the case, the king seems to have +been impressed in the woman's favour, and promised to give an order +accordingly. Further conversation obtained clearer assurances from him +that he would protect her from the avenger of blood. Then, dropping so +far her disguise, she ventured to remonstrate with the king, inasmuch +as he had not dealt with his own son as he was prepared to deal with +hers. "Wherefore then hast thou devised such a thing against the people +of God? for in speaking this word, the king is as one that is guilty, +in that the king doth not fetch home again his banished one. For we +must needs die, and are as water spilt upon 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." We cannot but +be struck, though not favourably, with the pious tone which the woman +here assumed to David. She represents that the continued banishment +of Absalom is against the people of God,--it is not for the nation's +interest that the heir-apparent should be for ever banished. It is +against the example of God, who, in administering His providence, does +not launch His arrows at once against the destroyer of life, but rather +shows him mercy, and allows him to return to his former condition. +Clemency is a divine-like attribute. The king who can disentangle +difficulties, and give such prominence to mercy, is like an angel +of God. It is a divine-like work he undertakes when he recalls his +banished. She can pray, when he is about to undertake such a business, +"The Lord thy God be with thee" (R.V.). She knew that any difficulties +the king might have in recalling his son would arise from his fears +that he would be acting against God's will. The clever woman fills his +eye with considerations on one side--the mercy and forbearance of God, +the pathos of human life, the duty of not making things worse than they +necessarily are. She knew he would be startled when she named Absalom. +She knew that though he had given judgment on the general principle +as involved in the imaginary case she had put before him, he might +demur to the application of that principle to the case of Absalom. +Her instructions from Joab were to get the king to sanction Absalom's +return. The king has a surmise that the hand of Joab is in the whole +transaction, and the woman acknowledges that it is so. After the +interview with the woman, David sends for Joab, and gives him leave to +fetch back Absalom. Joab goes to Geshur and brings Absalom to Jerusalem. + +But David's treatment of Absalom when he returns does not bear out +the character for unerring wisdom which the woman had given him. The +king refuses to see his son, and for two years Absalom lives in his +own house, without enjoying any of the privileges of the king's son. +By this means David took away all the grace of the transaction, and +irritated Absalom. He was afraid to exercise his royal prerogative in +pardoning him out-and-out. His conscience told him it ought not to +be done. To restore at once one who had sinned so flagrantly to all +his dignity and power was against the grain. Though therefore he had +given his consent to Absalom returning to Jerusalem, for all practical +purposes he might as well have been at Geshur. And Absalom was not the +man to bear this quietly. How would his proud spirit like to hear of +royal festivals at which all were present but he? How would he like +to hear of distinguished visitors to the king from the surrounding +countries, and he alone excluded from their society? His spirit would +be chafed like that of a wild beast in its cage. Now it was, we +cannot doubt, that he felt a new estrangement from his father, and +conceived the project of seizing upon his throne. Now too it probably +was that he began to gather around him the party that ultimately gave +him his short-lived triumph. There would be sympathy for him in some +quarters as an ill-used man; while there would rally to him all who +were discontented with David's government, whether on personal or on +public grounds. The enemies of his godliness, emboldened by his conduct +towards Uriah, finding there what Daniel's enemies in a future age +tried in vain to find in his conduct, would begin to think seriously +of the possibility of a change. Probably Joab began to apprehend the +coming danger when he refused once and again to speak to Absalom. It +seemed to be the impression both of David and of Joab that there would +be danger to the state in his complete restoration. + +Two years of this state of things had passed, and the patience of +Absalom was exhausted. He sent for Joab to negotiate for a change of +arrangements. But Joab would not see him. A second time he sent, and +a second time Joab declined. Joab was really in a great difficulty. +He seems to have seen that he had made a mistake in bringing Absalom +to Jerusalem, but it was a mistake out of which he could not +extricate himself. He was unwilling to go back, and he was afraid to +go forward. He had not courage to undo the mistake he had made in +inviting Absalom to return by banishing him again. If he should meet +Absalom he knew he would be unable to meet the arguments by which he +would press him to complete what he had begun when he invited him +back. Therefore he studiously avoided him. But Absalom was not to be +outdone in this way. He fell on a rude stratagem for bringing Joab to +his presence. Their fields being adjacent to each other, Absalom sent +his servants to set Joab's barley on fire. The irritation of such an +unprovoked injury overcame Joab's unwillingness to meet Absalom; he +went to him in a rage and demanded why this had been done. The matter +of the barley would be easy to arrange; but now that he had met +Joab he showed him that there were just two modes of treatment open +to David,--either really to pardon, or really to punish him. This +probably was just what Joab felt. There was no good, but much harm in +the half-and-half policy which the king was pursuing. If Absalom was +pardoned, let him be on friendly terms with the king. If he was not +pardoned, let him be put to death for the crime he had committed. + +Joab was unable to refute Absalom's reasoning. And when he went to +the king he would press that view on him likewise. And now, after +two years of a half-and-half measure, the king sees no alternative +but to yield. "When he had called for Absalom, he came to the king, +and bowed himself to his face on the ground before the king; and +the king kissed Absalom." This was the token of reconciliation and +friendship. But it would not be with a clear conscience or an easy +mind that David saw the murderer of his brother in full possession of +the honours of the king's son. + +In all this conduct of King David we can trace only the infatuation +of one left to the guidance of his own mind. It is blunder after +blunder. Like many good but mistaken men, he erred both in inflicting +punishments and in bestowing favours. Much that ought to be punished +such persons pass over; what they do select for punishment is +probably something trivial; and when they punish it is in a way +so injudicious as to defeat its ends. And some, like David, keep +oscillating between punishment and favour so as at once to destroy +the effect of the one and the grace of the other. His example may +well show all of you who have to do with such things the need +of great carefulness in this important matter. Penalties, to be +effectual, should be for marked offences, but when incurred should +be firmly maintained. Only when the purpose of the punishment is +attained ought reconciliation to take place, and when that comes it +should be full-hearted and complete, restoring the offender to the +full benefit of his place and privilege, both in the home and in the +hearts of his parents. + +So David lets Absalom loose, as it were, on the people of Jerusalem. +He is a young man of fine appearance and fascinating manners. "In +all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his +beauty; from the sole of the foot even to the crown of the head +there was no blemish in him. And when he polled his head (for it +was at every year's end that he polled it; because his hair was +heavy on him, therefore he polled it) the weight of the hair of his +head was two hundred shekels after the king's weight." No doubt this +had something to do with David's great liking for him. He could not +but look on him with pride, and think with pleasure how much he was +admired by others. The affection which owed so much to a cause of +this sort was not likely to be of the highest or purest quality. What +then are we to say of David's fondness for Absalom? Was it wrong for +a father to be attached to his child? Was it wrong for him to love +even a wicked child? No one can for a moment think so who remembers +that "God _commended His love towards us_, in that _while we were +yet sinners_ Christ died for us." There is a sense in which loving +emotions may warrantably be more powerfully excited in the breast of +a godly parent toward an erring child than toward a wise and good +one. The very thought that a child is in the thraldom of sin creates +a feeling of almost infinite pathos with reference to his condition. +The loving desire for his good and his happiness becomes more intense +from the very sense of the disorder and misery in which he lies. The +sheep that has strayed from the fold is the object of a more profound +emotion than the ninety-and-nine that are safe within it. In this +sense a parent cannot love his child, even his sinful and erring +child, too well. The love that seeks another's highest good can never +be too intense, for it is the very counterpart and image of God's +love for sinful men. + +But, as far as we can gather, David's love for Absalom was not +exclusively of this kind. It was a fondness that led him to wink +at his faults even when they became flagrant, and that desired to +see him occupying a place of honour and responsibility for which +he certainly was far from qualified. This was more than the love of +benevolence. The love of benevolence has, in the Christian bosom, an +unlimited sphere. It may be given to the most unworthy. But the love of +complacency, of delight in any one, of desire for his company, desire +for close relations with him, confidence in him, as one to whom our +own interests and the interests of others may be safely entrusted, is +a quite different feeling. This kind of love must ever be regulated +by the degree of true excellence, of genuine worth, possessed by the +person loved. The fault in David's love to Absalom was not that he was +too benevolent, not that he wished his son too well. It was that he +had too much complacency or delight in him, delight resting on very +superficial ground, and that he was too willing to have him entrusted +with the most vital interests of the nation. This fondness for Absalom +was a sort of infatuation, to which David never could have yielded if +he had remembered the hundred and first Psalm, and if he had thought of +the kind of men whom alone when he wrote that psalm he determined to +promote to influence in the kingdom. + +And on this we found a general lesson of no small importance. Young +persons, let us say emphatically young women, and perhaps Christian +young women, are apt to be captivated by superficial qualities, +qualities like those of Absalom, and in some cases are not only +ready but eager to marry those who possess them. In their blindness +they are willing to commit not only their own interests but the +interests of their children, if they should have any, to men who +are not Christians, perhaps barely moral, and who are therefore not +worthy of their trust. Here it is that affection should be watched +and restrained. Christians should never allow their affections to be +engaged by any whom, on Christian grounds, they do not thoroughly +esteem. All honour to those who, at great sacrifice, have honoured +this rule! All honour to Christian parents who bring up their +children to feel that, if they are Christians themselves, they can +marry only in the Lord! Alas for those who deem accidental and +superficial qualities sufficient grounds for a union which involves +the deepest interests of souls for time and for eternity! In David's +ill-founded complacency in Absalom, and the woeful disasters which +flowed from it, let them see a beacon to warn them against any +union which has not mutual esteem for its foundation, and does not +recognise those higher interests in reference to which the memorable +words were spoken by our Lord, "What is a man profited if he gain the +whole world and lose his own soul?" + + + + + CHAPTER XIX. + + _ABSALOM'S REVOLT._ + + 2 SAMUEL xv. 1-12. + + +When Absalom obtained from his father the position he had so eagerly +desired at Jerusalem, he did not allow the grass to grow under his +feet. The terms on which he was now with the king evidently gave him a +command of money to a very ample degree. By this means he was able to +set up an equipage such as had not previously been seen at Jerusalem. +"He prepared him a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before +him." To multiply horses to himself was one of the things forbidden by +the law of Moses to the king that should be chosen (Deut. xvii. 16), +mainly, we suppose, because it was a prominent feature of the royal +state of the kings of Egypt, and because it would have indicated a +tendency to place the glory of the kingdom in magnificent surroundings +rather than in the protection and blessing of the heavenly King. The +style of David's living appears to have been quiet and unpretending, +notwithstanding the vast treasures he had amassed; for the love of +pomp or display was none of his failings. Anything in the shape of +elaborate arrangement that he devised seems to have been in connection +with the public service of God--for instance, his choir of singers and +players (1 Chron. xxiii. 5); his own personal tastes appear to have +been simple and inexpensive. And this style undoubtedly befitted a +royalty which rested on a basis so peculiar as that of the nation of +Israel, when the king, though he used that title, was only the viceroy +of the true King of the nation, and where it was the will of God +that a different spirit should prevail from that prevalent among the +surrounding nations. A modest establishment was evidently suited to one +who recognised his true position as a subordinate lieutenant, not an +absolute ruler. + +But Absalom's tastes were widely different, and he was not the man +to be restrained from gratifying them by any considerations of that +sort. The moment he had the power, though he was not even king, +he set up his imposing equipage, and became the observed of all +observers in Jerusalem. And no doubt there were many of the people +who sympathised with him, and regarded it as right and proper that, +now that Israel was so renowned and prosperous a kingdom, its court +should shine forth in corresponding splendour. The plain equipage of +David would seem to them paltry and unimposing, in no way fitted to +gratify the pride or elevate the dignity of the kingdom. Absalom's, +on the other hand, would seem to supply all that David's wanted. The +prancing steeds, with their gay caparisons, the troop of outrunners +in glittering uniform, the handsome face and figure of the prince, +would create a sensation wherever he went; There, men would say +emphatically, is the proper state and bearing of a king; had we such +a monarch as that, surrounding nations would everywhere acknowledge +our superiority, and feel that we were entitled to the first place +among the kingdoms of the East. + +But Absalom was far too shrewd a man to base his popularity merely +on outward show. For the daring game which he was about to play it +was necessary to have much firmer support than that. He understood +the remarkable power of personal interest and sympathy in winning the +hearts of men, and drawing them to one's side. He rose up early, and +stood beside the way of the gate, where in Eastern cities judgment +was usually administered, but where, for some unknown reason, little +seems to have been done by the king or the king's servants at that +time. To all who came to the gate he addressed himself with winsome +affability, and to those who had "a suit that should come to the +king for judgment" (R.V.) he was especially encouraging. Well did he +know that when a man has a lawsuit it usually engrosses his whole +attention, and that he is very impatient of delays and hindrances +in the way of his case. Very adroitly did he take advantage of this +feeling,--sympathising with the litigant, agreeing with him of course +that he had right on his side, but much concerned that there was no +one appointed of the king to attend to his business, and devoutly and +fervently wishing that he were made judge in the land, that every +one that had any suit or cause might come to him, and he would do +him justice. And with regard to others, when they came to do him +homage he seemed unwilling to recognise this token of superiority, +but, as if they were just brothers, he put forth his hand, took hold +of them, and kissed them. If it were not for what we know now of the +hollowness of it, this would be a pretty picture--an ear so ready to +listen to the tale of wrong, a heart so full of sympathy, an active +temperament that in the early hours of the morning sent him forth +to meet the people and exchange kindly greetings with them; a form +and figure that graced the finest procession; a manner that could be +alike dignified when dignity was becoming, and humility itself when +it was right to be humble. But alas for the hollow-heartedness of the +picture! It is like the fabled apples of Sodom, outside all fair and +attractive, but dust within. + +But hollow though it was, the policy succeeded--he became exceedingly +popular; he secured the affections of the people. It is a remarkable +expression that is used to denote this result--"He stole the hearts +of the men of Israel." It was not an honest transaction. It was +swindling in high life. He was appropriating valuable property on +false pretences. To constitute a man a thief or a swindler it is not +necessary that he forge a rich man's name, or that he put his hand +into the pocket of his neighbour. To gain a heart by hypocritical +means, to secure the confidence of another by lying promises, is +equally low and wicked; nay, in God's sight is a greater crime. It +may be that man's law has difficulty in reaching it, and in many +cases cannot reach it at all. But it cannot be supposed that those +who are guilty of it will in the end escape God's righteous judgment. +And if the punishments of the future life are fitted to indicate +the due character of the sins for which they are sent, we can think +of nothing more appropriate than that those who have stolen hearts +in this way, high in this world's rank though they have often been, +should be made to rank with the thieves and thimbleriggers and +other knaves who are the _habitués_ of our prisons, and are scorned +universally as the meanest of mankind. With all his fine face and +figure and manner, his chariot and horses, his outrunners and other +attendants, Absalom after all was but a black-hearted thief. + +All this crooked and cunning policy of his Absalom carried on with +unwearied vigour till his plot was ripe. There is reason to apprehend +an error of some kind in the text when it is said (ver. 7) that it was +"at the end of forty years" that Absalom struck the final blow. The +reading of some manuscripts is more likely to be correct,--"at the end +of four years," that is, four years after he was allowed to assume the +position of prince. During that space of time much might be quietly +done by one who had such an advantage of manner, and was so resolutely +devoted to his work. For he seems to have laboured at his task without +interruption all that time. The dissembling which he had to practise, +to impress the people with the idea of his kindly interest in them, +must have required a very considerable strain. But he was sustained +in it by the belief that in the end he would succeed, and success was +worth an infinity of labour. What a power of persistence is often +shown by the children of this world, and how much wiser are they in +their generation than the children of light as to the means that will +achieve their ends! With what wonderful application and perseverance +do many men labour to build up a business, to accumulate a fortune, to +gain a distinction! I have heard of a young man who, being informed +that an advertisement had appeared in a newspaper to the effect that +if his family would apply to some one they would hear of something to +their advantage, set himself to discover that advertisement, went over +the advertisements for several years, column by column, first of one +paper, then of another and another, till he became so absorbed in the +task that he lost first his reason and then his life. Thank God, there +are instances not a few of very noble application and perseverance in +the spiritual field; but is it not true that the mass even of good men +are sadly remiss in the efforts they make for spiritual ends? Does not +the energy of the racer who ran for the corruptible crown often put +to shame the languor of those who seek for an incorruptible? And does +not the manifold secular activity of which we see so much in the world +around us sound a loud summons in the ears of all who are at ease in +Zion--"Now it is high time to awake out of sleep"? + +The copestone which Absalom put on his plot when all was ripe for +execution was of a piece with the whole undertaking. It was an act +of religious hypocrisy amounting to profanity. It shows how well he +must have succeeded in deceiving his father when he could venture +on such a finishing stroke. Hypocrite though he was himself, he +well knew the depth and sincerity of his father's religion. He knew +too that nothing could gratify him more than to find in his son the +evidence of a similar state of heart. It is difficult to comprehend +the villainy that could frame such a statement as this:--"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" (marg. R.V., worship) "the Lord." We have already +remarked that it is not very clear from this whether up to this time +Absalom had been a worshipper of the God of Israel. The purport of +his pretended vow (that is, what he wished his father to believe) +must have been either that, renouncing the idolatry of Geshur, he +would now become a worshipper of Israel's God, or (what seems more +likely) that in token of his purpose for the future he would present +a special offering to the God of Israel. This vow he now wished to +redeem by making his offerings to the Lord, and for this purpose he +desired to go to Hebron. But why go to Hebron? Might he not have +redeemed it at Jerusalem? It was the custom, however, when a vow was +taken, to specify the place where it was to be fulfilled, and in +this instance Hebron was alleged to be the place. But what are we +to think of the effrontery and wickedness of this pretence? To drag +sacred things into a scheme of villainy, to pretend to have a desire +to do honour to God simply for the purpose of carrying out deception +and gaining a worldly end, is a frightful prostitution of all that +ought to be held most sacred. It seems to indicate one who had no +belief in God or in anything holy, to whom truth and falsehood, right +and wrong, honour and shame, were all essentially alike, although, +when it suited him, he might pretend to have a profound regard to +the honour of God and a cordial purpose to render that honour. We +are reminded of Charles II. taking the Covenant to please the Scots, +and get their help towards obtaining the crown. But indeed the same +great sin is involved in every act of religious hypocrisy, in every +instance in which pretended reverence is paid to God in order to +secure a selfish end. + +The place was cunningly selected. It enjoyed a sanctity which had +been gathering round it for centuries; whereas Jerusalem, as the +capital of the nation, was but of yesterday. Hebron was the place +where David himself had begun his reign, and while it was far enough +from Jerusalem to allow Absalom to work unobserved by David, it was +near enough to allow him to carry out the schemes which had been set +on foot there. So little suspicion had the old king of what was +brewing that, when Absalom asked leave to go to Hebron, he dismissed +him with a blessing--"Go in peace." + +What Joab was thinking of all this we have no means of knowing. That +a man who looked after his own interests so well as Joab did, should +have stuck to David when his fortunes appeared to be desperate, is +somewhat surprising. But the truth seems to be that Absalom never +felt very cordial towards Joab after his refusal to meet him on his +return from Geshur. It does not appear that Joab was much impressed +by regard to God's will in the matter of the succession; his being +engaged afterwards in the insurrection in favour of Adonijah when +Solomon was divinely marked out for the succession shows that he was +not. His adherence to David on this occasion was probably the result +of necessity rather than choice. But what are we to say of his want +of vigilance in allowing Absalom's conspiracy to advance as it did +either without suspecting its existence, or at least without making +provision for defending the king's cause? Either he was very blind +or he was very careless. As for the king himself, we have seen what +cause he had, after his great trespass, for courting solitude and +avoiding contact with the people. That he should be ignorant of all +that was going on need not surprise us. And moreover, from allusions +in some of the Psalms (xxxviii., xxxix., xli.) to a loathsome and +all but fatal illness of David's, and to treachery practised on him +when ill, some have supposed that this was the time chosen by Absalom +for consummating his plot. When Absalom said to the men applying +for justice, whom he met at the gate of the city, "There is no man +deputed of the king to hear thee," his words implied that there was +something hindering the king from being there in person, and for some +reason he had not appointed a deputy. A protracted illness, unfitting +David for his personal duties and for superintending the machinery +of government, might have furnished Absalom with the pretext for his +lamentation over this want. It gives us a harder impression of his +villainy and hardness of heart if he chose a time when his father was +enfeebled by disease to inflict a crushing blow on his government and +a crowning humiliation on himself. + +Three other steps were taken by Absalom before bringing the revolt +to a crisis. First, he sent spies or secret emissaries to all +the tribes, calling them, on hearing the sound of a trumpet, to +acknowledge him as king at Hebron. Evidently he had all the talent +for administration that was so conspicuous in his nation and in his +house,--if only it had been put to a better use. Secondly, he took +with him to Hebron a band of two hundred men, of whom it is said +"they went in their simplicity, and they knew not anything"--so +admirably was the secret kept. Thirdly, Absalom sent for Ahithophel +the Gilonite, David's counsellor, from his city, having reason +to believe that Ahithophel was on his side, and knowing that his +counsel would be valuable to him in the present emergency. And every +arrangement seemed to succeed admirably. The tide ran strongly in +his favour--"the conspiracy was strong, for the people increased +continually with Absalom." Everything seemed to fall out precisely +as he wished; it looked as if the revolt would not only succeed, but +that it would succeed without serious opposition. Absalom must have +been full of expectation that in a few days or weeks he would be +reigning unopposed at Jerusalem. + +This extraordinary success is difficult to understand. For what could +have made David so unpopular? In his earliest years he had been +singularly popular; his victories brought him unbounded _éclat_; and +when Ishbosheth died it was the remembrance of these early services +that disposed the people to call him to the throne. Since that time +he had increased his services in an eminent degree. He had freed +his country from all the surrounding tribes that were constantly +attacking it; he had conquered those distant but powerful enemies +the Syrians; and he had brought to the country a great accumulation +of wealth. Add to this that he was fond of music and a poet, and had +written many of the very finest of their sacred songs. Why should not +such a king be popular? The answer to this question will embrace a +variety of reasons. In the first place, a generation was growing up +who had not been alive at the time of his early services, and on whom +therefore they would make a very slender impression. For service done +to the public is very soon forgotten unless it be constantly repeated +in other forms, unless, in fact, there be a perpetual round of it. +So it is found by many a minister of the gospel. Though he may have +built up his congregation from the very beginning, ministered among +them with unceasing assiduity, and taken the lead in many important +and permanent undertakings, yet in a few years after he goes away all +is forgotten, and his very name comes to be unknown to many. In the +second place, David was turning old, and old men are prone to adhere +to their old ways; his government had become old-fashioned, and he +showed no longer the life and vigour of former days. A new, fresh, +lively administration was eagerly desired by the younger spirits +of the nation. Further, there can be no doubt that David's fervent +piety was disliked by many, and his puritan methods of governing +the kingdom. The spirit of the world is sure to be found in every +community, and it is always offended by the government of holy men. +Finally, his fall in the matter of Uriah had greatly impaired the +respect and affection even of the better part of the community. If +to all this there was added a period of feeble health, during which +many departments of government were neglected, we shall have, beyond +doubt, the principal grounds of the king's unpopularity. The ardent +lovers of godliness were no doubt a minority, and thus even David, +who had done so much for Israel, was ready to be sacrificed in the +time of old age. + +But had he not something better to fall back on? Was he not promised +the protection and the aid of the Most High? Might he not cast +himself on Him who had been his refuge and his strength in every time +of need, and of whom he had sung so serenely that He is near to them +that call on Him in sincerity and in truth? Undoubtedly he might, +and undoubtedly he did. And the final result of Absalom's rebellion, +the wonderful way in which its back was broken and David rescued +and restored, showed that though cast down he was not forsaken. But +now, we must remember, the second element of the chastisement of +which Nathan testified, had come upon him. "Behold, I will raise up +evil against thee out of thine own house." That chastisement was now +falling, and while it lasted the joy and comfort of God's gracious +presence must have been interrupted. But all the same God was still +with him, even though He was carrying him through the valley of the +shadow of death. Like the Apostle Peter, he was brought to the very +verge of destruction; but at the critical moment an unseen hand was +stretched out to save him, and in after-years he was able to sing, +"He brought me up also out of a fearful pit, and out of the miry +clay; and He set my feet upon a rock and established my goings; and +He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God; many +shall see it and shall fear, and shall trust in the Lord." + + + + + CHAPTER XX. + + _DAVID'S FLIGHT FROM JERUSALEM._ + + 2 SAMUEL xv. 13. + + +The trumpet which was to be the signal that Absalom reigned in Hebron +had been sounded, the flow of people in response to it had begun, when +"a messenger came to David saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are +after Absalom." The narrative is so concise that we can hardly tell +whether or not this was the first announcement to David of the real +intentions of Absalom. But it is very certain that the king was utterly +unprepared to meet the sudden revolt. The first news of it all but +overwhelmed him. And little wonder. There came on him three calamities +in one. First, there was the calamity that the great bulk of the people +had revolted against him, and were now hastening to drive him from the +throne, and very probably to put him to death. Second, there was the +appalling discovery of the villainy, hypocrisy, and heartless cruelty +of his favourite and popular son,--the most crushing thing that can be +thought of to a tender heart. And third, there was the discovery that +the hearts of the people were with Absalom; David had lost what he most +prized and desired to possess; the intense affection he had for his +people now met with no response; their love and confidence were given +to a usurper. Fancy an old man, perhaps in infirm health, suddenly +confronted with this threefold calamity; who can wonder for the time +that he is paralysed, and bends before the storm? + +Flight from Jerusalem seemed the only feasible course. Both policy +and humanity seemed to dictate it. He considered himself unable to +defend the city with any hope of success against an attack by such +a force as Absalom could muster, and he was unwilling to expose +the people to be smitten with the sword. Whether he was really as +helpless as he thought we can hardly say. We should be disposed +to think that his first duty was to stay where he was, and defend +his capital. He was there as God's viceroy, and would not God be +with him, defending the place where He had set His name, and the +tabernacle in which He was pleased to dwell? It is not possible for +us, ignorant as we are of the circumstances, to decide whether the +flight from Jerusalem was the enlightened result of an overwhelming +necessity, or the fruit of sudden panic, of a heart so paralysed that +it could not gird itself for action. His servants had no other advice +to offer. Any course that recommended itself to him they were ready +to take. If this did not help to throw light on his difficulties, +it must at least have soothed his heart. His friends were not all +forsaking him. Amid the faithless a few were found faithful. Friends +in such need were friends indeed. And the sight of their honest +though perplexed countenances, and the sound of their friendly though +trembling voices, would be most soothing to his feelings, and serve +to rally the energy that had almost left him. When the world forsakes +us, the few friends that remain are of priceless value. + +On leaving Jerusalem David at once turned eastward, into the +wilderness region between Jerusalem and Jericho, with the view, if +possible, of crossing the Jordan, so as to have that river, with its +deep valley, between him and the rebels. The first halt, or rather +the rendezvous for his followers, though called in the A.V. "a place +that was far off," is more suitably rendered in the R.V. Bethmerhak, +and the margin "the far house." Probably it was the last house on +this side the brook Kidron. Here, outside the walls of the city, some +hasty arrangements were made before the flight was begun in earnest. + +First, we read that he was accompanied by all his household, with the +exception of ten concubines who were left to keep the house. Fain +would we have avoided contact at such a moment with that feature of +his house from which so much mischief had come; but to the end of the +day David never deviated in that respect from the barbarous policy of +all Eastern kings. The mention of his household shows how embarrassed +he must have been with so many helpless appendages, and how slow his +flight. And his household were not the only women and children of the +company; the "little ones" of the Gittites are mentioned in ver. 22; +we may conceive how the unconcealed terror and excitement of these +helpless beings must have distressed him, as their feeble powers of +walking must have held back the fighting part of his attendants. +When one thinks of this, one sees more clearly the excellence of the +advice afterwards given by Ahithophel to pursue him without loss of +time with twelve thousand men, to destroy his person at once; in that +case, Absalom must have overtaken him long before he reached the +Jordan, and found him quite unable to withstand his ardent troops. + +Next, we find mention of the forces that remained faithful to the king +in the crisis of his misfortunes. The Pelethites, the Cherethites, +and the Gittites were the chief of these. The Pelethites and the +Cherethites are supposed to have been the representatives of the +band of followers that David commanded when hiding from Saul in the +wilderness; the Gittites appear to have been a body of refugees from +Gath, driven away by the tyranny of the Philistines, who had thrown +themselves on the protection of David and had been well treated by +him. The interview between David and Ittai was most creditable to the +feelings of the fugitive king. 