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THE FIRST BOOK

SAMUEL.

BY THI REV. PROFESSOR

W. G. BLAIKIE, D.D., LL.D,
New College, Edinburgh.

NEW YORK
A. C. ARMSTRONG AND SON
3 & 5 West 18th Stbeet,neab 5th Avenue
1901

CONTENTS.

L.

CHAPTER L
HANNAH'S TRIAL AND TRUST - ..... I
CHAPTER IL
Hannah's faith rewarded • ...-• 14
CHAPTER III.
Hannah's song of thanksgiving . • • . 25
CHAPTER IV.
ELI'S HOUSE --.-.....37 CHAPTER V.
SAMUEL'S VISION ...... •¦49
CHAPTER VL
THX ARK OF GOD TAKEN BY THE PHILISTINES - • • 6l
CHAPTER Vtt
THE ARK AMONG THE PHILISTINES -. «... 73

vi CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VIII. FAGS
REPENTANCE AMD REVIVAL --.....85
CHAPTER IX,
NATIONAL DELIVERANCE — THE PHILISTINES SUBDUED • - 97
CHAPTEk X.
THE PEOPLE DEMAND A KING ...... I09
CHAPTER XI.
SAUL BROUGHT TO SAMUEL « • - - . «I2I
CHAPTER XII.
FIRST MEETING OF SAMUEL AND SAUL .... 133
CHAPTER XIII.
SAUL ANOINTED BY SAMUEL ...... 145
CHAPTER XIV.
SAUL CHOSEN KING > • • - - . . -157
CHAPTER XV.
THE RELIEF OF JABESH-G1LEAD ...... 169
CHAPTER XVI.
SAMUEL'S VINDICATION OF HIMSELF - « . . • l8l
CHAPTER XVII.
SAMUEL'S DEALINGS WITH THE PEOPLE . * . - 193

CONTENTS. vH
CHAPTER XVIII. FAGB
SAUL AND SAMUEL AT GILGAL - - - - • -205
CHAPTER XIX.
JONATHAN'S EXPLOIT AT MICHMASH ..... 217
CHAPTER XX.
saul's wilfulness ........ 229
CHAPTER XXI.
THE FINAL REJECTION OF SAUL ...... 241
CHAPTER XXII.
DAVID ANOINTED BY SAMUEL ...... 253
CHAPTER XXIII.
david's early life - - ..... 265
CHAPTER XXIV.
DAVID'S CONFLICT WITH GOLIATH ..... 278
CHAPTER XXV.
SAUL'S JEALOUSY  DAVID'S MARRIAGE- .... 293
CHAPTER XXVI.
SAUL'S FURTHER EFFORTS AGAINST DAVID .... 305
CHAPTER XXVII.
DAVID AND JONATHAN .--...- 317

vffl CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXVIII. fagi
DAVID AT NOB AND AT GATH ...... 329
CHAPTER XXIX.
DAVID AT ADULLAM, MIZPEH, AND HARETH ... 341
CHAPTER XXX.
DAVID AT KEILAH, ZIPH, AND MAON - . » . « 354
CHAPTER XXXI.
DAVID TWICE SPARES THE LIFE OF SAUL . • • - 366
CHAPTER XXXII.
DAVID AND NABAL ........ 378
CHAPTER XXXIII.
DAVID'S SECOND FLIGHT TO GATH • • . • "391
CHAPTER XXXIV.
SAUL AT ENDOR ......... 404
CHAPTER XXXV.
DAVID AT ZIKLAG ........ 4x6
CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE DEATH OF SAUL ........ 439

CHAPTER I.
HANNAH'S TRIAL AND TRUST.
I Samuel i I — 18.
THE prophet Samuel, like the book which bears his
name, comes in as a connecting link between the
Judges and the Kings of Israel. He belonged to a
transition period. It was appointed to him to pilot the
nation between two stages of its history : from a republic
to a monarchy; from a condition of somewhat casual
and indefinite arrangements to one of more systematic
and orderly government. The great object of "his life
was to secure that this change should be made in the
way most beneficial for the nation, and especially mosl
beneficial for its spiritual interests. Care must be
taken that while becoming like the nations in having
a king, Israel shall not become like them in religion,
but shall continue to stand out in hearty and un
swerving allegiance to the law and covenant of their
fathers' God.
Samuel was the last of the judges, and in a sense
the first of the prophets. The last of the judges, but
not a military judge; not ruling like Samson by
physical strength, but by high spiritual qualities and
prayer ; not so much wrestling against flesh and blood
as against principalities and powers, and the rulers of
the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness
VOL, \, I

THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.

in high places. In this respect his function as judge
blended with his work as prophet. Before him, the
prophetic office was but a casual illumination ; under
him it becomes a more steady and systematic light.
He was the first of a succession of prophets whom God
placed side by side with the kings and priests of Israel
to supply that fresh moral and spiritual force which
the prevailing worldliness of the one and formalism of
the other rendered so necessary for the great ends for
which Israel was chosen. With some fine exceptions,
the kings and priests would have allowed the seed of
Abraham to drift away from the noble purpose for
which God had called them ; conformity to the world
in spirit if not in form was the prevailing tendency ;
the prophets were raised up to hold the nation firmly
to the covenant, to vindicate the claims of its heavenly
King, to thunder judgments against idolatry and all
rebellion, and pour words of comfort into the hearts
of all who were faithful to their God, and who looked
for redemption in Israel. Of this order of God's
servants Samuel was the first. And called as he was
to this office at a transition period, the importance of
it was all the greater. It was a work for which no
ordinary man was needed, and for which no ordinary
man was found.
Very often the finger of God is seen very clearly in
connection with the birth and early training of those
who are to become His greatest agents. The instances
of Moses, Samson, and John the Baptist, to say nothing
of our blessed Lord, are familiar to us all. Very often
the family from which the great man is raised up is
among the obscurest and least distinguished of the
country. The " certain man " who lived in some quiet
cottage at Ramathaim-Zophim would never probably

L I-18. HANNAH'S TRIAL AND TRUST. )
have emerged from his native obscurity but for God's
purpose to make a chosen vessel of his son. In the
case of this family, and in the circumstances of Samuel's
birth, we see a remarkable overruling of human in
firmity to the purposes of the Divine will. If Peninnah
had been kind to Hannah, Samuel might never have
been born. It was the unbearable harshness of Pen
innah that drove Hannah to the throne of grace, and
brought to her wrestling faith the blessing she so
eagerly pled for. (What must have seemed to Hannah
at the time a most painful dispensation became the
occasion of a glorious rejoicing. The very element
that aggravated her trial was that which led to her
triumph. Like many another, Hannah found the be
ginning of her life intensely painful, and as a godly
woman she no doubt wondered why God seemed to
care for her so little. But at evening time there was
light; like Job, she saw "the end of the Lord;" the
mystery cleared away, and to her as to the patriarch
it appeared very clearly that " the Lord is very pitiful
and of tender mercy. ,; J
The home in which Samuel is born has some points
of quiet interest about it ; but these are marred by
serious defects. It is a religious household, at least in
the sense that the outward duties of religion are care
fully attended to ; but the moral tone is defective.
First, there is that radical blemish — want of unity. No
doubt it was tacitly permitted to a man in those days
to have two wives. But where there were two wives
there were two centres of interest and feeling, and
discord must ensue.
Elkanah does not seem to have felt that in having
two wives he could do justice to neither. And he had
but little sympathy for the particular disappointment of

THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.

Hannah. He calculated that a woman's heart-hunger
in one direction ought to be satisfied by copious gifts
in another. And as to Peninnah, so little idea had she
of the connection of true religion and high moral tone,
that the occasion of the most solemn religious service
of the nation was her time for pouring out her bitterest
passion. Hannah is the only one of the three of
whom nothing but what is favourable is recorded.
With regard to the origin of the family, it seems
to have been of the tribe of Levi. If so, Elkanah
would occasionally have to serve the sanctuary ; but no
mention is made of such service. For anything that
appears, Elkanah may have spent his life in the same
occupations as the great bulk of the people. The
place of his residence was not many miles from Shiloh,
which was at that time the national sanctuary. But
the moral influence from that quarter was by no means
beneficial ; a decrepit high priest, unable to restrain
the profligacy of his sons, whose vile character brought
religion into contempt, and led men to associate gross
wickedness with Divine service, — of such a state of
things the influence seemed fitted rather to aggravate
than to lessen the defects of Elkanah's household.
Inside Elkanah's house we see two strange arrange
ments of Providence, of a kind that often moves our
astonishment elsewhere. \First, we see a woman emi
nently fitted to bring up children, but having none to
" bring up. On the other hand, we see another woman,
whose temper and ways are fitted to ruin children,
entrusted with the rearing of a family. In the one
case a God-fearing woman does not receive the gifts of
Providence ; in the other case a woman of a selfish
and cruel nature seems loaded with His benefits!) In
looking round us, we often see 3 similar arrangement

L I-18.] HANNAH'S TRIAL AND TRUST. 5
of other gifts ; we see riches, for example, in the very
worst of hands ; while those who from their principles
and character are fitted to make the best use of them
have often diniculty in securing the bare necessaries
of life. How is this? ^Does God really govern, or
do time and chance regulate all ? If it were God's
purpose to distribute His gifts exactly as men are
able to estimate and use them aright, we should
doubtless see a very different distribution ; but God's
aim in this world is much more to try and to train
than to reward and fulfil. All these anomalies of
Providence point to a future state. What God does
we know not now, but we shall know hereafter. The
misuse of God's gifts brings its punishment both here
and in the life to come. To whom much is given,
of them much shall be required. For those who have
shown the capacity to use God's gifts aright, there
will be splendid opportunities in another life. To
those who have received much, but abused much, there
comes a fearful reckoning, and a dismal experience of
the " the unprofitable servant's doom." '
The trial which HannaK had to bear was peculiarly
heavy, as is well known, to a Hebrew woman. To
have no child was not only a disappointment, but
seemed to mark one out as dishonoured by God, — as
unworthy of any part or lot in the means that were to
bring about the fulfilment of the promise, " In thee
and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be
blessed." In the case of Hannah, the trial was aggra
vated by the very presence of Peninnah and her
children in the same household. Had she been alone,
her mind might not have brooded over her want, and
she and her husband might have so ordered their life
SS fclmc-st; to forget the blank. But with Peninnah and

THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.

her children constantly before her eyes, such a course
was impossible. She could never forget the contrast
between the two wives. Like an aching tooth or an
aching head, it bred a perpetual pain.
In many cases home affords a refuge from our trials,
but in this case home was the very scene of the :iial.
There is another refuge from trial, which is very grateful
to devout hearts — the house of God and the exercises
of public worship. A member of Hannah's race, who
was afterwards to pass through many a trial, was able
even when far away, to find great comfort in the very
thought of the house of God, with its songs of joy and
praise, and its multitude of happy worshippers, and to
rally his desponding feelings into cheerfulness and hope.
" Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou
disquieted within me ? Hope in God, for I shall yet
praise Him for the health of His countenance." But
from Hannah this resource likewise was cut off. The
days of high festival were her days of bitter pros
tration. It was the custom in religious households for the head
of the house to give presents at the public festivals.
Elkanah, a kind-hearted but not very discriminating
man, kept up the custom, and as we suppose, to com
pensate Hannah for the want of children, he gave her at
these times a worthy or double portion. But his kind
ness was inconsiderate, (it only raised the jealousy of
Peninnah. For her and her children to get less than
the childless Hannah was intolerable. No sense of
courtesy restrained her from uttering her feeling. No
sisterly compassion urged her to spare the feelings of
her rival. No regard for God or His worship kept back
the storm of bitterness. With the reckless impetuosity
of a bitter heart she took these opportunities to re-

i. :-i8.] HANNAH'S TRIAL AND TRUST. J
proach Hannah with her childless condition. She
knew the tender spot of her heart, and, instead of
sparing it, she selected it as the very spot on which to
plant her blows. Her very object was to give Hannah
pain, to give her the greatest pain she could. And so
the very place that should have been a rebuke to eveiy
bitter feeling, the very time which was sacred to
joyous festivity, and the very sorrow that should have
been kept furthest from Hannah's thoughts, were
selected by her bitter rival to poison all her happiness,
and overwhelm her with lamentation and woe. J
After all, was Hannah or Peninnah the more
wretched of the two ? To suffer in the tenderest part
of one's nature is no doubt a heavy affliction, But to
have a heart eager to inflict such suffering on another
is far more awful. Young people that sting a comrade
when out of temper, that call him names, that reproach
him with his infirmities, are far more wretched and
pitiable creatures than those whom they try to irritate.
It has always been regarded as a natural proof of the
hoHness of God that He has made man so that there is
a pleasure in the exercise of his amiable feelings, while
his evil passions, in the very play of them, produce
pain and misery. Lady Macbeth is miserable over
the murdered king, even while exulting in the triumph
of her ambitkin. Torn by her heartless and reckless
passions, her bosom is like a hell. The tumult in
her raging soul is like the writhing of an evil spirit.
Yes, my friends, if you accept the offices of sin, if you
make passion the instrument of your purposes, if you
make it your business to sting and to stab those who
in some way cross your path, you may succeed for the
moment, and you may experience whatever of satisfac
tion can be found in gloated revenge. But know this,

THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.

that you have been cherishing a viper in your bosom
that will not content itself with fulfilling your desire.
It will make itself a habitual resident in your heart, and
distil its poison over it. It will make it impossible for
you to know anything of the sweetness of love, the
serenity of a well-ordered heart, the joy of trust, the
peace of heaven. You will be like the troubled sea,
whose waters cast up mire and dirt. You will find the
truth of that solemn word, " There is no peace, saith
my God, to the wicked."
If the heart of Peninnah was actuated by this in
fernal desire to make her neighbour fret, it need not
surprise us that she chose the most solemn season
of religious worship to gratify her desire. What
could religion be to such a one but a form? What
communion could she have, or care to have, with
God ? How could she realize what she did in disturb
ing the communion of another heart ? If we could
suppose her realizing the presence of God, and holding
soul-to-soul communion with Him, she would have
received such a withering rebuke to her bitter feel
ings as would have filled her with shame and con
trition. But when religious services are a mere form,
there is absolutely nothing in them to prevent, at
such times, the outbreak of the heart's worst passions.
There are men and women whose visits to the house
of God are often the occasions of rousing their worst,
or at least very unworthy, passions. Pride, scorn,
malice, vanity — how often are they moved by the very
sight of others in the house of God ! What strange
and unworthy conceptions of Divine service such
persons must have 1 What a dishonouring idea of
God, if they imagine that the service of their bodies or
of their lips i§ anything to Him, Surely in the house

i. I-18.] HANNAH'S TRIAL AND TRUST. 9
of God, and in the presence of God, men ought to feel
that among the things most offensive in His eyes are a
foul heart, a fierce temper, and the spirit that hateth a
brother. While, on the other hand, if we would serve
Him acceptably, we must lay aside all malice and
all guile and hypocrisies, envies and all evil speak
ings. Instead of trying to make others fret, we
should try, young and old alike, to make the crooked
places of men's hearts straight, and the rough places
of their lives plain ; try to give the soft answer that
turneth away wrath; try to extinguish the flame of
passion, to lessen the sum-total of sin, and stimulate
all that is lovely and of good report in the world
around us.
But to return to Hannah and her trial. Year by year
it went on, and her sensitive spirit, instead of feeling it
less, seemed to feel it- more. It would appear that, on
one occasion, her distress reached a climax. She was
so overcome that even the sacred feast remained by her
untasted. Her husband's attention was now thoroughly
roused. " Hannah, why weepest thou ? and why eatest
thou not ? and why is thy heart grieved ? am not I
better to thee than ten sons ? " There was not much
comfort in these questions. He did not understand the
poor woman's feeling. Possibly his attempts to show her
how little cause she had to complain only aggravated
her distress. Perhaps she thought, "When my very
husband does not understand me, it is time for me to
cease from man." With the double feeling — my dis
tress is beyond endurance, and there is no sympathy
for me in any fellow-creature — the thought may have
come into her mind, " I will arise and go to my Father."
However it came about, her trials had the happy effect
of sending her to God. Blessed fruit of affliction 1 la

10 THE FIRST BOOK CF SAMUEL.
not this the reason why afflictions are often so severe ?
If they were of ordinary intensity, then, in the world's
phrase, we might "grin and bear them." It is when
they become intolerable that men think of God. As
Archbishop Leighton has said, God closes up the way
to every broken cistern, one after another, that He may
induce you, baffled everywhere else, to take the way to
the fountain of living waters. " I looked on my right
hand and beheld, but there was no man that would
know me ; refuge failed me, no man cared for my soul.
I cried unto thee, O Lord ; I said, Thou art my refuge
and my portion in the land of the living."
Behold Hannah, then, overwhelmed with distress, in
" the temple of the Lord" (as His house at Shiloh was
called), transacting solemnly with God. "She vowed
a vow." She entered into a transaction with God, as
really and as directly as one man transacts with another.
It is this directness and distinctness of dealing with
God that is so striking a feature in the piety of those
early times. She asked God for a man child. But she
did not ask this gift merely to gratify her personal
wish. In the very act of dealing with God she felt that
it was His glory and not her personal feelings that she
was called chiefly to respect. No doubt she wished the
child, and she asked the child in fulfilment of her own
vehement desire. But beyond and above that desire
there arose in her soul the sense of God's claim and
God's glory, and to these high considerations she desired
to subordinate every feeling of her own. If God should
give her the man child, he would not be hers, but God's.
He would be specially dedicated as a Nazarite to God's
service. No razor should come on his head ; no drop
of strong drink should pass his lips. And this would
not be a mere temporary dedication, it would last all