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 probably been received with kindness by David when he +first came to Jerusalem, the king remembering well when he himself +was in the like predicament, and thinking, like the African princess +to Æneas, "_Haud ignara mali, miseris succurrere disco_"--"Having had +experience of adversity myself, I know how to succour the miserable." +Ittai's heart was won to David then; and 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! His +own son, whom he had loaded with undeserved kindness, was conspiring +against him, while this stranger, who owed him nothing in comparison, +was risking everything in his cause. "There is a friend that sticketh +closer than a brother." + +Next in David's train presented themselves Zadok and Abiathar, the +priests, carrying the ark of God. The presence of this sacred symbol +would have invested the cause of David with a manifestly sacred +character in the eyes of all good men; its absence from Absalom +would have equally suggested the absence of Israel's God. But David +probably remembered how ill it had fared with Israel in the days of +Eli and his sons, when the ark was carried into battle. Moreover, +when the ark had been placed on Mount Zion, God had said, "This is My +rest; here will I dwell;" and even in this extraordinary emergency, +David would not disturb that arrangement. He said to Zadok, "Carry +back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favour in the eyes +of the Lord, He shall bring me again, and show me both it and His +habitation: but if He thus say, I have no delight in thee, behold, +here am I; let Him do to me what seemeth good unto Him." 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. The distance was a very +short one, and they would be able to have everything placed in order +before Absalom could be there. + +Another thought occurred to David, who was now evidently recovering +his calmness and power of making arrangements. Zadok was a seer, +and able to use that method of obtaining light from God which in +great emergencies God was pleased to give when the ruler of the +nation required it. But the marginal reading of the R.V., "Seest +thou?" instead of "Thou art a seer," makes it doubtful whether David +referred to this mystic privilege, which Zadok does not appear to +have used; the meaning may be simply, that as he was an observant +man, he could be of use to David in the city, by noticing how things +were going and sending him word. In this way he could be of more +use to him in Jerusalem than in the field. Considering how he was +embarrassed with the women and children, it was better for David not +to be encumbered with another defenceless body like the Levites. The +sons of the priests, Ahimaaz and Jonathan, would be of great service +in bringing him information. Even if he succeeded in reaching the +plains (or fords, _marg._ R.V.) of the wilderness, they could easily +overtake him, and tell him what plan of operations it would be wisest +for him to follow. + +These hasty arrangements being made, and the company placed in some +sort of order, the march towards the wilderness now began. The first +thing was to cross the brook Kidron. From its bed, the road led up +the slope of Mount Olivet. To the spectators the sight was one of +overwhelming sadness. "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." After all, there was a large number who sympathised with +the king, and to whom it was most affecting to see one who was now +"old and grey-headed" driven from his throne and from his home by an +unprincipled son, aided and abetted by a graceless generation who had +no consideration for the countless benefits which David had conferred +on the nation. It is when we find "all the country" expressing their +sympathy that we cannot but doubt whether it was really necessary for +David to fly. Perhaps "the country" here may be used in contrast to +the city. Country people are less accessible to secret conspiracies, +and besides are less disposed to change their allegiance. The event +showed that in the more remote country districts David had still a +numerous following. Time to gather these friends together was his +great need. If he had been fallen on that night, weary and desolate +and almost friendless, as was proposed by Ahithophel, there can be no +rational doubt what the issue would have been. + +And the king himself gave way to distress, like the people, though +for different reasons. "David went up by the ascent of Mount Olivet, +and wept as he went up, and had his head covered; and he went +barefoot; and all the people that was with him covered every man +his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up." The covered +head and bare feet were tokens of humiliation. They were a humble +confession on the king's part that the affliction which had befallen +him was well deserved by him. The whole attitude and bearing of David +is that of one "stricken, smitten, and afflicted." Lofty looks and +a proud bearing had never been among his weaknesses; but on this +occasion, he is so meek and lowly that the poorest person in his +kingdom could not have assumed a more humble bearing. It is the +feeling that had so wrung his heart in the fifty-first Psalm come +back on him again. It is the feeling, Oh, what a sinner I have been! +how forgetful of God I have often proved, and how unworthily I have +acted toward man! No wonder that God rebukes me and visits me with +these troubles! And not me only, but my people too. These are my +children, for whom I should have provided a peaceful home, driven +into the shelterless wilderness with me! These kind people who are +compassionating me have been brought by me into this trouble, which +peradventure will cost them their lives. "Have mercy upon me, O God, +according to Thy lovingkindness; according unto the multitude of Thy +tender mercies, blot out my transgressions!" + +It was at this time that some one brought word to David that +Ahithophel the Gilonite was among the conspirators. He seems to have +been greatly distressed at the news. For "the counsel of Ahithophel, +which he counselled in those days, was as if a man had inquired of +the oracle of God" (xvi. 23). An ingenious writer has found a reason +for this step. By comparing 2 Sam. xi. 3 with 2 Sam. xxiii. 34, +in the former of which Bathsheba is called the daughter of Eliam, +and in the latter Eliam is called the son of Ahithophel, it would +appear--if it be the same Eliam in both--that Ahithophel was the +grandfather of Bathsheba. From this it has been inferred that his +forsaking of David at this time was due to his displeasure at David's +treatment of Bathsheba and Uriah. The idea is ingenious, but after +all it is hardly trustworthy. For if Ahithophel was a man of such +singular shrewdness, he would not be likely to let his personal +feelings determine his public conduct. There can be no reasonable +doubt that, judging calmly from the kind of considerations by which a +worldly mind like his would be influenced, he came to the deliberate +conclusion that Absalom was going to win. And when David heard of his +defection, it must have given him a double pang; first, because he +would lose so valuable a counsellor, and Absalom would gain what he +would lose; and second, because Ahithophel's choice showed the side +that, to his shrewd judgment, was going to triumph. David could but +fall back on that higher Counsellor on whose aid and countenance he +was still able to rely, and offer a short but expressive prayer, "O +Lord, I pray Thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness." + +It was but a few minutes after this that another distinguished +counsellor, Hushai the Archite, came to him, with his clothes rent +and dust on his head, signifying his sense of the public calamity, +and his adherence to David. Him too, as well as Ittai and the +priests, David wished to send back. And the reason assigned showed +that his mind was now calm and clear, and able to ponder the +situation in all its bearings. Indeed, he concocts quite a little +scheme with Hushai. First, he is to go to Absalom and pretend to be +on his side. But 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 creeping slowly along the wilderness, a company that could +hardly be called an army, and that, humanly speaking, might have been +scattered like a puff of smoke. + +Thus Absalom gets possession of Jerusalem without a blow. He goes +to his father's house, and takes possession of all that he finds +there. He cannot but feel the joy of gratified ambition, the joy of +the successful accomplishment of his elaborate and long-prosecuted +scheme. Times are changed, he would naturally reflect, since I had to +ask my father's leave for everything I did, since I could not even go +to Hebron without begging him to allow me. Times are changed since I +reared that monument in the vale for want of anything else to keep my +name alive. Now that I am king, my name will live without a monument. +The success of the revolution was so remarkable, that if Absalom had +believed in God, he might have imagined, judging from the way in +which everything had fallen out in his favour, that Providence was +on his side. But, surely, there must have been a hard constraint and +pressure upon his feelings somewhere. Conscience could not be utterly +inactive. Fresh efforts to silence it must have been needed from time +to time. Amid all the excitement of success, a vague horror must have +stolen in on his soul. A vision of outraged justice would haunt him. +He might scare away the hideous spectre for a time, but he could not +lay it in the grave. "There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." + +But if Absalom might well be haunted by a spectre because he had +driven his father from his house, and God's anointed from his throne, +there was a still more fearful reckoning standing against him, in +that he had enticed such multitudes from their allegiance, and +drawn them into the guilt of rebellion. There was not one of the +many thousands that were now shouting "God save the king!" who had +not been induced through him to do a great sin, and bring himself +under the special displeasure of God. A rough nature like Absalom's +would make light of this result of his movement, as rough natures +have done since the world began. But a very different judgment was +passed by the great Teacher on the effects of leading others into +sin. "Whosoever shall break one of these least commandments and teach +men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of God." "Whoso shall +cause one of these little ones which believe in Me to stumble, it +were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and +he were cast in the depth of the sea." Yet how common a thing this +has been in all ages of the world, and how common it is still! To put +pressure on others to do wrong; to urge them to trifle with their +consciences, or knowingly to violate them; to press them to give +a vote against their convictions;--all such methods of disturbing +conscience and drawing men into crooked ways, what sin they involve! +And when a man of great influence employs it with hundreds and +thousands of people in such ways, twisting consciences, disturbing +self-respect, bringing down Divine displeasure, how forcibly we are +reminded of the proverb, "One sinner destroyeth much good"! + +Most earnestly should every one who has influence over others dread +being guilty of debauching conscience, and discouraging obedience to +its call. On the other hand, how blessed is it to use one's influence +in the opposite direction. Think of the blessedness of a life spent +in enlightening others as to truth and duty, and encouraging loyalty +to their high but often difficult claims. What a contrast to the +other! What a noble aim to try to make men's eye single and their +duty easy; to try to raise them above selfish and carnal motives, and +inspire them with a sense of the nobility of walking uprightly, and +working righteousness, and speaking the truth in their hearts! What +a privilege to be able to induce our fellows to walk in some degree +even as He walked "who did no sin, neither was guile found in His +mouth;" and who, in ways so high above our ways, was ever influencing +the children of men "to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk +humbly with their God"! + + + + + CHAPTER XXI. + + _FROM JERUSALEM TO MAHANAIM._ + + 2 SAMUEL xvi. 1-14; xvii. 15-22 and 24-26. + + +As David proceeds on his painful journey, there flows from his heart +a gentle current of humble, contrite, gracious feeling. If recent +events have thrown any doubt on the reality of his goodness, this +fragrant narrative will restore the balance. Many a man would have +been beside himself with rage at the treatment he had undergone. Many +another man would have been restless with terror, looking behind him +every other moment to see if the usurper's army was not hastening in +pursuit of him. 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. + +It was when David was a little past the summit of Mount Olivet, and +soon after he had sent back Hushai, that Ziba came after him,--that +servant of Saul that had told him of Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, +and whom he had appointed to take charge of the property that had +belonged to Saul, now made over to Mephibosheth. The young man +himself was to be as one of the king's sons, and was to eat at the +royal table. Ziba's account of him was, that when he heard of the +insurrection he remained at Jerusalem, in the expectation that on that +very day the kingdom of his father would be restored to him. It can +hardly be imagined that Mephibosheth was so silly as to think or say +anything of the kind. Either Ziba must have been slandering him now, +or Mephibosheth must have slandered Ziba when David returned (see 2 +Sam. xix. 24-30). With that remarkable impartiality which distinguishes +the history, the facts and the statements of the parties are recorded +as they occurred, but we are left to form our own judgment regarding +them. All things considered, it is likely that Ziba was the slanderer +and Mephibosheth the injured man. Mephibosheth was too feeble a man, +both in mind and in body, to be forming bold schemes by which he might +benefit from the insurrection. We prefer to believe that the son of +Jonathan had so much of his father's nobility as to cling to David in +the hour of his trial, and be desirous of throwing in his lot with him. +If, however, Ziba was a slanderer and a liar, the strange thing about +him is that he should have taken this opportunity to give effect to +his villainy. It is strange that, with a soul full of treachery, he +should have taken the trouble to come after David at all, and still +more that he should have made a contribution to his scanty stores. We +should have expected such a man to remain with Absalom, and look to +him for the reward of unrighteousness. He brought with him for David's +use a couple of asses saddled, and two hundred loaves of bread, and +an hundred clusters of raisins, and an hundred of summer fruits, and +a bottle of wine. We get a vivid idea of the extreme haste with which +David and his company must have left Jerusalem, and their destitution +of the very necessaries of life as they fled, from this catalogue of +Ziba's contributions. Not even were there beasts of burden "for the +king's household"--even Bathsheba and Solomon may have been going on +foot. David was evidently impressed by the gift, and his opinion of +Mephibosheth was not so high as to prevent him from believing that he +was capable of the course ascribed to him. Yet we cannot but think +there was undue haste in his at once transferring to Ziba the whole +of Mephibosheth's property. We can only say, in vindication of David, +that his confidence even in those who had been most indebted to him had +received so rude a shock in the conduct of Absalom, that he was ready +to say in his haste, "All men are liars;" he was ready to suspect every +man of deserting him, except those that gave palpable evidence that +they were on his side. In this number it seemed at the moment that Ziba +was, while Mephibosheth was not; and trusting to his first impression, +and acting with the promptitude necessary in war, he made the transfer. +It is true that afterwards he discovered his mistake; and some may +think that when he did he did not make a sufficient rectification. He +directed Ziba and Mephibosheth to divide the property between them; +but in explanation it has been suggested that this was equivalent to +the old arrangement, by which Ziba was to cultivate the land, and +Mephibosheth to receive the fruits; and if half the produce went to the +proprietor, and the other half to the cultivator, the arrangement may +have been a just and satisfactory one after all. + +But if Ziba sinned in the way of smooth treachery, Shimei, the +next person with whom David came in contact, sinned not less in the +opposite fashion, by his outrageous insolence and invective. It is +said of this man that he was of the family of the house of Saul, and +that fact goes far to account for his atrocious behaviour. We get a +glimpse of that inveterate jealousy of David which during the long +period of his reign slept in the bosom of the family of Saul, and +which seemed now, like a volcano, to burst out all the more fiercely +for its long suppression. When the throne passed from the family of +Saul, Shimei would of course experience a great social fall. To be no +longer connected with the royal family would be a great mortification +to one who was vain of such distinctions. Outwardly, he was obliged +to bear his fall with resignation, but inwardly the spirit of +disappointment and jealousy raged in his breast. When the opportunity +of revenge against David came, the rage and venom of his spirit +poured out in a filthy torrent. There is no mistaking the mean nature +of the man to take such an opportunity of venting his malignity on +David. To trample on the fallen, to press a man when his back is at +the wall, to pierce with fresh wounds the body of a stricken warrior, +is the mean resource of ungenerous cowardice. But it is too much the +way of the world. "If there be any quarrels, any exceptions," says +Bishop Hall, "against a man, let him look to have them laid in his +dish when he fares the hardest. This practice have wicked men learned +of their master, to take the utmost advantage of their afflictions." + +If Shimei had contented himself with denouncing the policy of David, +the forbearance of his victim would not have been so remarkable. But +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. Abishai, +Joab's brother, was enraged at the presumption of a fellow who had +no right to take such an attitude, and whose insolence deserved a +prompt and sharp castigation. But David never thirsted for the blood +of foes. Even while the rocks were echoing Shimei's charges, David +gave very remarkable evidence of the spirit of a chastened child of +God. He showed the same forbearance that he had shown twice on former +occasions in sparing the life of Saul. "Why," asked Abishai, "should +this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go, I pray thee, and +take off his head." "So let him curse," was David's answer, "because +the Lord hath said unto him, Curse David." It was but partially true +that the Lord had told him to do so. The Lord had only permitted him +to do it; He had only placed David in circumstances which allowed +Shimei to pour out his insolence. This use of the expression, "The +Lord hath said unto him," may be a useful guide to its true meaning +in some passages of Scripture where it has seemed at first as if +God gave very strange directions. The pretext that Providence had +afforded to Shimei was this, "Behold, my son, which came out of my +bowels, seeketh my life; how much more then may this Benjamite do it? +Let him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord hath bidden him. It +may be that the Lord will requite me good for his cursing this day." +It is touching to remark how keenly David felt this dreadful trial as +coming from his own son. + + "So the struck eagle stretched upon the plain, + No more through rolling clouds to soar again, + Viewed his own feather on the fatal dart + That winged the shaft that quivered in his heart; + Keen were his pangs, but keener far to feel + He nursed the pinion which impelled the steel; + While the same plumage that had warmed his nest + Drank the last lifedrop of his bleeding breast." + +But even the fact that it was his own son that was the author of +all his present calamities would not have made David so meek under +the outrage of Shimei if he had not felt that God was using such +men as instruments to chastise him for his sins. For though God +had never said to Shimei, "Curse David," He had let him become an +instrument of chastisement and humiliation against him. It was the +fact of his being such an instrument in God's hands that made the +King so unwilling to interfere with him. David's reverence for God's +appointment was like that which afterwards led our Lord to say, "The +cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink of it?" Unlike +though David and Jesus were in the cause of their sufferings, yet +there is a remarkable resemblance in their bearing under them. The +meek resignation of David as he went out from the holy city had +a strong resemblance to the meek resignation of Jesus as He was +being led from the same city to Calvary. The gentle consideration +of David for the welfare of his people as he toiled up Mount Olivet +was parallel to the same feeling of Jesus expressed to the daughters +of Jerusalem as He toiled up to Calvary. The forbearance of David +to Shimei was like the spirit of the prayer--"Father, forgive +them: for they know not what they do." The overawing sense that God +had ordained their sufferings was similar in both. David owed his +sufferings solely to himself; Jesus owed His solely to the relation +in which He had placed Himself to sinners as the Sin-bearer. It is +beautiful to see David so meek and lowly under the sense of his +sins--breathing the spirit of the prophet's words, "I will stand upon +my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he +will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved." + +There was another thought in David's mind that helped him to bear +his sufferings with meek submission. It is this that is expressed +in the words, "It may be that the Lord will requite me good for his +cursing this day." He felt that, as coming from the hand of God, all +that he had suffered was just and righteous. He had done wickedly, +and he deserved to be humbled and chastened by God, and by such +instruments as God might appoint. But the particular words and acts +of these instruments might be highly unjust to him: though Shimei +was God's instrument for humiliating him, yet the curses of Shimei +were alike unrighteous and outrageous; the charge that he had shed +the blood of Saul's house, and seized Saul's kingdom by violence, was +outrageously false; but it was better to bear the wrong, and leave +the rectifying of it in God's hands; for God detests unfair dealing, +and when His servants receive it He will look to it and redress it +in His own time and way. And this is a very important and valuable +consideration for those servants of God who are exposed to abusive +language and treatment from scurrilous opponents, or, what is too +common in our day, scurrilous newspapers. If injustice is done them, +let them, like David, trust to God to redress the wrong; God is a God +of justice, and God will not see them treated unjustly. And hence +that remarkable statement which forms a sort of appendix to the seven +beatitudes--"Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute +you, and speak all manner of evil against you falsely for My name's +sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in +heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you." + +Ere we return to Jerusalem to witness the progress of events +in Absalom's camp and cabinet, let us accompany David to his +resting-place beyond the Jordan. Through the counsel of Hushai, +afterwards to be considered, he had reached the plains of Jordan in +safety; had accomplished the passage of the river, and traversed the +path on the other side as far as Mahanaim, somewhere to the south +of the Lake of Gennesareth, the place where Ishbosheth had held his +court. It was a singular mercy that he was able to accomplish this +journey, which in the condition of his followers must have occupied +several days, without opposition in front or molestation in his rear. +Tokens of the Lord's loving care were not wanting to encourage him +on the way. It must have been a great relief to him to learn that +Ahithophel's proposal of an immediate pursuit had been arrested +through the counsel of Hushai. It was a further token for good, that +the lives of the priests' sons, Jonathan and Ahimaaz, which had +been endangered as they bore tidings for him, had been mercifully +preserved. After learning the result of Hushai's counsel, they +proceeded, incautiously perhaps, to reach David, and were observed +and pursued. But a friendly woman concealed them in a well, as Rahab +the harlot had hid the spies in the roof of her house; and though +they ran a great risk, they contrived to reach David's camp in peace. + +And when David reached Mahanaim, where he halted to await the course +of events, Shobi, the son of Nahash, king of Ammon, and Machir, the +son of Ammiel of Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim, +brought beds, and basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, +and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentiles, 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." +Some of those who thus befriended him were only requiting former +favours. Shobi may be supposed to have been ashamed of his father's +insulting conduct when David sent messengers to comfort him on his +father's death. Machir, the son of Ammiel of Lo-debar, was the +friend who had cared for Mephibosheth, and was doubtless thankful +for David's generosity to him. Of Barzillai we know nothing more +than is told us here. But David could not have reckoned on the +friendship of these men, nor on its taking so useful and practical a +turn. The Lord's hand was manifest in the turning of the hearts of +these people to him. How hard bestead he and his followers were is +but too apparent from the fact that these supplies were most welcome +in their condition. And David must have derived no small measure of +encouragement even from these trifling matters; they showed that God +had not forgotten him, and they raised the expectation that further +tokens of His love and care would not be withheld. + +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 neighbours, 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. + +The third Psalm, according to the superscription--and in this case +there seems no cause to dispute it--was composed "when David fled +from Absalom his son." It is a psalm of wonderful serenity and +perfect trust. It begins with a touching reference to the multitude +of the insurgents, and the rapidity with which they increased. +Everything confirms the statement that "the conspiracy was strong, +and that the people increased continually with Absalom." We seem +to understand better why David fled from Jerusalem; even there the +great bulk of the people were with the usurper. We see, too, how +godless and unbelieving the conspirators were--"Many there be which +say of my soul, There is no help for him in God." God was cast out +of their reckoning as of no consideration in the case; it was all +moonshine, his pretended trust in Him. Material forces were the only +real power; the idea of God's favour was only cant, or at best but +"a devout imagination." But the foundation of his trust was too +firm to be shaken either by the multitude of the insurgents or the +bitterness of their sneers. "Thou, Lord, art a shield unto me"--ever +protecting me, "my glory,"--ever honouring me, "and the lifter up +of mine head,"--ever setting me on high because I have known Thy +name. No doubt he had felt some tumult of soul when the insurrection +began. But prayer brought him tranquillity. "I cried unto God with my +voice, and He heard me out of His holy hill." How real the communion +must have been that brought tranquillity to him amid such a sea of +trouble! Even in the midst of his agitation he can lie down and +sleep, and awake refreshed in mind and body. "I will not be afraid of +ten thousands of the people that have set themselves against me round +about." Faith already sees his enemies defeated and receiving the +doom of ungodly men. "Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God; for Thou hast +smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; Thou hast broken the +teeth of the ungodly." And he closes as confidently and serenely as +if victory had already come--"Salvation belongeth unto the Lord; Thy +blessing is upon Thy people." + +If, in this solemn crisis of his history, David is a pattern to us +of meek submission, not less is he a pattern of perfect trust. He is +strong in faith, giving glory to God, and feeling assured that what +He has promised He is able also to perform. Deeply conscious of his +own sin, he at the same time most cordially believes in the word and +promise of God. He knows that, though chastened, he is not forsaken. +He bows his head in meek acknowledgment of the righteousness of the +chastisement; but he lays hold with unwavering trust on the mercy of +God. This union of submission and trust, is one of priceless value, +and much to be sought by every good man. Under the deepest sense of +sin and unworthiness, you may rejoice and you ought to rejoice, in the +provision of grace. And while rejoicing most cordially in the provision +of grace, you ought to be contrite and humble for your sin. You are +grievously defective if you want either of these elements. If the sense +of sin weighs on you with unbroken pressure, if it keeps you from +believing in forgiving mercy, if it hinders you from looking to the +cross, to Him who taketh away the sin of the world, there is a grievous +defect. If your joy in forgiving mercy has no element of contrition, no +chastened sense of unworthiness, there is no less grievous a defect in +the opposite direction. Let us try at once to feel our unworthiness, +and to rejoice in the mercy that freely pardons and accepts. Let us +look to the rock whence we are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence +we are digged; feeling that we are great sinners, but that the Lord +Jesus Christ is a great Saviour; and finding our joy in that faithful +saying, ever worthy of all acceptation, that "Jesus Christ came into +the world to save sinners," even the chief. + + + + + CHAPTER XXII. + + _ABSALOM IN COUNCIL._ + + 2 SAMUEL xvi. 15-23; xvii. 1-14, and ver. 23. + + +We must now return to Jerusalem, and trace the course of events +there on that memorable day when David left it, to flee toward the +wilderness, just a few hours before Absalom entered it from Hebron. + +When Absalom came to the city, there was no trace of an enemy to +oppose him. His supporters in Jerusalem would no doubt go out to +meet him, and conduct him to the palace with great demonstrations +of delight. Eastern nations are so easily roused to enthusiasm that +we can easily believe that, even for Absalom, there would be an +overpowering demonstration of loyalty. Once within the palace, he +would receive the adherence and congratulations of his friends. + +Among these, Hushai the Archite presents himself, having returned +to Jerusalem at David's request, and it is to Hushai's honour that +Absalom was surprised to see him. He knew him to be too good a +man, too congenial with David "his friend," to be likely to follow +such a standard as his. There is much to be read between the lines +here. Hushai was not only a counsellor, but a friend, of David's. +They were probably of kindred feeling in religious matters, earnest +in serving God. A man of this sort did not seem to be in his own +place among the supporters of Absalom. It was a silent confession by +Absalom that his supporters were a godless crew, among whom a man of +godliness must be out of his element. The sight of Hushai impressed +Absalom as the sight of an earnest Christian in a gambling saloon or +on a racecourse would impress the greater part of worldly men. For +even the world has a certain faith in godliness,--to this extent, +at least, that it ought to be consistent. You may stretch a point +here and there in order to gain favour with worldly men; you may +accommodate yourselves to their ways, go to this and to that place +of amusement, adopt their tone of conversation, join with them in +ridiculing the excesses of this or that godly man or woman; but you +are not to expect that by such approaches you will rise in their +esteem. On the contrary, you may expect that in their secret hearts +they will despise you. A man that acts according to his convictions +and in the spirit of what he professes they may very cordially +hate, but they are constrained to respect. A man that does violence +to the spirit of his religion, in his desire to be on friendly +terms with the world and further his interests, and that does many +things to please them, they may not hate so strongly, but they will +not respect. There is a fitness of things to which the world is +sometimes more alive than Christians themselves. Jehoshaphat is not +in his own place making a league with Ahab, and going up with him +against Ramoth-gilead; he lays himself open to the rebuke of the +seer--"Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the +Lord? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord." There is no +New Testament precept needing to be more pondered than this--"Be ye +not unequally yoked with unbelievers; for what communion hath light +with darkness? or what fellowship hath Christ with Belial? or what +communion hath he that believeth with an infidel?" + +But Hushai was not content with putting in a silent appearance for +Absalom. When his consistency is challenged, he must repudiate the idea +that he has any preference for David; he is a loyal man in this sense, +that he attaches himself to the reigning monarch, and as Absalom has +received overwhelming tokens in his favour from every quarter, Hushai +is resolved to stand by him. But can we justify these professions of +Hushai? It is plain enough he went on the principle of fighting Absalom +with his own weapons, of paying him with his own coin; Absalom had +dissembled so profoundly, he had made treachery, so to speak, so much +the current coin of the kingdom, that Hushai determined to use it for +his own purposes. Yet, even in these circumstances, the deliberate +dissembling of Hushai grates against every tender conscience, and more +especially his introduction of the name of Jehovah--"Nay, but whom the +Lord, and this people, and all the men of Israel choose, his will I +be, and with him will I abide." Was not this taking the name of the +Lord his God in vain? The stratagem had been suggested by David; it +was not condemned by the voice of the age; and we are not prepared to +say that stratagem is always to be condemned; but surely, in our time, +the claims of truth and fair dealing would stamp it as a disreputable +device, not sanctified by the end for which it was resorted to, and not +worthy the followers of Him "who did no sin, neither was guile found in +His mouth." + +Having established himself in the confidence of Absalom, Hushai gained +a right to be consulted in the deliberations of the day. He enters +the room where the new king's counsellors are met, but he finds it +a godless assemblage. In planning the most awful wickedness, a cool +deliberation prevails that shows how familiar the counsellors are with +the ways of sin. "Give counsel among you," says the royal president, +"what we shall do." How different from David's way of opening the +business--"Bring hither the ephod, and enquire of the Lord." In +Absalom's council help of that kind is neither asked nor desired. + +The first to propose a course is Ahithophel, and there is something +so revolting in the first scheme which he proposed that we wonder +much that such a man should ever have been a counsellor of David. His +first piece of advice, that Absalom should publicly take possession +of his father's concubines, was designed to put an end to any +wavering among the people; it was, according to Eastern ideas, the +grossest insult that could be offered to a king, and that king a +father, and it would prove that the breach between David and Absalom +was irreparable, that it was vain to hope for any reconciliation. +They must all make up their minds to take a side, and as Absalom's +cause was so popular, it was far the most likely they would side with +him. Without hesitation Absalom complied with the advice. It is a +proof how hard his heart had become, that he did not hesitate to mock +his father by an act which was as disgusting as it was insulting. And +what a picture we get of the position of women even in the court of +King David! They were slaves in the worst sense of the term, with no +right even to guard their virtue, or to protect their persons from +the very worst of men; for the custom of the country, when it gave +him the throne, gave him likewise the bodies and souls of the women +of the harem to do with as he pleased! + +The next piece of 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. +So strongly was Ahithophel impressed with the advantages that it +seemed impossible that it could be opposed, far less rejected. One +element only he left out of his reckoning--that "as the mountains are +round about Jerusalem, so the Lord God is round about His people from +henceforth even for ever." He forgot how many methods of protecting +David God had already employed. From the lion and the bear He had +delivered him in his youth, by giving strength to his arm and courage +to his heart; from the uncircumcised Philistine He had delivered him +by guiding the stone projected from his sling to the forehead of the +giant; from Saul, at one time through Michal letting him down from a +window; at another, through Jonathan taking his side; at a third, by an +invasion of the Philistines calling Saul away; and now He was preparing +to deliver him from Absalom by a still different method: by causing +the shallow proposal of Hushai to find more favour than the sagacious +counsel of Ahithophel. + +It must have been a moment of great anxiety to Hushai when the +man whose counsel was as the oracle of God sat down amid universal +approval, after having propounded the very advice of which he was +most afraid. But he shows great coolness and skill in recommending +his own course, and in trying to make the worse appear the better +reason. He opens with an implied compliment to Ahithophel--his +counsel is not good _at this time_. It may have been excellent on all +other occasions, but the present is an exception. Then he dwells on +the warlike character of David and his men, and on the exasperated +state of mind in which they might be supposed to be; probably they +were at that moment in some cave, where no idea of their numbers +could be got, and from which they might make a sudden sally on +Absalom's troops; and if, on occasion of an encounter between the +two armies, some of Absalom's were to fall, people would take it +as a defeat; a panic might seize the army, and his followers might +disperse as quickly as they had assembled. + +But the concluding stroke was the masterpiece. He knew that vanity +was Absalom's besetting sin. The young man that had prepared chariots +and horses, and fifty men to run before him, that had been accustomed +to poll his head from year to year and weigh it with so much care, +and whose praise was throughout all Israel for beauty, must be +flattered by a picture of the whole host of Israel marshalled around +him, and going forth in proud array, with him at its head. "Therefore +I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee, from Dan +even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude, and +that thou go to battle in thine own person. So shall we come upon him +in some place where he may 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 there shall not be left so much as one. Moreover, if +he be gotten into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that +city, and we will draw it into the river until there shall not be one +small stone left there." + +It is with counsel as with many other things: what pleases best is +thought best; solid merit gives way to superficial plausibility. The +counsel of Hushai pleased better than that of Ahithophel, and so it +was preferred. Satan had outwitted himself. He had nursed in Absalom +an overweening vanity, intending by its means to overturn the throne +of David; and now that very vanity becomes the means of defeating +the scheme, and laying the foundation of Absalom's ruin. The +turning-point in Absalom's mind seems to have been the magnificent +spectacle of the whole of Israel mustered for battle, and Absalom +at their head. He was fascinated by the brilliant imagination. How +easily may God, when He pleases, defeat the most able schemes of +His enemies! He does not need to create weapons to oppose them; +He has only to turn their own weapons against themselves. What an +encouragement to faith even when the fortunes of the Church are +at their lowest ebb! "The kings of the earth set themselves, and +the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against His +anointed, saying, Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away +their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the +Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak to them in +wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king +upon my holy hill of Zion." + +The council is over; Hushai, unspeakably relieved, hastens to +communicate with the priests, and through them send messengers to +David; Absalom withdraws to delight himself with the thought of +the great military muster that is to flock to his standard; while +Ahithophel, in high dudgeon, retires to his house. The character of +Ahithophel was a singular combination. To deep natural sagacity he +united great spiritual blindness and lack of true manliness. He saw +at once the danger to the cause of Absalom in the plan that had been +preferred to his own; but it was not that consideration, it was the +gross affront to himself that preyed on him, and drove him to commit +suicide. "When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, +he saddled his ass and arose and gat him home to his house, to his +city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself and died, +and was buried in the sepulchre of his father." In his own way he +was as much the victim of vanity as Absalom. The one was vain of +his person, the other of his wisdom. In each case it was the man's +vanity that was the cause of his death. What a contrast Ahithophel +was to David in his power of bearing disgrace!--David, though with +bowed head, bearing up so bravely, and even restraining his followers +from chastising some of those who were so vehemently affronting him; +Ahithophel unable to endure life because for once another man's +counsel had been preferred to his. Men of the richest gifts have +often shown themselves babes in self-control. Ahithophel is the Judas +of the New Testament, lays plans for the destruction of his master, +and, like Judas, falls almost immediately, by his own hand. "What a +mixture," says Bishop Hall, "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 wisdom. And could it be possible +that he that was so wise as to set his house in order was so mad as +to hang himself? that he should be so careful to order his house who +had no care to order his unruly passions? that he should care for his +house who cared not for his body or his soul? How vain is it for man +to be wise if he is not wise in God. How preposterous 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." + +This council-chamber of Absalom is full of material for profitable +reflection. The manner in which he was turned aside from the way +of wisdom and safety is a remarkable illustration of our Lord's +principle--"If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full +of light." We are accustomed to view this principle chiefly in its +relation to moral and spiritual life; but it is applicable likewise +even to worldly affairs. Absalom's eye was not single. Success, no +doubt, was the chief object at which he aimed, but another object was +the gratification of his vanity. This inferior object was allowed to +come in and disturb his judgment. If Absalom had had a single eye, +even in a worldly sense, he would have felt profoundly that the one +thing to be considered was, how to get rid of David and establish +himself firmly on the throne. But instead of studying this one thing +with firm and immovable purpose, he allowed the vision of a great +muster of troops commanded by himself to come in, and so to distract +his judgment that he gave his decision for the latter course. No +doubt he thought that his position was so secure that he could afford +the few days' delay which this scheme involved. All the same, it was +this disturbing element of personal vanity that gave a twist to his +vision, and led him to the conclusion which lost him everything. + +For even in worldly things, singleness of eye is a great help towards +a sound conclusion. "To the upright there ariseth light in the +darkness." And if this rule hold true in the worldly sphere, much +more in the moral and spiritual. It is when you have the profoundest +desire to do what is right that you are in the best way to know +what is wise. In the service of God you are grievously liable to be +distracted by private feelings and interests of your own. It is when +these private interests assert themselves that you are most liable +to lose the clear line of duty and of wisdom. You wish to do God's +will, but at the same time you are very unwilling to sacrifice this +interest, or expose yourself to that trouble. Thus your own feeling +becomes a screen that dims your vision, and prevents you from seeing +the path of duty and wisdom alike. You have not a clear sight of the +right path. You live in an atmosphere of perplexity; whereas men of +more single purpose, and more regardless of their own interests, +see clearly and act wisely. Was there anything more remarkable in +the Apostle Paul than the clearness of his vision, the decisive yet +admirable way in which he solved perplexing questions, and the high +practical wisdom that guided him throughout? And is not this to be +connected with his singleness of eye, his utter disregard of personal +interests in his public life--his entire devotion to the will and to +the service of his Master? From that memorable hour on the way to +Damascus, when he put the question, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to +do?" onward to the day when he laid his head on the block in imperial +Rome, the one interest of his heart, the one thought of his mind, was +to do the will of Christ. Never was an eye more single, and never was +a body more full of light. + +But again, from that council-chamber of Absalom and its results +we learn how all projects founded on godlessness and selfishness +carry in their bosom the elements of dissolution. They have no true +principle of coherence, no firm, binding element, to secure them +against disturbing influences arising from further manifestations +of selfishness on the part of those engaged in them. Men may be +united by selfish interest in some undertaking up to a certain +point, but, like a rocket in the air, selfishness is liable to burst +up in a thousand different directions, and then the bond of union +is destroyed. The only bond of union that can resist distracting +tendencies is an immovable regard to the will of God, and, in +subordination thereto, to the welfare of men. In our fallen world +it is seldom--rather, it is never--that any great enterprise is +undertaken and carried forward on grounds where selfishness has no +place whatever. But we may say this very confidently, that the more +an undertaking is based on regard to God's will and the good of men, +the more stability and true prosperity will it enjoy; whereas every +element of selfishness or self-seeking that may be introduced into it +is an element of weakness, and tends to its dissolution. The remark +is true of Churches and religious societies, of religious movements +and political movements too. + +Men that are not overawed, as it were, by a supreme regard to the +will of God; men to whom the consideration of that will is not +strong enough at once to smite down every selfish feeling that may +arise in their minds, will always be liable to desire some object +of their own rather than the good of the whole. They will begin to +complain if they are not sufficiently considered and honoured. They +will allow jealousies and suspicions towards those who have most +influence to arise in their hearts. They will get into caves to air +their discontent with those like-minded. All this tends to weakness +and dissolution. Selfishness is the serpent that comes crawling into +many a hopeful garden, and brings with it division and desolation. +In private life, it should be watched and thwarted as the grievous +foe of all that is good and right. The same course should be taken +with regard to it in all the associations of Christians. And it is +Christian men only that are capable of uniting on grounds so high +and pure as to give some hope that this evil spirit will not succeed +in disuniting them--that is to say, men who feel and act on the +obligations under which the Lord Jesus Christ has placed them; men +that feel that their own redemption, and every blessing they have or +hope to have, come through the wonderful self-denial of the Son of +God, and that if they have the faintest right to His holy name they +must not shrink from the like self-denial. It is a happy thing to be +able to adopt as our rule--"None of us liveth to himself; for whether +we live, we live unto the Lord, or whether we die, we die unto the +Lord; whether we live therefore or die, we are the Lord's." The more +this rule prevails in Churches and Christian societies, the more will +there be of union and stability too; but with its neglect, all kinds +of evil and trouble will come in, and very probably, disruption and +dissolution in the end. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIII. + + 2 SAMUEL xviii. 1-18. + + _ABSALOM'S DEFEAT AND DEATH._ + + +Whatever fears of defeat and destruction might occasionally flit +across David's soul between his flight from Jerusalem and the battle +in the wood of Ephraim, it is plain both from his actions and from +his songs that his habitual frame was one of serenity and trust. The +number of psalms ascribed to this period of his life may be in excess +of the truth; but that his heart was in near communion with God all +the time we cannot doubt. Situated as his present refuge was not far +from Peniel, where Jacob had wrestled with the angel, we may believe +that there were wrestlings again in the neighbourhood not unworthy to +be classed with that from which Peniel derived its memorable name. + +In the present emergency the answer to prayer consisted, first, in the +breathing-time secured by the success of Hushai's counsel; second, in +the countenance and support of the friends raised up to David near +Mahanaim; and last, not least, in the spirit of wisdom and harmony with +which all the arrangements were made for the inevitable encounter. +Every step was taken with prudence, while every movement of his +opponents seems to have been a blunder. It was wise in David, as we +have already seen, 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, for a reason that will presently be seen; +and it was wise to have a wood in the neighbourhood of the battlefield, +though it could not have been foreseen how this was to bear on the +individual on whose behalf the insurrection had taken place. + +By this time the followers of David had grown to the dimensions +of an army. We are furnished with no means of knowing its actual +number. Josephus puts it at four thousand, but, judging from some +casual expressions ("David set captains of hundreds and _captains of +thousands_ over them," ver. 1; "Now thou art worth _ten thousand_ of +us," ver. 3; "The people came by thousands," ver. 4), we should infer +that David's force amounted to a good many thousands. The division +of the army into three parts, however, reminding us, as it does, +of Gideon's division of his little force into three, would seem to +imply that David's force was far inferior in number to Absalom's. The +insurrectionary army must have been very large, and stretching over a +great breadth of country, would have presented far too wide a line to +be effectually dealt with by a single body of troops, comparatively +small. Gideon had divided his handful into three that he might make +a simultaneous impression on three different parts of the Midianite +host, and thus contribute the better to the defeat of the whole. So +David divided his army into three, that, meeting Absalom's at three +different points, he might prevent a concentration of the enemy that +would have swallowed up his whole force. David had the advantage of +choosing his ground, and his military instinct and long experience +would doubtless enable him to do this with great effect. His three +generals were able and valuable leaders. The aged 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. "It is better," they +said to him, "that thou succour us out of the city." What kind of +succour could he render there? Only the succour that Moses and his +two attendants rendered to Israel in the fight with Amalek in the +wilderness, when Moses held up his hands, and Aaron and Hur propped +them up. He might pray for them; he could do no more. + +By this time Absalom had probably obtained the great object of his +ambition; he had mustered Israel from Dan to Beersheba, and found +himself at the head of an array very magnificent in appearance, +but, like most Oriental gatherings of the kind, somewhat unwieldy +and unworkable. This great conglomeration was now in the immediate +neighbourhood of Mahanaim, and must have seemed as if by sheer weight +of material it would crush any force that could be brought against +it. 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. +A _dense_ wood would obviously be unsuitable for battle, but a wooded +district, with clumps here and there, especially on the hill-sides, +and occasional trees and brushwood scattered over the plains, would +present many advantages to a smaller force opposing the onset of a +larger. In the American war of 1755 some of the best troops of England +were nearly annihilated in a wood near Pittsburg in Pennsylvania, +the Indians levelling their rifles unseen from behind the trees, and +discharging them with yells that were even more terrible than their +weapons. We may fancy the three battalions of David making a vigorous +onslaught on Absalom's troops as they advanced into the wooded country, +and when they began to retreat through the woods, and got entangled in +brushwood, or jammed together by thickset trees, discharging arrows at +them, or falling on them with the sword, with most disastrous effect. +"There was a great slaughter that day of twenty thousand men. For the +battle there was scattered over the face of all the country, and the +wood devoured more people that day than the sword devoured." Many of +David's men were probably natives of the country, and in their many +encounters with the neighbouring nations had become familiar with the +warfare of "the bush." Here was one benefit of the choice of Mahanaim +by David as his rallying-ground. The people that joined him from that +quarter knew the ground, and knew how to adapt it to fighting purposes; +the most of Absalom's forces had been accustomed to the bare wadies and +limestone rocks of Western Palestine, and, when caught in the thickets, +could neither use their weapons nor save themselves by flight. + +Very touching, if not very business-like, had been David's +instructions to his generals about Absalom: "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 concerning Absalom." It is +interesting to observe that David fully expects to win. There is no +hint of any alternative, as if Absalom would not fall into their +hands. David knows that he is going to conquer, as well as he knew +it when he went against the giant. The confidence which is breathed +in the third Psalm is apparent here. Faith saw his enemies already +defeated. "Thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheekbone; +Thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly. Salvation belongeth unto +the Lord; Thy blessing is upon Thy people." In a pitched battle, God +could not give success to a godless crew, whose whole enterprise was +undertaken to drive God's anointed one from his throne. Temporary and +partial successes they might have, but final success it was morally +impossible for God to accord. It was not the spirit of his own +troops, nor the undisciplined condition of the opposing host, that +inspired this confidence, but the knowledge that there was a God in +Israel, who would not suffer His anointed to perish, nor the impious +usurper to triumph over him. + +We cannot tell whether Absalom was visited with any misgivings as to +the result before the battle began. Very probably he was not. Having +no faith in God, he would make no account whatever of what David +regarded as the Divine palladium of his cause. But if he entered on +the battle confident of success, his anguish is not to be conceived +when he saw his troops yield to panic, and, in wild disorder, try +to dash through the wood. Dreadful miseries must have overwhelmed +him. He does not appear to have made any attempt to rally his troops. +Riding on a mule, in his haste to escape, he probably plunged into +some thick part of the wood, where his head came in contact with a +mass of prickly oak; struggling to make a way through it, he only +entangled his hair more hopelessly in the thicket; then, raising +himself in the saddle to attack it with his hands, his mule went from +under him, and left him hanging between heaven and earth, maddened by +pain, enraged at the absurdity of his plight, and storming against +his attendants, none of whom was near him in his time of need. Nor +was this the worst of it. Absalom was probably among the foremost of +the fugitives, and we can hardly suppose but that many of his own +people fled that way after him. Could it be that all of them were so +eager to escape that not one of them would stop to help their king? +What a contrast the condition of Absalom when fortune turned against +him to that of his father! Dark though David's trials had been, and +seemingly desperate his position, he had not been left alone in its +sudden horrors; the devotion of strangers, as well as the fidelity of +a few attached friends, had cheered him, and had the worst disaster +befallen him, had his troops been routed and his cause ruined, there +were warm and bold hearts that would not have deserted him in his +extremity, that would have formed a wall around him, and with their +lives defended his grey hairs. But when the hour of calamity came +to Absalom it found him alone. Even Saul had his armour-bearer at +his side when he fled over Gilboa; but neither armour-bearer nor +friend attended Absalom as he fled from the battle of the wood of +Ephraim. It would have been well for him if he had really gained a +few of the many hearts he stole. Much though moralists tell us of +the heartlessness of the world in the hour of adversity, we should +not have expected to light on so extreme a case of it. We can hardly +withhold a tear at the sight of the unhappy youth, an hour ago with +thousands eager to obey him, and a throne before him, apparently +secure from danger; now hanging helpless between earth and heaven, +with no companion but an evil conscience, and no prospect but the +judgment of an offended God. + +A recent writer, in his "History of the English People" (Green), when +narrating the fall of Cardinal Wolsey, powerfully describes the way of +Providence in suffering a career of unexampled wickedness and ambition +to go on from one degree of prosperity to another, till the moment +of doom arrives, when all is shattered by a single blow. There was +long delay, but "the hour of reckoning at length arrived. Slowly the +hand had crawled along the dial-plate, slowly as if the event would +never come; and wrong was heaped on wrong, and oppression cried, and +it seemed as if no ear had heard its voice, till the measure of the +wickedness was at length fulfilled. The finger touched the hour; and +as the strokes of the great hammer rang out above the nation, in an +instant the whole fabric of iniquity was shivered to ruins." + +This hour had now come to Absalom. He had often been reproved, but +had hardened his heart, and was now to be destroyed, and that without +remedy. In the person of Joab, God found a fitting instrument for +carrying His purpose into effect. The character of Joab is something +of a riddle. We cannot say that he was altogether a bad man, or +altogether without the fear of God. Though David bitterly complained +of him in some things, he must have valued him on the whole, for +during the whole of his reign Joab had been his principal general. +That he wanted all tenderness of heart seems very plain. That he +was subject to vehement and uncontrollable impulses, in the heat +of which fearful deeds of blood were done by him, but done in what +seemed to him the interest of the public, is also clear. There is no +evidence that he was habitually savage or grossly selfish. When David +charged him and the other generals to deal tenderly with the young +man Absalom, it is quite possible that he was minded to do so. But in +the excitement of the battle, that uncontrollable impulse seized him +which urged him to the slaughter of Amasa and Abner. The chance of +executing judgment on the arch-rebel who had caused all this misery, +and been guilty of crimes never before heard of in Israel, and thus +ending for ever an insurrection that might have dragged its slow +length along for harassing years to come, was too much for him. "How +could you see Absalom hanging in an oak and not put an end to his +mischievous life?" he asks the man that tells him he had seen him in +that plight. And he has no patience with the man's elaborate apology. +Seizing three darts, he rushes to the place, and thrusts them through +Absalom's heart. And his ten armour-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. Under the influence of this conviction +he thrust the three darts through his heart, and he allowed his +attendants to hew that comely body to pieces, till the fair form that +all had admired so much became a mere mass of hacked and bleeding +flesh. But whatever may have been the process by which Joab found +himself constrained to disregard the king's order respecting Absalom, +it is plain that to his dying day David never forgave him. + +The mode of Absalom's death, and also the mode of his burial, were +very significant. It had probably never happened to any warrior, or +to any prince, to die from a similar cause. And but for the vanity +that made him think so much of his bodily appearance, and especially +of his hair, death would never have come to him in such a form. +Vanity of one's personal appearance is indeed a weakness rather than +a crime. It would be somewhat hard to punish it directly, but it is +just the right way of treating it, to make it punish itself. And so +it was in the case of Absalom. His bitterest enemy could have desired +nothing more ludicrously tragical than to see those beautiful locks +fastening him as with a chain of gold to the arm of the scaffold, +and leaving him dangling there like the most abject malefactor. And +what of the beautiful face and handsome figure that often, doubtless, +led his admirers to pronounce him every inch a king? So slashed and +mutilated under the swords of Joab's ten men, that no one could have +told that it was Absalom that lay there. This was God's judgment on +the young man's vanity. + +The mode of his burial is particularly specified. "They took Absalom +and cast him into a great pit in the wood, and laid a very great +heap of stones upon him; and all Israel fled every one to his tent." +The purpose of this seems to have been to show that Absalom was +deemed worthy of the punishment of the rebellious son, as appointed +by Moses; and a more significant expression of opinion could not have +been given. The punishment for the son who remained incorrigibly +rebellious was to be taken beyond the walls of the city, and stoned +to death. It is said by Jewish writers that this punishment was never +actually inflicted, but the mode of Absalom's burial was fitted to +show that he at least was counted as deserving of it. The ignominious +treatment of that graceful body, which he adorned and set off with +such care, did not cease even after it was gashed by the weapons of +the young men; no place was found for it in the venerable cave of +Machpelah; it was not even laid in the family sepulchre at Jerusalem, +but cast ignominiously into a pit in the wood; it was bruised and +pounded by stones, and left to rot there, like the memory of its +possessor, and entail eternal infamy on the place. What a lesson to +all who disown the authority of parents! What a warning to all who +cast away the cords of self-restraint! It is said by Jewish writers +that every by-passer was accustomed to throw a stone on the heap that +covered the remains of Absalom, and as he threw it to say, "Cursed be +the memory of rebellious Absalom; and cursed for ever be all wicked +children that rise up in rebellion against their parents!" + +And here it may be well to say a word to children. You all see the +lesson that is taught by the doom of Absalom, and you all feel that +in that doom, terrible though it was, he just reaped what he had +sowed. You see the seed of his offence, disobedience to parents, +bringing forth the most hideous fruit, and receiving in God's +providence a most frightful punishment. You see it without excuse and +without palliation; for David had been a kind father, and had treated +Absalom better than he deserved. Mark, then, that this is the final +fruit of that spirit of disobedience to parents which often begins +with very little offences. These little offences are big enough to +show that you prefer your own will to the will of your parents. If +you had a just and true respect for their authority, you would guard +against little transgressions--you would make conscience of obeying +in all things great and small. Then remember that every evil habit +must have a beginning, and very often it is a small beginning. By +imperceptible stages it may grow and grow, till it becomes a hideous +vice, like this rebellion of Absalom. Nip it in the bud; if you +don't, who can tell whether it may not grow to something terrible, +and at last brand you with the brand of Absalom? + +If this be the lesson to children from the doom of Absalom, the +lesson to parents is not less manifest from the case of David. The +early battle between the child's will and the parent's is often +very difficult and trying; but God is on the parent's side, and +will give him the victory if he seeks it aright. It certainly needs +great vigilance, wisdom, patience, firmness, and affection. If you +are careless and unwatchful, the child's will will speedily assert +itself. If you are foolish, and carry discipline too far, if you +thwart the child at every point, instead of insisting on one thing, +or perhaps a few things, at a time, you will weary him and weary +yourself without success. If you are fitful, insisting at one time +and taking no heed at another, you will convey the impression of a +very elastic law, not entitled to much respect. If you lose your +temper, and speak unadvisedly, instead of mildly and lovingly, you +will most effectually set the child's temper up against the very +thing you wish him to do. If you forget that you are not independent +agents, but have got the care of your beloved child from God, and +ought to bring him up as in God's stead, and in the most humble and +careful dependence on God's grace, you may look for blunder upon +blunder in sad succession, with results in the end that will greatly +disappoint you. How close every Christian needs to lie to God in +the exercise of this sacred trust! And how much, when conscious +of weakness and fearing the consequences, ought he to prize the +promise--"My grace is sufficient for thee!" + + + + + CHAPTER XXIV. + + _DAVID'S GRIEF FOR ABSALOM._ + + 2 SAMUEL xviii. 19-33; xix. 1-4. + + +"Next to the calamity of losing a battle," a great general used +to say, "is that of gaining a victory." The battle in the wood of +Ephraim left twenty thousand of King David's subjects dead or dying +on the field. It is remarkable how little is made of this dismal +fact. Men's lives count for little in time of war, and death, even +with its worst horrors, is just the common fate of warriors. Yet +surely David and his friends could not think lightly of a calamity +that cut down more of the sons of Israel than any battle since the +fatal day of Mount Gilboa. Nor could they form a light estimate of +the guilt of the man whose inordinate vanity and ambition had cost +the nation such a fearful loss. + +But all thoughts of this kind were for the moment brushed aside by +the crowning fact that Absalom himself was dead. And this fact, +as well as the tidings of the victory, must at once be carried to +David. Mahanaim, where David was, was probably but a little distance +from the field of battle. A friend offered to Joab to carry the +news--Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok the priest. He had formerly been +engaged in the same way, for he was one of those that had brought +word to David of the result of Absalom's council, and of other +things that were going on in Jerusalem. But Joab did not wish that +Ahimaaz should be the bearer of the news. He would not deprive him of +the character of king's messenger, but he would employ him as such +another time. Meanwhile the matter was entrusted to another man, +called in the Authorized Version Cushi, but in the Revised Version +the Cushite. Whoever this may have been, he was a simple official, +not like Ahimaaz, a personal friend of David. And this seems to have +been Joab's reason for employing him. It is evident that physically +he was not better adapted to the task than Ahimaaz, for when the +latter at last got leave to go he overran the Cushite. But Joab +appears to have felt that it would be better that David should +receive his first news from a mere official than from a personal +friend. The personal friend would be likely to enter into details +that the other would not give. It is clear that Joab was ill at ease +in reference to his own share in the death of Absalom. He would fain +keep that back from David, at least for a time; it would be enough +for him at the first to know that the battle had been gained, and +that Absalom was dead. + +But Ahimaaz was persistent, and after the Cushite had been despatched +he carried his point, and was allowed to go. Very graphic is the +description of the running of the two men and of their arrival at +Mahanaim. The king had taken his place at the gate of the city, and +stationed a watchman on the wall above to look out eagerly lest any +one should come bringing news of the battle. In those primitive +times there was no more rapid way of despatching important news than +by a swift well-trained runner on foot. In the clear atmosphere +of the East first one man, then another, was seen running alone. +By-and-bye, the watchman surmised that the foremost of the two was +Ahimaaz; and when the king heard it, remembering his former message, +he concluded that such a man must be the bearer of good tidings. As +soon as he came within hearing of the king, he shouted out, "All +is well." Coming close, he fell on his face and blessed God for +delivering the rebels into David's hands. Before thanking him or +thanking God, the king showed what was uppermost in his heart by +asking, "Is the young man Absalom safe?" And here the moral courage +of Ahimaaz failed him, and he gave an evasive answer: "When Joab sent +the king's servant, and me thy servant, I saw a great tumult, but I +knew not what it was." When he heard this the king bade him stand +aside, till he should hear what the other messenger had to say. And +the official messenger was more frank than the personal friend. For +when the king repeated the question about Absalom, the answer was, +"The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to +do thee hurt, be as that young man is." The answer was couched in +skilful words. It suggested the enormity of Absalom's guilt, and of +the danger to the king and the state which he had plotted, and the +magnitude of the deliverance, seeing that he was now beyond the power +of doing further evil. + +But such soothing expressions were lost upon the king. The worst +fears of his heart were realized--Absalom was dead. Gone from earth +for ever, beyond reach of the yearnings of his heart; gone to answer +for crimes that were revolting in the sight of God and man. "The +king was much moved; and he 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!" + +He had been a man of war, a man of the sword; he had been familiar +with death, and had seen it once and again in his own family; but +the tidings of Absalom's death fell upon him with all the force of a +first bereavement. Not more piercing is the wail of the young widow +when suddenly the corpse of her beloved is borne into the house, not +more overwhelming is her sensation, as if the solid earth were giving +way beneath her, than the emotion that now prostrated King David. + +Grief for the dead is always sacred; and however unworthy we may +regard the object of it, we cannot but respect it in King David. +Viewed simply as an expression of his unquenched affection for +his son, and separated from its bearing on the interests of the +kingdom, and from the air of repining it seemed to carry against the +dispensation of God, it showed a marvellously tender and forgiving +heart. In the midst of an odious and disgusting rebellion, and with +the one object of seeking out his father and putting him to death, +the heartless youth had been arrested and had met his deserved fate. +Yet so far from showing satisfaction that the arm that had been +raised to crush him was laid low in death, David could express no +feelings but those of love and longing. Was it not a very wonderful +love, coming very near to the feeling of Him who prayed, "Father, +forgive them, for they know not what they do," like that "love +Divine, all