L 1-18.] HANNAH'S TRIAL AND TRUST. II
:he days of his life. Eagerly though Hannah desired a
son, she did not wish him merely for personal gratifi
cation, She was not to make herself the end of her
child's existence, but would sacrifice even her reasonable
and natural claims upon him in order that he might be
more thoroughly the servant of God.
Hannah, as she continued praying, must have felt
something of that peace of soul which ever comes from
conscious communion with a prayer-hearing God. But
probably her faith needed the element of strengthening
which a kindly and favourable word from one high in
God's service would have imparted. It must have
been terrible for her to find, when the high priest
spoke to her, that it was to insult her, and accuse her
of an offence against decency itself from which her
very soul would have recoiled. Well meaning, but
weak and blundering, Eli never made a more out
rageous mistake. With firmness and dignity, and yet
in perfect courtesy, Hannah repudiated the charge.
Others might try to drown their sorrows with strong
drink, but she had poured out her soul before God.
The high priest must have felt ashamed of his rude
^nd unworthy charge, as well as rebuked by the
dignity and self-possession of this much-tried but
upright, godly woman. He sent her away with a
hearty benediction, which seemed to convey to her an
assurance t' her prayer would be fulfilled. As yet
it is all a m ,.i.er of faith ; but her " faith is the sub
stance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen." H^r burden is completely removed ; her soul
has returned to its quiet rest. This chapter of the
history has a happy ending — "The woman went her
way and did eat, and her countenance was no more
sad."

i« THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
Is not this whole history just like one of the Psalms,
expressed not in words but in deeds ? First the wail
of distress ; then the wrestling of the troubled heart
with God; then the repose and triumph of faith.
What a blessing, amid the multitude of this world's
sorrows, that such a process should be practicable !
What a blessed thing is faith, faith in God's word, and
faith in God's heart, that faith which becomes a bridge
to the distressed from the region of desolation and
misery to the region of peace and joy ? Is there any
fact more abundantly verified than this experience is
— this passage out of the depths, this way of shaking
one's self from the dust, and putting on the garments
of praise ? Are any of you tired, worried, wearied in
the battle of life, and yet ignorant of this blessed
process ? Do any receive your fresh troubles with
nothing better than a growl of irritation — I will not
say an angry curse ? Alas for your thorny experience I
an experience which knows no way of blunting the
point of the thorns. Know, my friends, that in Gilead
there is a balm for soothing these bitter irritations.
There is a peace of God that passeth all understanding,
and that keeps the hearts and minds of His people
through Christ Jesus. " Thou wilt keep him in
perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because
he trusteth in Thee."
But let those who profess to be Christ's see that they
are consistent here. A fretful, complaining Christian is
a contradiction in terms. How unlike to Christ 1 How
forgetful such a one is of the grand argument, "He
that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for
us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us
all things ? " " Be patient, brethren, for the coming of
the Lord draweth near." Amid the agitations of life

L I-l8.j HAtfNAH'S TRIAL AND TRUST. 13
often steal away to the green pastures and the still
waters, and they will calm your soul. And while
" the trial of your faith is much more precious than of
gold that perisheth, although it be tried with fire," it
shall be " found unto praise and honour and glory at
the appearing of Jesus Christ"

CHAPTER II.
BANNAHS FAITH REWARDED.
i Samuel i. 19—28.
IN all the transactions recorded in these verses,
we see in Hannah the directing and regulating
power of the family; while Elkanah appears acquiescing
cordially in all that she proposes, and devoutly second
ing her great act of consecration, — the surrender of
Samuel to the perpetual service of God. For a moment
it might be thought that Hannah assumed a place that
hardly belonged to her; that she became the leader
and director in the house, while her proper position
was that of a helpmeet to her husband. We are con
strained, however, to dismiss this thought, for it does
not fit in to the character of Hannah, and it is not in
keeping with the general tone of the passage. There
are two reasons that account sufficiently for the part
she took. In the first place, it was she that had dealt
with God in the matter, and it was with her too that
God had dealt. She had been God-directed in the
earlier part of the transaction, and therefore was
specially able to see what was right and proper to be
done in following up God's remarkable acknowledgment
and answer of her prayer. The course to be taken
came to her as an intuition, — an intuition not to be
reasoned about, not to be exposed to the criticism of
Another, to be simply accepted and obeyed. As she

L 19-28.] HANNAH'S FAlTH REWARDED. t?

gave no heed to those impulses of her own heart that
might have desired a different destination for her child,
so she was disposed to give none to the impulses of
any other. The name, and the training, and the life-
work of a child given so remarkably were all clear as
sunbeams to her godly heart ; and in such a matter it
would have been nothing but weakness to confer with
flesh and blood.
And in the second place, Elkanah could be in no
humour to resist his wife, even if he had had any reason
to do so. For he was in a manner reproved of God
for not being more concerned about her sadness of
spirit. God had treated her sorrow more seriously
than he had. God had not said to her that her husband
was better to her than ten sons. God had recognised
the hunger of her heart for a son as a legitimate craving,
and when she brought her wish to Him, and meekly
and humbly asked Him to fulfil it, He had heard her
prayer, and granted her request. In a sense Hannah,
in the depth of her sorrow, had appealed from her
husband to a higher court, and the appeal had been
decided in her favour. Elkanah could not but feel
that in faith, in lofty principle, in nearness of fellow
ship with God, he had been surpassed by his wife.
It was no wonder he surrendered to her the future
direction of a life given thus in answer to her prayers.
Yet in thus surrendering his right he showed no
sullenness of temper, but acted in harmony with her,
not only in naming and dedicating the child, but in
taking a vow on himself, and at the proper moment
fulfilling that vow. The three bullocks, with the ephah
of flour and the bottle of wine brought to Shiloh when
the child was presented to the Lord, were probably the
fulfilment of Elkanah's vow.

l6 Tl. E FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL-.
But to come more particularly to what is recorded in
the text.
I. We notice, first, the fact of the answer to prayer.
The answer was prompt, clear, explicit. It is an
important question, Why are some prayers answered
and not others ? Many a good man and woman feel
it to be the greatest trial that their prayers for definite
objects are not answered. Many a mother will say,
Why did God not answer me when I prayed Him to
spare my infant's life ? I am sure I prayed with my
whole heart and soul, but it seemed to make no differ
ence, the child sank and died just as if no one had
been praying for him. Many a wife will say, Why
d )es God not convert my husband ? I have agonized,
\ have wept and made supplication on his behalf, and
in particular, with reference to his besetting infirmity,
I have implored God to break his chain and set him
free ; but there he is, the same as ever. Many a young
person under serious impressions will say, Why does
God not hear my prayer? I have prayed with heart
and soul for faith and love, for peace in believing, for
consciousness of my interest in Christ ; but my prayers
seem directed against a wall of brass, they seem never
to reach the ears of the Lord of hosts. In spite of all
such objections and difficulties, we maintain that God
is the hearer of prayer. Every sincere prayer offered
in the name of Christ is heard, and dealt with by God
in such way as seems good to Him. There are good
reasons why some prayers are not answered at all, ana*
there are also good reasons why the visible answer
to some prayers is delayed. Some prayers are not
answered because the spirit of them is bad. " Ye ask
but receive not becai se ye ask amiss, that ye may
consume it upon your lusts." What is asked merely

1 19-28.] HANNAH'S FAITH REWARDED. 17
to gratify a selfish feeling is asked amiss. It is not
holy prayer ; it does not fit in with the sacred purposes
of life; it is not asked to make us better, or enable
us to serve God better, or make our life more useful
to our fellows ; but simply to increase our pleasure, to
make our surroundings more agreeable. Some prayers
are not answered because what is asked would be hurt
ful ; the prayer is answered in spirit though denied in
form. A Christian lady, over the sick bed of an only
son, once prayed with intense fervour that he might be
restored, and positively refused to say, " Thy will be
done." Falling asleep, she seemed to see a panorama
of her son's life had he survived ; it was a succession
of sorrows, rising into terrible agonies, — so pitiful a
sight that she could no longer desire his life to be
prolonged, and gave up the battle against the will of
God. Some prayers are not answered at the time,
because a discipline of patience is needed for those who
offer them ; they have to be taught the grace of waiting
patiently for the Lord ; they have to learn more fully
than hitherto to walk by faith, not by sight ; they have
to learn to take the promise of God against all appear
ances, and to remember that heaven and earth shall
pass away, but God's word shall not pass away.
But whatever be the reasons for the apparent silence
of God, we may rest assured that hearing prayer is
the law of His kingdom. Old Testament and New
alike bear witness to this. Every verse of the Psalms
proclaims it. Alike by precept and example our Lord
constantly enforced it. Every Apostle takes up the
theme, and urges the duty and the privilege. We may
say of prayer as St. Paul said of the resurrection — if
prayer be not heard our preaching is vain, and your
faith is vain. And what true Christian is there who
vol. 1. a

18 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
cannot add testimonies from his own history to the
same effect ? If the answer to some of your prayers
be delayed, has it not come to many of them ? Come,
too, very conspicuously, so that you were amazed, and
almost awed ? And if there be prayers that have not
yet been answered, or in reference to which you have
no knowledge of an answer, can you not afford to
wait till God gives the explanation? And when the
explanation comes, have you not much cause to believe
that it will redound to the praise of God, and that
many things, in reference to which you could at the
time see nothing but what was dark and terrible, may
turn out when fully explained to furnish new and over
whelming testimony that "God is love?"
2. The next point is the name given by Hannah to
her son. The name Samuel, in its literal import, does
not mean " asked of the Lord," but " heard of the
Lord." The reason assigned by Hannah for giving this
name to her son is not an explanation of the word,
but a reference to the circumstances. In point of fact,
"heard of the Lord" is more expressive than even
" asked of the Lord," because it was God's hearing (in
a favourable sense), more than Hannah's asking, that
was the decisive point in the transaction. Still, as far
as Hannah was concerned, he was asked of the Lord.
The name was designed to be a perpetual memorial of
the circumstances of his birth. For the good of the
child himself, and for the instruction of all that might
come in contact with him, it was designed to perpetuate
the fact that before his birth a solemn transaction in
prayer took place between his mother and the Almighty.
The very existence of this child was a perpetual wit
ness, first of all of the truth that God exists, and then
of the truth that He is a prayer-hearing God. Tbe

1. 19-28. tlANNAH^S FAITH REWARDED. 19
very name of this child is a rebuke to those parents
who never think of God in connection wivh their
children, who never thank God for giving them, nor
think of what He would like in their education and
training. Even where no such special transaction by
prayer has taken place as in the case of Samuel's
mother, "children are to be regarded as sacred gifts of
God. " Lo, children are the heritage of the Lord, and
the fruit of the womb is His reward." Many a child
has had the name Samuel given him since these distant
days in Judaea under the influence of this feeling.
Many a parent has felt what a solemn thing it is to
receive from God's hands an immortal creature, that
may become either an angel or a devil, and to be
entrusted with the first stage of a life that may spread
desolation and misery on the one hand, or joy and
blessing wherever its influence reaches. Do not treat
lightly, O parents, the connection between God and
your children ! Cherish the thought that they are
God's gifts, God's heritage to you, committed by Him
to you to bring up, but not apart from Him, not in
separation from those holy influences which He alone
can impart, and which He is willing to impart. What
a cruel thing it is to cut this early connection between
them and God, and send them drifting through the
world like a ship with a forsaken rudder, that flaps
hither and thither with every current of the sea 1 What
a blessed thing when, above all things, the grace and
blessing of God are sought by parents for their children,
when all the earnest lessons of childhood are directed
to this end, and before childhood has passed into youth
the grace of God rules the young heart, and the holy
purpose is formed to live in His fear through Jesus
Christ, and to honour Him for evermore 1

20 THE FIRST BOOK dF SAMUEL
3. Hannah's arrangements for the child. From the
very first she had decided that at the earliest possible
period he should be placed under the high priest at
Shiloh. Hannah's fulfilment of her vow was to be
an ample, prompt, honourable fulfilment. Many a one
who makes vows or resolutions under the pressure and
pinch of distress immediately begins to pare them
down when the pinch is removed, like the merchant in
the storm who vowed a hecatomb to Jupiter, then
reduced the hecatomb to a single bullock, the bullock
to a sheep, the sheep to a few dates ; but even these he
ate on the way to the altar, laying on it only the stones.
Not one jot would Hannah abate of the full sweep and
compass of her vow. She would keep the child by
her only till he was weaned, and then he should be
presented at Shiloh. It is said that Jewish mothers
sometimes suckled their children to the age of three
years, and this was probably little Samuel's age when
he was taken to Shiloh. Meanwhile, she resolved that
till that time was reached she would not go up to the
feast. Had she gone before her son was weaned she
must have taken him with her, and brought him away
with her, and that would have broken the solemnity of
the transaction when at last she should take him for
good and all. No. The very first visit that she and her
son should pay to Shiloh would be the decisive visit.
The very first time that she should present herself at
that holy place where God had heard her prayer and
her vow would be the time when she should fulfil her
vow. The first time that she should remind the high
priest of their old interview would be when she came
to offer to God's perpetual service the answer to her
prayer and the fruit of her vow. To miss the feast
would be a privation, it might even be a spiritual loss,

L 19-28.] HANNAH'S FAITH REWARDED. n
but she had in her son that which itself was a means
of grace to her, and a blessed link to God and heaven ;
while she remained with him God would still remain
with her ; and in prayer for him, and the people whom
he might one day influence, her heart might be as much
enlarged and warmed as if she were mingling with the
thousands of Israel, amid the holy excitement of the
great national feast.
4. Elkanah's offering at Shiloh. When Elkanah
heard his wife's plan with reference to Samuel, he
simply acquiesced, bade her remain at Shiloh, "only
the Lord establish His word." What word ? Literally,
the Lord had spoken no word about Samuel, unless
the word of Eli to Hannah " The God of Israel grant
thee thy petition that thou hast asked of Him " could
be regarded as a word from God. That word, how
ever, had already been fulfilled ; and Elkanah's prayer
meant, The Lord bring to pass those further blessings
of which the birth of Samuel was the promise and
the prelude ; the Lord accept, in due time, the offering
of this child to His service, and grant that out of that
offering there may come to Israel all the good that it
is capable of yielding.
The cordiality with which Elkanah accepted his wife's
view of the case is seen further in the ample offering
which he took to Shiloh — three bullocks, an ephah of
flour, and a bottle of wine. One bullock would have
sufficed as a burnt-offering for the child now given for
the service of God, and in ver. 25 special mention is
made of one being slain. The other two were added to
mark the speciality of the occasion, to make the offering,
so to speak, round and complete, to testify the ungrudg
ing cordiality with which the whole transaction was
entered into. One might perhaps have thought that in

THE FIRST BOOS. OF SAMUEL.

connection with such a service there was hardly anj
need of a bloody sacrifice. A little child of two or three
years old— ^-the very type and picture of innocence — •
surely needed little in the way of expiation. Not so,
however, the view of the law of Moses. Even a new
born infant could not be presented to the Lord without
some symbol of expiation. There is such a virus of
corruption in every human soul that not even infants
can be brought to God for acceptance and blessing
without a token of atonement. Sin has so separated
the whole race from God, that not one member of it
can be brought near, can be brought into the region
of benediction; without shedding of blood. And if no
member of it can be even accepted without atonement,
much less can any be taken to be God's servant, taken to
stand before Him, to represent Him, to be His organ to
others, to speak in His name. What a solemn truth
for all who desire to be employed in the public service
of Jesus Christ 1 Remember how unworthy you are
to stand before him. Remember how stained your
garments are with sin and worldliness, how distracted
your heart is with other thoughts and feelings, how
poor the service is you are capable of rendering. Re
member how gloriously Jesus is served by the angels
that excel in strength, that do His commandments,
hearkening to the voice of His word. And when you
give yourselves to Him, or ask to be allowed to take
your place among His servants, seek as you do so to
be sprinkled with the blood of cleansing, own your
personal unworthiness, and pray to be accepted through
the merit of His sacrifice 1
5. And now, the bullock being slain, they bring the
child to Eli. Ha.inah is the speaker, and her words
are few and well chosen. She reminds Eli of what

i. 19-28.] HANNAH'S FAITH REWARDED. %%
she had done the last time she was there. Generous
and courteous, she makes no allusion to anything un
pleasant that had passed between them. Small matters
of that sort are absorbed in the solemnity and im
portance of the transaction. In her words to Eli she
touches briefly on the past, the present, and the future.
What occurred in the past was, that she stood there a
few years ago praying unto the Lord. What was true
of the present was, that the Lord had granted her
petition, and given her this child for whom she had
prayed. And what was going to happen in the future
was (as the Revised Version has it), " I have granted
him to the Lord ; as long as he liveth he is granted to
the Lord."
It is interesting to remark that no word of Eli's is
introduced.. This Nazarite child is accepted for the
perpetual service of God at once and without remark.
No remonstrance is made on the score of his tender
years. No doubt is insinuated as to how he may turn
out. If Samuel's family was a Levitical one, he would
have been entitled to take part in the service of God,
but only occasionally, and at the Levitical age. But
his mother brings him to the Lord long before the
Levitical age, and leaves him at Shiloh, bound over to
a lifelong service. How was she able to do it ? For
three years that child had been her constant companion,
had lain in her bosom, had warmed her heart with his
smiles, had amused her with his prattle, had charmed
her with all his engaging little ways. How was she
able to part with him ? Would he not miss her too as
much as she would miss him ? Shiloh was not a very
attractive place, Eli was old and feeble, Hophni and
Phinehas were beasts, the atmosphere was offensive
and pernicious. Nevertheless, it was God's house, and

24 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
if a little child should be brought to it, capable of
rendering to God real service, God would take care
of the child. Already he was God's child. Asked of
God, and heard of God, he bore already the mark of
his Master. God would be with him, as He had been
with Joseph, as He had been with Moses — " He shall
call on Me, and I will answer him ; I will be with
him in trouble, I will be with him and honour him."
Noble in her spirit of endurance in the time of trial,
Hannah is still more noble in the spirit of self-denial in
the time of prosperity. It was no common grace that
could so completely sacrifice all her personal feelings,
and so thoroughly honour God. What a rebuke to
those parents that keep back their children from God's
service, that will not part with their sons to be mis
sionaries, that look on the ministry of the Gospel as
but a poor occupation 1 What a rebuke, too, to many
Christian men and women who are so unwilling to
commit themselves openly to any form of Christian
service, — unwilling to be identified with religious work !
Yet, on the other hand, let us rejoice that in this our
age, more perhaps than in any other, so many are
willing, nay eager, for Christian service. Let us rejoice
that both among young men and young women recruits
for the mission-field are offering themselves in such
numbers. After all, it is true wisdom, and true policy,
although not done as a matter of policy. It will yield
far the greatest satisfaction in the end. God is not
unrighteous to forget the work and labour of love of His
children. And " every one that hath forsaken houses,
or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or
children, or lands for My name's sake, shall receive an
hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life."