love excelling," that follows the sinner through all his +wanderings, and clings to him amid all his rebellions; the love of +Him that not merely wished in a moment of excitement that He could +die for His guilty children but did die for them, and in dying bore +their guilt and took it away, and of which the brief but matchless +record is that "having once loved His own that were with Him in the +world, He loved them even unto the end?" + +The elements of David's intense agony, when he heard of Absalom's +death, were mainly three. In the first place, there was the loss of +his son, of whom he could say that, with all his faults, he loved him +still. A dear object had been plucked from his heart, and left it sick, +vacant, desolate. A face he had often gazed on with delight lay cold +in death. He had not been a good son, he had been very wicked; but +affection has always its visions of a better future, and is ready to +forgive unto seventy times seven. And then death is so dreadful when it +fastens on the young. It seems so cruel to fell to the ground a bright +young form; to extinguish by one blow his every joy, every hope, every +dream; to reduce him to nothingness, so far as this life is concerned. +An infinite pathos, in a father's experience, surrounds a young man's +death. The regret, the longing, the conflict with the inevitable, seem +to drain him of all energy, and leave him helpless in his sorrow. + +Secondly, 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. Oh, if he had had but an hour to think of his +position, to realise the lesson of his defeat, to ask his father's +forgiveness, to curse the infatuation of the last few years! How would +one such word have softened the sting of his rebellion in his father's +breast! What a change it would have given to the aspect of his evil +life! But not even the faint vestige of such a thing was ever shown; +the unmitigated glare of that evil life must haunt his father evermore! + +Thirdly, there was the fact that in this rebellious condition he had +passed to the judgment of God. What hope could there be for such a +man, living and dying as he had done? Where could he be now? Was not +"the great pit in the wood," into which his unhonoured carcase had +been flung, a type of another pit, the receptacle of his soul? What +agony to the Christian heart is like that of thinking of the misery +of dear ones who have died impenitent and unpardoned? + +To these and similar elements of grief David appears to have +abandoned himself without a struggle. But was this right? Ought he +not to have made some acknowledgment of the Divine hand in his trial, +as he did when Bathsheba's child died? Ought he not to have acted as +he did on another occasion, when he said, "I was dumb with silence, +I opened not my mouth, because Thou didst it"? We have seen that in +domestic matters he was not accustomed to place himself so thoroughly +under the control of the Divine will as in the more public business +of his life; and now we see that, when his parental feelings are +crushed, he is left without the steadying influence of submission to +the will of God. And in the agony of his private grief he forgets +the public welfare of the nation. Noble and generous though the wish +be, "Would God I had died for thee," it was on public grounds out +of the question. Let us imagine for one moment the wish realized. +David has fallen and Absalom survives. What sort of kingdom would it +have been? What would have been the fate of the gallant men who had +defended David? What would have been the condition of God's servants +throughout the kingdom? What would have been the influence of so +godless a monarch upon the interests of truth and the cause of God? +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. +Roused by the reproaches and threatenings of his general, the king +did now present himself among them. The people responded and came +before him, and the effort he made to show himself agreeable kept +them to their allegiance, and led on to the steps for his restoration +that soon took place. + +But it must have been an effort to abstract his attention from +Absalom, and fix it on the brighter results of the battle. And +not only that night, in the silence of his chamber, but for many +a night, and perhaps many a day, during the rest of his life, the +thought of that battle and its crowning catastrophe must have haunted +David like an ugly dream. We seem to see him in some still hour +of reverie recalling early days;--happy scenes rise around him; +lovely children gambol at his side; he hears again the merry laugh +of little Tamar, and smiles as he recalls some childish saying of +Absalom; he is beginning, as of old, to forecast the future and +shape out for them careers of honour and happiness; when, horror of +horrors! the spell breaks; the bright vision gives way to dismal +realities--Tamar's dishonour, Amnon's murder, Absalom's insurrection, +and, last not least, Absalom's death, glare in the field of memory! +Who will venture to say that David did not smart for his sins? Who +that reflects would be willing to take the cup of sinful indulgence +from his hands, sweet though it was in his mouth, when he sees it so +bitter in the belly? + +Two remarks may appropriately conclude this chapter, one with +reference to grief from bereavements in general, the other with +reference to the grief that may arise to Christians in connection +with the spiritual condition of departed children. + +1. With reference to grief from bereavements in general, it is to be +observed that they will prove either a blessing or an evil according +to the use to which they are turned. All grief in itself is a +weakening thing--weakening both to the body and the mind, and it were +a great error to suppose that it _must_ do good in the end. There +are some who seem to think that to resign themselves to overwhelming +grief is a token of regard to the memory of the departed, and they +take no pains to counteract the depressing influence. It is a painful +thing to say, yet it is true, that a long-continued manifestation +of overwhelming grief, instead of exciting sympathy, is more apt +to cause annoyance. Not only does it depress the mourner himself, +and unfit him for his duties to the living, but it depresses those +that come in contact with him, and makes them think of him with a +measure of impatience. And this suggests another remark. It is not +right to obtrude our grief overmuch on others, especially if we are +in a public position. Let us take example in this respect from our +blessed Lord. Was any sorrow like unto His sorrow? Yet how little +did He obtrude it even on the notice of His disciples! It was +towards the end of His ministry before He even began to tell them +of the dark scenes through which He was to pass; and even when He +did tell them how He was to be betrayed and crucified, it was not +to court their sympathy, but to prepare them for their part of the +trial. And when the overwhelming agony of Gethsemane drew on, it was +only three of the twelve that were permitted to be with Him. All such +considerations show that it is a more Christian thing to conceal our +griefs than to make others uncomfortable by obtruding them upon their +notice. David was on the very eve of losing the affections of those +who had risked everything for him, by abandoning himself to anguish +for his private loss, and letting his distress for the dead interfere +with his duty to the living. + +And how many things are there to a Christian mind fitted to abate +the first sharpness even of a great bereavement. Is it not the +doing of a Father, infinitely kind? Is it not the doing of Him "who +spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all"? You say +you can see no light through it,--it is dark, all dark, fearfully +dark. Then you ought to fall back on the inscrutability of God. Hear +Him saying, "What I do, thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know +hereafter." Resign yourself patiently to His hands, till He make the +needed revelation, and rest assured that when it is made it will be +worthy of God. "Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen +the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender +mercy." Meanwhile, be impressed with the vanity of this life, and +the infinite need of a higher portion. "Set your affection on things +above, and not on the things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your +life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your Life, shall +appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory." + +2. The other remark that falls to be made here concerns the grief +that may arise to Christians in connection with the spiritual +condition of departed children. + +When the parent is either in doubt as to the happiness of a beloved +one, or has cause to apprehend that the portion of that child is +with the unbelievers, the pang which he experiences is one of the +most acute which the human heart can know. Now here is a species of +suffering which, if not peculiar to believers, falls on them far the +most heavily, and is, in many cases, a haunting spectre of misery. The +question naturally arises, Is it not strange that their very beliefs, +as Christians, subject them to such acute sufferings? If one were a +careless, unbelieving man, and one's child died without evidence of +grace, one would probably think nothing of it, because the things that +are unseen and eternal are never in one's thoughts. But just because +one believes the testimony of God on this great subject, one becomes +liable to a peculiar agony. Is this not strange indeed? + +Yes, there is a mystery in it which we cannot wholly solve. But we +must remember that it is in thorough accordance with a great law +of Providence, the operation of which, in other matters, we cannot +overlook. That law is, that the cultivation and refinement of any +organ or faculty, while it greatly increases your capacity of +enjoyment, increases at the same time your capacity, and it may be +your occasions, of suffering. Let us take, for example, the habit of +cleanliness. Where this habit prevails, there is much more enjoyment +in life; but let a person of great cleanliness be surrounded by +filth, his suffering is infinitely greater. Or take the cultivation +of taste, and let us say of musical taste. It adds to life an immense +capacity of enjoyment, but also a great capacity and often much +occasion of suffering, because bad music or tasteless music, such as +one may often have to endure, creates a misery unknown to the man +of no musical culture. To a man of classical taste, bad writing or +bad speaking, such as is met with every day, is likewise a source +of irritation and suffering. If we advance to a moral and spiritual +region, we may see that the cultivation of one's ordinary affections, +apart from religion, while on the whole it increases enjoyment, does +also increase sorrow. If I lived and felt as a Stoic, I should enjoy +family life much less than if I were tender-hearted and affectionate; +but when I suffered a family bereavement I should suffer much less. +These are simply illustrations of the great law of Providence that +culture, while it increases happiness, increases suffering too. It +is a higher application of the same law, that gracious culture, the +culture of our spiritual affections under the power of the Spirit of +God, in increasing our enjoyment does also increase our capacity of +suffering. In reference to that great problem of natural religion, +Why should a God of infinite benevolence have created creatures +capable of suffering? one answer that has often been given is, that +if they had not been capable of suffering they might not have been +capable of enjoyment. But in pursuing these inquiries we get into an +obscure region, in reference to which it is surely our duty patiently +to wait for that increase of light which is promised to us in the +second stage of our existence. + +Yet still it remains to be asked, What comfort can there possibly +be for Christian parents in such a case as David's? What possible +consideration can ever reconcile them to the thought that their +beloved ones have gone to the world of woe? Are not their children +parts of themselves, and how is it possible for them to be completely +saved if those who are so identified with them are lost? How can they +ever be happy in a future life if eternally separated from those who +were their nearest and dearest on earth? On such matters it has pleased +God to allow a great cloud to rest which our eyes cannot pierce. +We cannot solve this problem. We cannot reconcile perfect personal +happiness, even in heaven, with the knowledge that beloved ones are +lost. But God must have some way, worthy of Himself, of solving the +problem. And we must just wait for His time of revelation. "God is His +own interpreter, and He will make it plain." The Judge of all the earth +must act justly. And the song which will express the deepest feelings +of the redeemed, when from the sea of glass, mingled with fire, they +look back on the ways of Providence toward them, will be this: "Great +and marvellous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; _just and true are all +Thy ways_, Thou King of saints. Who would not fear Thee and glorify Thy +name, for Thou only art holy?" + + + + + CHAPTER XXV. + + _THE RESTORATION._ + + 2 SAMUEL xix. 5-30. + + +To rouse one's self from the prostration of grief, and grapple anew +with the cares of life, is hard indeed. Among the poorer classes of +society, it is hardly possible to let grief have its swing; amid +suppressed and struggling emotions the poor man must return to his +daily toil. The warrior, too, in the heat of conflict has hardly +time to drop a tear over the tomb of his comrade or his brother. +But where leisure is possible, the bereaved heart does crave a time +of silence and solitude; and it seems reasonable, in order that +its fever may subside a little, before the burden of daily work is +resumed. It was somewhat hard upon David, then, that his grief could +not get a single evening to flow undisturbed. A rough voice called +him to rouse himself, and speak comfortably to his people, otherwise +they would disband before morning, and all that he had gained would +be lost to him again. In the main, Joab was no doubt right; but in +his manner there was a sad lack of consideration for the feelings +of the king. He might have remembered that, though he had gained +a battle David had lost a son, and that, too, under circumstances +peculiarly heart-breaking. Faithful in the main and shrewd as Joab +was, he was no doubt a useful officer; but his harshness and want +of feeling went far to neutralise the benefit of his services. It +ought surely to be one of the benefits of civilisation and culture +that, where painful duties have to be done, they should be done with +much consideration and tenderness. For the real business of life +is not so much to get right things done in any way, as to diffuse +a right spirit among men, and get them to do things well. Men of +enlightened goodness will always aim at purifying the springs of +conduct, at increasing virtue, and deepening faith and holiness. The +call to the royal bridegroom in the forty-fifth Psalm is to "gird +his sword on his thigh, and ride forth prosperously, _because of +truth, and meekness, and righteousness_." To increase these three +things is to increase the true wealth of nations and advance the true +prosperity of kingdoms. In his eagerness to get a certain thing done, +Joab showed little or no regard for those higher interests to which +outward acts should ever be subordinate. + +But 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, and praying for Jerusalem, for his brethren and companions' +sakes, "Peace be within thee." + +It was now open to him to follow either of two courses: either +to march to Jerusalem at the head of his victorious army, take +military possession of the capital, and deal with the remains of the +insurrection in the stern fashion common among kings; or to wait +till he should be invited back to the throne from which he had been +driven, and then magnanimously proclaim an amnesty to all the rebels. +We are not surprised that he preferred the latter alternative. It is +more agreeable to any man to be offered what is justly due to him +by those who have deprived him of it than to have to claim it as +his right. It was far more like him to return in peace than in that +vengeful spirit that must have hecatombs of rebels slain to satisfy +it. The people knew that David was in no bloodthirsty mood. And it +was natural for him to expect that an advance would be made to him, +after the frightful wrong which he had suffered from the people. He +was therefore in no haste to leave his quarters at Mahanaim. + +The movement that he looked for did take place, but it did not +originate with those who might have been expected to take the lead. It +was among the ten tribes of Israel that the proposal to bring him back +was first discussed, and his own tribe, the tribe of Judah, held back +after the rest were astir. He was much chagrined at this backwardness +on the part of Judah. It was hard that his own tribe should be the last +to stir, that those who might have been expected to head the movement +should lag behind. But in this David was only experiencing the same +thing as the Son of David a thousand years after, when the people of +Nazareth, His own city, not only refused to listen to Him, but were +about to hurl Him over the edge of a precipice, So important, however, +did he see it to be for the general welfare that Judah should share the +movement, that he sent Zadok and Abiathar the priests to stir them up +to their duty. He would not have taken this step but for his jealousy +for the honour of Judah; it was the fact that the movement was now +going on in some places and not in all that induced him to interfere. +He dreaded disunion in any case, especially a disunion between Judah +and Israel. For the jealousy between these two sections of the people +that afterwards broke the kingdom into two under Jeroboam was now +beginning to show itself, and, indeed, led soon after to the revolt of +Sheba. + +Another step was taken by David, of very doubtful expediency, +in order to secure the more cordial support of the rebels. He +superseded Joab, and gave the command of his army to Amasa, who had +been general of the rebels. In more ways than one this was a strong +measure. To supersede Joab was to make for himself a very powerful +enemy, to rouse a man whose passions, when thoroughly excited, were +capable of any crime. But on the other hand, David could not but be +highly offended with Joab for his conduct to Absalom, and he must +have looked on him as a very unsuitable coadjutor to himself in +that policy of clemency that he had determined to pursue. This was +significantly brought out by the appointment of Amasa in room of +Joab. Both were David's nephews, and both were of the tribe of Judah; +but Amasa had been at the head of the insurgents, and therefore in +close alliance with the insurgents of Judah. Most probably the reason +why the men of Judah hung back was that they were afraid lest, if +David were restored to Jerusalem, he would make an example of them; +for it was at Hebron, in the tribe of Judah, that Absalom had been +first proclaimed; and the people of Jerusalem who had favoured him +were mostly of that tribe. But when it became known that the leader +of the rebel forces was not only not to be punished, but actually +promoted to the highest office in the king's service, all fears of +that sort were completely scattered. It was an act of wonderful +clemency. It was such a contrast to the usual treatment of rebels! +But this king was not like other kings; he gave gifts even to the +rebellious. There was no limit to his generosity. Where sin abounded +grace did much more abound. Accordingly a new sense of the goodness +and generosity of their ill-treated but noble king took possession +of the people. "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. + +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. + +The first of these was the meeting with the representatives of Judah, +who came to conduct the king over Jordan, and to offer him their +congratulations and loyal assurances. This step was taken by the +men of Judah alone, and without consultation or co-operation with +the other tribes. A ferry-boat to convey the king's household over +the river, and whatever else might be required to make the passage +comfortable, these men of Judah provided. Some have blamed the king +for accepting these attentions from Judah, instead of inviting the +attendance of all the tribes. But surely, as the king had to pass the +Jordan, and found the means of transit provided for him, he was right +to accept what was offered. Nevertheless, this act of Judah and its +acceptance by David gave serious offence, as we shall presently see, +to the other tribes. + +Neither Judah nor Israel comes out well in this little incident. +We get an instructive glimpse of the hot-headedness of the tribes, +and the childishness of their quarrels. It is members of the same +nation a thousand years afterwards that on the very eve of the +Crucifixion we see disputing among themselves which of them should +be the greatest. Men never appear in a dignified attitude when they +are contending that on some occasion or other they have been treated +with too little consideration. And yet how many of the quarrels of +the world, both public and private, have arisen from this, that some +one did not receive the attention which he deserved! Pride lies at +the bottom of it all. And quarrels of this kind will sometimes, nay +often, be found even among men calling themselves the followers of +Christ. If the blessed Lord Himself had acted on this principle, +what a different life He would have led! If He had taken offence +at every want of etiquette, at every want of the honour due to the +Son of God, when would our redemption ever have been accomplished? +Was His mother treated with due consideration when forced into the +stable, because there was no room for her in the inn? Was Jesus +Himself treated with due honour when the people of Nazareth took Him +to the brow of the hill, or when the foxes had holes, and the birds +of the air had nests, but the Son of Man had not where to lay His +head? What if He had resented the denial of Peter, the treachery of +Judas, and the forsaking of Him by all the apostles? How admirable +was the humility that made Himself of no reputation, so that when +He was reviled He reviled not again, when He suffered He threatened +not, but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously! Yet how +utterly opposite is the bearing of many, who are ever ready to take +offence if anything is omitted to which they have a claim--standing +upon their rights, claiming precedence over this one and the other, +maintaining that it would never do to allow themselves to be trampled +on, thinking it spirited to contend for their honours! It is because +this tendency is so deeply seated in human nature that you need to be +so watchful against it. It breaks out at the most unseasonable times. +Could any time have been more unsuitable for it on the part of the +men of Israel and Judah than when the king was giving them such a +memorable example of humility, pardoning every one, great and small, +that had offended him, even though their offence was as deadly as +could be conceived? Or could any time have been more unsuitable for +it on the part of the disciples of our Lord than when He was about +to surrender His very life, and submit to the most shameful form of +death that could be devised? Why do men not see that the servant is +not above his lord, nor the disciple above his master? "Is not the +heart deceitful above all things and desperately wicked"? Let him +that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. + +The next incident at Gilgal was the cringing entreaty of Shimei, +the Benjamite, to be pardoned the insult which he had offered the +king when he left Jerusalem. The conduct of Shimei had been such +an outrage on all decency that we wonder how he could have dared +to present himself at all before David; even though, as a sort of +screen, he was accompanied by a thousand Benjamites. His prostration +of himself on the ground before David, his confession of his sin and +abject deprecation of the king's anger, are not fitted to raise him +in our estimation; they were the fruits of a base nature that can +insult the fallen, but lick the dust off the feet of men in power. It +was not till David had made it known that his policy was to be one +of clemency that Shimei took this course; and even then he must have +a thousand Benjamites at his back before he could trust himself to +his mercy. Abishai, Joab's brother, would have had him slain; but his +proposal was rejected by David with warmth and even indignation. He +knew that his restoration was an accomplished fact, and he would not +spoil a policy of forgiveness by shedding the blood of this wicked +man. Not content with passing his word to Shimei, "he sware unto +him." But he afterwards found that he had carried clemency too far, +and in his dying charge to Solomon he had to warn him against this +dangerous enemy, and instruct him to bring down his hoar head with +blood. But this needs not to make us undervalue the singular quality +of heart which led David to show such forbearance to one utterly +unworthy. It was a strange thing in the annals of Eastern kingdoms, +where all rebellion was usually punished with the most fearful +severity. It brings to mind the gentle clemency of the great Son of +David in His dealings, a thousand years after, with another Benjamite +as he was travelling, on that very route, on the way to Damascus, +breathing out threatenings and slaughter against His disciples. Was +there ever such clemency as that which met the persecutor with the +words, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? Only in this case the +clemency accomplished its object; in Shimei's case it did not. In the +one case the persecutor became the chief of Apostles; in the other he +acted more like the evil spirit in the parable, whose last end was +worse than the first. + +The next incident in the king's return was his meeting with +Mephibosheth. He came down to meet the king, "and had neither dressed +his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes from the day +the king departed unto the day when he came again in peace." Naturally, +the king's first question was an inquiry why he had not left Jerusalem +with him. And Mephibosheth's reply was simply, that he had wished to +do so, but, owing to his lameness, had not been able. And, moreover, +Ziba had slandered him to the king when he said that Mephibosheth hoped +to receive back the kingdom of his grandfather. The words of this poor +man had all the appearance of an honest narrative. The ass which he +intended to saddle for his own use was probably one of those which Ziba +took away to present to David, so that Mephibosheth was left helpless +in Jerusalem. If the narrative commends itself by its transparent +truthfulness, it shows also how utterly improbable was the story of +Ziba, that he had expectations of being made king. For he seems to have +been as feeble in mind as he was frail in body, and he undoubtedly +carried his compliments to David to a ridiculous pitch when he said, +"All my father's house were but dead men before my lord the king." Was +that a fit way to speak of his father Jonathan? + +We cannot greatly admire one who would depreciate his family to +such a degree because he desired to obtain David's favour. And for +some reason David was somewhat sharp to him. No man is perfect, +and we cannot but wonder that the king who was so gentle to Shimei +should have been so sharp to Mephibosheth. "Why speakest thou any +more of thy matters? I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the land." +David appears to have been irritated at discovering his mistake in +believing Ziba, and hastily transferring Mephibosheth's property to +him. Nothing is more common than such irritation, when men discover +that through false information they have made a blunder, and gone +into some arrangement that must be undone. But why did not the king +restore all his property to Mephibosheth? Why say that he and Ziba +were to divide it? Some have supposed (as we remarked before) that +this meant simply that the old arrangement was to be continued--Ziba +to till the ground, and Mephibosheth to receive as his share half +the produce. But in that case Mephibosheth would not have added, +"Yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come again +in peace unto his own house." Our verdict would have been the very +opposite,--Let Mephibosheth take all. But David was in a difficulty. +The temper of the Benjamites was very irritable; they had never been +very cordial to David, and Ziba was an important man among them. +There he was, with his fifteen sons and twenty servants, a man not +to be hastily set aside. For once the king appeared to prefer the +rule of expediency to that of justice. To make some amends for his +wrong to Mephibosheth, and at the same time not to turn Ziba into +a foe, he resorted to this rough-and-ready method of dividing +the land between them. But surely it was an unworthy arrangement. +Mephibosheth had been loyal, and should never have lost his land. He +had been slandered by Ziba, and therefore deserved some solace for +his wrong. David restores but half his land, and has no soothing word +for the wrong he has done him. Strange that when so keenly sensible +of the wrong done to himself when he lost his kingdom unrighteously, +he should not have seen the wrong he had done to Mephibosheth. And +strange that when his whole kingdom had been restored to himself, he +should have given back but half to Jonathan's son. + +The incident connected with the meeting with Barzillai we reserve for +separate consideration. + +Amid the greatest possible diversity of circumstance, we are +constantly finding parallels in the life of David to that of Him +who was his Son according to the flesh. Our Lord can hardly be said +to have ever been driven from His kingdom. The hosannahs of to-day +were indeed very speedily exchanged into the "Away with Him! away +with Him! Crucify Him! crucify Him!" of to-morrow. But what we may +remark of our Lord is rather that He has been kept out of His kingdom +than driven from it. He who came to redeem the world, and of whom +the Father said, "Yet have I set My King upon My holy hill of Zion," +has never been suffered to exercise His sovereignty, at least in a +conspicuous manner and on a universal scale. Here is a truth that +ought to be a constant source of humiliation and sorrow to every +Christian. Are you to be content that the rightful Sovereign should +be kept in the background, and the great ruling forces of the world +should be selfishness, and mammon, and pleasure, the lust of the +flesh, and the lust of the eye, and the pride of life? Why speak ye +not of bringing the King back to His house? You say you can do so +little. But every subject of King David might have said the same. The +question is, not whether you are doing much or little, but whether +you are doing what you can. Is the exaltation of Jesus Christ to the +supreme rule of the world an object dear to you? Is it matter of +humiliation and concern to you that He does not occupy that place? +Do you humbly try to give it to Him in your own heart and life? Do +you try to give it to Him in the Church, in the State, in the world? +The supremacy of Jesus Christ must be the great rallying cry of the +members of the Christian Church, whatever their denomination. It is +a point on which surely all ought to be agreed, and agreement there +might bring about agreement in other things. Let us give our minds +and hearts to realise in our spheres that glorious plan of which we +read in the first chapter of Ephesians: "That, in the dispensation +of the fulness of time, God might gather together in one all things +in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, +even in Him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being +predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things +according to the counsel of His own will, that we should be to the +praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ." + + + + + CHAPTER XXVI. + + _DAVID AND BARZILLAI._ + + 2 SAMUEL xix. 31-40. + + +It is very refreshing to fall in with a man like Barzillai in a +record which is so full of wickedness, and without many features of +a redeeming character. He is a sample of humanity at its best--one +of those men who diffuse radiance and happiness wherever their +influence extends. Long before St. Peter wrote his epistle, he had +been taught by the one Master to "put away all wickedness, and all +guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and evil-speakings;" and he had +adopted St. Paul's rule for rich men, "that they do good, that they +be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute, willing to +communicate." We cannot well conceive a greater contrast than that +between Barzillai and another rich farmer with whom David came in +contact at an earlier period of his life--Nabal of Carmel: the one +niggardly, beggarly, and bitter, not able even to acknowledge an +obligation, far less to devise anything liberal, adding insult to +injury when David modestly stated his claim, humiliating him before +his messengers, and meeting his request with a flat refusal of +everything great or small; the other hastening from his home when +he heard of David's distress, carrying with him whatever he could +give for the use of the king and his followers, continuing to send +supplies while he was at Mahanaim, and now returning to meet him on +his way to Jerusalem, conduct him over Jordan, and show his loyalty +and goodwill in every available way. While we grieve that there are +still so many Nabals let us bless God that there are Barzillais too. + +Of Barzillai's previous history we know nothing. We do not even know +where Rogelim, his place of abode, was, except that it was among the +mountains of Gilead. The facts stated regarding him are few, but +suggestive. + +1. He was "a very great man." The expression seems to imply that he +was both rich and influential. Dwelling among the hills of Gilead, +his only occupation, and main way of becoming rich, must have been +as a farmer. The two and a half tribes that settled on the east of +the Jordan, while they had a smaller share of national and spiritual +privileges, were probably better provided in a temporal sense. That +part of the country was richer in pasturage, and therefore better +adapted for cattle. It is probable, too, that the allotments were +much larger. The kingdoms of Sihon and Og, especially the latter, +were of wide extent. If the two and a half tribes had been able +thoroughly to subdue the original inhabitants, they would have had +possessions of great extent and value. Barzillai's ancestors had +probably received a valuable and extensive allotment, and had been +strong enough and courageous enough to keep it for themselves. +Consequently, when their flocks and herds multiplied, they were +not restrained within narrow dimensions, but could spread over the +mountains round about. But however his riches may have been acquired, +Barzillai was evidently a man of very large means. He was rich +apparently both in flocks and servants, a kind of chief or sheikh, +not only with a large establishment of his own, but enjoying the +respect, and in some degree able to command the services, of many of +the humble people around him. + +2. His generosity was equal to his wealth. The catalogue of the +articles which he and another friend of David's brought him in his +extremity (2 Sam. xvii. 28, 29) is instructive from its minuteness +and its length. Like all men liberal in heart, he devised liberal +things. He did not ask to see a subscription list, or inquire what +other people were giving. He did not consider what was the smallest +amount that he could give without appearing to be shabby. His only +thought seems to have been, what there was he had to give that could +be of use to the king. It is this large inborn generosity manifested +to David that gives one the assurance that he was a kind, generous +helper wherever there was a case deserving and needing his aid. We +class him with the patriarch of Uz, with whom no doubt he could have +said, "When the eye saw me, then it blessed me, and when the ear +heard me, it bare witness unto me; the blessing of him that was ready +to perish came upon me, and I made the widow's heart to leap for joy." + +3. His loyalty was not less thorough than his generosity. When he +heard of the king's troubles, he seems never to have hesitated one +instant as to throwing in his lot with him. It mattered not that +the king was in great trouble, and apparently in a desperate case. +Neighbours, or even members of his own family, might have whispered +to him that it would be better not to commit himself, seeing the +rebellion was so strong. He was living in a sequestered part of +the country; there was no call on him to declare himself at that +particular moment; and if Absalom got the upper hand, he would be +sure to punish severely those who had been active on his father's +side. But none of these things moved him. Barzillai was no sunshine +courtier, willing to enjoy the good things of the court in days +of prosperity, but ready in darker days to run off and leave his +friends in the midst of danger. He was one of those true men that +are ready to risk their all in the cause of loyalty when persuaded +that it is the cause of truth and right. We cannot but ask, What +could have given him a feeling so strong? We are not expressly told +that he was a man deeply moved by the fear of God, but we have every +reason to believe it. If so, the consideration that would move him +most forcibly in favour of David must have been that he was God's +anointed. God had called him to the throne, and had never declared, +as in the case of Saul, that he had forfeited it; the attempt to +drive him from it was of the devil, and therefore to be resisted to +the last farthing of his property, and if he had been a younger man, +to the last drop of his blood. Risk? Can you frighten a man like +this by telling him of the risk he runs by supporting David in the +hour of adversity? Why, he is ready not only to risk all, but to +lose all, if necessary, in a cause which appears so obviously to be +Divine, all the more because he sees so well what a blessing David +has been to the country. Why, he has actually made the kingdom. Not +only has he expelled all its internal foes, but he has cowed those +troublesome neighbours that were constantly pouncing upon the tribes, +and especially the tribes situated in Gilead and Bashan. Moreover, +he has given unity and stability to all the internal arrangements +of the kingdom. See what a grand capital he has made for it at +Jerusalem. Look how he has planted the ark on the strongest citadel +of the country, safe from every invading foe. Consider how he has +perfected the arrangements for the service of the Levites, what a +delightful service of song he has instituted, and what beautiful +songs he has composed for the use of the sanctuary. Doubtless it was +considerations of this kind that roused Barzillai to such a pitch +of loyalty. And is not a country happy that has such citizens, men +who place their personal interest far below the public weal, and +are ready to make any sacrifice, of person or of property, when the +highest interests of their country are concerned? We do not plead +for the kind of loyalty that clings to a monarch simply because he +is king, apart from all considerations, personal and public, bearing +on his worthiness or unworthiness of the office. We plead rather for +the spirit that makes duty to country stand first, and personal or +family interest a long way below. We deprecate the spirit that sneers +at the very idea of putting one's self to loss or trouble of any kind +for the sake of public interests. We long for a generation of men and +women that, like many in this country in former days, are willing to +give "all for the Church and a little less for the State." And surely +in these days, when no deadly risk is incurred, the demand is not so +very severe. Let Christian men lay it on their consciences to pay +regard to the claims under which they lie to serve their country. +Whether it be in the way of serving on some public board, or fighting +against some national vice, or advancing some great public interest, +let it be considered even by busy men that their country, and must +add, their Church, have true claims upon them. Even heathens and +unbelievers have said, "It is sweet and glorious to die for one's +country." It is a poor state of things when in a Christian community +men are so sunk in indolence and selfishness that they will not stir +a finger on its behalf. + +4. Barzillai was evidently a man of attractive personal qualities. +The king was so attracted by him, that he wished him to come with +him to Jerusalem, and promised to sustain him at court. The heart +of King David was not too old to form new attachments. And towards +Barzillai he was evidently drawn. We can hardly suppose but that +there were deeper qualities to attract the king than even his +loyalty and generosity. It looks as if David perceived a spiritual +congeniality that would make Barzillai, not only a pleasant inmate, +but a profitable friend. For indeed in many ways Barzillai and David +seem to have been like one another. God had given them both a warm, +sunny nature. He had prospered them in the world. He had given them +a deep regard for Himself and delight in His fellowship. David must +have found in Barzillai a friend whose views on the deepest subjects +were similar to his own. At Jerusalem the men who were of his mind +were by no means too many. To have Barzillai beside him, refreshing +him with his experiences of God's ways and joining with him in songs +of praise and thanksgiving, would be delightful. "Behold, how good +and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" But +however pleasant the prospect may have been to David, it was not one +destined to be realized. + +5. For Barzillai was not dazzled even by the highest offers of the +king, because he felt that the proposal was unsuitable for his +years. He was already eighty, and every day was adding to his burden, +and bringing him sensibly nearer the grave. Even though he might be +enjoying a hale old age, he could not be sure that he would not break +down suddenly, and thus become an utter burden to the king. David had +made the offer as a compliment to Barzillai, although it might also +be a favour to himself, and as a compliment the aged Gileadite was +entitled to view it. And viewing it in that light, he respectfully +declined it. He was a home-loving man, his habits had been formed +for a quiet domestic sphere, and it was too late to change them. +His faculties were losing their sharpness; his taste had become +dulled, his ear blunted, so that both savoury dishes and elaborate +music would be comparatively thrown away on him. The substance of +his answer was, I am an old man, and it would be unsuitable in me to +begin a courtier's life. In a word, he understood what was suitable +for old age. Many a man and woman too, perhaps, even of Barzillai's +years, would have jumped at King David's offer, and rejoiced to share +the dazzling honours of a court, and would have affected youthful +feelings and habits in order to enjoy the exhilaration and the +excitement of a courtier's life. In Barzillai's choice, we see the +predominance of a sanctified common sense, alive to the proprieties +of things, and able to see how the enjoyment most suitable to an +advanced period of life might best be had. It was not by aping youth +or grasping pleasures for which the relish had gone. Some may think +this a painful view of old age. Is it so that as years multiply the +taste for youthful enjoyments passes away, and one must resign one's +self to the thought that life itself is near its end? Undoubtedly +it is. But even a heathen could show that this is by no means an +evil. The purpose of Cicero's beautiful treatise on old age, written +when he was sixty-two, but regarded as spoken by Cato at the age of +eighty-four, was to show that the objections commonly brought against +old age were not really valid. These objections were--that old age +unfits men for active business, that it renders the body feeble, that +it deprives them of the enjoyment of almost all pleasures, and that +it heralds the approach of death. Let it be granted, is the substance +of Cicero's argument; nevertheless, old age brings enjoyments of a +new order that compensate for those which it withdraws. If we have +wisdom to adapt ourselves to our position, and to lay ourselves out +for those compensatory pleasures, we shall find old age not a burden, +but a joy. Now, if even a heathen could argue in that way, how much +more a Christian! If he cannot personally be so lively as before, he +may enjoy the young life of his children and grandchildren or other +young friends, and delight to see them enjoying what he cannot now +engage in. If active pleasures are not to be had, there are passive +enjoyments--the conversation of friends, reading, meditation, and +the like--of which all the more should be made. If one world is +gliding from him, another is moving towards him. As the outward man +perisheth, let the inward man be renewed day by day. + +There are few more jarring scenes in English history than the last days +of Queen Elizabeth. As life was passing away, a historian of England +says, "she clung to it with a fierce tenacity. She hunted, she danced, +she jested with her young favourites, she coquetted, and frolicked, +and scolded at sixty-seven as she had done at thirty." "The Queen," +wrote a courtier, "a few months before her death was never so gallant +these many years, nor so set upon jollity." She persisted, in spite of +opposition, in her gorgeous progresses from country house to country +house. She clung to business as of old, and rated in her usual fashion +one "who minded not to giving up some matter of account." And then a +strange melancholy settled on her. Her mind gave way, and food and +rest became alike distasteful. Clever woman, yet very foolish in not +discerning how vain it was to attempt to carry the brisk habits of +youth into old age, and most profoundly foolish in not having taken +pains to provide for old age the enjoyments appropriate to itself! How +differently it has fared with those who have been wise in time and +made the best provision for old age! "I have waited for Thy salvation, +O my God," says the dying Jacob, relieved and happy to think that the +object for which he had waited had come at last. "I am now ready to be +offered," says St. Paul, "and the time of my departure is at hand. I +have fought the good fight; I have finished my course; I have kept the +faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, +which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me at that day, and not +to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing." Which is +the better portion--he whose old age is spent in bitter lamentation +over the departed joys and brightness of his youth? or he whose sun +goes down with the sweetness and serenity of an autumn sunset, but only +to rise in a brighter world, and shine forth in the glory of immortal +youth? + +6. Holding such views of old age, it was quite natural and suitable for +Barzillai to ask for his son Chimham what he respectfully declined for +himself. For his declinature was not a rude rejection of an honour +deemed essentially false and vain. Barzillai did not tell the king that +he had lived to see the folly and the sin of those pleasures which in +the days of youth and inexperience men are so greedy to enjoy. That +would have been an affront to David, especially as he was now getting +to be an old man himself. He recognised that a livelier mode of life +than befitted the old was suitable for the young. The advantages of +residence at the court of David were not to be thought little of by +one beginning life, especially where the head of the court was such a +man as David, himself so affectionate and attractive, and so deeply +imbued with the fear and love of God. The narrative is so short that +not a word is added as to how it fared with Chimham when he came to +Jerusalem. Only one thing is known of him: it is said that, after the +destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, when Johanan conducted to +Egypt a remnant of Jews that he had saved from the murderous hand of +Ishmael, "they departed and dwelt in the habitation of Chimham, which +is by Bethlehem, to go into Egypt." We infer that David bestowed on +Chimham some part of his paternal inheritance at Bethlehem. The vast +riches which he had amassed would enable him to make ample provision +for his sons; but we might naturally have expected that the whole of +the paternal inheritance would have remained in the family. For some +reason unknown to us, Chimham seems to have got a part of it. We cannot +but believe that David would desire to have a good man there, and it +is much in favour of Chimham that he should have got a settlement +at Bethlehem. And there is another circumstance that tells in his +favour: during the five centuries that elapsed between David's time +and the Captivity, the name of Chimham remained in connection with +that property, and even so late as the time of Jeremiah it was called +"Chimham's habitation." Men do not thus keep alive dishonoured names, +and the fact that Chimham's was thus preserved would seem to indicate +that he was one of those of whom it is said, "The memory of the just is +blessed." + +Plans for life were speedily formed in those countries; and as +Rebekah wished no delay in accompanying Abraham's servant to be the +wife of Isaac, nor Ruth in going forth with Naomi to the land of +Judah, so Chimham at once went with the king. The interview between +David and Barzillai was ended in the way that in those countries +was the most expressive sign of regard and affection: "David kissed +Barzillai," but "Chimham went on with him." + +The meeting with Barzillai and the finding of a new son in Chimham must +have been looked back on by David with highly pleasant feelings. In +every sense of the term, he had lost a son in Absalom; he seems now to +find one in Chimham. We dare not say that the one was compensation for +the other. Such a blank as the death of Absalom left in the heart of +David could never be filled up from any earthly source whatever. Blanks +of that nature can be filled only when God gives a larger measure of +His own presence and His own love. But besides feeling very keenly +the blank of Absalom's death, David must have felt distressed at the +loss as it seemed, of power, to secure the affections of the younger +generation of his people, many of whom, there is every reason to +believe, had followed Absalom. The ready way in which Chimham accepted +of the proposal in regard to him would therefore be a pleasant incident +in his experience; and the remembrance of his father's fast attachment +and most useful friendship would ever be in David's memory like an +oasis in the desert. + +We return for a moment to the great lesson of this passage. Aged men, +it is a lesson for you. Titus was instructed to exhort the aged men +of Crete to be "sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, +in patience." It is a grievous thing to see grey hairs dishonoured. +It is a humiliating sight when Noah excites either the shame or the +derision of his sons. But "the hoary head is a crown of glory if it +is found in the way of uprightness." And the crown is described in +the six particulars of the exhortation to Titus. It is a crown of six +jewels. Jewel the first is "sobriety," meaning here self-command, +self-control, ability to stand erect before temptation, and calmness +under provocation and trial. Jewel the second is "gravity," not +sternness, nor sullenness, nor censoriousness, but the bearing of one +who knows that "life is real, life is earnest," in opposition to the +frivolous tone of those who act as if there were no life to come. Jewel +the third is "temperance," especially in respect of bodily indulgence, +keeping under the body, never letting it be master, but in all respects +a servant. Jewel the fourth, "soundness in faith," holding the true +doctrine of eternal life, and looking forward with hope and expectation +to the inheritance of the future. Jewel the fifth, "soundness in +charity," the charity of the thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians, +itself a coruscation of the brightest gem in the Christian cabinet. +Jewel the sixth, "soundness in patience," that grace so needful, +but so often neglected, that grace that gives an air of serenity to +one's character, that allies it to heaven, that gives it sublimity, +that bears the unbearable, and hopes and rejoices on the very edge of +despair. Onward, then, ye aged men, in this glorious path! By God's +grace, gather round your head these incorruptible jewels, which shine +with the lustre of God's holiness, and which are the priceless gems of +heaven. Happy are ye, if indeed you have these jewels for your crown; +and happy is your Church where the aged men are crowned with glory like +the four-and-twenty elders before the throne! + +But what of those who dishonour God, and their own grey hairs, and +the Church of Christ by stormy tempers, profane tongues, drunken +orgies, and disorderly lives? "O my soul, come not thou into their +secret! To their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united!" + + + + + CHAPTER XXVII. + + _THE INSURRECTION OF SHEBA._ + + 2 SAMUEL xix. 41-43; xx. + + +David was now virtually restored to his kingdom; but he had not even +left Gilgal when fresh troubles began. The jealousy between Judah and +Israel broke out in spite of him. The cause of complaint was on the +part of the ten tribes; they were offended at not having been waited +for to take part in escorting the king to Jerusalem. First, the men +of Israel, in harsh language, accused the men of Judah of having +stolen the king away, because they had transported him over the +Jordan. To this the men of Judah replied that the king was of their +kin; therefore they had taken the lead, but they had received no +special reward or honour in consequence. The men of Israel, however, +had an argument in reply to this: they were ten tribes, and therefore +had so much more right to the king; and Judah had treated them with +contempt in not consulting or co-operating with them in bringing him +back. It is added that the words of the men of Judah were fiercer +than the words of the men of Israel. + +It is in a poor and paltry light that both sides appear in this +inglorious dispute. There was no solid grievance whatever, nothing that +might not have been easily settled if the soft answer that turneth +away wrath had been resorted to instead of fierce and exasperating +words. Alas! that miserable tendency of our nature to take offence when +we think we have been overlooked,--what mischief and misery has it bred +in the world! The men of Israel were foolish to take offence; but the +men of Judah were neither magnanimous nor forbearing in dealing with +their unreasonable humour. The noble spirit of clemency that David +had shown awakened but little permanent response. The men of Judah; +who were foremost in Absalom's rebellion, were like the man in the +parable that had been forgiven ten thousand talents, but had not the +generosity to forgive the trifling offence committed against them, +as they thought, by their brethren of Israel. So they seized their +fellow-servant by the throat and demanded that he should pay them the +uttermost farthing. Judah played false to his national character; for +he was not "he whom his brethren should praise." + +What was the result? Any one acquainted with human nature might have +foretold it with tolerable certainty. Given on one side a proneness +to take offence, a readiness to think that one has been overlooked, +and on the other a want of forbearance, a readiness to retaliate,--it +is easy to see that the result will be a serious breach. It is just +what we witness so often in children. One is apt to be dissatisfied, +and complains of ill-treatment; another has no forbearance, and +retorts angrily: the result is a quarrel, with this difference, that +while the quarrels of children pass quickly away, the quarrels of +nations or of factions last miserably long. + +Much inflammable material being thus provided, a casual spark +speedily set it on fire. Sheba, an artful Benjamite, raised the +standard of revolt against David, and the excited ten tribes, +smarting with the fierce words of the men of Judah, flocked to his +standard. Most miserable proceeding! The quarrel had begun about a +mere point of etiquette, and now they cast off God's anointed king, +and that, too, after the most signal token of God's anger had fallen +on Absalom and his rebellious crew. There are many wretched enough +slaveries in this world, but the slavery of pride is perhaps the most +mischievous and humiliating of all. + +And here it cannot be amiss to call attention to the very great +neglect of the rules and spirit of Christianity that is apt, even +at the present day, to show itself among professing Christians in +connection with their disputes. This is so very apparent that one +is apt to think that the settlement of quarrels is the very last +matter to which Christ's followers learn to apply the example and +instructions of their Master. When men begin in earnest to follow +Christ, they usually pay considerable attention to certain of His +precepts; they turn away from scandalous sins, they observe prayer, +they show some interest in Christian objects, and they abandon some +of the more frivolous ways of the world. But alas! when they fall +into differences, they are prone in dealing with them to leave all +Christ's precepts behind them. See in what an unlovely and unloving +spirit the controversies of Christians have usually been conducted; +how much of bitterness and personal animosity they show, how little +forbearance and generosity; how readily they seem to abandon +themselves to the impulses of their own hearts. Controversy rouses +temper, and temper creates a tempest through which you cannot see +clearly. And how many are the quarrels in Churches or congregations +that are carried on with all the heat and bitterness of unsanctified +men! How much offence is taken at trifling neglects or mistakes! +Who remembers, even in its spirit, the precept in the Sermon on +the Mount, "If any man smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him +the other also"? Who remembers the beatitude, "Blessed are the +peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God"? Who bears +in mind the Apostle's horror at the unseemly spectacle of saints +carrying their quarrels to heathen tribunals, instead of settling +them as Christians quietly among themselves? Who weighs the earnest +counsel, "Endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of +peace"? Who prizes our gracious Lord's most blessed legacy, "Peace +I leave with you, My peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth +give I unto you"? Do not all such texts show that it is incumbent +on Christians to be most careful and watchful, when any difference +arises, to guard against carnal feeling of every kind, and strive to +the very utmost to manifest the spirit of Christ? Yet is it not at +such times that they are most apt to leave all their Christianity +behind them, and engage in unseemly wrangles with one another? +Does not the devil very often get it all his own way, whoever may +be in the right, and whoever in the wrong? And is not frequent +occasion given thereby to the enemy to blaspheme, and, in the very +circumstances that should bring out in clear and strong light the +true spirit of Christianity, is there not often, in place of that, an +exhibition of rudeness and bitterness that makes the world ask, What +better are Christians than other men? + +But let us return to King David and his people. The author of the +insurrection was "a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba." He is +called "the son of Bichri, a Benjamite." Benjamin had a son whose +name was Becher, and the adjective formed from that would be +Bichrite; some have thought that Bichri denotes not his father, +but his family. Saul appears to have been of the same family (see +_Speaker's Commentary in loco_). It is thus quite possible that Sheba +was a relation of Saul, and that he had always cherished a grudge +against David for taking the throne which he had filled. Here, we may +remark in passing, would have been a real temptation to Mephibosheth +to join an insurrection, for if this had succeeded he was the man who +would naturally have become king. But there is no reason to believe +that Mephibosheth favoured Sheba, and therefore no reason to doubt +the truth of the account he gave of himself to David. The war-cry of +Sheba was an artful one--"We have no part in David, neither have we +inheritance in the son of Jesse." It was a scornful and exaggerated +mockery of the claim that Judah had asserted as being of the same +tribe with the king, whereas the other tribes stood in no such +relation to him. "Very well," was virtually the cry of Sheba--"if we +have no part in David, neither any inheritance in the son of Jesse, +let us get home as fast as possible, and leave his friends, the tribe +of Judah, to make of him what they can." It was not so much a setting +up of a new rebellion as a scornful repudiation of all interest +in the existing king. Instead of going with David from Gilgal to +Jerusalem, they went up every man to his tent or to his home. It is +not said that they intended actively to oppose David, and from this +part of the narrative we should suppose that all that they intended +was to make a public protest against the unworthy treatment which +they held that they had received. It must have greatly disturbed the +pleasure of David's return to Jerusalem that this unseemly secession +occurred by the way. A chill must have fallen upon his heart just as +it was beginning to recover its elasticity. And much anxiety must +have haunted him as to the issue--whether or not the movement would +go on to another insurrection like Absalom's; or whether, having +discharged their dissatisfied feeling, the people of Israel would +return sullenly to their allegiance. + +Nor could the feelings of King David be much soothed when he +re-entered his home. The greater part of his family had been with +him in his exile, and when he returned his house was occupied by the +ten women whom he had left to keep it, and with whom Absalom had +behaved dishonourably. And here was another trouble resulting from +the rebellion that could not be adjusted in a satisfactory way. The +only way of disposing of them was to put them in ward, to shut them +up in confinement, to wear out the rest of their lives in a dreary, +joyless widowhood. All joy and brightness was thus taken out of their +lives, and personal freedom was denied them. They were doomed, for +no fault of theirs, to the weary lot of captives, cursing the day, +probably, when their beauty had brought them to the palace, and +wishing that they could exchange lots with the humblest of their +sisters that breathed the air of freedom. Strange that, with all his +spiritual instincts, David could not see that a system which led to +such miserable results must lie under the curse of God! + +As events proceeded, it appeared that active mischief was likely +to arise from Sheba's movement. He was accompanied by a body of +followers, and the king was afraid lest he should get into some +fenced city, and escape the correction which his wickedness deserved. +He accordingly sent Amasa to assemble the men of Judah, and return +within three days. This was Amasa's first commission after his +being appointed general of the troops. Whether he found the people +unwilling to go out again immediately to war, or whether they were +unwilling to accept him as their general, we are not told, but +certainly he tarried longer than the time appointed. Thereupon the +king, who was evidently alarmed at the serious dimensions which the +insurrection of Sheba was assuming, sent for Abishai, Joab's brother, +and ordered him to take what troops were ready and start immediately +to punish Sheba. 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. + +They had not gone farther from Jerusalem than the Pool of Gibeon +when they were overtaken by Amasa, followed doubtless by his troops. +When Joab and Amasa met, Joab, actuated by jealousy towards him as +having superseded him in the command of the army, treacherously slew +him, leaving his dead body on the ground, and, along with Abishai, +prepared to give pursuit after Sheba. An officer of Joab's was +stationed beside Amasa's dead body, to call on the soldiers, when +they saw that their chief was dead, to follow Joab as the friend of +David. But the sight of the dead body of Amasa only made them stand +still--horrified, most probably, at the crime of Joab, and unwilling +to place themselves under one who had been guilty of such a crime. +The body of Amasa was accordingly removed from the highway into the +field, and his soldiers were then ready enough to follow Joab. Joab +was now in undisturbed command of the whole force, having set aside +all David's arrangements as completely as if they had never been +made. Little did David thus gain by superseding Joab and appointing +Amasa in his room. The son of Zeruiah proved himself again too strong +for him. The hideous crime by which he got rid of his rival was +nothing to him. How he could reconcile all this with his duty to his +king we are unable to see. No doubt he trusted to the principle that +"success succeeds," and believed firmly that if he were able entirely +to suppress Sheba's insurrection and return to Jerusalem with the +news that every trace of the movement was obliterated, David would +say nothing of the past, and silently restore the general who, with +all his faults, did so well in the field. + +Sheba was quite unable to offer opposition to the force that was +thus led against him. He retreated northwards from station to +station, passing in succession through the different tribes, until +he came to the extreme northern border of the land. There, in a +town called Abel-beth-Maachah, he took refuge, till Joab and his +forces, accompanied by the Berites, a people of whom we know nothing, +having overtaken him at Abel, besieged the town. Works were raised +for the purpose of capturing Abel, and an assault was made on the +wall for the purpose of throwing it down. Then a woman, gifted +with the wisdom for which the place was proverbial, came to Joab to +remonstrate against the siege. The ground of her remonstrance was +that the people of Abel had done nothing on account of which their +city should be destroyed. Joab, she said, was trying to destroy +"a city and a mother in Israel," and thereby to swallow up the +inheritance of the Lord. In what sense was Joab seeking to destroy a +_mother_ in Israel? The word seems to be used to denote a mother-city +or district capital, on which other places were depending. What +you are trying to destroy is not a mere city of Israel, but a city +which has its family of dependent villages, all of which must share +in the ruin if we are destroyed. But Joab assured the woman that he +had no such desire. All that he wished was to get at Sheba, who had +taken refuge within the city. If that be all, said the woman, I will +engage to throw his head to thee over the wall. It was the interest +of the people of the city to get rid of the man who was bringing +them into so serious a danger. It was not difficult for them to get +Sheba decapitated, and to throw his head over the wall to Joab. By +this means the conspiracy was ended. As in Absalom's case, the death +of the leader was the ruin of the cause. No further stand was made +by any one. Indeed, it is probable that the great body of Sheba's +followers had fallen away from him in the course of his northern +flight, and that only a handful were with him in Abel. So "Joab blew +a trumpet, and they retired from the city, every man to his tent. And +Joab returned unto Jerusalem, to the king." + +Thus, once again, the land had rest from war. At the close of +the chapter we have a list of the chief officers of the kingdom, +similar to that given in ch. viii. at the close of David's foreign +wars. It would appear that, peace being again restored, pains were +taken by the king to improve and perfect the arrangements for the +administration of the kingdom. The changes on the former list are +not very numerous. Joab was again at the head of the army; Benaiah, +as before, commanded the Cherethites and the Pelethites; Jehoshaphat +was still recorder; Sheva (same as Seraiah) was scribe; and Zadok and +Abiathar were priests. In two cases there was a change. A new office +had been instituted--"Adoram was over the tribute;" the subjugation +of so many foreign states which had to pay a yearly tribute to David +called for this change. In the earlier list it is said that the +king's sons were chief rulers. No mention is made of king's sons now; +the chief ruler is Ira the Jairite. On the whole, there was little +change; at the close of this war the kingdom was administered in the +same manner and almost by the same men as before. + +There is nothing to indicate that the kingdom was weakened in its +external relations by the two insurrections that had taken place +against David. It is to be observed that both of them were of very +short duration. Between Absalom's proclamation of himself at Hebron +and his death in the wood of Ephraim there must have been a very short +interval, not more than a fortnight. The insurrection of Sheba was +probably all over in a week. Foreign powers could scarcely have heard +of the beginning of the revolts before they heard of the close of +them. There would be nothing therefore to give them any encouragement +to rebel against David, and they do not appear to have made any such +attempt. But in another and higher sense these revolts left painful +consequences behind them. The chastening to which David was exposed in +connection with them was very humbling. His glory as king was seriously +impaired. It was humiliating that he should have had to fly from before +his own son. It was hardly less humiliating that he was seen to lie so +much at the mercy of Joab. He is unable to depose Joab, and when he +tries to do so, Joab not only kills his successor, but takes possession +by his own authority of the vacant place. And David can say nothing. In +this relation of David to Joab we have a sample of the trials of kings. +Nominally supreme, they are often the servants of their ministers and +officers. Certainly David was not always his own master. Joab was +really above him; frustrated, doubtless, some excellent plans; did +great service by his rough patriotism and ready valour, but injured the +good name of David and the reputation of his government by his daring +crimes. The retrospect of this period of his reign could have given +little satisfaction to the king, since he had to trace it, with all its +calamities and sorrows, to his own evil conduct. And yet what David +suffered, and what the nation suffered, was not, strictly speaking, the +punishment of his sin. God had forgiven him his sin. David had sung, +"Blessed is the man whose iniquity is forgiven, whose sin is covered." +What he now suffered was not the visitation of God's wrath, but a +fatherly chastening, designed to deepen his contrition and quicken his +vigilance. And surely we may say, If the fatherly chastening was so +severe, what would the Divine retribution have been? If these things +were done in the green tree, what would have been done in the dry? If +David, even though forgiven, could not but shudder at all the terrible +results of that course of sin which began with his allowing himself to +lust after Bathsheba, what must be the feeling of many a lost soul, in +the world of woe, recalling its first step in open rebellion against +God, and thinking of all the woes, innumerable and unutterable, that +have sprung therefrom? Oh, sin, how terrible a curse thou bringest! +What serpents spring up from the dragon's teeth! And how awful the fate +of those who awake all too late to a sense of what thou art! Grant, O +God, of Thine infinite mercy, that we all may be wise in time; that +we may ponder the solemn truth, that "the wages of sin is death"; and +that, without a day's delay, we may flee for refuge to lay hold of the +hope set before us, and find peace in believing on Him who came to take +sin away by the sacrifice of Himself! + + + + + CHAPTER XXVIII. + + _THE FAMINE._ + + 2 SAMUEL xxi. 1-14. + + +We now enter on the concluding part of the reign of David. Some +of the matters in which he was most occupied during this period +are recorded only in Chronicles. Among these, the chief was his +preparations for the building of the temple, which great work was +to be undertaken by his son. In the concluding part of Samuel the +principal things recorded are two national judgments, a famine and +a pestilence, that occurred in David's reign, the one springing +from a transaction in the days of Saul, the other from one in the +days of David. Then we have two very remarkable lyrical pieces, one +a general song of thanksgiving, forming a retrospect of his whole +career; the other a prophetic vision of the great Ruler that was to +spring from him, and the effects of His reign. In addition to these, +there is also a notice of certain wars of David's, not previously +recorded, and a fuller statement respecting his great men than we +have elsewhere. The whole of this section has more the appearance +of a collection of pieces than a chronological narrative. It is by +no means certain that they are all recorded in the order of their +occurrence. The most characteristic of the pieces are the two songs +or psalms--the one looking back, the other looking forward; the one +commemorating the goodness and mercy that had followed him all the +days of his life, the other picturing goodness still greater and +mercy more abundant, yet to be vouchsafed under David's Son. + +The conjunction "then" at the beginning of the chapter is replaced +in the Revised Version by "and." It does not denote that what is +recorded here took place immediately after what goes before. On +the contrary, the note of time is found in the