CHAPTER III.
HANNAHS SONG OF THANKSGIVING.
i Samuel il i-io.
THE emotion that filled Hannah's breast after she
had granted Samuel to the Lord, and left him
settled at Shiloh, was one of triumphant joy. In her
song we see no trace of depression, like that of a
bereaved and desolate mother. Some may be disposed
to think less of Hannah on this account; they may
think she would have been more of a true mother if
something of human regret had been apparent in her
song. But surely we ought not to blame her if the
Divine emotion that so completely filled her soul ex
cluded for the time every ordinary feeling. In the very
first words of her song we see how closely God was
connected with the emotions that swelled in her breast.
" My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted
in the Lord" The feeling that was so rapturous was
the sense of God's gracious owning of her ; His taking
her into partnership, so to speak, with Himself; His
accepting of her son as an instrument for carrying out
His gracious purposes to Israel and the world. Only
those who have experienced it can understand the over
whelming blessedness of this feeling. That the infinite
God should draw near to His sinful creature, and not
only accept him, but identify Himself with him, as it

26 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
were, taking him and those dearest to him into His
confidence, and using them to carry out His plans, is
something almost too wonderful for the human spirit to
bear. This was Hannah's feeling, as it afterwards was
that of Elizabeth, and still more of the Virgin Mary,
and it is no wonder that their songs, which bear a close
resemblance to each other, should have been used by
the Christian Church to express the very highest degree
of thankfulness.
The emotion of Hannah was intensified by another
consideration. What had taken place in her experience
was not the only thing of this kind that had ever
happened or that ever was to happen. On the contrary,
it was the outcome of a great law of God's kingdom,
which law regulated the ordinary procedure of His
providence. Hannah's heart was enlarged as she
thought how many others had shared or would share
what had befallen her ; as she thought how such pride
and arrogance as that which had tormented her was
doomed to be rebuked and brought low under God's
government ; how many lowly souls that brought their
burden to Him were to be relieved ; and how many
empty and hungry hearts, pining for food and rest,
were to find how He " satisfieth the longing soul, and
filleth the hungry soul with goodness "
But it would seem that her thoughts took a still
wider sweep. Looking on herself as representing the
nation of Israel, she seems to have felt that what had
happened to her on a small scale was to happen to the
nation on a large ; for God would draw nigh to Israel
as He had to her, make him His friend and confidential
servant, humble the proud and malignant nations around
him, and exalt him, if only he endeavoured humbly and
thankfully to comply with the Divine will. Is it possible

u.I-10.] HANNAH'S SONG OF THANKSGIVING. aj
that her thoughts took a more definite form ? May not
the Holy Spirit have given her a glimpse of the great
truth — "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given"?
May she not have surmised that it was to be through
one born in the same land that the great redemption
was to be achieved ? May she not have seen in her
little Samuel the type and symbol of another Child, to
be more wonderfully born than hers, to be dedicated to
God's service in a higher sense, to fulfil all righteousness
far beyond anything in Samuel's power? And may
not this high theme, carrying her far into future times,
carrying her on to the end of the world's history, bearing
her up even to eternity and infinity, have been the
cause of that utter absence of human regret, that
apparent want of motherly heart-sinking, which we
mark in the song?
When we examine the substance of the song more
carefully, we find that Hannah derives her joy from
four things about God : — I. His nature (vv. 2-3) ; 2.
His providential government (w. 4-8); 3. His most
gracious treatment of His saints (v. 9) ; 4. The glorious
destiny of the kingdom of His anointed.
I. In the second and third verses we find comfort
derived from (1) God's holiness, (2) His unity, (3) His
strength, (4) His knowledge, and (5) His justice.
(1) The holiness, the spotlessness of God is a source
of comfort, — " There is none holy as the Lord." To the
wicked this attribute is no comfort, but only a terror.
Left to themselves, men take away this attribute, and,
like the Greeks and Romans and other pagans, ascribe
to their gods the lusts and passions of poor human
creatures. Yet to those who can appreciate it, how
bit-ssed a thing is the holiness of God I No darkness
in Him, no corruption, no infirmity ; absolutely pure,

28 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
He governs all on the principles of absolute purity;
He keeps all up, even in a sinful, crumbling world, to
that high standard ; and when His schemes are com
pleted, the blessed outcome will be " the new heavens
and the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."
(2) His unity gives comfort, — " There is none besides
Thee." None to thwart His righteous and gracious
plans, or make those to tremble whose trust is placed
in Him. He doeth according to His will in the army
of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth;
and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, " What
doest Thou ? "
(3) His strength gives comfort, — " Neither is there
any rock like our God." " If God be for us, who can
be against us ? " " Hast thou not known, hast thou
not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the
Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, nor is
weary ? There is no searching of His understanding ?
He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have
no might He increaseth strength. Even the youths
shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall
utterly fall ; but they that wait on the Lord shall
renew their strength ; they shall mount up with wings
as eagles ; they shall run and not be weary, and they
shall walk and not faint."
(4) His knowledge gives comfort, — " The Lord is
a God of knowledge." He sees all secret wickedness,
and knows how to deal with it. His eye is on every
plot hatched in the darkness. He knows His faithful
servants, what they aim at, what they suffer, what a
strain is often put on their fidelity. And He never
can forget them, and never can desert them, for " the
angel of the Lord encampeth about them that fear Him,
and delivereth them,"

ii. i-io.] HANNAH'S SONG OF THANKSGIVING. 29
(5) His justice gives comfort. " By Him actions
are weighed." Their true quality is ascertained ; what
is done for mean, selfish ends stands out before Him
in all its native ugliness, and draws down the retribu
tion that is meet. Men may perform the outward
services of religion with great regularity and apparent
zeal, while their hearts are full of all uncleanness and
wickedness. The hypocrite may rise to honour, the
thief may become rich, men that prey upon the infir
mities or the simplicity of their fellows Kiay prosper ;
but there is a God in heaven by Whom all evil devices
are weighed, and Who in His own time will effectually
checkmate all that either deny His existence or fancy
they can elude His righteous judgment.
2. These views of God's holy government are more
fully enlarged on in the second part of the song (vv.
3-8). The main feature of God's providence dwelt
on here is the changes that occur in the lot of certain
classes. The class against whom God's providence
bears chiefly is the haughty, t^e self-sufficient, the men
of physical might who are ready to use that might to
the injury of others. Those again who lie in the path
of God's mercies are the weak, the hungry, the child
less, the beggar. Hannah uses a variety of figures.
Now it is from the profession of soldiers — " the bows of
the mighty are broken " ; and on the other hand they that
for very weakness were stumbling and staggering are
girded with strength. Now it is from the appetite for
food — they that were full have had to hire out them
selves for bread, and they that were hungry are hungry
no more. Now it is from family life, and from a feature
of family life that came home to Hannah — " the barren
hath borne seven, and she that had many children is
waxed feeble." And these changes are the doing of

30 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
God, " The Lord killeth and maketh alive ; He bringeth
down to the grave and bringeth up. The Lord maketh
poor and maketh rich, He bringeth low and lifteth up.
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up
the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among
princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory ;
for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and He hath
set the world upon them." If nothing were taught
here but that there are great vicissitudes of fortune
among men, then a lesson would come from it alike to
high and low — let the high beware lest they glory in
their fortune, let the low not sink into dejection and
despair. If it be further borne in mind that these
changes of fortune are all in the hands of God, a further
lesson arises, to beware how we offend God, and to live
in the earnest desire to enjoy His favour. But there is
a further lesson. The class of qualities that are here
marked as offensive to God are pride, self-seeking, self-
sufficiency both in ordinary matters and in their spiritual
development. Your tyrannical and haughty Pharaohs,
your high-vaunting Sennacheribs, your pride-intoxicated
Nebuchadnezzars, are objects of special dislike to God.
So is your proud Pharisee, who goes up to the temple
thanking God that he is not as other men, no, nor like
that poor publican, who is smiting on his breast, as
well such a sinner may. It is the lowly in heart that
God takes pleasure in. "Thus saith the high and
lofty One, that inhabiteth eternity, and whose name is
Holy : I dwell in the high and in the holy place, but
with him also that is of a humble and contrite heart •
to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the
heart of the contrite one."
When we turn to the song of the Virgin we find the
same strain — "He hath showed strength with His

IL i-io] HANNAH'S SONG OF THANKSGIVING. 3»
arm, He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of
their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their
seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled
the hungry with good things, and the rich He hath
sent empty away." Undoubtedly these words have
primary reference to the social conditions of men.
Thanks are given that the highest privilege that God
could bestow on a creature had been conferred not
on any one rolling in luxury, but on a maiden of the
lowest class. This meaning does not exhaust the scope
of the thanksgiving, which doubtless embraces that law
of the spiritual kingdom to which Christ gave ex
pression in the opening words of the Sermon on the
Mount, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven." Yet it is plain that both the
song of Hannah and the song of Mary dwell with
complacency on that feature of providence by which
men of low degree are sometimes exalted, by which the
beggar is sometimes lifted from the dunghill, and set
among princes to inherit the throne of glory. Why
is this ? Can God have any sympathy with the spirit
which often prevails in the bosom of the poor towards
the rich, which rejoices in their downfall just because they
are rich, and in the elevation of others simply because
they belong to the same class with themselves ? The
thought is not to be entertained for a moment. In
God's government there is nothing partial or capricious.
But the principle is this. Riches, fulness, luxury are
apt to breed pride and contempt of the poor; and it
pleases God at times, when such evil fruits appear,
to bring down these worthless rich men to the dust, in
order to give a conspicuous rebuke to the vanity, the
ambition, the remorseless selfishness which were so
conspicuous in their character. What but this was

THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.

the lesson from the sudden fall of Cardinal Wolsey ?
Men, and even the best of men, thanked God for that
fall. Not that it gave them pleasure to see a poor
wretch who had been clothed in purple and fine linen,
and fared sumptuously every day, reduced to so pitiful
a plight; but because they felt it a righteous thing
and a wholesome thing that so proud and so wicked
a career should be terminated by a conspicuous
manifestation of the displeasure of God. The best
instincts of men's nature longed for a check to the
monstrous pride and wicked avarice of that man ; and
when that check was given, and given with such
tremendous emphasis, there was not an honest man
or woman in all England who did not utter a hearty
" Praise God 1 " when they heard the terrible news.
So also it pleases God to give conspicuous proofs
from time to time that qualities that in poor men are
often associated with a hard-working, humble career
are well-pleasing in His sight. For what qualities on
the part of the poor are so valuable, in a social point
of view, as industry, self-denying diligence, systematic,
unwearying devotion even to work which brings them
such scanty remuneration ? By far the greater part
of such men and women are called to work on, unnoticed
and unrewarded, and when their day is over to sink
into an undistinguished grave. But from time to time
some such persons rise to distinction. The class to
which they belong is ennobled by their achievements.
When God wished in the sixteenth century to achieve
the great object of punishing the Church which had
fallen into such miserable inefficiency and immorality,
and wrenching half of Europe from its grasp, he found
bis principal agent in a poor miner's cottage in Saxony,
When he desired to summon a sleeping Church to the

ii. I-io. HANNAH'S SONG OF THANKSGIVING. 33
great work of evangelising India, the man he called to
the front was Carey, a poor cobbler of Northampton.
When it was his purpose to present His Church with
an unrivalled picture of the Christian pilgrimage, its
dangers and trials, its joys, its sorrows, and its triumphs,
the artist appointed to the task was John Bunyan, the
tinker of Elstow. When the object was to provide a
man that would open the great continent of Africa to
civilisation and Christianity, and who needed, in order
to do this, to face dangers and trials before which all
ordinary men had shrunk, he found his agent in a poor
spinner-boy, who was working twelve hours a day in
a cotton mill on the banks of the Clyde. In all such
matters, in humbling the rich and exalting the poor,
God's object is not to punish ths one because they
are rich, or to exalt the other because they are poor.
In the one case it is to punish vices bred from an
improper use of wealth, and in the other to reward
virtues that have sprung from the soil of poverty.
" Poor and pious parents," wrote David Livingstone on
the tombstone of his parents at Hamilton, when he
wished to record the grounds of his thankfulness for
the position in life which they held. " I would not ex
change my peasant father for any king," said Thomas
Carlyle, when he thought of the gems of Christian
worth that had shone out all the brighter amid the
hard conditions of his father's life. Riches are no re
proach, and poverty is no merit ; but the pride so apt to
be bred of riches, the idleness, the injustice, the selfish
ness so often associated with them, is what God likes to
reprove ; and the graces that may be found in the poor
man's home, the unwearied devotion to duty, the neigh
bourliness and brotherly love, and above all the faith,
the hope, and the charity are what He delights to honour.
VOL. 3

34 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
In the spiritual sense there is no more important
ingredient of character in God's sight than the sense of
emptiness, and the conviction that all goodness, all
strength, all blessing must come from God. The heart,
thus emptied, is prepared to welcome the grace that is
offered to supply its needs. Air rushes into an ex
hausted receiver. Where the idea prevails either that
we are possessed of considerable native goodness, or
that we have only to take pains with ourselves to get
it, there is no welcome for the truth that "by grace are
ye saved." Whoever says, " I am rich and increased
in goods, and have need of nothing," knows not that
"he is wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind,
and naked." Miserable they who live and die in this
delusion 1 Happy they who have been taught, " In
me dwelleth no good thing." " All my springs are in
Thee." Jesus Christ " is made to us of God wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption."
" Out of His fulness have we all received, and grace
for grace."
3. The third topic in Hannah's song is God's very
gracious treatment of His saints. " He will keep the
feet of His saints." The term "feet" shows the
reference to be to their earthly life, their steps, their
course through the world. It is a promise which
others would care for but little, but which is very
precious to all believers. To know the way in which
God would have one to go is of prime importance to
every godly heart. To be kept from wandering into
unblest ways, kept from trifling with temptation, and
dallying with sin is an infinite blessing. " Oh that my
ways were directed to keep Thy statutes 1 Then shall
I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all Thy
commandments." "He will keep the feet of His saints."

fi.l-io.] HANNAH'S- SONG- OF THANKSGIVING. 35
4. And lastly, Hannah rejoices in that dispensation
of mercy that was coming- in connection with God's
"king, His anointed" (v. 10). Guided by the Spirit,
she sees that a king is coming, that a kingdom is to be
set up, and ruled over by the Lord's anointed. She
sees that God's blessing is to come down on the king,
the anointed, and that under him the kingdom is to
prosper and to spread. Did she catch a glimpse of what
was to happen under such kings as David, Jehoshaphat,
Hezekiah, and Josiah? Did she see in prophetic
vision the loving care of such kings for the welfare of
the people, their holy zeal for God, their activity and
earnestness in doing good? And did the glimpse of
these coming benefits suggest to her the thought of
what was to be achieved by Him who was to be the
anointed one, the Messiah in a higher sense ? We
can hardly avoid giving this scope to her song. It was
but a small measure of these blessings that her son
personally could bring about. Her son seems to give
place to a higher Son, through whom the land would
be blessed as no one else could have blessed it, and
all hungry and thirsty souls would be guided to that
living bread and living water of which whosoever ate
and drank should never hunger or thirst again.
What is the great lesson of this song ? That foi
the answer to prayer, for deliverance from trial, for the
fulfilment of hopes, for the glorious things yet spoken
,of the city of our God, our most cordial thanksgivings
are due to God. Every Christian life presents number
less occasions that very specially call for such thanks
giving. But there is one thankgiving that must take
precedence of all — " Thanks be unto God for His
unspeakable gift." "Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abun-

36 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
dant mercy hath begotten us again unto a living hope,
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 repealed in the last day."

CHAPTER IV.
ELI'S HOUSE.
i Samuel ii. 11-36.
THE notices of little Samuel, that alternate in this
passage with the sad accounts of Eli and his
house, are like the green spots that vary the dull
stretches of sand in a desert ; or like the little bits of
blue sky that charm your eye when the firmament is
darkened by a storm. First we are told how, after
Elkanah and Hannah departed, the child Samuel
ministered unto the Lord before Eli the priest (v. 11);
then comes an ugly picture of the wickedness practised
at Shiloh by Eli's sons (vv. 12-17); another episode
brings Samuel again before us, with some details of
his own history and that of his family (vv. 18-21); this
is followed by an account of Eli's feeble endeavours to
restrain the wickedness of his sons (vv. 22-25). Once
more we have a bright glimpse of Samuel, and of his
progress in life and character, very similar in terms
to St. Luke's account of the growth of the child
Jesus (v. 26) ; and finally the series closes with a
painful narrative — the visit of a man of God to Eli,
reproving his guilty laxity in connection with his sons,
and announcing the downfall of his house (vv. 27-36).
In the wickedness of Eli's sons we see the enemy
coming in like a flood , in the progress of little Samuel

38 THE PlRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
we see the Spirit of the Lord lifting up a standard
against him. We see evil powerful and most de
structive ; we see the instrument of healing very feeble
— a mere infant. Yet the power of God is with the
infant, and in due time the force which he represents
will prevail. It is just a picture of the grand conflict
of sin and grace in the world. It was verified em
phatically when Jesus was a child. How slender the
force seemed that was to scatter the world's darkness,
roll back its wickedness, and take away its guilt 1 How
striking the lesson for us not to be afraid though the
apparent force of truth and goodness in the world be
infinitesimally small. The worm Jacob shall yet thresh
the mountains; the little flock shall yet possess the
kingdom ; " there shall be a handful of corn on the top
of the mountains, the fruit thereof shall shake like
Lebanon, and they of the city shall flourish like grass
of the earth."
It is mainly the picture of Eli's house and the be
haviour of his family that fills our eye in this chapter.
It is to be noticed that Eli was a descendant, not of
Eleazar, the elder son of Aaron, but of Ithamar, the
younger. Why the high priesthood was transferred
from the one family to the other, in the person of Eli,
we do not know. Evidently Eli's claim to the priest
hood was a valid one, for in the reproof addressed to
him it is fully assumed that he was the proper occupant
of the office. One is led to think that either from
youth or natural feebleness the proper heir in Eleazar's
line had been unfit for the office, and that Eli had been
appointed to it as possessing the personal qualifications
which the other wanted. Probably therefore he was
a man of vigour in his earlier days, one capable of
being at the head of affairs; and if so his loose

ii. ii-36.] ELI'S HOUSE. 39
government of his family was all the more worthy of
blame. It could not have been that the male line in
Eleazar's family had failed ; for in the time of David
Zadok of the family of Eleazar was priest, along with
Abiathar, of the family of Ithamar and Eli. From
Eli's administration great things would seem to have
been expected; all the more lamentable and shameful
was the state of things that ensued.
I. First our attention is turned to the gross wicked
ness and scandalous behaviour of Eli's sons. There
are many dark pictures in the history of Israel in the
time of the Judges, — pictures of idolatry, pictures of
lust, pictures of treachery, pictures of bloodshed ; but
there is none more awful than the picture of the high
priest's family at Shiloh. In the other cases members
of the nation had become grossly wicked ; but in this
case it is the salt that has lost its savour — it is those
who should have led the people in the ways of God
that have become the ringleaders of the devil's army.
Hophni and Phinehas take their places in that un-
honoured band where the names of Alexander Borgia,
and many a high ecclesiastic of the Middle Ages send
forth their stinking savour. They are marked by the
two prevailing vices of the lowest natures — greed and
lechery. Their greed preys upon the worthy men who
brought their offerings to God's sanctuary in obedience
to His law; their lechery seduces the very women
whof employed in the service of the place (see Revised
Version), might have reasonably thought of it as the
gate to heaven rather than the avenue of hell. So
shameless were they in both kinds of vice that they
were at no pains to conceal either the one or the other.
It mattered nothing what regulations God had made
as to the parts of the offering the priest was to have ;

4b THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
down went their fork into the sacrificial caldron, and
whatever it drew up became theirs. It mattered not
that the fat of certain sacrifices was due to God, and
that it ought to have been given off before any other
use was made of the flesh ; the priests claimed the
flesh in its integrity, and if the offerer would not
willingly surrender it their servant fell upon him and
wrenched it away. It is difficult to say whether the
greater hurt was inflicted by such conduct on the cause
of religion or on the cause of ordinary morality. As
for the cause of religion, it suffered that terrible blow
which it always suffers whenever it is dissociated from
morality. The very heart and soul is torn out of
religion when men are led to believe that their duty
consists in merely believing certain dogmas, attending to
outward observances, paying dues, and "performing"
worship. What kind of conception of God can men
have who are encouraged to believe that justice, mercy,
and truth have nothing to do with His service ? How
can they ever think of Him as a Spirit, who requires
of them that worship Him that they worship Him in
spirit and in truth ? How can such religion give men
a real veneration for God, or inspire them with that
spirit of obedience, trust, and delight of which he ought
ever to be the object? Under such religion all belief in
God's existence tends to vanish. Though His existence
may continue to be acknowledged, it is not a power,
it has no influence ; it neither stimulates to good nor
restrains from evil. Religion becomes a miserable
form, without life, without vigour, without beauty — a
mere carcase deserving only to be buried out of sight.
And if such a condition of things is fatal to religion,
it is fatal to morality too. Men are but too ready by
nature to play loose with conscience. But when the

ii. ii 36.] ELI'S HOUSE.

religious heads of the nation are seen at once robbing
man and robbing God, and when this is done appa
rently with impunity, it seems foolish to ordinary men
to mind moral restraints. " Why should we mind the
barriers of conscience " (the young men of Israel might
argue) " when these young priests disregard them ? If
we do as the priest does we shall do very well."
Men of corrupt lives at the head of religion, who are
shameless in their profligacy, have a lowering effect
on the moral life of the whole community. Down and
down goes the standard of living. Class after class
gets infected. The mischief spreads like dry rot in a
building; ere long the whole fabric of society is
infected with the poison.
2. And how did the high priest deal with this state
of things ? In the worst possible way. He spoke
against it but he did not act against it. He showed
that he knew of it, he owned it to be very wicked ;
but he contented himself with words of remonstrance,
which in the case of such hardened transgression were
of no more avail than a child's breath against a brazen
wall. At the end of the day, it is true that Eli was a
decrepit old man, from whom much vigour of action
could not have been expected. But the evil began
before he was so old and decrepit, and his fault was
that he did not restrain his sons at the time when he
ought and might have restrained them. Yes, but even
if Eli was old and decrepit when the actual state of
things first burst on his view, there was enough of the
awful in the conduct of his sons to have roused him to
unwonted activity. David was old and decrepit, lying
feebly at the edge of death, when word was brought to
him that Adonijah had been proclaimed king in place
of Solomon, for whom he had destined the throne.

42 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
But there was enough of the startling in this intelligence
to bring back a portion of its youthful fire to David's
heart, and set him to devise the most vigorous measures
to prevent the mischief that was so ready to be perpe
trated. Fancy King David sending a meek message
to Adonijah — "Nay, my son, it is not on your head
but on Solomon's that my crown is to rest ; go home,
my son, and do nothing more in a course hurtful u
yourself and hurtful to your people." But ; it was this
foolish and most inefficient course that Eli took with
his sons. Had he acted as he should have acted at
the beginning, matters would never have come to such
a flagrant pass. But when the state of things became
so terrible, there was but one course that should have
been thought of. When the wickedness of the acting
priests was so outrageous that men abhorred the
offering of the Lord, the father ought to have been
sunk in the high priest; the men who had so dis
honoured their office should have been driven from the
place, and the very remembrance of the crime they had
committed should have been obliterated by the holy lives
and holy service of better men. It was inexcusable in
Eli to allow them to remain. If he had had a right
sense of his office he would never for one moment have
allowed the interest of his family to outweigh the claims
of God. What 1 Had God in the wilderness, by a
solemn and deadly judgment, removed from office and
from life the two elder sons of Aaron simply because
they had offered strange fire in their censers ? And
what was the crime of offering strange fire compared to
the crime of robbing God, of violating the Decalogue, of
openly practising gross and daring wickedness, under
the very shadow of the tabernacle ? If Eli did not
take steps for stopping these atrocious proceedings, he

it H-36.] ELI'S HOtlSE. 43
might rely on it that steps would be taken in another
quarter — God Himself would mark His sense of the
sin. For what were the interests of his sons compared
with the credit of the national worship ? What
mattered it that the sudden stroke would fall on them
with startling violence ? If it did not lead to their
repentance and salvation it would at least save the
national religion from degradation, and it would thus
bring benefit to tens of thousands in the land. All
this Eli did not regard. He could not bring himself
to be harsh to his own sons. He could not bear that
they should be disgraced and degraded. He would
satisfy himself with a mild remonstrance, notwith
standing that every day new disgrace was heaped on
the sanctuary, and new encouragement given to others
to practise wickedness, by the very men who should
have been foremost in honouring God, and sensitive
to every breath that would tarnish His name.
How differently God's servants acted in other days !
How differently Moses acted when he came down from
the mount and found the people worshipping the
golden calf 1 " It came to pass, as soon as he came
nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf and the
dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast
the tables out of his hands and brake them beneath
the mount. And he took the calf which they had
made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder,
and strawed it upon the water, and made the children
of Israel drink of it. . . . And Moses stood in the
gate of the camp and said, Who is on the Lord's side ?
let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi
gathered themselves together unto him. And he said
unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put

44 The first book of Samuel.
every man his sword by his side, and go in and out
from gate to gate through the camp, and slay every
man his brother, and every man his companion, and
every man his neighbour." Do we think this too sharp
and severe a retribution ? At all events it marked in
a suitable way the enormity of the offence of Aaron
and the people, and the awful provocation of Divine
udgments which the affair of the golden calf implied.
It denoted that in presence of such a sin the claims
of kindred were never for a moment to be thought
of; and in the blessing of Moses it was a special
commendation of the zeal of Levi, that " he said unto
his father, and to his mother, I have not seen him ,
neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his
own children." It was the outrageous character of the
offence in the matter of the golden calf that justified
the severe and abrupt procedure ; but it was Eli's con
demnation that though the sin of his sons was equally
outrageous, he was moved to no indignation, and
took no step to rid the tabernacle of men so utterly
unworthy. It is often very difficult to explain how it comes to
pass that godly men have had ungodly children. There
is little difficulty in accounting for this on the present
occasion. There was a fatal defect in the method of
Eli. His remonstrance with his sons is not made at
the proper time. It is not made in the fitting tone.
When disregarded, it is not followed up by the proper
consequences. We can easily think of Eli letting the
boys have their own will and their own way when they
were young; threatening them for disobedience, but
not executing the threat; angry at them when they
did wiong, but not punishing the offence ; vacillating
perhaps between occasional severity and habitual in-

ii. u-36.] ELI'S HOUSE. 45
dulgence, till by-and-bye all fear of sinning had left
them, and they coolly calculated that the grossest
wickedness would meet with nothing worse than a
reproof. How sad the career of the young men them
selves 1 We must not forget that, however inexcusable
their father was, the great guilt of the proceeding was
theirs. How must they have hardened their hearts
against the example of Eli, against the solemn claims of
God, against the holy traditions of the service, against
the interests and claims of those whom they ruined,
against the welfare of God's chosen people I How
terribly did their familiarity with sacred things react on
their character, making them treat even the holy priest
hood as a mere trade, a trade in which the most sacred
interests that could be conceived were only as counters,
to be turned by them into gain and sensual pleasure I
Could anything come nearer to the sin against the
Holy Ghost ? No wonder though their doom was that
of persons judicially blinded and hardened. They
were given up to a reprobate mind, to do those things
that were not convenient. "They hearkened not to
the voice of their father, because the Lord would slay
them." They experienced the fate of men who deli
berately sin against the light, who love their lusts
so well that nothing will induce them to fight against
them ; they were so hardened that repentance became
impossible, and it was necessary for them to undergo
the full retribution of their wickedness.
3. But it is time we should look at the message
brought to Eli by the man of God. In that message Eli
was first reminded of the gracious kindness shown to
the house of Aaron in their being entrusted with the
priesthood, and in their having an honourable provision
secured for them. Next he is asked why he trampled

46 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
on God's sacrifice and offering (marg. Revised Version),
and considered the interests of his sons above the honour
of God ? Then he is told that any previous promise
of the perpetuity of his house is now qualified by the
necessity God is under to have regard to the character
of his priests, and honour or degrade them accordingly.
In accordance with this rule the house of Eli would
suffer a terrible degradation. He (this includes his
successors in office) would be stript of " his arm," that
is, his strength. No member of his house would reach
a good old age. The establishment at Shiloh would
fall more and more into decay, as if there was an
enemy in God's habitation. Any who might remain of
the family would be a grief and distress to those whom
Eli represented. The young men themselves, Hophni
and Phinehas, would die the same day. Those who
shared their spirit would come crouching to the high
priest of the day and implore him to put them into one
of the priest's offices, not to give them the opportunity
of serving God, but that they might eat a piece of
bread. Terrible catalogue of curses and calamities I
Oh, sin, what a brood of sorrows dost thou bring forth 1
Oh, young man, who walkest in the ways of thine heart,
and in the sight of thine eyes, what a myriad of
distresses dost thou prepare for those whom thou art
most bound to care for and to bless I Oh, minister of
the gospel, who allowest thyself to tamper with the
cravings of the flesh till thou hast brought ruin on
•thyself, disgrace on thy family, and confusion on thy
Church, what infatuation was it to admit thy worst
foe to the sanctuary of thy bosom, and allow him to
establish himself in the citadel till thou couldst not
get quit of him, so that thou art now helpless in his
hands, with nothing but sadness for thy present

ii. 1 1-36.] ELI'S HOUSE 47
inheritance, and for the future a fearful looking for of
judgment and fiery indignation I
One word, in conclusion, respecting that great
principle of the kingdom of God announced by the
prophet as that on which Jehovah would act in
reference to His priests — " Them that honour Me I will
honour, but they that despise Me shall be lightly
esteemed." It is one of the grandest sayings in
Scripture. It is the eternal rule of the kingdom of
God, not limited to the days of Hophni and Phinehas,
but, like the laws of the Medes and Persians, eternal as
the ordinances of heaven. It is a law confirmed by all
history; every man's life confirms it, for though this
life is but the beginning of our career, and the final
clearing up of Divine providence is to be left to the
judgment-day, yet when we look back on the world's
history we find that those that have honoured God,
God has honoured them, while they that have despised
Him have indeed been lightly esteemed. However
men may try to get their destiny into their own hands ;
however they may secure themselves from this trouble
and from that ; however, like the first Napoleon, they
may seem to become omnipotent, and to wield an
irresistible power, yet the day of retribution comes
at last; having sown to the flesh, of the flesh also
they reap corruption. While the men that have
honoured God, the men that have made their own
interests of no account, but have set themselves
resolutely to obey God's will and do God's work ; the
men that have believed in God as the holy Ruler and
Judge of the world, and have laboured in private life
and in public service to carry out the great rules of His
kingdom, — -justice, mercy, the love of God and the love
of man, — these are tne men that God has honoured ;

48 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
these are the men whose work abides ; these are the
men whose names shine with undying honour, and
from whose example and achievements young hearts
in every following age draw their inspiration and
encouragement. What a grand rule of life it is, for old
and young 1 Do you wish a maxim that shall be of
high service to you in the voyage of life, that shall en
able you to steer your barque safely both amid the open
assaults of evil, and its secret currents, so that, however
tossed you may be, you may have the assurance that
the ship's head is in the right direction, and that you
are moving steadily towards the desired haven ; where
can you find anything more clear, more fitting, more
sure and certain than just these words of the Almighty,
"Them that honour Me I will honour; but they that
despise Me shall be lightly esteemed " ?

CHAPTER V.
SAMUEL'S VISION.
i Samuel in.
IT is evident that Samuel must have taken very
kindly to the duties of the sanctuary. He was
manifestly one of those who are sanctified from in
fancy, and whose hearts go from the first with sacred
duties. There were no wayward impulses to subdue,
no hankerings after worldly freedom and worldly enjoy
ment; there was no necessity for coercive measures,
either to restrain him from outbursts of frivolity or to
compel him to diligence and regularity in his calling.
From the first he looked with solemn awe and holy
interest on all that related to the worship of God ;
that, to him, was the duty above all other duties, the
privilege above all other privileges. God to him ~ was
not a mere idea, an abstraction, representing merely
the dogmas and services of religion. God was a
reality, a personality, a Being who dealt very closely
with men, and with whom they were called to deal
very closely too. We can easily conceive how desirous
little Samuel would be to know something of the
meaning of the services at Shiloh; how scrupulous
to perform every duty, how regular and real in his
prayers, and how full of reverence and affection for
God. He would go about all his duties with a grave,
VOL. I. 4

50 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL-.

sweet, earnest face, conscious of their importance and
solemnity ; always thinking more of them than of any
thing else, — thinking perhaps of the service of the
angels in heaven, and trying to serve God as they
served Him, to do God's will en earth as it was done
in heaven.
At the opening of this chapter he seems to be the
confidential servant of the high priest, sleeping near
to him, and in the habit of receiving directions from
him. He must be more than a child now, otherwise
he would not be entrusted, as he was, with the opening
of the doors of the house of the Lord.
The evil example of Hophni and Phinehas, so far
from corrupting him, seems to have made him more
resolute the other way. It was horrid and dis
gusting ; and as gross drunkenness on the part of a
father sometimes sets the children the more against it,
so the profligacy of the young priests would make
Samuel more vigilant in every matter of duty. That
Eli bore as he did with the conduct of his sons must
have been a great perplexity to him, and a great
sorrow ; but it did not become one at his time of lite
to argue the question with the aged high priest. ThL*
conduct of Eli's did not in any respect diminish th-.
respectful bearing of Samuel towards him, or hi*
readiness to comply with his every wish. For Eli was
God's high priest ; and in engaging to be God's servant
in the tabernacle Samuel knew well that he took the
high priest as his earthly master.
i. The first thing that engages our special attention
in this chapter is the singular way in which Samuel
was called to receive God's message in the temple.
The word of God was rare in those days ; there was
no open vision, or rather no vision that came abroad,

iii] SAMUEL'S VISION. 51
that was promulgated to the nation as the expression
of God's will. From the tone in which this is referred
to, it was evidently looked on as a want, as placing the
nation in a less desirable position than in days when God
was constantly communicating His will. Now, how
ever, God is to come into closer contact with the people,
and for this purpose He is to employ a new instrument
as the medium of His messages. For God is never at
a loss for suitable instruments — they are always ready
when peculiar work has to be done. In the selection
of the boy Samuel as his prophet there is something
painful, but likewise something very interesting. It is
painful to find the old high priest passed over; his
venerable years and venerable office would naturally
have pointed to him ; but in spite of many good
qualities, in one point he is grossly unfaithful, and the
very purpose of the vision now to be made is to declare
the outcome of his faithlessness. But it is interesting
to find that already the child of Hannah is marked out
for this distinguished service. Even in his case there
is opportunity for verifying the rule, "Them that honour
Me I will honour." His entire devotion to God's
service, so beautiful in one of such tender years, is the
sign of a character well adapted to become the medium
of God's habitual communications with His people.
Young though he is, his very youth in one sense will
prove an advantage. It will show that what he speaks
is not the mere fruit of his own thinking, but is the
message of God. It will show that the spiritual power
that goes forth with his words is not his own native
force, but the force of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him.
It will thus be made apparent to all that God has not
forsaken His people, corrupt and lamentably wicked
though the young priests are.