general expression, +"in the days of David," that is, some time in David's reign. On +obvious grounds, most recent commentators are disposed to place +this occurrence comparatively early. It is likely to have happened +while the crime of Saul was yet fresh in the public recollection. By +the close of David's reign a new generation had come to maturity, +and the transactions of Saul's reign must have been comparatively +forgotten. It is clear from David's excepting Mephibosheth, that the +transaction occurred after he had been discovered and cared for. +Possibly the narrative of the discovery of Mephibosheth may also be +out of chronological order, and that event may have occurred earlier +than is commonly thought. It will remove some of the difficulties of +this difficult chapter if we are entitled to place the occurrence at +a time not very far remote from the death of Saul. + +It was altogether a singular occurrence, this famine in the land +of Israel. The calamity was remarkable, the cause was remarkable, +the cure most remarkable of all. The whole narrative is painful and +perplexing; it places David in a strange light,--it seems to place +even God Himself in a strange light; and the only way in which we +can explain it, in consistency with a righteous government, is by +laying great stress on a principle accepted without hesitation in +those Eastern countries, which made the father and his children "one +concern," and held the children liable for the misdeeds of the father. + +1. As to the calamity. It was a famine that continued three +successive years, causing necessarily an increase of misery year +after year. There is a presumption that it occurred in the earlier +part of David's reign, because, if it had been after the great +enlargement of the kingdom which followed his foreign wars, the +resources of some parts of it would probably have availed to supply +the deficiency. At first it does not appear that the king held that +there was any special significance in the famine,--that it came as +a reproof for any particular sin. But when the famine extended to a +third year, he was persuaded that it must have a special cause. Did +he not in this just act as we all are disposed to do? A little trial +we deem to be nothing; it does not seem to have any significance or +to be connected with any lesson. It is only when the little trial +swells into a large one, or the brief trouble into a long-continued +affliction, that we begin to inquire why it was sent. If small trials +were more regarded, heavy trials would be less needed. The horse that +springs forward at the slightest touch of the whip or prick of the +spur needs no heavy lash; it is only when the lighter stimulus fails +that the heavier has to be applied. Man's tendency, even under God's +chastenings, has ever been to ignore the source of them,--when God +"poured upon him the fury of His anger and the strength of battle, +and it set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned +him, yet he laid it not to heart" (Isa. xlii. 25). Trials would +neither be so long nor so severe if more regard were had to them in +an earlier stage; if they were accepted more as God's message--"Thus +saith the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways." + +2. The cause of the calamity was made known when David inquired of +the Lord--"It is for Saul and his bloody house, because he slew the +Gibeonites." + +The history of the crime for which this famine was sent can be gathered +only from incidental notices. It appears from the narrative before +us that Saul "consumed the Gibeonites, and devised against them that +they should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of +Israel." The Gibeonites, as is well known, were a Canaanite people, +who, through a cunning stratagem, obtained leave from Joshua to dwell +in their old settlements, and being protected by a solemn national +oath, were not disturbed even when it was found out that they had been +practising a fraud. They possessed cities, situated principally in +the tribe of Benjamin; the chief of them, Gibeon, "was a great city, +one of the royal cities, greater than Ai." In the time of Saul they +were a quiet, inoffensive people; yet he seems to have fallen on them +with a determination to sweep them from all the coasts of Israel. +Death or banishment was the only alternative he offered. His desire to +exterminate them evidently failed, otherwise David would have found +none of them to consult; but the savage attack which he made on them +affords an incidental proof that it was no feeling of humanity that led +him to spare the Amalekites when he was ordered to destroy them. + +We are not told of any offence that the Gibeonites had committed; +and perhaps covetousness lay at the root of Saul's policy. There +is reason to believe that when he saw his popularity declining +and David's advancing, he had recourse to unscrupulous methods of +increasing his own. Addressing his servants, before the slaughter of +Abimelech and the priests, he asked, "Hear now, ye Benjamites; will +the son of Jesse give you fields and vineyards, that all of you have +conspired against me?" Evidently he had rewarded his favourites, +especially those of his own tribe, with fields and vineyards. But +how had he got these to bestow? Very probably by dispossessing the +Gibeonites. Their cities, as we have seen, were in the tribe of +Benjamin. But to prevent jealousy, others, both of Judah and of +Israel, would get a share of the spoil. For he is said to have sought +to slay the Gibeonites "in his zeal for the children of Israel and +Judah." If this was the way in which the slaughter of the Gibeonites +was compassed, it was fair that the nation should suffer for it. If +the nation profited by the unholy transaction, and was thus induced +to wink at the violation of the national faith and the massacre of +an inoffensive people, it shared in Saul's guilt, and became liable +to chastisement. Even David himself was not free from blame. When he +came to the throne he should have seen justice done to this injured +people. But probably he was afraid. He felt his own authority not +very secure, and probably he shrank from raising up enemies in those +whom justice would have required him to dispossess. Prince and +people therefore were both at fault, and both were suffering for the +wrongdoing of the nation. Perhaps Solomon had this case in view when +he wrote: "Rob not the poor because he is poor, neither oppress the +afflicted in the gate; for the Lord will plead their cause, and spoil +the soul of those that spoiled them." + +But whatever may have been Saul's motive, it is certain that by his +attempt to massacre and banish the Gibeonites a great national sin +was committed, and that for this sin the nation had never humbled +itself, and never made reparation. + +3. What, then, was now to be done? The king left it to the Gibeonites +themselves to prescribe the satisfaction which they claimed for +this wrong. This was in accordance with the spirit of the law that +gave a murdered man's nearest of kin a right to exact justice of +the murderer. In their answer the Gibeonites disclaimed all desire +for compensation in money; and very probably this was a surprise to +the people. To surrender lands might have been much harder than to +give up lives. What the Gibeonites asked had a grim look of justice; +it showed a burning desire to bring home the punishment as near as +possible to the offender: "The man that consumed us, and that devised +against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the +coasts of Israel, let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and +we will hang them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord +did choose." Seven was a perfect number, and therefore the victims +should be seven. Their punishment was, to be hanged or crucified, but +in inflicting this punishment the Jews were more merciful than the +Romans; the criminals were first put to death, then their dead bodies +were exposed to open shame. They were to be hanged "unto the Lord," +as a satisfaction to expiate His just displeasure. They were to be +hanged "in Gibeah of Saul," to bring home the offence visibly to him, +so that the expiation should be at the same place as the crime. And +when mention is made of Saul, the Gibeonites add, "Whom the Lord did +choose." For Jehovah was intimately connected with Saul's call to the +throne; He was in some sense publicly identified with him; and unless +something were done to disconnect Him with this crime, the reproach +of it would, in measure, rest upon Him. + +Such was the demand of the Gibeonites; and David deemed it right to +comply with it, stipulating only that the descendants of Jonathan +should not be surrendered. The sons or descendants of Saul that were +given up for this execution were the two sons of Rizpah, Saul's +concubine, and along with them five sons of Michal, or, as it is in +the margin, of Merab, the elder daughter of Saul, whom she bare (R. +V.--not "brought up," A. V.) to Adriel the Meholathite. These seven +men were put to death accordingly, and their bodies exposed in the +hill near Gibeah. + +The transaction has a very hard look to us, though it had nothing of +the kind to the people of those days. Why should these unfortunate +men be punished so terribly for the sin of their father? How was it +possible for David, in cold blood, to give them up to an ignominious +death? How could he steel his heart against the supplications of +their friends? With regard to this latter aspect of the case, it +is ridiculous to cast reproach on David. As we have remarked again +and again, if he had acted like other Eastern kings, he would have +consigned every son of Saul to destruction when he came to the +throne, and left not one remaining, for no other offence than being +the children of their father. On the score of clemency to Saul's +family the character of David is abundantly vindicated. + +The question of justice remains. Is it not a law of nature, it may +be asked, and a law of the Bible too, that the son shall not bear +the iniquity of the father, but that the soul that sinneth it shall +die? It is undoubtedly the rule both of nature and the Bible that +the son is not to be substituted _for_ the father when the father is +there to bear the penalty. But it is neither the rule of the one nor +of the other that the son is never to suffer _with_ the father for +the sins which the father has committed. On the contrary, it is what +we see taking place, in many forms, every day. It is an arrangement +of Providence that almost baffles the philanthropist, who sees that +children often inherit from their parents a physical frame disposing +them to their parents' vices, and who sees, moreover, that, when +brought up by vicious parents, children are deprived of their natural +rights, and are initiated into a life of vice. But the law that +identified children and parents in Old Testament times was carried +out to consequences which would not be tolerated now. Not only were +children often punished because of their physical connection with +their fathers, but they were regarded as judicially one with them, +and so liable to share in their punishment. The Old Testament (as +Canon Mozley has so powerfully shown[4]) was in some respects an +imperfect economy; the rights of the individual were not so clearly +acknowledged as they are under the New; the family was a sort of +moral unit, and the father was the responsible agent for the whole. +When Achan sinned, his whole household shared his punishment. The +solidarity of the family was such that 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 upon 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. + +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 rotting bodies and the stench of the air, she suffered +neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day nor the beasts +of the field by night. The poor woman must have looked for a very +different destiny when she became the concubine of Saul. No doubt +she expected to share in the glory of his royal state. But her lord +perished in battle, and the splendour of royalty passed for ever +from him and his house. Then came the famine; its cause was declared +from heaven, its cure was announced by the Gibeonites. Her two sons +were among the slain. Probably they were but lads, not yet beyond +the age which rouses a mother's sensibilities to the full. (This +consideration likewise points to an early date.) We cannot attempt +to picture her feelings. The last consolation that remained for her +was to guard their remains from the vulture and the tiger. Unburied +corpses were counted to be disgraced, and this, in some degree, +because they were liable to be devoured by birds and beasts of prey. +Rizpah could not prevent the exposure, but she could try to prevent +the wild animals from devouring them. The courage and self-denial +needed for this work were great, for the risk of violence from wild +beasts was very serious. All honour to this woman and her noble +heart! David appears to have been deeply impressed by her heroism. +When he heard of it he went and collected the bones of Jonathan and +his sons, which had been buried under a tree at Jabesh-gilead, and +likewise the bones of the men that had been hanged; and he buried the +bones of Saul and Jonathan in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish, Saul's +father. And after that God was entreated for the land. + +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. +The men themselves, when they knew what was coming, seem to have been +restrained from attempting to save themselves by flight. It seemed as +if God were speaking, and the part of man was simply to obey. When +unbelievers object to passages in the Bible like this, or like the +sacrifice of Isaac, or the death of Achan, they are accustomed to say +that they exemplify the worst passions of the human heart consecrated +under the name of religion. We affirm that in this chapter there is +no sign of any outburst of passion whatever; everything is done with +gravity, with composure and solemnity. And, what is more, the graceful +piety of Rizpah is recorded, with simplicity, indeed, but in a tone +that indicates appreciation of her tender motherly soul. Savages +thirsting for blood are not in the habit of appreciating such touching +marks of affection. And further, we are made to feel that it was a +pleasure to David to pay that mark of respect for Rizpah's feelings in +having the men buried. He did not desire to lacerate the feelings of +the unhappy mother; he was glad to soothe them as far as he could. To +him, as to his Lord, judgment was a strange work, but he delighted in +mercy. And he was glad to be able to mingle a slight streak of mercy +with the dark colours of a picture of God's judgment on sin. + +To all right minds it is painful to punish, and when punishment +has to be inflicted it is felt that it ought to be done with great +solemnity and gravity, and with an entire absence of passion and +excitement. In a sinful world God too must inflict punishment. And +the future punishment of the wicked is the darkest thing in all the +scheme of God's government. But it must take place. And when it does +take place it will be done deliberately, solemnly, sadly. There will +be no exasperation, no excitement. There will be no disregard of the +feelings of the unhappy victims of the Divine retribution. What they +are able to bear will be well considered. What condition they shall +be placed in when the punishment comes, will be calmly weighed. But +may we not see what a distressing thing it will be (if we may use +such an expression with reference to God) to consign His creatures +to punishment? How different His feelings when He welcomes them to +eternal glory! How different the feelings of His angels when that +change takes place by which punishment ceases to hang over men, and +glory takes its place! "There is joy in the presence of the angels +of God over one sinner that repenteth." Is it not blessed to think +that this is the feeling of God, and of all Godlike spirits? Will you +not all believe this,--believe in the mercy of God, and accept the +provision of His grace? "For God so loved the world that He gave His +only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, +but should have eternal life." + +FOOTNOTE: + +[4] Lectures on the Old Testament. Lecture V.: "Visitation of Sins of +Fathers on Children." + + + + + CHAPTER XXIX. + + _LAST BATTLES AND THE MIGHTY MEN._ + + 2 SAMUEL xxi. 15-22; xxiii. 8-39. + + +In entering on the consideration of these two portions of the +history of David, we must first observe that the events recorded +do not appear to belong to the concluding portion of his reign. It +is impossible for us to assign a precise date to them, or at least +to most of them, but the displays of physical activity and courage +which they record would lead us to ascribe them to a much earlier +period. Originally, they seem to have formed parts of a record of +David's wars, and to have been transferred to the Books of Samuel +and Chronicles in order to give a measure of completeness to the +narrative. The narrative in Chronicles is substantially the same +as that in Samuel, but the text is purer. From notes of time in +Chronicles it is seen that some at least of the encounters took place +after the war with the children of Ammon. + +Why have these passages been inserted in the history of the reign of +David? Apparently for two chief purposes. In the first place, to give +us some idea of the dangers to which he was exposed in his military +life, dangers manifold and sometimes overwhelming, and all but fatal; +and thus enable us to see how wonderful were the deliverances he +experienced, and prepare us for entering into the song of thanksgiving +which forms the twenty-second chapter, and of which these deliverances +form the burden. In the second place, to enable us to understand the +human instrumentality by which he achieved so brilliant a success, the +kind of men by whom he was helped, the kind of spirit by which they +were animated, and their intense personal devotion to David himself. +The former purpose is that which is chiefly in view in the end of the +twenty-first chapter, the latter in the twenty-third. The exploits +themselves occur in encounters with the Philistines, and may therefore +be referred partly to the time after the slaughter of Goliath, when he +first distinguished himself in warfare, and the daughters of Israel +began to sing, "Saul hath slain his thousands, but David his tens of +thousands;" partly to the time in his early reign when he was engaged +driving them out of Israel, and putting a bridle on them to restrain +their inroads; and partly to a still later period. It is to be observed +that nothing more is sought than to give a sample of David's military +adventures, and for this purpose his wars with the Philistines alone +are examined. If the like method had been taken with all his other +campaigns,--against Edom, Moab, and Ammon; against the Syrians of +Rehob, and Maacah, and Damascus, and the Syrians beyond the river,--we +might borrow the language of the Evangelist, and say that the world +itself would not have been able to contain the books that should be +written. + +Four exploits are recorded in the closing verses of the twenty-first +chapter, all with "sons of the giant," or, as it is in the margin, of +Rapha. The first was with a man who is called Ishbi-benob, but there +is reason to suspect that the text is corrupt here, and in Chronicles +this incident is not mentioned. The language applied to David, "David +and his servants went down," would lead us to believe that the incident +happened at an early period, when the Philistines were very powerful +in Israel, and it was a mark of great courage to "go down" to their +plains, and attack them in their own country. To do this implied a long +journey, over steep and rough roads, and it is no wonder if between the +journey and the fighting David "waxed faint." Then it was that the son +of the giant, whose spear or spearhead weighed three hundred shekels +of brass, or about eight pounds, fell upon him "with a new sword, +and thought to have slain him." There is no noun in the original for +sword; all that is said is, that the giant fell on David with something +new, and our translators have made it a sword. The Revised Version in +the margin gives "new armour." The point is evidently this, that the +newness of the thing made it more formidable. This could hardly be said +of a common sword, which would be really more formidable after it had +ceased to be quite new, since, by having used it, the owner would know +it better and wield it more perfectly. It seems better to take the +marginal reading "new armour," that is, new defensive armour, against +which the weary David would direct his blows in vain. Evidently he was +in the utmost peril of his life, but was rescued by his nephew Abishai, +who killed the giant. The risk to which he was exposed was such that +his people vowed they would not let him go out with them to battle any +more, lest the light of Israel should be quenched. + +During the rest of that campaign the vow seems to have been +respected, for the other three giants were not slain by David +personally, but by others. As to other campaigns, David usually +took his old place as leader of the army, until the battle against +Absalom, when his people prevailed on him to remain in the city. + +Three of the four duels recorded here took place at Gob,--a place not +now known, but most probably in the neighbourhood of Gath. In fact, +all the encounters probably took place near that city. One of the +giants slain is said in Samuel, by a manifest error, to have been +Goliath the Gittite; but the error is corrected in Chronicles, where +he is called the brother of Goliath. The very same expression is used +of his spear as in the case of Goliath: "the staff of whose spear was +like a weaver's beam." Of the fourth giant it is said that he defied +Israel, as Goliath had done. Of the whole four it is said that "they +were born to the giant in Gath." This does not necessarily imply +that they were all sons of the same father, "the giant" being used +generically to denote the race rather than the individual. + +But the tenor of the narrative and many of its expressions carry us +back to the early days of David. There seems to have been a nest at +Gath of men of gigantic stature, brothers or near relations of Goliath. +Against these he was sent, perhaps in one of the expeditions when Saul +secretly desired that he should fall by the hand of the Philistines. +If it was in this way that he came to encounter the first of the four, +Saul had calculated well, and was very nearly carrying his point. +But though man proposes, God disposes. The example of David in his +encounter with Goliath, even at this early period, had inspired several +young men of the Hebrews, and even when David was interdicted from +going himself into battle, others were raised up to take his place. +Every one of the giants found a match either in David or among his men. +It was indeed highly perilous work; but David was encompassed by a +Divine Protector, and being destined for high service in the kingdom of +God, he was "immortal till his work was done." + +We have said that these were but samples of David's trials, and that +they were probably repeated again and again in the course of the many +wars in which he was engaged. One can see that the danger was often +very imminent, making him feel that his only possible deliverance +must come from God. Such dangers, therefore, were wonderfully fitted +to exercise and discipline the spirit of trust. Not once or twice, +but hundreds of times, in his early experience he would find himself +constrained to cry to the Lord. And protected as he was, delivered +as he was, the conviction would become stronger and stronger that +God cared for him and would deliver him to the end. We see from all +this how unnecessary it is to ascribe all the psalms where David +is pressed by enemies either to the time of Saul or to the time of +Absalom. There were hundreds of other times in his life when he had +the same experience, when he was reduced to similar straits, and his +appeal lay to the God of his life. + +And this was in truth the healthiest period of his spiritual life. +It was amid these perilous but bracing experiences that his soul +prospered most. The north wind of danger and difficulty braced him +to spiritual self-denial and endurance; the south wind of prosperity +and luxurious enjoyment was what nearly destroyed him. Let us not +become impatient when anxieties multiply around us, and we are beset +by troubles, and labours, and difficulties. Do not be tempted to +contrast your miserable lot with that of others, who have health +while you are sick, riches while you are poor, honour while you are +despised, ease and enjoyment while you have care and sorrow. By all +these things God desires to draw you to Himself, to discipline your +soul, to lead you away from the broken cisterns that can hold no +water to the fountain of living waters. Guard earnestly against the +unbelief that at such times would make your hands hang down and your +heart despond; rally your sinking spirit. "Why art thou cast down, +O my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me?" Remember the +promise, "I will never leave you nor forsake you;" and one day you +shall have cause to look back on this as the most useful, the most +profitable, the most healthful, period of your spiritual life. + +We pass to the twenty-third chapter, which tells us of David's mighty +men. The narrative, at some points, is not very clear; but we gather +from it that David had an order of thirty men distinguished for their +valour; that besides these there were three of supereminent merit, +and another three, who were also eminent, but who did not attain to +the distinction of the first three. Of the first three, the first was +Jashobeam the Hachmonite (see 1 Chron. xi. 11), the second Eleazar, and +the third Shammah. Of the second three, who were not quite equal to the +first, only two are mentioned, Abishai and Benaiah; thereafter we have +the names of the thirty. It is remarkable that Joab's name does not +occur in the list, but as he was captain of the host, he probably held +a higher position than any. Certainly Joab was not wanting in valour, +and must have held the highest rank in a legion of honour. + +Of the three mighties of the first rank, and the two of the +second, characteristic exploits of remarkable courage and success +are recorded. The first of the first rank, whom the Chronicles +call Jashobeam, lifted up his spear against three hundred slain at +one time. (In Samuel the number is eight hundred.) The exploit was +worthy to be ranked with the famous achievement of Jonathan and his +armour-bearer at the pass of Michmash. The second, Eleazar, defied +the Philistines when they were gathered to battle, and when the men +of Israel had gone away he smote the Philistines till his hand was +weary. The third, Shammah, kept the Philistines at bay on a piece of +ground covered with lentils, after the people had fled, and slew the +Philistines, gaining a great victory. + +Next we have a description of the exploit of three of the mighty men +when the Philistines were in possession of Bethlehem, and David in a +hold near the cave of Adullam (see 2 Sam. v. 15-21). The occasion of +their exploit was an interesting one. Contemplating the situation, +and grieved to think that his native town should be in the enemy's +hands, David gave expression to a wish--"Oh that some one would give +me water to drink of the well of Bethlehem which is before the gate!" +It was probably meant for little more than the expression of an +earnest wish that the enemy were dislodged from their position--that +there were no obstruction between him and the well, that access to +it were as free as in the days of his youth. But the three mighty +men took him at his word, and breaking through the host of the +Philistines, brought the water to David. It was a singular proof of +his great personal influence; he was so loved and honoured that to +gratify his wish these three men took their lives in their hands to +obtain the water. Water got at such a cost was sacred in his eyes; +it was a thing too holy for man to turn to his use, so he poured it +out before the Lord. + +Next we have a statement bearing on two of the second three. Abishai, +David's nephew, who was one of them, lifted up his spear against +three hundred and slew them. Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, slew two +lion-like men of Moab (the two sons of Ariel of Moab, R.V.); also, +in time of snow, he slew a lion in a pit; and finally he slew an +Egyptian, a powerful man, attacking him when he had only a staff +in his hand, wrenching his spear from him, and killing him with +his own spear. The third of this trio has not been mentioned; some +conjecture that he was Amasa ("chief of the captains"--"the thirty," +R.V., 1 Chron. xii. 18), and that his name was not recorded because +he deserted David to side with Absalom. Among the other thirty, we +cannot but be struck with two names--Eliam the son of Ahithophel +the Gilonite, and apparently the father of Bathsheba; and Uriah the +Hittite. The sin of David was all the greater if it involved the +dishonour of men who had served him so bravely as to be enrolled in +his legion of honour. + +With regard to the kind of exploits ascribed to some of these men, +a remark is necessary. There is an appearance of exaggeration in +statements that ascribe to a single warrior the routing and killing of +hundreds through his single sword or spear. In the eyes of some such +statements give the narrative an unreliable look, as if the object +of the writer had been more to give _éclat_ to the warriors than to +record the simple truth. But this impression arises from our tendency +to ascribe the conditions of modern warfare to the warfare of these +times. In Eastern history, cases of a single warrior putting a large +number to flight, and even killing them, are not uncommon. For though +the strength of the whole number was far more than a match for his, the +strength of each individual was far inferior; and if the mass of them +were scarcely armed, and the few who had arms were far inferior to him, +the result would be that after some had fallen the rest would take to +flight; and the destruction of life in a retreat was always enormous. +The incident recorded of Eleazar is very graphic and truth-like. "He +smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto +his sword." A Highland sergeant at Waterloo had done such execution +with his basket-handled sword, and so much blood had coagulated round +his hand, that it had to be released by a blacksmith, so firmly +were they glued together. The style of Eastern warfare was highly +favourable to deeds of great courage being done by individuals, and +in the terrific panic which followed their first successes prodigious +slaughter often ensued. Under present conditions of fighting such +things cannot be done. + +The glimpse which these little notices give us of King David and +his knights is extremely interesting. The story of Arthur and his +Knights of the Round Table bears a resemblance to it. We see the +remarkable personal influence of David, drawing to himself so many +men of spirit and energy, firing them by his own example, securing +their warm personal attachment, and engaging them in enterprises +equal to his own. How far they shared his devotional spirit we have +no means of judging. If the historian reflects the general sentiment +in recording their victories when he says, once and again, "The Lord +wrought a great victory that day" (xxiii. 10, 12), we should say +that trust in God must have been the general sentiment. "If it had +not been the Lord that was on our side, ... they had swallowed us up +quick, when their wrath was kindled against us." It is no wonder that +David soon gained a great military renown. Such a king, surrounded by +such a class of lieutenants, might well spread alarm among all his +enemies. One who, besides having such a body of helpers, could claim +the assistance of the Lord of hosts, and could enter battle with the +shout, "Let God arise; and let His enemies be scattered; and let them +also that hate Him flee before Him," might well look for universal +victory. Trustworthy generals, we are told, double the value of the +troops; and the soldiers that were led by such leaders, trusting in +the Lord of hosts, could hardly fail of triumph. + +And thus, too, we may see how David came to be thoroughly under the +influence of the military spirit, and of some of the less favourable +features of that spirit. Accustomed to such scenes of bloodshed, he +would come to think lightly of the lives of his enemies. A hostile +army he would be prone to regard as a kind of infernal machine, an +instrument of evil only, and therefore to be destroyed. Hence the +complacency he expresses in the destruction of his enemies. Hence the +judgment he calls down on those who thwarted and opposed him. If, +in the songs of David, this feeling sometimes disappears, and the +expressed desire of his heart is that the nations may be glad and +sing for joy, that the people may praise God, that all the people may +praise Him, this seems to be in the later period of his life, when all +his enemies had been subdued, and he had rest on every side. Even in +earnest and spiritually-minded men, religion is often coloured by their +worldly calling; and in no case more so, sometimes for better and +sometimes for worse, than in those who follow the profession of arms. + +But in all this military career and influence of David, may we not +trace a type of character which was realised in a far higher sphere, +and to far grander purpose, in the career of Jesus, David's Son? +David on an earthly level is Jesus on a higher. Every noble quality +of David, his courage, his activity, his affection, his obedience and +trust toward God, his devotion to the welfare of others, reappears +purer and higher in Jesus. If David is surrounded by his thirty +mighties and his two threes, so is Jesus by His twelve apostles, +His seventy disciples, and pre-eminently the three apostles who +went with Him into the innermost scenes. If David's men are roused +by his example to deeds of daring like his own, so the apostles and +disciples go into the world to teach, to fight, to heal, and to +bless, as Christ had done before them. Looking back from the present +moment to David's time, what young man of spirit but feels that it +would have been a great joy to belong to his company, much better +than to be among those who were always carping and criticising, and +laughing at the men who shared his danger and sacrifices? And does +any one think that, when another cycle of ages has gone past, he +will have occasion to congratulate himself that while he lived on +earth he had nothing to do with Christ and earnest Christians, that +he bore no part in any Christian battle, that he kept well away from +Christ and His staff, that he preferred the service and pleasure of +the world? Surely no. Shall any of us, then, deliberately do to-day +what we know we shall repent to-morrow? Is it not certain that Jesus +Christ is an unrivalled Commander, pure and noble above all His +fellows, that His life was the most glorious ever led on earth, and +that His service is by far the most honourable? We do not dwell at +this moment on the great fact that only in His faith and fellowship +can any of us escape the wrath to come, or gain the favour of God. +We ask you to say in what company you can spend your lives to most +profit, under whose influence you may receive the highest impulses, +and be made to do the best service for God and man? It must have been +interesting in David's time to see his people "willing in the day of +his power," to see young men flocking to his standard in the beauties +of holiness, like dewdrops from the womb of the morning. And still +more glorious is the sight when young men, even the highest born +and the highest gifted, having had grace to see who and what Jesus +Christ is, find no manner of life worthy to be compared in essential +dignity and usefulness with His service, and, in spite of the world, +give themselves to Him. Oh that we could see many such rallying to +His standard, contrasting, as St. Paul did, the two services, and +counting all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of +Christ Jesus their Lord! + + + + + CHAPTER XXX. + + _THE SONG OF THANKSGIVING._ + + 2 SAMUEL xxii. + + +Some of David's actions are very characteristic of himself; there +are other actions quite out of harmony with his character. This +psalm of thanksgiving belongs to the former order. It is quite like +David, at the conclusion of his military enterprises, to cast his eye +gratefully over the whole, and acknowledge the goodness and mercy +that had followed him all along. Unlike many, he was as careful +to thank God for mercies past and present as to entreat Him for +mercies to come. The whole Book of Psalms resounds with halleluiahs, +especially the closing part. In the song before us we have something +like a grand halleluiah, in which thanks are given for all the +deliverances and mercies of the past, and unbounded confidence +expressed in God's mercy and goodness for the time to come. + +The date of this song is not to be determined by the place which +it occupies in the history. We have already seen that the last +few chapters of Samuel consist of supplementary narratives, not +introduced at their regular places, but needful to give completeness +to the history. It is likely that this psalm was written considerably +before the end of David's reign. Two considerations make it all +but certain that its date is earlier than Absalom's rebellion. +In the first place, the mention of the name of Saul in the first +verse--"in the day when God delivered him out of the hand of all his +enemies and out of the hand of Saul"--would seem to imply that the +deliverance from Saul was somewhat recent, certainly not so remote +as it would have been at the end of David's reign. And secondly, +while the affirmation of David's sincerity and honesty in serving +God might doubtless have been made at any period of his life, yet +some of his expressions would not have been likely to be used after +his deplorable fall. It is not likely that after that, he would have +spoken, for example, of the cleanness of his hands, stained as they +had been by wickedness that could hardly have been surpassed. On the +whole, it seems most likely that the psalm was written about the +time referred to in 2 Sam. vii. 1--"when the Lord had given him rest +from all his enemies round about." This was the time when it was +in his heart to build the temple, and we know from that and other +circumstances that he was then in a state of overflowing thankfulness. + +Besides the introduction, the song consists of three leading parts +not very definitely separated from each other, but sufficiently +marked to form a convenient division, as follows:-- + +I. Introduction: the leading thought of the song, an adoring +acknowledgment of what God had been and was to David (vv. 2-4). + +II. A narrative of the Divine interpositions on his behalf, embracing +his dangers, his prayers, and the Divine deliverances in reply (vv. +5-19). + +III. The grounds of his protection and success (vv. 20-30). + +IV. 