52 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
Both Eli and Samuel sleep within the precincts of the
tabernacle. Not, however, in the sanctuary itself, but
in one of those buildings that opened into its courts,
which were erected for the accommodation of the
priests and Levites. Eli's sight was failing him, and
perhaps the care of the lamp as well as the door was
entrusted to Samuel. The lamp was to burn always
(Exod. xxvii. 20), that is, it was to be trimmed and
lighted every morning and evening (Exod. xxx. 7, 8) ;
and to attend to this was primarily the high priest's
duty. The lamp had doubtless been duly trimmed, and
it would probably continue burning through a good
part of the night. It was not yet out when a voice fell
on the ears of Samuel, loud enough to rouse him from
the profound slumber into which he had probably
fallen. Thinking it was Eli's, he ran to his side ; but
Eli had not called him. Again the voice sounded,
again Samuel springs to his feet and hastens to the
high priest; again he is sent back with the same
assurance. A third time the voice calls ; a third time
the willing and dutiful Samuel flies to Eli's side, but
this time he is sent back with a different answer.
Hitherto Samuel had not known the Lord — that is, he
had not been cognisant of His way of communicating
with men in a supernatural form — and it had never
occurred to him that such a thing could happen in his
case. But Eli knew that such communications were
made at times by God, and, remembering the visit of
the man of God to himself, he may have surmised
that this was another such occasion. The voice evi
dently was no natural voice ; so Samuel is told to lie
down once more, to take the attitude of simple
receptiveness, and humbly invite God to utter His
message.

iii.] SAMUEL'S VISION. 53
There are some lesser traits of Samuel's character
in this part of the transaction which ought not to be
passed over without remark. The readiness with which
he springs from his bed time after time, and the meek
ness and patience with which he asks Eli for his orders,
without a word of complaint on his apparently un
reasonable conduct, make it very clear that Samuel
had learned to subdue two things — to subdue his body
and to subdue his temper. It is not an easy thing for
a young person in the midst of a deep sleep to spring
to his feet time after time. In such circumstances the
body is very apt to overcome the mind. But Samuel's
mind overcame the body. The body was the servant,
not the master. What an admirable lesson Samuel had
already learned 1 Few parts of early education are so
important as to learn to keep the body in subjection.
To resist bodily cravings, whether greater or smaller,
which unfit one for duty ; temptations to drink, or
smoke, or dawdle, or lie in bed, or waste time when
one ought to be up and doing ; to be always ready
for one's work, punctual, methodical, purpose-like,
save only when sickness intervenes, — denotes a very
admirable discipline for a young person, and is a sure
token of success in life. Not less admirable is that
control over the temper which Samuel had evidently
acquired. To be treated by Eli as he supposed that
he had been, was highly provoking. Why drag him out
of bed at that time of night at all ? Why drag him
over the cold stones in the chill darkness, and why
tantalise him first by denying that he called him and
then by calling him again ? As far as appears, Samuel's
temper was in no degree ruffled by the treatment he
appeared to be receiving from Eli ; he felt that he was
a servant, and Eli was his master, and it was his

54 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
part to obey his master, however unreasonable his
treatment might be.
2. We proceed now to the message itself, and
Samuel's reception of it. It is substantially a repetition
of what God had already communicated to Eli by the
man of God a few years before ; only it is more per
emptory, and the bearing of it is more fixed and rigid.
When God denounced His judgment on Eli's house by
the prophet, he seems to have intended to give them an
opportunity to repent. If Eli had bestirred himself then,
and banished the young men from Shiloh, and if his
sons in their affliction and humiliation had repented of
their wickedness, the threatened doom might have been
averted. So at least we are led to believe by this second
message having been superadded to the first. Now
the opportunity of repentance has passed away. God's
words are very explicit — " I have sworn unto the house
of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged
with sacrifice nor offering for ever." After the previous
warning, Eli seems to have gone on lamenting but not
chastising. Hophni and Phinehas seem to have gone on
sinning as before, and heedless of the scandal they were
causing. In announcing to Samuel the coming cata
strophe, God shows Himself thoroughly alive to the
magnitude of the punishment He is to inflict, and the
calamity that is to happen. It is such that the ears of
every one that heareth it shall tingle. God shows also
that, painful though it is, it has been deliberately deter
mined,, and no relenting will occur when once the
terrible retribution begins. " In that day will I perform
against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house ;
when I begin I will also make an end." But terrible
though the punishment will be, there is only too good
cause for it. " For I have told him that I will judge

lii.] SAMUEL'S VISION. 55

his house for ever, for the iniquity which he knoweth ;
because his sons made themselves vile, "and he
restrained them not." There are some good parents
whose sons have made themselves vile, and they would
fain have restrained them but their efforts to restrain
have been in vain. The fault of Eli was, that he might
have restrained them and he did not restrain them.
In those times fathers had more authority over theii
families than is given them now. The head of the
house was counted responsible for the house, because
it was only by his neglecting the power he had that his
family could become openly wicked. It was only by
Eli neglecting the power he had that his sons could have
become so vile. Where his sons were heirs to such
sacred functions there was a double call to restrain them,
and that call he neglected. He neglected it at the time
when he might have done it, and that time could never
be recalled.
So, there is an age when children may be restrained,
and if that age is allowed to pass the power of re
straining them goes along with it. There are faults in
this matter on the part of many parents, on the right
hand and on the left. Many err by not restraining at
all. Mothers begin while their children are yet infants
to humour their every whim, and cannot bear to hold
back from them anything they may wish. It is this
habit that is liable to have such a terrible reaction.
There are other parents that while they restrain do
not restrain wisely. They punish, but they do not
punish in love. They are angry because their children
have broken their rules ; they punish in anger, and the
punishment falls merely as the blow of a stronger
person on a weaker. It does not humble, it does not
soften. What awful consequences it often brings I

56 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
What skeletons it lodges in many a house ! God has
designed'the family to be the nurse of what is best and
purest in human life, and when this design is crossed
then the family institution, which was designed to bring
the purest joy, breeds the darkest misery. And this
is one of the forms of retribution on wickedness which
we see carried out in their fulness in the present life 1
How strange, that men should be in any doubt as to
God carrying out the retribution of wickedness to the
bitter end I How singular they should disbelieve in a
hell 1 The end of many a career is written in these
words : — " 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 My fear is
not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts."
3. And now we go on to the meeting of Eli and Samuel.
Samuel is in no haste to communicate to Eli the painful
message he has received. He has not been required
to do it, and he lies till the morning, awake we may
believe, but staggered and dismayed. As usual he
goes to open the doors of God's house. And then it
is that Eli calls him. "What is the thing that He
hath said unto thee?" he asks. He adjures Samuel
to tell him all. And Samuel does tell him all. And
Eli listens in silence, and when it is over he says, with
meek resignation, " It is the Lord ; let Him do what
seemeth Him good."
We are touched by this behaviour of Eli. First we
are touched by his bearing toward Samuel. He knows
that God has conferred an honour on Samuel which He
has not bestowed on him, but young though Samuel is
he feels no jealousy, he betrays no sign of wounded
pride. It is not easy for God's servants to bear being

¦ii.] SAMUEL'S VISION. 57
passed over in favour of others, in favour of younger
men. A feeling of mortification is apt to steal on
them, accompanied with some bitterness toward the
object of God's preference. This venerable old man
shows nothing of that feeling. He is not too proud
to ask Samuel for a full account of God's message.
He will not have him leave anything out, out of regard
to his feelings. He must know the whole, however
painful it may be. He has learned to reverence
God's truth, and he cannot bear the idea of not
knowing all. And Samuel, who did not wish to
tell him anything, is now constrained to tell him the
whole. " He told him every whit, and hid nothing
from him." He did not shun to declare to him the
whole counsel of God. Admirable example for all
God's servants 1 How averse some men are to hear
the truth 1 And how prone are we to try to soften
what is disagreeable in our message to sinners — to
take off the sharp edge, and sheathe it in generalities
and possibilities. It is no real kindness. The kindest
thing we can do is to declare God's doom on sin, and
to assure men that any hopes they may cherish of His
relenting to do as He has said are vain hopes — " When
I begin," says God, " I will also make an end."
And we are touched further by Eli's resignation to
God's will. The words of Samuel must have raised a
deep agony in his spirit when he thought of the doom
of his sons. Feeble though he was, there might have
arisen in his heart a gust of fierce rebellion against
that doom. But nothing of the kind took place. Eli
was memorable for the passive virtues. He could
bear much, though he could dare little. He could
submit, but he could not fight. We find him here
meekly recognizing the Divine will. God has a right to

58 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
do what He will with His own ; and who am. I that I
should cry out against Him ? He is the Supreme Dis
poser of all events ; why should a worm like me stand
in His way? He submits implicitly to God. "The
thing formed must not say to Him that formed him,
Why hast Thou formed me thus " ? What God ordains
must be right. It is a terrible blow to Eli, but he
may understand the bearings of it better in another
state. He bows to that Supreme Will which he has
learned to trust and to honour above every force in
the universe.
Yes, we are touched by Eli's meekness and submis
sion. And yet, though Eli had in him the stuff that
martyrs are often made of, his character was essentially
feeble, and his influence was not wholesome. He
wanted that resolute purpose which men like Daniel
possessed. His will was too feeble to control his life.
He was too apprehensive of immediate trouble, of
present inconvenience and unpleasantness, to carry
out firm principles of action against wickedness, even
in his own family. He was a memorable instance of
the soundness of the principle afterwards laid down by
St. Paul : " If a man know not how to rule his own
house, how shall he take care of the Church of God ? "
He greatly needed the exhortation which God gave
to Joshua — "Be strong and of a good courage." It
is true his infirmity was one of natural temperament.
Men might say he could not help it. Neither can one
overcome temperament altogether. But men of feeble
temperament, especially when set over others, have
great need to watch it, and ask God to strengthen them
where they are weak. Divine grace has a wonderful
power to make up the defects of nature. Timid,
irresolute Peter was a different man after his fall.

iii.] SAMUEL'S VISION. 59
Divine grace turned him into a rock after all. The
coward who had shrunk from before a maiden got
courage to defy a whole Sanhedrim. In the ministers
of God's house the timid, crouching spirit is specially
unseemly. They, at least, would need to rest on firm
convictions, and to be governed by a 'resolute will.
" Finally, brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the
power of His might. Put on the whole armour of God,
that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and
having done all, to stand."
4. Samuel is now openly known to be the prophet of
the Lord. " Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him,
and did let none of his words fall to the ground.'
Little didst thou think, Hannah, some twenty years
ago, that the child thou didst then ask of the Lore
would ere long supersede the high priest who showed
so little tact and judgment in interpreting the agitation
of thy spirit I No, thou hast no feeling against the
venerable pld man ; but thou canst not but wonder at
the ups and downs of Providence ; thou canst not but
recall the words of thine own song, " He bringeth
low, and lifteth up." And Samuel has not to fight his
way to public recognition, or wait long till it come.
"All Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, knew
that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the
Lord." And by-and-bye other oracles came to him, by which
all men might have known that he was the recog
nized channel of communication between God and the
people. We shall see in our next chapter into what
trouble the nation was brought by disregarding his
prophetic office, and recklessly determining to drag the
ark of God into the battlefield. Meanwhile we ca»not
but remark what a dangerous position, in a mere

6o THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
human point of view, Samuel now occupied. The
danger was that which a young man encounters when
suddenly or early raised to the possession of high
spiritual power. Samuel, though little more than a
boy, was now virtually the chief man in Israel. Set
so high, his natural danger was great. But God, who
placed him there, sustained in him the spirit of humble
dependence. After all he was but God's servant.
Humble obedience was still his duty. And in this
higher sphere his career was but a continuation of
what had been described when it was said, " The child
Samuel ministered to the Lord in Shiloh."

CHAPTER VI.
THE ARK OF GOD TAKEN BY THE PHILISTINES.
I Samuel iv.
WE are liable to form an erroneous impression of
the connection of Samuel with the transactions
of this chapter, in consequence of a clause which ought
to belong to the last chapter, being placed, in the
Authorized Version, at the beginning of this. The
clause " And the word of Samuel came to all Israel "
belongs really to the preceding chapter. It denotes
that Samuel was now over all Israel the recognized
channel of communication between the people and God.
But it does not denote that the war with the Philistines,
of which mention is immediately made, was undertaken
at Samuel's instance. In fact, the whole chapter is re
markable for the absence of Samuel's name. What is
thus denoted seems to be that Samuel was not consulted
either about the war or about the taking of the ark
into the battle. Whatever he may have thought of the
war, he would undoubtedly have been horrified at the
proposal about the ark. That whole transaction must
have seemed to him a piece of infatuation. Probably
it was carried into effect in a kind of tumultuous frenzy.
But there can be no reasonable doubt that whatever
Samuel could have done to oppose it would have been
done with the greatest eagerness.

62 The PIRsT BdoK dp Samuel
The history is silent about the Philistines from the
days of Samson. The last we have heard of them was
the fearful tragedy at the death of that great Judge
of Israel, when the house fell upon the lords and the
people, and such a prodigious slaughter of their great
men took place. From that calamity they seem now
to have revived. They would naturally be desirous
to revenge that unexampled catastrophe, and as Eben
ezer and Aphek are situated in the land of Israel, it
would seem that the Philistines were the aggressors.
They had come up from the Philistine plain to the
mountainous country of Israel, and no doubt had
already sent many of the people to flight through
whose farms they came. As the Israelites had no
standing army, the troops that opposed the Philistines
could be little better than an untrained horde. When
they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philis
tines, and they slew of the army about four thousand
men. In a moral point of view the defeat was strange ;
the Philistines had made the attack, and the Israelites
were fighting for their homes and hearths ; yet victory
was given to the invaders, and in four thousand homes
of Israel there was lamentation and woe.
But this was not really strange. Israel needed
chastening, and the Philistines were God's instruments
for that purpose. In particular, judgment was due to
the sons of Eli ; and the defeat inflicted by the Philis
tines, and the mistaken and superstitious notion which
seized on the people that they would do well to take
God's ark into the battle, were the means by which
their punishment came. How often Providence seems
to follow a retrograde course 1 And yet it is a forward
course all the time, although from our point of view
it seems backward ; just as those planets which are

iv.] THE ARK OF GOD TAKEN BY PHILISTINES. 63
nearer the sun than the earth sometimes seem to us to
reverse the direction of their movement ; although if
we were placed in the centre of the system we should
see very plainly that they are moving steadily forward
all the time.
Three things call for special notice in the main
narrative of this chapter — 1. The preparation for the
battle; 2. The battle itself; and 3. The result when
the news was carried to Shiloh.
I. The preparation for the battle was the sending
for the ark of the Lord to Shiloh, so that Israel might
right under the immediate presence and protection of
their God.
It seemed a brilliant idea. Whichever of the elders
first suggested it, it caught at once, and was promptly
acted on. There were two great objections to it, but
if they were so much as entertained they certainly had
no effect given them. The first was, that the elders
had no legitimate control over the ark. The custody
of it belonged to the priests and the Levites, and Eli
was the high priest. If the rulers of the nation at any
time desired to remove the ark (as David afterwards
did when he placed it on Mount Zion), that could only
be done after clear indications that the step was in
accordance with the will of God, and with the full
consent of the priests. There is no reason to suppose
that any means were taken to find out whether its
removal to the camp was in accordance with the will of
God ; and as to the mind of the priests, Eli was probably
passed over as too old and too blind to be consulted,
and Hophni and Phinehas would be restrained by no
scruples from an act which every one seemed to
approve. The second great objection to the step was
that it was a superstitious and irreverent use of the

THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.