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 for ever. + +I. In the burst of adoring gratitude with which the psalm opens as +its leading thought, we mark David's recognition of Jehovah as the +source of all the protection, deliverance, and success he had ever +enjoyed, along with a special assertion of closest relationship +to Him, in the frequent use of the word "my," and a very ardent +acknowledgment of the claim to his gratitude thus arising--"God, who +is worthy to be praised." + +The feeling that recognised God as the Author of all his deliverances +was intensely strong, for every expression that can denote it is +heaped together: "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; he gives no glory to his +captains; the glory is all the Lord's. He sees God so supremely the +Author of his deliverance that the human instruments that helped him +are for the moment quite out of view. He who, in the depths of his +penitence, sees but one supremely injured Being, and says, "Against +Thee, Thee only, have I sinned," at the height of his prosperity sees +but one gracious Being, and adores Him, who only is his rock and his +salvation. In an age when all the stress is apt to be laid on the +human instruments, and God left out of view, this habit of mind is +instructive and refreshing. It was a touching incident in English +history when, after the battle of Agincourt, Henry V. of England +directed the hundred and fifteenth Psalm to be sung; prostrating +himself on the ground, and causing his whole army to do the same, +when the words were sounded out, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, +but to Thy name give glory." + +The emphatic use of the pronoun "my" by the Psalmist is very +instructive. It is so easy to speak in general terms of what God +is, and what God does; but it is quite another thing to be able to +appropriate Him as ours, and rejoice in that relation. Luther said of +the twenty-third Psalm that the word "my" in the first verse was the +very hinge of the whole. There is a whole world of difference between +the two expressions, "The Lord is a Shepherd" and "The Lord is my +Shepherd." The use of the "my" indicates a personal transaction, a +covenant relation into which the parties have solemnly entered. No man +is entitled to use this expression who has merely a reverential feeling +towards God, and respect for His will. You must have come to God as +a sinner, owning and feeling your unworthiness, and casting yourself +on His grace. You must have transacted with God in the spirit of His +exhortation, "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, and touch +not the unclean thing; and I will be a Father unto you; and ye shall +be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." + +One other point has to be noticed in this introduction--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 strawed, 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. There are some who cry to the Lord +and are not heard. Why is this? Because they do not praise the Lord +when they cry to Him, but go to Him with reluctance; they have not +represented to themselves how sweet the Lord is, but 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 endeavour to praise God, though in little heart +for it he will soon experience an enlightenment." + +II. We pass on to the part of the song where the Psalmist describes +his trials and God's deliverances in his times of danger (vv. 5-20). + +The description is eminently poetical. First, there is a vivid +picture of his troubles. "The waves of death compassed me, and the +floods of ungodly men made me afraid; the sorrows of hell compassed +me; the snares of death prevented me" ("The cords of death compassed +me, and the floods of ungodliness made me afraid; the cords of sheol +were round about me; the snares of death came upon me," R.V.). It is +no overcharged picture. 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. 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. It is in heaven as in an earthly home +when an alarm is given that one of the little children is in danger, +has wandered away into a thicket where he has lost his way: every +servant is summoned, every passer-by is called to the rescue, the +whole neighbourhood is roused to the most strenuous efforts; so 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. + +And this being done, 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." There could be no more doubt that it was God who +protected David when men rose to swallow him up than that it was He +who drew Moses from the Nile--"He sent from above, He took me, He +drew me out of many waters." No miracles had been wrought on David's +behalf; unlike Moses and Joshua before him, and unlike Elijah and +Elisha after him, he had not had the laws of nature suspended for his +protection; yet he could see the hand of God stretched out for him +as clearly as if a miracle had been wrought at every turn. Does this +not show that ordinary Christians, if they are but careful to watch, +and humble enough to watch in a chastened spirit, may find in their +history, however quietly it may have glided by, many a token of the +interest and care of their Father in heaven? And what a blessed thing +to have accumulated through life a store of such providences--to have +Ebenezers reared along the whole line of one's history! What courage +after looking over such a past might one feel in looking forward to +the future! + + +III. The next section of the song sets forth the grounds on which +the Divine protection was thus enjoyed by David. Substantially these +grounds were the uprightness and faithfulness with which he had +served God. The expressions are strong, and at first sight they have +a flavour of self-righteousness. "The Lord rewarded me according to +my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath He +recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not +wickedly departed from my God. For all His judgments were before me, +and I put not away His statutes from me. I was also perfect with Him, +and I kept myself from mine iniquity." But 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 endeavoured 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. What he here celebrates is, not any personal +righteousness that might enable him as an individual to claim the +favour and reward of God, but the ground on which he, as the public +champion of God's cause before the world, enjoyed God's countenance +and obtained His protection. There would be no self-righteousness in +an inferior officer of the navy or the army who had been sent on some +expedition saying, "I obeyed your instructions in every particular; I +never deviated from the course you prescribed." There would have been +no self-righteousness in such a man as Luther saying, "I constantly +maintained the principles of the Bible; I never once abandoned +Protestant ground." Such affirmations would never be held to imply a +claim of personal sinlessness during the whole course of their lives. +Substantially all that is asserted is, that in their public capacity +they proved faithful to the cause entrusted to them; they never +consciously betrayed their public charge. Now it is this precisely +that David affirms of himself. Unlike Saul, who abandoned the law of +the kingdom, David uniformly endeavoured to carry it into effect. The +success which followed he does not claim as any credit to himself, +but as due to his having followed the instructions of his heavenly +Lord. It is the very opposite of a self-righteous spirit. He would +have us understand that if ever he had abandoned the guidance of God, +if ever he had relied on his own wisdom and followed the counsels of +his own heart, everything would have gone wrong with him; the fact +that he had been successful was due altogether to the Divine wisdom +that guided and the Divine strength that upheld him. + +Even with this explanation, some of the expressions may seem too +strong. How could he speak of the cleanness of his hands, and of his +not having wickedly departed from his God? Granting that the song +was written before his sin in the case of Uriah, yet remembering how +he had lied at Nob and equivocated at Gath, might he not have used +less sweeping words? But it is not the way of burning, enthusiastic +minds to be for ever weighing their words, and guarding against +misunderstandings. Enthusiasm sweeps along in a rapid current. And +David correctly describes the prevailing features of his public +endeavours. His public life was unquestionably marked by a sincere +and commonly successful endeavour to follow the will of God. In +contrast with Saul and Ishbosheth, side by side with Absalom or +Sheba; his career was purity itself, and bore out the rule of +the Divine government, "With the merciful Thou wilt show Thyself +merciful, and with the upright man Thou wilt show Thyself upright. +With the pure Thou wilt show Thyself pure, and with the froward Thou +wilt show Thyself unsavoury." 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. + +IV. In the wide survey of his life and of his providential mercies, +the eye of the Psalmist is particularly fixed on some of his +deliverances, in the remembrance of which he specially praises God. +One of the earliest appears to be recalled in the words, "By my +God have I leaped over a wall,"--the wall, it may be supposed, of +Gibeah, down which Michal let him when Saul sent to take him in his +house. Still further back, perhaps, in his life is the allusion in +another expression--"Thy gentleness hath made me great." He seems +to go back to his shepherd life, and in the gentleness with which +he dealt with the feeble lamb that might have perished in rougher +hands to find an emblem of God's method with himself. If God had not +dealt gently with him, he never would have become what he was. The +Divine gentleness had made 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 +provocations that would have justified far harsher treatment? + +But what? Can David praise God's gentleness and in the next words +utter such terrible words against his foes? How can he extol God's +gentleness to him and immediately dwell on his tremendous severity +to them? "I have consumed them and wounded them that they could not +arise; yea, they are fallen under my feet.... Then did I beat them as +small as the dust of the earth, I did stamp them as the mire of the +street, and did spread them abroad." It is the military spirit which +we have so often observed, looking on his enemies in one light only, +as identified with everything evil and enemies of all that was good. +To show mercy to them would be like showing mercy to destructive wild +beasts, raging bears, venomous serpents, and rapacious vultures. +Mercy to them would be cruelty to all God's servants; it would be +ruin to God's cause. No! for them the only fit doom was destruction, +and that destruction he had dealt to them with no unsparing hand. + +But while we perceive his spirit, and harmonise it with his general +character, we cannot but regard it as the spirit of one who was +imperfectly enlightened. We tremble when we think what fearful +wickedness persecutors and inquisitors have committed, under the +idea that the same course was to be followed against those whom they +deemed enemies of the cause of God. We rejoice in the Christian +spirit that teaches us to regard even public enemies as our brothers, +for whom individually kindly and brotherly feelings are to be +cherished. And we remember the new aspect in which our relations to +such have been placed by our Lord: "Love your enemies, bless them +that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them +that despitefully use you and persecute you." + +In the closing verses of the Psalm, 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: "Thou hast made me the head of the +nations; a people whom I have not known shall serve me. As soon as they +hear of me they shall obey me; the strangers shall submit themselves +unto me." The forty-ninth verse is quoted by St. Paul (Rom. xv. 9) as a +proof that in the purpose of God the salvation of Christ was designed +for Gentiles as well as Jews. "It is beyond doubt," says Luther, "that +the wars and victories of David prefigured the passion and resurrection +of Christ." At the same time, he admits that it is very doubtful +how far the Psalm applies to Christ, and how far to David, and he +declines to press the type to particulars. But we may surely apply the +concluding words to David's Son: "He showeth loving-kindness to his +anointed, to David and to his seed for evermore." + +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. And yet, +perhaps, his views on the subject were comparatively dim; he may have +been disposed to identify the conquests of the sword and the conquests +of the truth instead of regarding the one as but typical of the other. +The visions and revelations of his later years seem to have thrown +new light on this glorious subject, and though not immediately, yet +ultimately, to have convinced him that truth, righteousness, and +meekness were to be the conquering weapons of Messiah's reign. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXI. + + _THE LAST WORDS OF DAVID._ + + 2 SAMUEL xxiii. 1-7. (_See Revised Version and margin._) + + +Of these "the last words of David," we need not understand that they +were the last words he ever spoke, but his last song or psalm, his +latest vision, and therefore the subject that was most in his mind +in the last period of his life. The Psalm recorded in the preceding +chapter was an earlier song, and its main drift was of the past. Of +this latest Psalm the main drift is of the future. The colours of +this vision are brighter than those of any other. Aged though the +seer was, there is a glory in this his latest vision unsurpassed in +any that went before. The setting sun spreads a lustre around as he +sinks under the horizon unequalled by any he diffused even when he +rode in the height of the heavens. + +The song falls into four parts. First, there is an elaborate +introduction, descriptive of the singer and the inspiration which +gave birth to his song; secondly, the main subject of the prophecy, +a Ruler among men, of wonderful brightness and glory; thirdly, a +reference to the Psalmist's own house and the covenant God had made +with him; and finally, in the way of contrast to the preceding, a +prediction of the doom of the ungodly. + +I. In the introduction, we cannot but be struck with the formality +and solemnity of the affirmation respecting the singer and the +inspiration under which he sang. + + "David, the son of Jesse, saith, + And the man who was raised on high saith, + The anointed of the God of Jacob, + And the sweet psalmist of Israel: + The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, + And His word was upon my tongue; + The God of Israel said, + The Rock of Israel spake to me" (R.V.). + +The first four clauses represent David as the speaker; the second +four represent God's Spirit as inspiring his words. The introduction +to Balaam's prophecies is the only passage where we find a similar +structure, nor is this the only point of resemblance between the two +songs. + + "Balaam, the son of Beor, saith, + And the man whose eye was closed saith; + He saith which heareth the words of God, + And knoweth the knowledge of the Most High; + Which seeth the vision of the Almighty, + Falling down, and having his eyes open" + (Num. xxiv. 15, 16, R.V.). + +In both prophecies, the word translated "saith" is peculiar. While +occurring between two and three hundred times in the formula "Thus +saith the Lord," it is used by a human speaker only in these two +places and in Prov. xxx. 1. Both Balaam and David begin by giving +their own name and that of their father, thereby indicating their +native insignificance, and disclaiming any right to speak on subjects +so lofty through any wisdom or insight of their own. Immediately +after, they claim to speak the words of God. All the grounds on which +David should be listened to fall under this head. Was he not "raised +up on high"? Was he not the anointed of the God of Jacob? Was he not +the sweet Psalmist of Israel? Having been raised up on high, David +had established the kingdom of Israel on a firm and lasting basis, +he had destroyed all its enemies, and he had established a comely +order and prosperity throughout all its borders; as the sweet singer +of Israel, or, as it has been otherwise rendered, "the lovely one in +Israel's songs of praise"--that is, the man who had been specially +gifted to compose songs of praise in honour of Israel's God--it was +fitting that he should be made the organ of this very remarkable +and glorious communication. It is interesting to observe how David +must have been attracted by Balaam's vision. The dark wall of the +Moabite mountains was a familiar object to him, and must often have +recalled the strange but unworthy prophet who spoke of the Star that +was to shine so gloriously, and the Sceptre that was to have such +a wonderful rule. Often during his life we may believe that David +devoutly desired to know something more of that mysterious Star and +Sceptre; and now that desire is fulfilled; the Star is as the light +of the morning star; the Sceptre is that of a blessed ruler, "one +that ruleth over men righteously, that ruleth in the fear of God." + +The second part of the introduction stamps the prophecy with a +fourfold mark of inspiration. 1. "The Spirit of the Lord spake by +me." For "the prophecy came not of old time by the will of man; but +holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 2. "His +word was in my tongue." For in high visions like this, of which no +wisdom of man can create even a shadow, it is not enough that the +Spirit should merely guide the writer; this is one of the utterances +where verbal inspiration must have been enjoyed. 3. "The God of +Israel said," He who entered into covenant with Israel, and promised +him great and peculiar mercies. 4. "The Rock of Israel spake to me," +the faithful One, whose words are stable as a rock, and who provides +for Israel a foundation-stone, elect and precious, immovable as the +everlasting hills. + +So remarkable an introduction must be followed by no ordinary +prophecy. If the prophecy should bear on nothing more remarkable than +some earthly successor of David, all this preliminary glorification +would be singularly out of place. It would be like a great procession +of heralds and flourishing of trumpets in an earthly kingdom to +announce some event of the most ordinary kind, the repeal of a tax or +the appointment of an officer. + +II. We come then to the great subject of the prophecy--a Ruler over +men. The rendering of the Authorized Version is somewhat lame and +obscure, "He that ruleth over men must be just," there being nothing +whatever in the original corresponding to "must be." The Revised +Version is at once more literal and more expressive:-- + + "One that ruleth over men righteously, + Ruling in the fear of God, + He shall be as the light of the morning." + +It is a vision of a remarkable Ruler, not a Ruler over the kingdom of +Israel merely, but a Ruler "over men." The Ruler seen is One whose +government knows no earthly limits, but prevails wherever there are +men. Solomon could not be the ruler seen, for, wide though his empire +was, he was king of Israel only, not king of men. It was but a speck +of the habitable globe, but a morsel of that part of it that was +inhabited even then, over which Solomon reigned. If the term "One +that ruleth over men" could have been appropriated by any monarch, +it would have been Ahasuerus, with his hundred and twenty-seven +provinces, or Alexander the Great, or some other universal monarch, +that would have had the right to claim it. But every such application +is out of the question. The "Ruler over men" of this vision must have +been identified by David with Him "in whom all the nations of the +earth were to be blessed." + +It is worthy of very special remark that the first characteristic +of this Ruler is "righteousness." There is no grander or more +majestic word in the language of men. Not even love or mercy can +be preferred to righteousness. And this is no casual expression, +happening in David's vision, for it is common to the whole class of +prophecies that predict the Messiah. "Behold, a King shall reign in +righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment." "There shall +come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and the spirit of the +fear of the Lord ... shall rest on Him, ... and righteousness shall +be the girdle of His loins." There is no lack in the New Testament +of passages to magnify the love and mercy of the Lord Jesus, yet +it is made very plain that righteousness was the foundation of +all His work. "Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness," +were the words with which He removed the objections of John to His +baptism, and they were words that described the business of His +whole life: to fulfil all righteousness _for_ His people and _in_ +His people--for them, to satisfy the demands of the righteous law +and bear the righteous penalty of transgression; in them to infuse +His own righteous spirit and mould them into the likeness of His +righteous example, to sum up the whole law of righteousness in the +law of love, and by His grace instil that law into their hearts. Such +essentially was the work of Christ. No man can say of the religious +life that Christ expounded that it was a life of loose, feverish +emotion or sentimental spirituality that left the Decalogue far out +of view. Nothing could have been further from the mind of Him that +said, "Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of +the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom +of heaven." Nothing could have been more unlike the spirit of Him who +was not content with maintaining the letter of the Decalogue, but +with His "again, I say unto you," drove its precepts so much further +as into the very joints and marrow of men's souls. + +It is the grand characteristic of Christ's salvation in theory that +it is through righteousness; it is not less its effect in practice to +promote righteousness. To any who would dream, under colour of free +grace, of breaking down the law of righteousness, the words of "the +Holy One and the Just" stand out as an eternal rebuke, "Think not +that I am come to destroy the law and the prophets; I am not come to +destroy, but to fulfil." + +And as Christ's work was founded on righteousness, so it was +constantly done "in the fear of God,"--with the highest possible +regard for His will, and reverence for His law. "Wist ye not that I +must be about My Father's business?" is the first word we hear from +Christ's lips; and among the last is, "Not My will, but Thine, be +done." No motto could have been more appropriate for His whole life +than this: "I delight to do Thy will, O My God." + +Having shown the character of the Ruler, the vision next pictures the +effects of His rule:-- + + "He shall be as the light of the morning when the sun riseth, + A morning without clouds, + When the tender grass springeth out of the earth + Through clear shining after rain." + +But why introduce the future "shall be" in the translation when it is +not in the original? May we not conceive the Psalmist reading off a +vision--a scene unfolding itself in all its beauty before his mind's +eye? A beautiful influence seems to come over the earth as the Divine +Ruler makes His appearance, like the rising of the sun on a cloudless +morning, like the appearance of the grass when the sun shines out +clearly after rain. No imagery could be more delightful, or more +fitly applied to Christ. The image of the morning sun presents +Christ in His gladdening influences, bringing pardon to the guilty, +health to the diseased, hope to the despairing; He is indeed like +the morning sun, lighting up the sky with splendour and the earth +with beauty, giving brightness to the languid eye, and colour to the +faded cheek, and health and hope to the sorrowing heart. The chief +idea under the other emblem, the grass shining clearly after rain, is +that of renewed beauty and growth. The heavy rain batters the grass, +as heavy trials batter the soul, but when the morning sun shines out +clearly, the grass recovers, it sparkles with a fresher lustre, and +grows with intenser activity. So when Christ shines on the heart +after trial, a new beauty and a new growth and prosperity come to +it. When this Sun of righteousness shines forth thus, in the case +of individuals the understanding becomes more clear, the conscience +more vigorous, the will more firm, the habits more holy, the temper +more serene, the affections more pure, the desires more heavenly. +In communities, conversions are multiplied, and souls advanced +steadily in holy beauties; intelligence spreads, love triumphs over +selfishness, and the spirit of Christ modifies the spirit of strife +and the spirit of mammon. It is with the happiest skill that Solomon, +appropriating part of his father's imagery, draws the picture of the +bride, with the radiance of the bridegroom falling on her: "Who is +she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the +sun, and terrible as an army with banners?" + +III. Next comes David's allusion to his own house. In our +translation, and in the text of the Revised Version, this comes in to +indicate a sad contrast between the bright vision just described and +the Psalmist's own family. It indicates that his house or family did +not correspond to the picture of the prophecy, and would not realize +the emblems of the rising sun and the growing grass; but as God had +made with himself an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things +and sure, that satisfied him; it was all his salvation and all his +desire, although his house was not to grow. + +But in the margin of the Revised Version we have another translation, +which reverses all this:-- + + "For is not my house so with God? + For He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, + Ordered in all things and sure: + For all my salvation and all my desire, + Will He not make it to grow?" + +Corresponding as this does with the translation of many scholars +(_e.g._, Boothroyd, Hengstenberg, Fairbairn), it must be regarded as +admissible on the strength of outward evidence. And if so, certainly +it is very strongly recommended by internal evidence. For what +reason could David have for introducing his family at all after the +glorious vision if only to say that they were excluded from it? +And can it be thought that David, whose nature was so intensely +sympathetic, would be so pleased because he was personally provided +for, though not his family? And still further, why should he go on +in the next verses (6, 7) to describe the doom of the ungodly by way +of contrast to what precedes if the doom of ungodly persons is the +matter already introduced in the fifth verse? The passage becomes +highly involved and unnatural in the light of the older translation. + +The key to the passage will be found, if we mistake not, in the +expression "my house." We are liable to think of this as the domestic +circle, whereas it ought to be thought of as the reigning dynasty. +What is denoted by the house of Hapsburg, the house of Hanover, +the house of Savoy, is quite different from the personal family of +any of the kings. So when David speaks of his house, he means his +dynasty. In this sense his "house" had been made the subject of the +most gracious promise. "Moreover, the Lord telleth thee that He will +make thee an house.... And thine house and thy kingdom shall be made +sure for ever before thee.... Then David said, ... What is my house, +that Thou hast brought me thus far?... Thou hast spoken also of Thy +servant's house for a great while to come." The king felt profoundly +on that occasion that his house was even more prominently the subject +of Divine promise than himself. What roused his gratitude to its +utmost height was the gracious provision for his house. Surely the +covenant referred to in the passage now before us, "ordered in all +things and sure," was this very covenant announced to him by the +prophet Nathan, the covenant that made this provision for his house. +It is impossible to think of him recalling this covenant and yet +saying, "Verily my house is not so with God" (R.V.). + +But take the marginal reading--"Is not my house so with God?" Is not +my dynasty embraced in the scope of this promise? Hath He not made +with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure? And +will He not make this promise, which is all my salvation and all +my desire, to grow, to fructify? It is infinitely more natural to +represent David on this joyous occasion congratulating himself on the +promise of long continuance and prosperity made to his dynasty, than +dwelling on the unhappy condition of the members of his family circle. + +And the facts of the future correspond to this explanation. Was not +the government of David's house or dynasty in the main righteous, +at least for many a reign, conducted in the fear of God, and +followed by great prosperity and blessing? David himself, Solomon, +Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Josiah--what other nation had ever so +many Christlike kings? What a contrast was presented to this in +the main by the apostate kingdom of the ten tribes, idolatrous, +God-dishonouring, throughout! And as to the growth or continued +vitality of his house, its "clear shining after rain," had not +God promised that He would bless it, and that it would continue +for ever before Him? He knew that, spiritually dormant at times, +his house would survive, till a living root came from the stem of +Jesse, till the Prince of life should be born from it, and once +that plant of renown was raised up, there was no fear but the house +would be preserved for ever. From this point it would start on a +new career of glory; nay, this was the very Ruler of whom he had +been prophesying, at once David's Son and David's Lord; this was the +root and the offspring of David, the bright and the morning star. +Conducted to this stage in the future experience of his house, he +needed no further assurance, he cherished no further desire. The +covenant that rested on Him and that promised Him was ordered in all +things and sure. The glorious prospect exhausted his every wish. +"This is all my salvation and all my desire." + +IV. The last part of the prophecy, in the way of contrast to the +leading vision, is a prediction of the doom of the ungodly. The +revised translation is much the clearer:-- + + "But the ungodly shall be all of them as thorns to be thrust + away, + For they cannot be taken with the hand, + But the man that toucheth them + Must be armed with iron and the staff and spear, + And they shall be utterly burned with fire in their place." + +While some would fain think of Christ's sceptre as one of mercy only, +the uniform representation of the Bible is different. In this, as in +most predictions of Christ's kingly office, there is an instructive +combination of mercy and judgment. In the bosom of one of Isaiah's +sweetest predictions, he introduces the Messiah as anointed by the +Spirit of God to proclaim "the day of vengeance of our God." In a +subsequent vision, Messiah appears marching triumphantly "with dyed +garments from Bozrah, after treading the people in His anger and +trampling them in His fury." Malachi proclaimed Him "the Sun of +righteousness, with healing under His wings," while His day was to burn +as an oven and consume the proud and the wicked like stubble. John the +Baptist saw Him "with His fan in His hand, throughly purging His floor, +gathering the wheat into His garner, while the chaff should be burnt +with unquenchable fire." In His own words, "the Son of man shall gather +out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity, +and cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and +gnashing of teeth." And in the Apocalypse, when the King of kings and +the Lord of lords is to be married to His bride, He appears "clothed +with a garment dipped in blood, and out of His mouth goeth a sharp +sword, that He should smite the nations, and He treadeth the winepress +of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." + +Nor could it be otherwise. The union of mercy and judgment is the +inevitable result of the righteousness which is the foundation of His +government. Sin is the abominable thing which He hates. To separate +men from sin is the grand purpose of His government. For this end, He +draws His people into union with Himself, thereby for ever removing +their guilt, and providing for the ultimate removal of all sin from +their hearts and the complete assimilation of their natures to His +holy nature. Blessed are they who enter into this relation; but alas +for those who, for all that He has done, prefer their sins to Him! +"The ungodly shall be all of them as thorns to be thrust away." + +Oh, let us not be satisfied with admiring beautiful images of Christ! +Let us not deem it enough to think with pleasure of Him as the light +of the morning, a morning without clouds, brightening the earth, and +making it sparkle with the lustre of the sunshine on the grass after +rain! Let us not satisfy ourselves with knowing that Jesus Christ +came to earth on a beneficent mission, and with thinking that surely +we shall one day share in the blessed effects of His work! Nothing +of that kind can avail us if we are not personally united to Christ. +We must come as sinners individually to Him, cast ourselves on His +free, unmerited grace, and deliberately accept His righteousness as +our clothing. Then, but only then, shall we be able to sing: "I will +greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall be joyful in my God; for +He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me +with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with +ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels." + + + + + CHAPTER XXXII. + + _THE NUMBERING OF ISRAEL._ + + 2 SAMUEL xxiv. + + +Though David's life was now drawing to its close, neither his sins +nor his chastisements were yet exhausted. One of his chief offences +was committed when he was old and grey-headed. There can be little +doubt that what is recorded in this chapter took place toward the +close of his life; the word "again" at the beginning indicates that +it was later in time than the event which gave rise to the last +expression of God's displeasure to the nation. Surely there can be +little ground for the doctrine of perfectionism, otherwise David, +whose religion was so earnest and so deep, would have been nearer it +now than this chapter shows that he was. + +The offence consisted in taking a census of the people. At first +it is difficult to see what there was in this that was so sinful; +yet highly sinful it was in the judgment of God, in the judgment of +Joab, and at last in the judgment of David too; it will be necessary, +therefore, to examine the subject very carefully if we would +understand clearly what constituted the great sin of David. + +The origin of the proceeding was remarkable. It may be said to have +had a double, or rather a triple, origin: God, David, and Satan, or, +as some propose to render in place of Satan, "_an_ enemy." + +In Samuel we read that "the Lord's anger was again