symbol of God's presence. Evidently the people
ascribed to the symbol the glorious properties that
belonged only to the reality. They expected that the
symbol of God's presence would do for them all that
might be done by His presence itself. And doubtless
there had been occasions when the symbol and the
reality went together. In the wilderness, in the days of
Moses, " It came to pass, when the ark set forward, that
Moses said, Rise up, Lord, and let Thine enemies be
scattered, and let them that hate Thee flee before Thee "
Num. x. 35). But these were occasions determined by
the cloud rising and going before the host, an unmis
takable indication of the will of God (Num. ix. 15-22).
God's real presence accompanied the ark on these
occasions, and all that was expressed in the symbol
was actually enjoyed by the people. There was no
essential or inherent connection between the two; the
actual connection was determined merely by the good
pleasure of God. It pleased Him to connect them, and
connected they were. But the ignorant and super
stitious elders forgot that the connection between the
symbol and the reality was of this nature ; they
believed it to be inherent and essential. In their
unthinking and unreasoning minds the symbol might
be relied on to produce all the effect of the reality. If
only the ark of God were carried into the battle, the
same effect would take place as when Moses said in
the wilderness, " Rise up, Lord, and let Thine enemies
be scattered."
Could anything show more clearly the unspiritual
tendencies of the human mind in its conceptions of
God, and of the kind of worship He should receive ?
The idea of God as the living God is strangely foreign
to the human heart. To think of God as one who has

it.] THE ARK OF GOD TAKEN BY PHILISTINES. 65
a will and purpose of His own, and who will never
give His countenance to any undertaking that does not
agree with that will and purpose, is very hard for the
unspiritual man. To make the will of God the first
consideration in any enterprise, so that it is not to be
thought of if He do not approve, and is never to be
despaired of if He be favourable, is a bondage and a
trouble beyond his ability. Yet even superstitious
men believe in a supernatural power. And they
believe in the possibility of enlisting that power on
their side. And the method they take is to ascribe
the virtue of a charm to certain external objects with
which that power is associated. The elders of Israel
ascribed this virtue to the ark. They never inquired
whether the enterprise was agreeable to the mind and
will of God. They never asked whether in this case
there was any ground for believing that the symbol
and the reality would go together. They simply
ascribed to the symbol the power of a talisman, and
felt secure of victory under its shadow.
Would that we could think of this spirit as extinct
even in Christian communities ! What is the Romish
and the very High Church doctrine of the sacraments
but an ascription to them, when rightly used, of the
power of a charm ? The sacraments, as Scripture
teaches, are symbols of very glorious realities, and
wherever the symbols are used in accordance with God's
will the realities are sure to be enjoyed. But it has
long been the doctrine of the Church of Rome, and it is
the doctrine of Churches, with similar views, that the
sacraments are reservoirs of grace, and that to those
who place no fatal obstacle in their way, grace comes
from them ex opere operato, from the very act of
receiving them. It is the Protestant and scriptural
VOL. I. «

66 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
doctrine that by stimulating faith, by encouraging us
to look to the living Saviour, and draw from Him in
whom all fulness dwells, the sacraments bring to us
copious supplies of grace, but that without the pre
sence of that living Saviour they would be merely as
empty wells. The High Church view regards them
as charms, that have a magic virtue to bless the soul.
The superstitious mother thinks if only her child
is baptised it will be saved, the act of baptism will do
it, and she never thinks of the living Saviour and His
glorious grace. The dying sinner thinks, if only he
had the last sacraments, he would be borne peacefully
and well through the dark scenes of death and judgment,
and forgets that the commandment of Scripture is not,
Look unto the last sacraments, but, " Look unto Me
and be ye saved." Alas 1 what will men not substitute
for personal dealings with the living God ? The first
book and the last book of the Bible present sad proof
of his recoil from such contact. In Genesis, as man
hears God's voice, he runs to hide himself among the
trees of the garden. In Revelation, when the Judge
appears, men call on the mountains to fall on them
and hide them from Him that sitteth on the throne.
Only when we see God's face, beautiful and loving, in
Christ, can this aversion be overcome.
If the presence of the ark in the field of battle did
much to excite the hopes of the Israelites, it did not
less to raise the fears of their opponents. The shout
with which its arrival was hailed by the one struck
something of consternation into the breasts of the
other. But now, an effect took place on which the
Israelites had not reckoned. The Philistines were too
wise a people to yield to panic. If the Hebrew God,
that did such wonders in the wilderness, was present

w.] The ark op god Taken by Philistines. 6j
with their opponents, there was all the more need for
their bestirring themselves and quitting them like
men. The elders of Israel had not reckoned on this
wise pLtn. It teaches us, even from a heathen point of
view, never to yield to panic. Even when everything
looks desperate, there may be some untried resource
to fall back on. And if this be a lesson to be learnt
from pagans, much more surely may it be thought of
by believers, who know that man's extremity is often
God's opportunity, and that no peril is too imminent
for God not to be able to deliver.
2. And now the battle rages. The hope of mis
guided Israel turns out an illusion. They find, to their
consternation, that the symbol does not carry the
reality. It pleases God to allow the ark with which
His name is so intimately associated to be seized by
the enemy. The Philistines carry everything before
them. The ark is taken, Hophni and Phinehas are
slain, and there fall of Israel thirty thousand foot
men. Can we fancy the feelings of the two priests who
attended the ark as the defeat of the army of Israel
became inevitable ? The ark would probably be carried
near the van of the army, preceded by some of the
most valiant troops of Israel. No doubt it had been
reikoned on that as soon as its sacred form was
recognized by the Philistines, fear would seize on them,
and they would fly before it. It must have made the
two priests look grave when nothing of the kind took
place, but the host of the Philistines advanced in firm
and intrepid phalanx to the fight. But surely the first
onset of the advanced guard will show with whose
army the victory is to lie. The advanced guards are
at close quarters, and the men of Israel give way. Was

6fc THE PlRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.

there conscience enough left in these two men to flash
into their minds that God, whose Holy Spirit they had
vexed, wass turned to be their enemy, and was now
fighting against them ? Did they, in that supreme
moment, get one of those momentary glimpses, in
which the whole iniquities of a lifetime seem marshalled
before the soul, and the enormity of its guilt over
whelms it ? Did they feel the anguish of men caught in
their own iniquities, every hope perished, death inevit
able, and after death the judgment ? There is not one
word, either in this chapter or in what precedes it,
from which the slightest inference in their favour can
be drawn. They died apparently as they had lived, in
the very act of dishonouring God. With the weapons
of rebellion in their hands, and the stains of guilt on
their hearts, they were hurried into the presence of the
Judge. Now comes the right estimate of their reckless,
guilty life. All the arts of sophistry, all the refuges
of lies, all their daring contempt of the very idea of
a retribution on sin, are swept away in a moment.
They are confronted with the awful reality of their
doom. They see more vividly than even Eli or
Samuel the truth of one part, certainly, of the Divine
rule — " Them that honour Me I will honour ; but they
that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed."
The time of guilty pleasure has passed for ever
away ; the time of endless retribution has begun. Oh,
how short, how miserable, how abominable appears to
them now the revelry of their evil life ! what infatua
tion it was to forswear all the principles in which they
had been reared, to laugh at the puritanic strictness of
their father, to sit in the seat of the scorner, and pour
contempt on the law of God's house ! How they must
have cursed the folly that led them into such awful

lv.] THE ARK OF GOD TAKEN BY PHILISTINES. 69
ways of sin, how sighed in vain that they had not in
their youth chosen the better part, how wished they
had never been born !
3. But we must leave the field of battle and hasten
back to Shiloh. Since the ark was carried off Eli
must have had a miserable time of it, reproaching
himself for his weakness if he gave even a reluctant
assent to the plan, and feeling that uncertainty of con
science which keeps one even from prayer, because it
makes one doubtful if God will listen. Poor old man
of ninety-eight years, he could but tremble for the ark !
His official seat had been placed somewhere on the
wayside, where he would be near to get tidings from
the field of any one who might come with them, and
quite probably a retinue of attendants was around him.
At last a great shout of horror is heard, for a man of
Benjamin has come in sight with his clothes rent and
earth upon his -head. It is but too certain a sign of
calamity. But who could have thought of the extent
of the calamity which with such awful precision he
crowded into his answer? Israel is fled before the
Philistines — calamity the first ; there hath been a great
slaughter among the people — calamity the second ; thy
two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are slain — calamity
the third ; and last, and most terrible of all, the ark of
God is taken 1 The ark of God is taken 1 The Divine
symbol, with its overshadowing cherubim and its sacred
light, into which year by year Eli had gone alone to
sprinkle the blood of atonement on the mercy-seat, and
where he had solemnly transacted with God on behalf
of the people, was in an enemy's hands 1 The ark,
that no Canaanite or Amalekite had ever touched, on
which no Midianite or Ammonite had ever laid his
polluted finger, which had remained safe and sure in

70 THE FIRST BOOK Of SAMUEL.
Israel's custody through all the perils of their journeys
and all the storms of battle, was now torn from their
grasp ! And there perishes with it all the hope of
Israel, and all the sacred service which was associated
with it ; and Israel is a widowed, desolate, godless
people, without hope and without God in the world ;
and all this has come because they dragged it away
from its place, and these two sons of mine, now gone
to their account, encouraged the profanation 1
" And it came to pass, when he made mention of the
ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by
the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died ;
for he was an old man and heavy. And he had judged
Israel forty years."
This was calamity the fifth ; but even yet the list
was not exhausted. " His daughter-in-law, Phinehas'
wife, was with child, near to be delivered ; and when
she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken,
and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead,
she bowed herself and travailed, for her pains came
upon her. And about the time of her death the
women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not, for
thou hast born a son. But she answered not, neither
did she regard it. And she named the child Ichabod,
saying, The glory is departed from Israel ; because the
ark of God was taken, and because of her father-in-law
and her husband. And she said, The glory is departed
from Israel ; for the ark of God is taken."
Poor, good woman ! with such a husband she had
no doubt had a troubled hfe. The spring of her spirit
had probably been broken long ago ; and what little
of elasticity yet remained was all too little to bear up
under such an overwhelming load. But it may have
been her comfort to live so near to the house of God

iv.] THE ARK OF GOD TAKEN BY PHILISTINES. 71
as she did, and to be thus reminded of Him who had
commanded the sons of Aaron to bless the people
saying, " The Lord bless thee and keep thee ; the Lord
make His face shine upon thee and be gracious to thee ;
the Lord lift up His countenance upon thee and give
thee peace." But now the ark of God is taken, its
services are at an end, and the blessing is gone. The
tribes may come up to the feasts as before, but not
with the bright eye or the merry shouts of former days ;
the bullock may smoke on the altar, but where is the
sanctuary in which Jehovah dwelt, and where the
mercy-seat for the priest to sprinkle the blood, and
where the door by which he can come out to bless the
people ? Oh, my hapless child, what shall I call thee,
who hast been ushered on this day of midnight gloom
into a God-forsaken and dishonoured place ? I will
call thee Ichabod, for the glory is departed. The glory
is departed from Israel, for the ark of God is taken.
What an awful impression these scenes convey to us
of the overpowering desolation that comes to believing
souls with the feeling that God has taken His de
parture. Tell us that the sun is no longer to shine ;
tell us that neither dew nor rain shall ever fall again
to refresh the earth; tell us that a cruel and savage
nation is to reign unchecked and unchallenged over
all the families of a people once free and happy ;
you convey no such image of desolation as when you
tell t3 pious hearts that God has departed from their
community. Let us learn the obvious lesson, to do
nothing to provoke such a calamity. It is only when
resisted and dishonoured that the Spirit of God
departs — only when He is driven away. Oh, beware
of everything that grieves Him — everything that
interferes with His gracious action on your souls.

72 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
Beware of all that would lead God to say, " I will
go and return to My place, till they acknowledge their
offence and seek My face." Let our prayer be the
cry of David : — " Cast me not away from Thy presence
and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto
me the joy of Thy salvation, and uphold me with Thy
free Spirit."

CHAPTER VII.
TBE ARK AMONG THE PHILISTINES.
i Samuel v., vi.
ALTHOUGH the history in Samuel is silent as to
the doings of the Philistines immediately after
their great victory over Israel, yet we learn from
other parts of the Bible (Psalm Ixxviii. 60-64 '> Jere
miah vii. 12, xxvi. 9) that they proceeded to Shiloh,
massacred the priests, wrecked the city, and left it a
monument of desolation, as it continued to be ever after.
Probably this was considered an appropriate sequel to
the capture of the ark — a fitting mode of completing
and commemorating their victory over the national God
of the Hebrews. For we may well believe that it was
this unprecedented feature of their success that was
uppermost in the Philistines' mind. The prevalent idea
among the surrounding nations regarding the God of
the Hebrews was that He was a God of exceeding
power. The wonders done by Him in Egypt still filled
the popular imagination (ch. vi. 6) ; the strong hand
and the outstretched arm with which He had driven
out the seven nations of Canaan and prepared the
way for His people were not forgotten. Neither in
more recent conflicts had any of the surrounding
nations obtained the slightest advantage over Him.
It was in His name that Barak and Deborah had de-

74 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
feated the Canaanites ; it was the sword of the Lord and
of Gideon that had thrown such consternation into
the hearts of the Midianites. But now the tide was
completely turned ; not only had the Hebrew God
failed to protect His people, but ruin had come on both
Him and them, and His very sanctuary was in Philistine
hands. No wonder the Philistines were marvellously
elated Let us sweep from the face of the earth every
trace and memorial of His worship, was their cry. Let
us inflict such humiliation on the spot sacred to His
name that never again shall His worshippers be able
to regain their courage and lift up their heads, and
neither we nor our children shall tremble any more
at the mention of His terrible deeds.
We have not one word about Samuel in connection
with all this. The news from the battlefield, followed
by the death of Eli and of the wife of Phinehas, must
have been a terrible blow to him. But besides being
calm of nature (as his bearing showed after he got the
message about Eli's house), he was habitually in fellow
ship with God, and in this habit enjoyed a great help
towards self-possession and promptitude of action in
sudden emergencies and perplexities. That the ill-
advised scheme for carrying the ark into battle implied
any real humiliation of the God of Israel, or would
have any evil effect on the covenant sworn to Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, he could not for a moment suppose.
But the confusion and trouble that would arise, especially
if the Philistines advanced upon Shiloh, was a very
serious consideration. There was much left st Shiloh
which needed to be cared for. There were sacred
vessels, and possibly national records, which must not be
allowed to fall into the hands of the enemy. By what
means Samuel was able to secure the safety of these ;

v., vi.] THE ARK AMONG THE PHILISTINES. 75
by what means he secured his own personal safety when
"the priests fell by the sword" (Psalm Ixxviii. 64),
we cannot say. But the Lord was with Samuel, and
even in this hour of national horror He directed his
proceedings, and established upon him the work of his
hands. The fact to which we have drawn attention, that it
was over the God of Israel that the Philistines had
triumphed, is the key to the transactions recorded so
minutely in the fifth and sixth chapters. The great
object of these chapters is to show how God undeceived
the Philistines on this all-important point. He unde
ceived them in a very quiet, undemonstrative manner.
On certain occasions God impresses men by His great
agencies, — by fire and earthquake and tempest, by
" stormy wind fulfilling His word." But these are not
needed on this occasion. Agencies much less striking
will do the work. God will recover His name and fame
among the nations by much humbler forces. By the
most trifling exertion of His power, these Philistines
will be brought to their wit's end, and all the wisdom
of their wisest men and all the craft of their most
cunning priests will be needed to devise some pro
pitiation for One who is infinitely too strong for them,
and to prevent their country from being brought to ruin
by the silent working of His resistless power.
1. First of all, the ark is carried to Ashdod, where
stood the great temple of their God, Dagon. It is
placed within the precincts of the temple, in some place
of subordination, doubtless, to the place of the idol.
'Perhaps the expectation of the Philistines was that in
the exercise of his supernatural might their god would
bring about the mutilation or destruction of the Hebrew
symbol. The morning showed another sight. It was

76 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
Dagon that was humiliated before the ark — fallen te
the ground upon his face. Next day a worse humilia
tion had befallen him. Besides having fallen, his head
and hands were severed from the image, and only the
stump remained. And besides this, the people were
suffering extensively from a painful disease, emerods
or hemorrhoids, and this too was ascribed to the
influence of the God of the Hebrews. The people of
Ashdod had no desire to prolong the contest. They
gathered the lords of the Philistines and asked what
was to be done. The lords probably concluded that it
was a case of mere local ill-luck. But what had
happened at Ashdod would not happen elsewhere.
Let the ark be carried to Gath.
2. To Gath, accordingly, the ark is brought. But no
sooner is it there than the disease that had broken out
at Ashdod falls upon the Gittites, and the mortality is
terrible. The people of Gath are in too great haste to
call again on the lords of the Philistines to say what is
to be done. They simply carry the ark to Ekron.
3. And little welcome it gets from the Ekronites. It
is now recognised as the symbol of an angry God,
whose power to punish and to destroy is unlimited.
The Ekronites are indignant at the people of Gath.
" They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel
to us, to slay us and our people." The destruction at
Ekron seems to have been more awful than at the
other places — " The cry of the city went up to heaven."
The lords of the Philistines are again convened, to
deliberate over the failure of their last advice. There
is no use trying any other place in the country. The
idea of local ill-luck is preposterous. Let it go again
to its own place ! is the cry. Alas that we have de
stroyed Shiloh, for where can we send it now ? We can

v.,vi.] THE ARK AMONG THE PHILISTINES. 77
risk no further mistakes. Let us convene the priests
and the diviners to determine how it is to be got quit of,
and with what gifts or offerings it is to be accompanied.
Would only we had never touched it !
The priests and the diviners give a full answer on
all the points submitted to them. First, the ark when
sent away must contain an offering, in order to pro
pitiate the Hebrew God for the insults heaped on Him.
The offering was to be in the form of golden emerods
and golden mice. It would appear that in addition to
the disease that had broken out on the bodies of the
people they had had in their fields the plague of mice.
These field-mice bred with amazing rapidity, and some
times consumed the whole produce of the field. There
is a slight difficulty about numbers here. There are
to be five golden emerods and five golden mice, accord
ing to the number of the lords of the Philistines
(vi. 3); but it is said after (ver. 18) that the number
of the golden mice was according to the number of
all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five
lords, both of fenced cities and country villages. It
is surmised, however, that (as in the Septuagint) the
number five should not be repeated in the middle
of the first passage (vi. 4, 5), but that it should run,
"five golden emerods, according to the number of
the lords of the Philistines, and golden mice, images
of the mice that destroy the land." The idea of
presenting offerings to the gods corresponding with the
object in connection with which they were presented
was often given effect to by heathen nations. " Those
saved from shipwreck offered pictures of the shipwreck,
or of the clothes which they had on at the time, in the
Temple of Isis ; slaves and captives, in gratitude for the
recovery of their liberty, offered chains to the Lares;

78 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
retired gladiators, their arms to Hercules ; and in the
fifth century a custom prevailed among Christians of
offering in their churches gold or silver hands, feet,
eyes, etc., in return for cures effected in those members
respectively in answer to prayer. This was probably a
heathen custom transferred into the Christian Church ;
for a similar usage is still found among the heathen in
India" (Speaker's Commentary).
4. Next, as to the manner in which the ark was to be
sent away. A new cart was to be made, and two milch
cows which had never been in harness before were to
be fastened to the cart. This was to be out of respect
to the God of Israel ; new things were counted more
honourable, as our Lord rode on a colt "whereon never
man had yet sat," and His body was laid in a new
sepulchre. The cows were to be left without guidance
to determine their path ; if they took the road to Judea,
the road up the valley to Bethshemesh, that would be
a token that all their trouble had come from the God of
the Hebrews; but if they took any other road, the road
to any place in the Philistine country, that would prove
that there had only been a coincidence, and no relation
of cause and effect between the capture of the ark and
the evils that had befallen them. It was the principle
of the lot applied to determine a grave moral question.
It was a method which, in the absence of better light,
men were ready enough to resort to in those times,
and which on one memorable occasion was resorted
to in the early Christian Church (Acts i.). The much
fuller light which God has given men on moral and
religious questions greatly restricts, if it does not indeed
abolish, the lawful occasions of resorting to such a
method. If it be ever lawful, it can only be so in the
exercise of a devout and solemn spirit, for the apostles

v.,vi] THE ARK AMONG THE PHILISTINES. 79
did not make use of it by itself, but only after earnest
prayer that God would make the lot the instrument of
making known His will.
At last the ark leaves the land of the Philistines.
For seven terrible months it had spread among them
anxiety, terror, and 'death. Nothing but utter ruin
seemed likely to spring from a longer residence of the
ark in their territories. Glad were they to get rid of it,
golden emerods, golden mice, new cart, milch kine, and
all. We are reminded of a scene in Gospel history,
that took place at Gadara after the devils drove the
herd of swine over the cliff into the lake. The people
of the place besought Jesus to depart out of their coasts.
It is a solemn truth that there are aspects of God's
character, aspects of the Saviour's character, in which
He is only a terror and a trouble. These are the
aspects in which God is seen opposed to what men
love and prize, tearing their treasures away from them,
or tearing them away from their treasures. It is an
awful thing to know God in these aspects alone. Yet
it is the aspect in which God usually appears to the
sinner. It is the aspect in which our consciences pre
sent Him when we are conscious of having incurred His
displeasure. And while man remains a sinner and in
love with his sin, he may try to disguise the solemn fact
to his own mind, but it is nevertheless true that his
secret desire is to get rid of God. As the apostle puts
it, he does not like to retain God in his knowledge
(Rom. i. 28). He says to God, " Depart from us, for
we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways " (Job xxi. 14).
Nay, he goes a step further — " The fool hath said in
his heart, There is no God" (Ps. xiv. 1). Where
he still makes some acknowledgment of Him, he may
try to propitiate Him by offerings, and to make up for

8o THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
'he transgressions he commits in some things by acts
of will-worship, or voluntary humiliation in other
things. But alas 1 of how large a portion even of men
in Christian lands is it true :hat thi,y do not love God.
Their hearts have no yearning for Him. The thought
of Him is a disturbing, uncomfortable element. Heart
communion with Him is a difficulty not to be over
come. Forms of worship that leave the heart un
exercised are a great relief. Worship performed by
choirs and instruments and aesthetic rules comes wel
come as a substitute for the intercourse and homage of
the soul. Could anything demonstrate more clearly
the need of a great spiritual change ? What but the
vision of God in Christ reconciling the world to Himself
can effect it ? And even the glorious truths of re
demption are not in themselves efficacious. The seed
needs to fall on good soil. He that commanded the
light to shine out of darkness must shine in our minds
to give the light of the glory of God in the face of His
Anointed. But surely it is a great step towards this
change to feel the need of it. The heart that is honest ;
with God, and that says, "O God Almighty, I do not love
Thee, I am not happy in Thy presence, I like life better
without Thee ; but I am convinced that this is a most
wretched condition, and most sinful. Wilt Thou, in in
finite mercy, have compassion on me ? Wilt Thou so
change me that I may come to love Thee, to love Thy
company, to welcome the thought of Thee, and to wor
ship Thee in spirit and in truth ? " — such a heart, ex
pressing itself thus, will surely not be forsaken. How
long it may be ere its quest is granted we cannot tell ;
but surely the day will come when the new song shall
be put in its mouth — " Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not all His benefits. Who forgiveth all thine

».,vi.] THE ARK AMONG THE PHILISTINES. 81
iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases ; who redeemeth
thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with
loving-kindness and tender mercies ; who satisfieth thy
mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed
like the eagle's."
5. And now the ark has reached Bethshemesh, in
the tribe of Judah. The lords of the Philistines have
followed it, watching it, as Miriam watched her infant
brother on the Nile, to see what would become of it.
Nor do they turn back till they have seen the men of
Bethshemesh welcome it, till they have seen the Levites
take it down from the cart, till they have seen the cart
cleft, and the cows offered as a trespass offering, and
till they have seen their own golden jewels, along with
the burnt-offerings and sacrifices of the people of
Bethshemesh, presented in due form to the Lord.
Thus far all goes well at Bethshemesh. The ark is
on Hebrew soil. The people there have no fear
either of the emerods or of the mice that so terribly
distressed their Philistine neighbours. After a time
of great depression the sun is beginning to smile on
Israel again. The men of Bethshemesh are reaping
their barley-harvest— that is one mercy from God.
And here most unexpectedly appears the sight that
of all—possible sights was the most welcome to their
eyes ; here, unhurt and unrifled, is the ark of the
covenant that had been given up for lost, despaired
of probably, even by its most ardent friends. How
could Israel hope to gain possession of that ap
parently insignificant box except by an invasion of
the Philistines in overwhelming force — in such force
as a nation that had but lately lost thirty thousand men
was not able to command ? And even if such an
overwhelming expedition were to be arranged, how
VOL. I. °"

82 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
easy would it not be for the Philistines to burn the
ark, and thus annihilate the very thing to recover
which the war was undertaken ? Yet here is the ark
back without the intervention of a single soldier. No
ransom has been given for it, no blow struck, nothing
promised, nothing threatened. Here it comes, as if
unseen angels had fetched it, with its precious treasures
and still more precious memories just as before ! It
was like a foreshadow of the return from the captivity
— an experience that might have found expression in
the words, " When the Lord turned again the captivity
of Zion, we were like them that dream."
Happy men of Bethshemesh, for whom God prepared
so delightful a surprise. Truly He is able to do in us
exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.
How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways
past finding out ! Never let us despair of God, or of
any cause with which He is identified. " Rest in the
Lord and wait patiently for Him ; " " The Lord bringeth
the counsel of the heathen to nought ; He maketh the
devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of
the Lord standeth for ever, and the thoughts of His
heart to all generations."
But alas I the men of Bethshemesh did not act
according to the benefit received. Their curiosity
prevailed above their reverence : they looked into the
ark of the Lord. As if the sacred vessel had not had
enough of indignity in the din of battle, in the temples
of the uncircumcised Philistines, and in the cart drawn
by the kine, they must expose it to a yet further
profanation ! Alas for them I their curiosity prevailed
over their reverence. And for this they . had to pay a
terrible penalty. "The Lord smote of the men of
Bethshemesh fifty thousand and three score and ten

v., A.] THE ARK AMONG THE PHILISTINES. 83

men." It is the general opinion, however, that an
error has slipped into the text that makes the deaths
amount to fifty thousand threescore and ten. Beth
shemesh was never more than a village or little
town, and could not have had anything like so great a
population. Probably the threescore and ten, without
the fifty thousand, is all that was originally in the text.
Even that would be " a great slaughter " in the popula
tion of a little town. It was a very sad thing that an
event so joyous should be clouded by such a judgment.
But how often are times and scenes which God has
made very bright marred by the folly and recklessness
of men !
The prying men of Bethshemesh have had their
counterparts many a time in more recent days. Many
men, with strong theological proclivities, have evinccJ
a strong desire to pry into the "secret things which
belong to the Lord our God." Foreknowledge, elec
tion, free will, sin's punishment — men have often forgot
that there is much in such subjects that exceeds the
capacity of the human mind, and that as God has
shown reserve in what He has revealed about them,
so men ought to show a holy modesty in their mannei
of treating them. And even in the handling of sacred
things generally, in the way of theological discussion,
a want of reverence has very often been shown. It
becomes us all most carefully to beware of abusing
the gracious condescension which God has shown in
His revelation, and in the use which He designs us to
make of it. It was an excellent rule a foreign theologian
laid down for himself, to keep up the spirit of reverence
. — never to speak of God without speaking to God.
God has drawn very near to us in Christ, and given
to all that accept of Him the place and privileges

84 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
of children. He allows us to come very near to Him
in prayer. " In everything," He says, " by prayer
and supplication with thanksgiving make your requests
known unto God." But while we gratefully accept
these privileges, and while m the enjoyment of them
we become very intimate with God, never let us forget
the infinite distance between us, and the infinite con
descension manifested in His allowing us to enter into
the holiest of all. Never let us forget that in His sight
we are " as dust and ashes," unworthy to lift up our
eyes to the place where His honour dwelleth. To
combine reverence and intimacy in our dealings with
God, — the profoundest reverence with the closest
intimacy, is to realise the highest ideal of worship.
God Himself would have us remember, in our ap
proaches to Him, that He is in heaven and we on
the earth. " Thus saith the High and Lofty One that
inhabiteth Eternity and whose name is holy, I dwell
in the high and holy place, but with him also who is of
a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the
humble, and to revive the hearts of the contrite ones."

CHAPTER VIII.
REPENTANCE AND REVIVAL,
i Samuel vii. 1-9.
WITH the men of Bethshemesh the presence of the
ark had become the same terror as it had been
successively at Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron. Instead of
the savour of life to life, it had proved a savour of death
to death. Instead of a chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
it had become a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence.
They sent therefore to their neighbours at Kirjath-
jearim, and begged them to come down and remove the
ark. This they readily did. More timid men might
have said, The ark has brought nothing but disaster in
its train ; we will have nothing to do with it. There
was faith and loyalty to God shown in their readiness
to give accommodation to it within their bounds.
Deeming a high place to be the kind of situation where
it should rest, they selected the house of Abinadab in
the hill, he being probably a Levite. To keep the ark
they set apart his son Eleazar, whose name seems to
indicate that he was of the house of Aaron. They
seem to have done all they could, and with due regard
to the requirements of the law, for the custody of the
sacred symbol. But Kirjath-jearim was not turned
into the seat of the national worship. There is no
word of sacrificial or other services being performed

86 The first Book op samueL.
there. There is nothing to indicate that the annual
feasts were held at this place. The ark had a resting-
place there — nothing more.
And this lasted for twenty years. It was a long and
dreary time. A rude shock had been given to the
sacred customs of the people, and the comely order of
the Divine service among them. The ark and the other
sacred vessels were separated from each other. If, as
seems likely (i Sam. xxi.), the daily offerings and other
sacred services ordained by Moses were offered at this
time at Nob, a sense of imperfection could not but belong
to them, for the ark of the covenant was not there.
Incompleteness would attach to any public rites that
might now be celebrated. The service of Baal and
Ashtaroth would have a less powerful rival than when
the service of Jehovah was conducted in all due form
and regularity at Shiloh. During these years the nation
seems to have been somewhat listless on the subject,
and to have made no effort to remove the ark to a mor<.
suitable place. Kirjath-jearim was not in the centre, buu
on the very edge of the country, looking down into the
territory of the Philistines, not far from the very cities.
where the ark had been in captivity, a constant remindei
to the Israelites of its degradation. That Samuel was
profoundly concerned about all this we cannot doubt
Dut he seems to have made no effort to remedy it, most
probably because he knew it to be God's order first
to make the people sensible of their wickedness, and
only thereafter to restore to them free access to
Himself. What then was Samuel doing during the twenty years
that the ark was at Kirjath-jearim ? We can answer
that question only conjecturally, only from what we
know of his general character. It cannot be doubted

vtl. I-g.] REPENTANCE AND REVIVAL. 87

that in some way or other he was trying to make
the nation sensible of their sins against God ; to
show them that it was to these sins that their sub
jection to the Philistines was due ; and to urge them
to abandon their idolatrous practices if they desired a"
return to independence and peace. Perhaps he began
at this period to move about from place to place, urging
those views, as he moved about afterwards when he
held the office of Judge (vii. 16). And perhaps he was
laying the foundations of those schools of the prophets
that afterwards were associated with his name. When
ever he found young men disposed to his views he
would doubtless cultivate their acquaintance, and urge
them to steadfastness and progress in the way of the
Lord. There is nothing said to indicate that Samuel
was connected with the priestly establishment at
Nob. There are two great services for God and for Israel
in which we find Samuel engaged in the first nine
verses of this chapter : 1. In exhorting and directing
them with a view to bring them into a right state before
God. 2. This being accomplished, in praying for
them in their time of trouble, and obtaining Divine
help when the Philistines drew near in battle.
1. In the course of time the people appear to have
come to feel how sad and desolate their national life
was without any tokens of God's presence and grace.
"All the house of Israel lamented after the Lord."
The expression is a peculiar one, and some critics, not
understanding its spiritual import, have proposed to
give it a different meaning. But for this there is no
cause. It seems to denote that the people, missing
God, under the severe oppression of the Philistines,
had begun to grieve o?er the sins that had driven Him

88 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
away, and to long after Him, to long for His return.
These symptoms of repentance, however, had not shown
themselves in a very definite or practical form. Samuel
was not satisfied with the amount of earnestness evinced
as yet. He must have more decided evidence of
sincerity and repentance. He insisted on it that they
must " put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from
among them, and prepare their hearts unto the Lord
and serve Him only."
Now the putting away of the strange gods and
Ashtaroth was a harder condition than we at first
should suppose. Some are inclined to fancy that it was
a mere senseless and ridiculous obstinacy that drew the
Israelites so much to the worship of the idolatrous
gods of their neighbours. In reality the temptation
was of a much more subtle kind. Their religious wor
ship as prescribed by Moses had little to attract the
natural feelings of the human heart. It was simple, it
was severe, it was self-denying. The worship of the
pagan nations was more lively and attractive. Fashion
able entertainments and free-and-easy revelries were
superadded to please the carnal mind. Between
Hebrew and heathen worship, there was something of
the contrast that you find between the severe simplicity
of a Puritan meeting and the gorgeous and fashionable
splendour of a great Romish ceremonial. To put away
Baalim and Ashtaroth was to abjure what was fashion
able and agreeable, and fall back on what was unat
tractive and sombre. Was it not, too, an illiberal
demand ? Was it not a sign of narrowness to be so
exclusively devoted to their own religion that they
could view that of their neighbours with no sort of
pleasure ? Why not acknowledge that in other religions
there was an element of good, that the services in them

vii. 1.9.] REPENTANCE AND REVIVAL. 89
were the expression of a profound religious sentiment,
and were therefore entitled to a measure of praise and
approval ? It is very certain that with this favourite
view of modern liberalism neither Samuel nor any of
the prophets had the slightest sympathy. No. If the
people were in earnest now, they must show it by
putting away every image and every object and orna
ment that was connected with the worship of other
gods. Jehovah would have their homage on no other
terms. If they chose to divide it between Him and
other gods, they might call on them for help and bless
ing; for it was most certain that the God of Israel
would receive no worship that was not rendered to
Him alone.
But the people were in earnest ; and this first
demand of Samuel was complied with. We are to
remember that the people of Israel, in their typical
significance, stand for those who are by grace in
covenant with God, and that their times of degeneracy
represent, in the case of Christians, seasons of spiritual
backsliding, when the things of this world are too
keenly sought, when the fellowship of the world is
habitually resorted to, when the soul loses its spiritual
appetite, and religious services become formal and cold.
Does there begin to dawn on such a soul a sense of
spiritual poverty and loneliness ? Does the spirit of
the hymn begin to breathe from it —
" Return, O holy Dove, return,
Sweet Messenger of rest I
I hate the sins that made Thee mourn
And drove Thee from my breast"
Then the first steps towards revival and communion
must be the forsaking of these sins, and of ways of