kindled against +Israel." The nation required a chastisement. It needed a smart stroke +of the rod to make it pause and think how it was offending God. We do +not require to know very specially what it was that displeased God +in a nation that had been so ready to side with Absalom and drive +God's anointed from the throne. They were far from steadfast in their +allegiance to God, easily drawn from the path of duty; and all that it +is important for us to know is simply that at this particular time they +were farther astray than usual, and more in need of chastisement. The +cup of sin had filled up so far that God behoved to interpose. + +For this end "the Lord moved David against them to say, Go, number +Israel and Judah." The action of God in the matter, like His action in +sinful matters generally, was, that He permitted it to take place. He +allowed David's sinful feeling to come as a factor into His scheme with +a view to the chastising of the people. We have seen many times in this +history how God is represented as doing things and saying things which +He does not do nor say directly, but which He takes up into His plan, +with a view to the working out of some great end in the future. But in +Chronicles it is said that Satan stood up against Israel and provoked +David to number Israel. According to some commentators, the Hebrew word +is not to be translated "Satan," because it has no article, but "an +adversary," as in parallel passages: "The Lord stirred up an adversary +unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite" (1 Kings xi. 14); "God stirred up +another adversary to Israel, Razon, the son of Eliadib" (1 Kings xi. +23). Perhaps it was some one in the garb of a friend, but with the +spirit of an enemy, that moved David in this matter. If we suppose +Satan to have been the active mover, then Bishop Hall's words will +indicate the relation between the three parties: "Both God and Satan +had then a hand in the work--God by permission, Satan by suggestion; +God as a Judge, Satan as an enemy; God as in a just punishment for sin, +Satan as in an act of sin; God in a wise ordination of it for good, +Satan in a malicious intent of confusion. Thus at once God moved and +Satan moved, neither is it any excuse to Satan or to David that God +moved, neither is it any blemish to God that Satan moved. The ruler's +sin is a punishment to a wicked people; if God were not angry with a +people, He would not give up their governors to evils that provoke His +vengeance; justly are we charged to make prayers and supplications as +for all men, so especially for rulers." + +But what constituted David's great offence in numbering the people? +Every civilised State is now accustomed to number its people +periodically, and for many good purposes it is a most useful step. +Josephus represents that David omitted to levy the atonement money +which was to be raised, according to Exod. xxx. 12, etc., from all who +were numbered, but surely, if this had been his offence, it would have +been easy for Joab, when he remonstrated, to remind him of it, instead +of trying to dissuade him from the scheme altogether. The more common +view of the transaction has been that it was objectionable, not in +itself, but in the spirit by which it was dictated. That spirit seems +to have been a self-glorifying spirit. It seems to have been like the +spirit which led Hezekiah to show his treasures to the ambassadors +of the king of Babylon. Perhaps it was designed to show, that in the +number of his forces David was quite a match for the great empires on +the banks of the Nile and the Euphrates. If their fighting men could be +counted by the hundred thousand or the thousand thousand, so could his. +In the fighting resources of his kingdom, he was able to hold his head +as high as any of them. Surely such a spirit was the very opposite of +what was becoming in such a king as David. Was this not measuring the +strength of a spiritual power with the measure of a carnal? Did it not +leave God most sinfully out of reckoning? Nay, did it not substitute +a carnal for a spiritual defence? Was it not in the very teeth of the +Psalm, "There is no king saved by the multitude of an host; a mighty +man is not delivered by much strength. An horse is a vain thing for +safety; neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. Behold, +the eye of the Lord is upon them that ear Him, upon them that hope in +His mercy, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in +famine"? + +That David's project was very deeply seated in his heart is evident +from the fact that he was unmoved by the remonstrance of Joab. In +ordinary circumstances it must have startled him to find that even he +was strongly opposed to his project. It is indeed strange that Joab +should have had scruples where David had none. We have been accustomed +to find Joab so seldom in the right that it is hard to believe that +he was in the right now. But perhaps we do Joab injustice. He was a +man that could be profoundly stirred when his own interests were at +stake, or his passions roused, and that seemed equally regardless +of God and man in what he did on such occasions. But otherwise Joab +commonly acted with prudence and moderation. He consulted for the good +of the nation. He was not habitually reckless or habitually cruel, +and he 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. + +For once--and this time, unhappily--David was too strong for the son +of Zeruiah. The enumerators of the people were despatched, no doubt +with great regularity, to take the census. The boundaries named were +not beyond the territory as divided by Joshua among the Israelites, +save that Tyre and Zidon were included; not that they had been annexed +by David, but probably because there was an understanding that in all +his military arrangements they were to be associated with him. Nine +months and twenty days were occupied in the business. At the end of it, +it was ascertained that the fighting men of Israel were eight hundred +thousand, and those of Judah five hundred thousand; or, if we take +the figures in Chronicles, eleven hundred thousand of Israel and four +hundred and seventy thousand of Judah. The discrepancy is not easily +accounted for; but probably in Chronicles in the number for Israel +certain bodies of troops were included which were not included in +Samuel, and _vice versâ_ in the case of Judah. + +Just as in the case of his sin in the matter of Uriah, David was +long of coming to a sense of it. How his view came to change we are +not told, but when the change did occur, it seems, as in the other +case, to have come with extraordinary force. "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 says, "I will confess my transgression to the Lord;" +and his plea is one with which he is familiar from of old--"For Thy +name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for it is great." He is +never greater than when acknowledging his sin. + +Next comes the chastisement. The moment for sending it is very +seasonable. It did not come while his conscience was yet slumbering, +but after he had come to feel his sin. His confessions and relentings +were proofs that he was now fit for chastisement; the chastisement, +as in the other case, was solemnly announced by a prophet; and, as +in the other case too, it fell on one of the tenderest spots of his +heart. Then the first blow fell on his infant child; now it falls +upon his sheep. His affections were divided between his children and +his people, and in both cases the blow must have been very severe. +It was, as far as we can judge, after a night of very profound +humiliation that the prophet Gad was sent to him. Gad had first come +to him when he was hiding from Saul, and had therefore been his +friend all his kingly life. Sad that so old and so good a friend +should be the bearer to the aged king of a bitter message! Seven +years of famine (in 1 Chron. xxi. 12, three years), three months +of unsuccessful war, or three days of pestilence,--the choice lies +between these three. All of them were well fitted to rebuke that +pride in human resources which had been the occasion of his sin. +Well might he say, "I am in a great strait." Oh the bitterness of +the harvest when you sow to the flesh! Between these three horrors +even God's anointed king has to choose. What a delusion it is that +God will not be very careful in the case of the wicked to inflict the +due retribution of sin! "If these things were done in the green tree, +what shall be done in the dry?" + +David chose the three days of pestilence. It was the shortest, no +doubt, but what recommended it, especially above the three months +of unsuccessful war, was that it would come more directly from the +hand of God. "Let me fall now into the hand of the Lord, for His +mercies are great, and let me not fall into the hand of man." What +a frightful time it must have been! Seventy thousand died of the +plague. From Dan to Beersheba nothing would be heard but a bitter +cry, like that of the Egyptians when the angel slew the first-born. +What days and nights of agony these must have been to David! How +slowly would they drag on! What cries in the morning, "Would God it +were evening!" and in the evening, "Would God it were morning!" + +The pestilence, wherever it originated, seems to have advanced from +every side like a besieging army, till it was ready to close upon +Jerusalem. The destroying angel hovered over Mount Moriah, and, like +Abraham on the same spot a thousand years before, was brandishing his +sword for the work of destruction. It was a spot that had already +been memorable for one display of Divine forbearance, and now it +became the scene of another. Like the hand of Abraham when ready to +plunge the knife into the bosom of his son, the hand of the angel was +stayed when about to fall on Jerusalem. For Abraham a ram had been +provided to offer in the room of Isaac; and now David is commanded to +offer a burnt-offering in acknowledgment of his guilt and of his need +of expiation. Thus the Lord stayed His rough wind in the day of His +east wind. In sparing Jerusalem, on the very eve of destruction, He +caused His mercy to rejoice over judgment. + +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? The plea was +more beautiful than correct. The sheep had been certainly not less +guilty than the shepherd, though in a different way. We have seen how +the anger of the Lord had been kindled against Israel when David was +induced to go and number the people. And as both had been guilty, +so both had been punished. The sheep had been punished in their own +bodies, the shepherd in the tenderest feelings of his heart. It is a +rare sight to find a man prepared to take on himself more than his +own share of the blame. It was not so in paradise, when the man threw +the blame on the woman and the woman on the serpent. We see that, +with all his faults, David had another spirit from that of the vulgar +world. After all, there is much of the Divine nature in this poor, +blundering, sinning child of clay. + +On the day when the angel appeared over Jerusalem, Gad was sent back +to David with a more auspicious message. He is required to build an +altar to the Lord on the spot where the angel stood. This was the +fitting counterpart to Abraham's act when, in place of Isaac, he +offered the ram which Jehovah-jireh had provided for the sacrifice. +The circumstances connected with the rearing of the altar and the +offering of the burnt-offering were very peculiar, and seem to have +borne a deep typical meaning. The place where the angel's arm was +arrested was by the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. It +was there that David was commanded to rear his altar and offer his +burnt-offering. When Araunah saw the king approaching, he bowed +before him and respectfully asked the purpose of his visit. It was +to buy the threshing-floor and build an altar, that the plague might +be stayed. But if the threshing-floor was needed for that purpose, +Araunah would give it freely; and offer it as a free gift he did, +with royal munificence, along with the oxen for a burnt-offering and +their implements also as wood for the sacrifice. David, acknowledging +his goodness, would not be outdone in generosity, and insisted +on making payment. The floor was bought, the altar was built, +the sacrifice was offered, and the plague was stayed. As we read +in Chronicles, fire from heaven attested God's acceptance of the +offering. "And David said, This is the house of the Lord God, and +this is the altar of the burnt-offering for Israel." That is to say, +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. + +No doubt it was to save time in so pressing an emergency that Araunah +gave for sacrifice the oxen with which he was working, and the +implements connected with his labour. But in the purpose of God, a +great truth lay under these symbolical arrangements. The oxen that +had been labouring for man were sacrificed for man; both their life +and their death were given for man, just as afterwards the Lord Jesus +Christ, after living and labouring for the good of many, at last +gave His life a ransom. The wood of the altar on which they suffered +was, part of it at all events, borne on their own necks, "the +threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen," just as +Isaac had borne the wood and as Jesus was to bear the cross on which, +respectively, they were stretched. The sacrifice was a sacrifice of +blood, for only blood could remove the guilt that had to be pardoned. +The analogy is clear enough. Isaac had escaped; the ram suffered in +his room. Jerusalem escaped now; the oxen were sacrificed in its +room. Sinners of mankind were to escape; the Lamb of God was to die, +the just for the unjust, to bring them to God. + +There were other circumstances, however, not without significance, +connected with the purchase of the temple site. The man to whom +the ground had belonged, and whose oxen had been slain as the +burnt-offering, was a Jebusite; and from the way in which he +designated David's Lord, "the Lord _thy_ God," it is not certain +whether he was even a proselyte. Some think that he had formerly been +king of Jerusalem, or rather of the stronghold of Zion, but that when +Zion was taken he had been permitted to retire to Mount Moriah, which +was separated from Zion only by a deep ravine. Josephus calls him a +great friend of David's. He could not have shown a more friendly +spirit of a more princely liberality. The striking way in which the +heart of this Jebusite was moved to co-operate with King David in +preparing for the temple was fitted to remind David of the missionary +character which the temple was to sustain. "My house shall be called +an house of prayer for all nations." In the words of the sixty-eighth +Psalm, "Because of thy temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring presents +unto thee." As Araunah's oxen had been accepted, so the time would +come when "the sons of the stranger that join themselves to the +Lord, to serve Him and to love the name of the Lord, even them will +I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of +prayer; their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted +upon Mine altar." 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." + +One other lesson we gather from this chapter of David's history. When +he declined to accept the generous offer of Araunah, it was on the +ground that he 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 honour for Him, it must +be in a way suited to the occasion. The poorest mechanic that would +offer a gift to his sovereign tries to make it the product of his +best labour, the fruit of his highest skill. To pluck a weed from +the roadside and present it to one's sovereign would be no better +than an insult. 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 +you. 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, paltriest, shabbiest of worshippers! Let souls +that have been blessed as Christians have devise liberal things. Let +your question and the answer be: "What shall I render to the Lord for +all His benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation and call +on the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord, now in the +presence of His people." + + + + + CHAPTER XXXIII. + + _THE TWO BOOKS OF SAMUEL._ + + +Having now surveyed the events of the history of Israel, one by one, +during the whole of that memorable period which is embraced in the +books of Samuel, it will be profitable, before we close, to cast +a glance over the way by which we have traveled, and endeavour to +gather up the leading lessons and impressions of the whole. + +Let us bear in mind all along that the great object of these books, +as of the other historical books of Scripture, is peculiar: it is +not to trace the history of a nation, in the ordinary sense, but to +trace the course of Divine revelation, to illustrate God's manner +of dealing with the nation whom He chose that He might instruct +and train them in His ways, that He might train them to that +righteousness which alone exalteth a people, and that He might lay a +foundation for the work of Christ in future times, in whom all the +families of the earth were to be blessed. The history delineated is +not that of the kingdom of Israel, but that of the kingdom of God. + +The history falls into four divisions, like the acts of a drama. I. It +opens with Eli as high-priest, when the state of the nation is far from +satisfactory, and God's holy purpose regarding it appears a failure. +II. With Samuel as the Lord's prophet, we see a remarkable revival of +the spirit of God's nation. III. With Saul a king, the fair promise +under Samuel is darkened, and an evil spirit is again ascendant. IV. +But with David, the conditions are again reversed; God's purpose +regarding the people is greatly advanced, but in the later part of his +reign the sky again becomes overcast, through his infirmities and the +people's perversity, and the great forces of good and evil are left +still contending, though not in the same proportion as before. + +I. The opening scene, under the high-priesthood of Eli, is sad and +painful. It is the sanctuary itself, the priestly establishment at +Shiloh, that which ought to be the very centre and heart of the +spiritual life of the nation, that is photographed for us; and it is +a deplorable picture. The soul of religion has died out; little but +the carcase is left. Formality and superstition are the chief forces +at work, and a wretched business they make of it. Men still attend +to religious service, for conscience and the force of habit have a +wonderful tenacity; but what is the use? Religion does not even help +morality. The acting priests are unblushing profligates, defiling +the very precincts of God's house with abominable wickedness. And +what better could you expect of the people when their very spiritual +guides set them such an example? "Men abhor the offering of the +Lord." No wonder! It irritates them in the last degree to have to +give their wealth ostensibly for religion, but really to feed the +lusts of scoundrels. People feel that instead of getting help from +religious services for anything good, it strains all that is best +in them to endure contact with such things. How can belief in a +living God prevail when the very priests show themselves practical +atheists? The very idea of a personal God is blotted out of the +people's mind, and superstition takes its place. Men come to think +that certain words, or things, or places have in some way a power to +do them good. The object of religion is not to please God, but to +get the mysterious good out of the words, or things, or places that +have it in them. When they are going to war, they do not think how +they may get the living God to be on their side, but they take hold +of the dead ark, believing that there is some spell in it to frighten +their enemies. Israelites who believe such things are no better than +their pagan neighbours. The whole purpose of God to make them an +enlightened, orderly, sanctified people seems grievously frustrated. + +Even good men become comparatively useless under such a system. The +very high-priest is a kind of nonentity. If Eli had asserted God's +claims with any vigour, Hophni and Phinehas would not have dared to +live as they did. It is a mournful state of things when good men get +reconciled to the evil that prevails, or content themselves with very +feebly protesting against it. No doubt Eli most sincerely bewailed it. +But the very atmosphere was drowsy, inviting to rest and quiet. There +was no stir, no movement anywhere. Where all death lived, life died. + +And yet, as in the days of Elijah, God had His faithful ones in the +land. There were still men and women that believed in a living God, +and in their closets prayed to their Father that seeth in secret. +And God has wonderful ways of reviving His cause when it seems +extinct. When all flesh had corrupted their way, there was yet one +man left who was righteous and godly; and through Noah God peopled +the world. When the new generation had become idolatrous, He chose +one man, Abraham, and by him alone He built up a holy Church, and a +consecrated nation. And now, when all Israel seems to be hopelessly +corrupt, God finds in an obscure cottage a humble woman, through +whose seed it is His purpose that His Church be revived, and the +nation saved. Take heed that ye despise not one of these little +ones. Be thankful for every man and woman, however insignificant, in +whose heart there is a living faith in a living God. No one can tell +what use God may not make of the poorest saint. For God's power is +unlimited. One man, one woman, one child, may be His instrument for +arresting the decline of ages, and introducing a new era of spiritual +revival and holy triumph. + +II. For it was no less a change than this that was effected through +Samuel, Hannah's child. From his infancy Samuel was a consecrated +person. Brought up as a child to reverence the sanctuary and all +its worship, he learned betimes the true meaning of it all; and the +reverence that he had been taught to give to His outward service, he +learned to associate with the person of the living God. And Samuel +had the courage of his convictions, and told the people of their +sins, and of God's claims. It was his function to revive belief in +the spiritual God, and in His relation to the people of Israel; and +to summon the nation to honour and serve Him. What Samuel did in this +way, he did mainly through his high personal character and intense +convictions. In office he was neither priest nor king, though he +had much of the influence of both. No doubt he judged Israel; but +that function came to him not by formal appointment, but rather as +the fruit of his high character and commanding influence. The whole +position of Samuel and the influence which he wielded were due not +to temporal but spiritual considerations. He manifestly walked with +God; he was conspicuous for his fellowship with Jehovah, Israel's +Lord; and his life, and his character, and his words, all combined to +exalt Him whose servant he evidently was. + +And that was the work to which Samuel was appointed. It was to revive +the faith of an unbelieving people in the reality of God's existence +in the first place, and in the second in the reality of His covenant +relation to Israel. It was to rivet on their minds the truth that the +supreme and only God was the God of their nation, and to get them to +have regard to Him and to honour Him as such. He was to impress on +them the great principle of national prosperity, to teach them that +the one unfailing source of blessing was the active favour of God. +It was their sin and their misery alike that they not only did not +take the right means to secure God's favour, but, on the contrary, +provoked Him to anger by their sins. + +Now there were two things about God that Samuel was most earnest +in pressing. The one was His holiness, the other His spirituality. +The righteous Lord loved righteousness. No amount of ritual service +could compensate the want of moral obedience. "Behold, to obey is +better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." If they +would enjoy His favour, they must search out their sins, and humble +themselves for them before this holy God. The other earnest lesson +was God's spirituality. Not only was all idolatry and image-worship +most obnoxious to Him, but no service was acceptable which did not +come from the heart. Hence the great value of prayer. It was Samuel's +privilege to show the people what prayer could do. He showed them +prayer, when it arose from a humble, penitent spirit, moving the +Hand that moved the universe. He endeavoured to inspire them with +heartfelt regard to God as their King, and with supreme honour for +Him in all the transactions both of public and private life. That +was the groove in which he tried to move the nation, for in that +course alone he was persuaded that their true interest lay. To a +large extent, Samuel was successful in this endeavour. His spirit +was very different from the languid timidity of Eli. He spoke with a +voice that evoked an echo. He raised the nation to a higher moral and +spiritual platform, and brought them nearer to their heavenly King. +Seldom has such proof been given of the almost unbounded moral power +attainable by one man, if he but be of single eye and immovable will. + +But, as we have said, Samuel was neither priest nor king; his +conquests were the conquests of character alone. The people clamoured +for a king, certainly from inferior motives, and Samuel yielded to +their clamour. It would have been a splendid thing for the nation to +have got an ideal king, a king adapted for such a kingdom, as deeply +impressed as Samuel was with his obligation to honour God, and ruling +over them with the same regard for the law and covenant of Israel. +But such was not to be their first king. Some correction was due to +them for having been impatient of God's arrangements, and so eager +to have their own wishes complied with. Saul was to be as much an +instrument of humiliation as a source of blessing. + +III. And this brings us to the third act of the drama. Saul the son +of Kish begins well, but he turns aside soon. He has ability, he has +activity, he has abundant opportunity to make the necessary external +arrangements for the welfare of the nation; but he has no heart for +the primary condition of blessing. At first he feels constrained to +honour God; he accepts from Samuel the law of the kingdom and tries +to govern accordingly. He could not well have done otherwise. He +could not decently have accepted the office of king at the hands of +Samuel without promising and without trying to have regard to the +mode of ruling which the king-maker so earnestly pressed on him. But +Saul's efforts to honour God shared the fate of all similar efforts +when the force that impels to them is pressure from without, not +heartiness within. Like a rower pulling against wind and tide, he +soon tired. And when he tired of trying to rule as God would have +him, and fell back on his own way of it, he seemed all the more +wilful for the very fact that he had tried at first to repress his +own will. Externally he was active and for a time successful, but +internally he went from bad to worse. Under Saul, the process of +training Israel to fear and honour God made no progress whatever. The +whole force of the governing power was in the opposite direction. One +thing is to be said in favour of Saul--he was no idolater. He did not +encourage any outward departure from the worship of God. Neither Baal +nor Ashtaroth, Moloch nor Chemosh, received any countenance at his +hands. The Second Commandment was at least outwardly observed. + +But for all that, Saul was the active, inveterate, and bitter +persecutor of what we may call God's interest in the kingdom. There +was no real sympathy between him and Samuel; but as Samuel did +not cross his path, he left him comparatively alone. It was very +different in the case of David. In Saul's relation to David we see +the old antagonism--the antagonism of nature and grace, of the seed +of the serpent and the seed of the woman, of those born after the +flesh and those born after the Spirit. Here is the most painful +feature of Saul's administration. Knowing, as he did, that David +enjoyed God's favour in a very special degree, he ought to have +respected him the more. In reality he hated him the more. Jealousy is +a blind and stupid passion. It mattered nothing to Saul that David +was a man after God's own heart, except that it made him more fierce +against him. How could a theocratic kingdom prosper when the head +of it raged against God's anointed one, and strained every nerve to +destroy him? The whole policy of Saul was a fatal blunder. Under +him, the nation, instead of being trained to serve God better, and +realise the end of their selection more faithfully, were carried in +the opposite direction. And Saul lived to see into what confusion and +misery he had dragged them by his wilful and godless rule. No man +ever led himself into a more humiliating maze, and no man ever died +in circumstances that proclaimed more clearly that his life had been +both a failure and a crime. + +IV. The fourth act of the drama is a great contrast to the third. It +opens at Hebron, that place of venerable memories, where a young king, +inheriting Abraham's faith, sets himself, heart and soul, to make the +nation of Israel what God would have it to be. Trained in the school +of adversity, his feet had sometimes slipped; but on the whole he had +profited by his teacher; he had learned a great lesson of trust, and +knowing something of the treachery of his own heart, he had committed +himself to God, and his whole desire and ambition was to be God's +servant. For a long time he is occupied in getting rid of enemies, and +securing the tranquillity of the kingdom. When that object is gained, +he sets himself to the great business of his life. He places the symbol +of God's presence and covenant in the securest spot in the kingdom, and +where it is at once most central and most conspicuous. He proposes, +after his wars are over, and when he has not only become a great king, +but amassed great treasure, to employ this treasure in building a +stately temple for God's worship, although he is not allowed to carry +out that purpose. He remodels the economy of priests and Levites, +making arrangements for the more orderly and effective celebration of +all the service in the capital and throughout the kingdom for which +they were designed. He places the whole administration of the kingdom +under distinct departments, putting at the head of each the officer +that is best fitted for the effective discharge of its duties. In all +these arrangements, and in other arrangements more directly adapted +to the end, he sought to promote throughout his kingdom the spirit +that fears and honours God. And more especially did he labour for this +in that most interesting field for which he was so well adapted--the +writing of songs fitted for God's public service, and accompanied +by the instruments of music in which he so greatly delighted. Need +we say how his whole soul was thrown into this service? Need we say +how wonderfully he succeeded in it, not only in the songs which he +wrote personally, but in the school of like-minded men which he +originated, whose songs were worthy to rank with his own? The whole +collection, for well-nigh three thousand years, has been by far the +best aid to devotion the Church of God has ever known, and the best +means of promoting that fellowship with God of which his own life and +experience furnished the finest sample. No words can tell the effect +of this step in guiding the nation to a due reverence for God, and +stimulating them to the faithful discharge of the high ends for which +they had been chosen. + +Beautiful and most promising was the state of the nation at one +period of his 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 honoured 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. Never did the cause of God seem so strong +as it was in Israel under David, and never did it seem more secure +from harm. David was an absolute king, without an opponent, without a +rival; his whole soul was on the side of the good cause; his influence +was paramount; whence could danger come? Alas, it could come and it did +come from David himself. His sin in the matter of Uriah was fraught +with the most fatal consequences. It brought down the displeasure of +God; it lowered the king in the eyes of his subjects; it caused the +enemy to blaspheme; it made rebellion less difficult; it made the +success of rebellion possible. It threw back the cause of God, we +cannot tell for how long. Disaster followed disaster in the latter part +of David's reign; and though he bequeathed to his son a splendid and a +peaceful empire, the seeds of division had been sown in it; the germ +of disruption was at work; and when the disruption came, in the days +of David's grandson, no fewer than ten tribes broke away from their +allegiance, and of the new kingdom which they founded idolatry was the +established religion, and the worship of calves was set up by royal +warrant from Bethel even to Dan. + +It is sad indeed to dwell on the reverse which befel the cause of God +in the latter part of the reign of David. But this event has been +matched, over and over again, in the chequered history of religious +movements. The story of Sisyphus has often been realized, rolling his +stone up the hill, but finding it, near the top, slip from his hands +and go thundering to the bottom. Or rather, to take a more Biblical +similitude, the burden of the watchman of Dumah has time after time +come true: "The morning cometh, and also the night." Strange and trying +is often the order of Providence. The conflict between good and evil +seems to go on for ever, and just when the good appears to be on the +eve of triumph something occurs to throw it back, and restore the +balance. Was it not so after the Reformation? Did not the Catholic +cause, by diplomacy and cruelty in too many cases, regain much of +what Luther had taken from it? And have we not from time to time had +revivals of the Church at home that have speedily been followed by +counteracting forces that have thrown us back to where we were? What +encouragement is there to labour for truth and righteousness when, even +if we are apparently successful, we are sure to be overtaken by some +counter-current that will sweep us back to our former position? + +But let us not be too hasty or too summary in our inferences. When +we examine carefully the history of David, we find that the evil +that came in the end of his reign did not counteract all the good +at the beginning. Who does not see that, after all, there was a +clear balance of gain? The cause of God was stronger in Israel, its +foundation firmer, its defences surer, than it had ever been before. +Why, even if nothing had remained but those immortal psalms that +ever led the struggling Church to her refuge and her strength, the +gain would have been remarkable. And so it will be found that the +Romish reaction did not swallow up all the good of the Reformation, +and that the free-thinking reaction of our day has not neutralized +the evangelical revival of the nineteenth century. A decided gain +remains, and for that gain let us ever be thankful. + +And if the gain be less decided and less full than once it promised, +and if Amalek gains upon Israel, and recovers part of the ground he +had lost, let us mark well the lesson which God designs to teach +us. In the first place, let us learn the lesson of vigilance. Let +us watch against the decline of spiritual strength, and against +the decline of that fellowship with God from which all spiritual +strength is derived. Let those who are prominent in the Church watch +their personal conduct let them be intensely careful against those +inconsistencies and indulgences by which, when they take place, such +irreparable injury is done to the cause. And in the second place, +let us learn the lesson of patient waiting and patient working. As +the early Church had to wait for the promise of the Father, so let +the Church wait in every age. As the early Church continued with one +accord in prayer and supplication, so let each successive age ply +with renewed earnestness its applications to the throne of grace. And +let us be encouraged by the assurance that long though the tide has +ebbed and flowed, and flowed and ebbed, it will not be so for ever. +To them that look for Him, the great Captain shall appear the second +time without sin unto salvation. "The Redeemer shall come to Zion, +and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. +As for Me, this is My covenant with them, saith the Lord; My spirit +that is upon thee, and My words which I have put in thy mouth, shall +not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor +out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth +and for ever" (Isa. lix. 20, 21). + + + + +Transcriber's Notes + + +Obvious punctuation and spelling errors fixed throughout. + +Inconsistent hyphenation left as in the original text. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Expositor's Bible: The Second Book +of Samuel, by W. G. Blaikie + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44619 *** |