go THE FIRST BOOK OP SAMUEL.
life that prepare the way for them. The sorrow for sin
that is working in the conscience is the work of the
Holy Ghost; and if the Holy Ghost be resisted in
this His first operation — if the sins, or ways toward sin,
against which He has given His warning be persisted
in, the Spirit is grieved and His work is stopped. The
Spirit calls 41s to set our hearts against these sins, and
" prepare them unto the Lord."
Let us mark carefully this last expression. It is not
enough that in church, or at some meeting, or in our
closet, we experience a painful conviction how much
we have offended God, and a desire not to offend Him
in like manner any more. We must " prepare our
hearts " for this end. We must remember that in the
world with which we mingle we are exposed to many
influences that remove God from our thoughts, that
stimulate our infirmities, that give force to temptation,
that lessen our power of resistance, that tend to draw
us back into our old sins. One who has a tendency to
intemperance may have a sincere conviction that his
acts of drunkenness have displeased God, and a sincere
wish never to be drunk again. But besides this he
must "prepare his heart" against his sin. He must
resolve to turn away from everything that leads to
drinking, that gives strength to the temptation, that
weakens his power of resistance, that draws him, as
it were, within the vortex. He must fortify himself, by
ioining a society or otherwise, against the insidious
approaches'of the vice. And in regard to all that dis
pleases God he must order his life so that it shall be
abandoned, it shall be parted with for ever. You may
say this is asking him to do more than he can do.
No doubt it is. But is not the Holy Spirit working in
him ? Is it not the Holy Spirit that is urging him to

vii. i^.] REPENTANCE AND REVIVAL. 91
do these things? Whoever is urged by the Holy
Spirit may surely rely on the power of the Spirit when
he endeavours to comply with His suggestions. When
God works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure,
we may surely work out our own salvation with fear
and trembling.
Having found the people so far obedient to his
requirements, Samuel's next step was to call an
assembly of all Israel to Mizpeh. He desired to unite
all who were like-minded in a purpose of repentance
and reformation, and to rouse them to a higher pitch of
intensity by contact with a great multitude animated
by the same spirit. When the assembly met, it was in
a most proper spirit. They began the proceedings by
drawing water and pouring it out before the Lord, and
by fasting. These two acts being joined in the
narrative, it is probable they were acts of the same
character. Now as fasting was evidently an expression
of contrition, so the pouring out of the water must
have been so too. It is necessary to remark this,
because an expression not unlike to our text, in
Isa. xii., denotes an act of a joyful character, " With
jo_y shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation."
But what was done on this occasion was to draw
water and pour it out before the Lord. And this seems
to have been done as a symbol of pouring out before
God confessions of sin drawn from the depths of the
heart. What they said in connection with these acts
was, " We have sinned against the Lord." They were
no longer in the mood in which the Psalmist was when
he kept silence, and his bones waxed old through his
roaring all the day. They were in the mood into
which he came when he said, "I will confess my
transgressions to the Lord." They humbled them-

9* The first book of Samuel.
selves before God in deep convictions of their un-
worthiness, and being thus emptied of self they were
in a better state to receive the gracious visitation of
love and mercy.
It is important to mark the stress which is laid here
on the public assembly of the people. Some might say
would it not have answered the same end if the people
had humbled themselves apart — the family of the house
of Levi apart, and their wives apart, every family apart,
and their wives apart, as in the great mourning of
Zechariah (Zech. xii. 12-14)? We answer, the one
way did not exclude the other; we do not need to ask
which is best, for both are best. But when Samuel
convened the people to a public assembly, he evidently
did it on the principle on which in the New Testament
we are required not to forsake the assembling of
ourselves together. It is in order that the presence
of people like-minded, and with the same earnest
feelings and purposes, may have a rousing and warm
ing influence upon us. No doubt there are other
purposes connected with public worship. We need
constant instruction and constant reminding of the will
of God. But the public assembly and the social prayer-
meeting are intended to have another effect. They are
intended to increase our spiritual earnestness by the
sight and presence of so many persons in earnest.
Alas ! what a difference there often is between the ideal
and the real. Those cold and passionless meetings
that our churches and halls often present — how little
are they fitted, by the earnestness and warmth of their
tone, to give those who attend them a great impulse
heavenward 1 Never let us be satisfied with our public
religious services until they are manifestly adapted to
this great end.

vii. i-g.] REPENTANCE AND REVIVAL. 93
Thus did Samuel seek to promote repentance and
revival among his people, and to prepare the way for
a return of God's favour. And it is in this very way
that if we would have a revival of earnest religion, we
must set about obtaining it.
2. The next scene in the panorama of the text is —
the Philistines invading Israel. Here Samuel's service
is that of an intercessor, praying for his people, and
obtaining God's blessing. It is to be observed that
the alleged occasion for this event is said to have been
the meeting held at Mizpeh. "When the Philistines
heard that the children of Israel were gathered together
to Mizpeh, the lords of the Philistines went up against
Israel." Was not this most strange and distressing ?
The blessed assembly which Samuel had convened
only gives occasion for a new Philistine invasion !
Trying to do his people good, Samuel would appear
only to have done them harm. With the assembly at
Mizpeh, called as it was for spiritual ends, the Philistines
could have no real cause for complaint. Either they
mistook its purpose and thought it a meeting to devise
measures to throw off their yoke, or they had an
inslinctive apprehension that the spirit which the
people of Israel were now showing would be accom
panied by some remarkable interposition on their behalf.
It is not rare for steps taken with the best of intentions
to become for a time the occasion of a great increase
of evil, — just as the remonstrances of Moses with
Pharaoh led at first to the increase of the people's
burdens ; or just as the coming of Christ into the world
caused the massacre of the babes of Bethlehem. So
here, the first public step taken by Samuel for the
people's welfare was the occasion of an alarming
invasion by their cruel enemies. But God's word on

94 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
such occasions is, " Be still and know that I am God."
Such events are suffered only to stimulate laith and
patience. They are not so very overwhelming events
to those who know that God is with thtm, and that
" none of i.hem that trust in Him shall 1 e desolate."
Though the Israelites at this time were not far advanced
in spiritual life, they betrayed no consternation when
they heard of the invasion of the Philistines. They
knew where their help was to be found, and recognizirg
Samuel as their mediator, they said to him, "Cease
not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, that He will
save us out of the hand of the Philistines."
With this request Samuel most readily complies.
But first he offers a sucking lamb as a whole burnt-
offering to the Lord, and only after this are we told
that " Samuel cried unto the Lord, and the Lord heard
him." The lesson is supremely important. When sinners
approach God to entreat His favour, it must be by the
new and living way, sprinkled with atoning blood. All
other ways of access will fail. How often has this
been exemplified in the history of the Church 1 How
many anxious sinners have sought unto God by other
ways, but have been driven back, sometimes farther
from Him than before. Luther humbles himself in the
dust and implores God's favour, and struggles with
might and main to reform his heart ; but Luther cannot
find peace until he sees how it is in the righteousness
of another he is to draw nigh and find the blessing, —
in the righteousness of the Lamb of God, that taketh
away the sin of the world. Dr. Chalmers, profoundly
impressed with the sinfulness of his past life, strives,
with the energy of a giant, to attain conformity to the
will of God ; but he too is only tossed about in weary

vii. I-9-] REPENTANCE AND REVIVAL. 95
disappointment until he finds rest in the atoning mercy
of God in Christ. We may be well assured that no
sense of peace can come into the guilty soul till it
accepts Jesus Christ as its Saviour in all the fulness
of His saving power.
Another lesson comes to us from Samuel's interces
sion. It is well to try to get God's servants to pray
for us. But little real progress can be made till we can
pray for ourselves. Whoever really desires to enjoy
God's favour, be it for the first time after he has come
to the sense of his sins ; or be it at other times, after
God's face has been hid from him for a time through
his backsliding, can never come as he ought to come
without earnest prayer. For prayer is the great
medium that God has appointed to us for communion
with Himself. " Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye
shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you." If
there be any lesson written with a sunbeam alike in the
Old Testament and in the New, it is that God is the
Hearer of prayer. Only let us take heed to the quality
and tone of our prayer. Before God can listen to it, it
must be from the heart. To gabble over a form of
prayer is not to pray. Saul of Tarsus had said many
a prayer before his conversion ; but after that for tht
first time it was said of him, " Behold, he prayeth." To
pray is to ask an interview with God, and when we are
alone with Him, to unburden our souls to Him. Those
only who have learned to pray thus in secret can pray
to any purpose in the public assembly. It is in this
spirit, surely, that the highest gifts of Divine grace are
to be sought. Emphatically it is in this way that we
are to pray for our nation or for our Church. Let us
come with large and glowing hearts when we come to
pray for a whole community. Let us plead with God

96 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
for Church and for nation in the very spirit of the
prophet : " For Zion's sake I will not hold my peace,
and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, untii the
righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the
salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth."

CHAPTER IX.
BATIONAL DELIVERANCE—THE PHILISTINES
SUBDUED.
I Samuel vii. 10-17.
IT must have been with feelings very different from
those of their last encounter, when the ark of God
was carried into the battle, that the host of Israel now
faced the Philistine army near Mizpeh. Then they
had only the symbol of God's gracious presence, now
they had the reality. Then their spiritual guides were
the wicked Hophni and Phinehas; now their guide was
holy Samuel. Then they had rushed into the fight
in thoughtless unconcern about their sins ; now they
had confessed them, and through the blood of sprink
ling they had obtained a sense of forgiveness. Then
they were puffed up by a vain presumption ; now
they were animated by a calm but confident hope.
Then their advance was hallowed by no prayer;
now the cry of needy children had gone up from
God's faithful servant. In fact, the battle with the
Philistines had already been fought by Samuel on his
knees. There can be no more sure token of success
than this. Are we engaged in conflict with our own
besetting sins ? Or are we contending against scandal
ous transgression in the world around us ? Let us
first fight the battle on our knees. If we are victorious
there ws need have little fear of victory in the other battle.
VOL. I, 7

98 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
It was as Samuel was offering up the burnt-offering
that the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel.
There was an unseen ladder that day between earth
and heaven, on which the angels of God ascended and
descended as in Jacob's vision at Bethel. The smoke
of the burnt-offering carried up to God the confession
and contrition of the people, their reliance on God's
method of atonement, and their prayer for His pardon
and His blessing. The great thunder with which God
thundered on the Philistines carried down from God
the answer and the needed help. There is no need
for supposing that the thunder was supernatural. It
was an instance of what is so common, a natural force
adapted to the purpose of an answer to prayer. What
seems to have occurred is this : a vehement thunder
storm had gathered a little to the east, and now
broke, probably with violent wind, in the faces of the
Philistines, who were advancing up the heights against
Mizpeh. Unable to face such a terrific war of the
elements, the Philistines would turn round, placing
their backs to the storm. The men of Israel, but little
embarrassed by it, since it came from behind them,
and gave the greater momentum to their force, rushed
on the embarrassed enemy, and drove them before
them like smoke before the wind. It was just as in
former days — God arose, and His enemies were scattered,
and they also that hated Him fled before Him. The
storm before which the Philistines cowered was like
the pillar of fire which had guided Israel through the
desert. Jehovah was still the God of Israel ; the God
of Jacot was once more his refuge.
We have said that this thunderstorm may have been
quite a natural phenomenon. Natural, but not casual.
Though natural, it was God's answer to Samuel's

vii. 10-17.] THE PHILISTINES SUBDUED. 99
prayer. But how could this have been ? If it was
a natural storm, if it was the result of natural law,
of atmospheric conditions the operation of which was
fixed and certain, it must have taken place whether
Samuel prayed or not. Undoubtedly. But the very
fact that the laws of nature are fixed and certain, that
their operation is definite and regular, enables the
great Lord of Providence to make use of them in the
natural course of things, for the purpose of answering
prayer. For this fact, the uniformity of natural law,
enables the Almighty, who sees and plans the end
from the beginning, to frame a comprehensive scheme
of Providence, that shall not only work out the final
result in His time and way, but that shall also work
out every intermediate result precisely as He designs
and desires. " Known unto God are all His works
from the beginning of the world/' Now if God has so
adjusted the scheme of Providence that the final result
of the whole shall wonderfully accomplish His grand
design, may He not, must He not, have so adjusted
it that every intermediate part shall work out some
intermediate design ? It is only those who have an
unworthy conception of omniscience and omnipotence
that can doubt this. Surely if there is a general Provi
dence, there must be a special Providence. If God guides
the whole, He must also guide the parts. Every part
of the scheme must fall out according to His plan,
and may thus be the means of fulfilling some of His
promises. Let us apply this view to the matter of prayer. All
true prayer is the fruit of the Holy Spirit working in
the human soul. All the prayer that God answers is
prayer that God has inspired. The prayer of Samuel
was prayer which God had inspired. What more

loo THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
reasonable than that in the great plan of providence
there should have been included a provision for the
fulfilment of Samuel's prayer at the appropriate
moment ? The thunderstorm, we may be sure, was a
natural phenomenon. But its occurrence at the time
was part of that great scheme of Providence which God
planned at the beginning, and it was planned to fall
out then in order that it might serve as an answer to
Samuel's prayer. It was thus an answer to prayer
brought about by natural causes. The only thing
miraculous about it was its forming a part of that most
marvellous scheme — the scheme of Divine providence
— a part of the scheme that was to be carried into effect
after Samuel had prayed. If the term supernatural.
may be fitly applied to that scheme which is the sum
and substance of all the laws of nature, of all the
providence of God, and of all the works and thoughts
of man, then it was a miracle; but if not, it was a
natural effect.
It is important to bear these truths in mind, because
many have the impression that prayer for outward
results cannot be answered without a miracle, and that
it is unreasonable to suppose that such a multitude of
miracles as prayer involves would be wrought every
day. If a sick man prays for health, is the answer
necessarily a miracle ? No ; for the answer may come
about by purely natural causes. He has been directed
to a skilful physician ; he has used the right medicine ;
he has been treated in the way to give full scope to
the recuperative power of nature. God, who led him
to pray, foresaw the prayer, and in the original scheme
of Providence planned that by natural causes the
answer should come. We do not deny that prayer
may be answered in a supernatural way. We would

vfl. 10-17.] THE PHILISTINES SUBDUED. 101
not affirm that such a thing as supernatural healing is
unknown. But it is most useful that the idea should
be entertained that such prayer is usually answered
by natural means. By not attending to this men often
fail to perceive that prayer has been answered. You
pray, before you set out on a journey, for protection
and safe arrival at the end. You get what you asked —
you perform the journey in safety. But perhaps you
say, " It would have been all the same whether I had
prayed for it or not. I have gone on journeys that I
forgot to pray about, and no evil befel me. Some of
my fellow-passengers, I am sure, did not pray for safety,
yet they were taken care of as much as I was." But
these are sophistical arguments. You should feel that
your safety in the journey about which you prayed
was as much due to God, though only through the opera-*
tion of natural causes, as if you had had a hairbreadth
escape. You should be thankful that in cases where
you did not pray for safety God had regard to the
habitual set of your mind, your habitual trust in Him,
though you did not specially exercise it at these times.
Let the means be as natural as they may — to those
who have eyes to see the finger of God is in them
all the same.
But to return to the Israelites and the Philistines.
The defeat of the Philistines was a very thorough one.
Not only did they make no attempt to rally after the
storm had passed and Israel had fallen on them, but
they came no more into the coast of Israel, and the
hand of the Lord was against them all the days of
Samuel. And besides this, all the cities and tracts of
land belonging to Israel which the Philistines had
taken were now restored. Another mercy that came
to Israel was that "there was peace between Israel

102 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
and the Amorites" — the Amorites being put here, most
likely, for the remains of all the original inhabitants
living among or around Israel. Those promises were
now fulfilled in which God had said to Moses, " This
day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the
fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole
heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall
tremble and be in anguish because of thee" (Deut.
ii. 25). " There shall no man be able to stand before
you ; for the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you
and the dread of you upon all the land ye shall tread
upon, as He hath said to thee." It was so apparent
that God was among them, and that the power of God
was irresistible and overwhelming, that their enemies
were frightened to assail them.
The impression thus made on the enemies of Israel
corresponds in some degree to the moral influence
which God-fearing men sometimes have on an other
wise godless community. The picture in the Song of
Solomon — " Who is she that looketh forth as the morn
ing, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as
an army with banners?" — ascribes even to the fair
young bride a terrifying power, a power not appro
priate to such a picture in the literal sense, but quite
suitable in the figurative. Wherever the life and
character of a godly man is such as to recall God,
wherever God's image is plainly visible, wherever the
results of God's presence are plainly seen, there the
idea of a supernatural Power is conveyed, and a certain
overawing influence is felt. In the great awakening
at Northampton in Jonathan Edwards' days, there was
a complete arrest laid on open forms of vice. And
whensoever in a community God's presence has been
powerfully realized, the taverns have been emptied, the

viL 10-17.] THE PHILISTINES SUBDUED. 103
gambling-table deserted, under the sense of His august
majesty. Would only that the character and life of all
God's servants were so truly godlike that their very
presence in a community would have a subduing and
restraining influence on the wicked !
Two points yet remain to be noticed : the step taken
by Samuil to commemorate this wonderful Divine
interposition ; and the account given of the prophet
and his occupations in his capacity of Judge of Israel.
" Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh
and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying,
Hitherto hath the Lord helped us."
The position of Shen is not known. But it must
have been very near the scene of the defeat of the
Philistines — perhaps it was the very spot where that
defeat occurred. In that case, Samuel's stone would
stand midway between the two scenes of battle : the
battle gained by him on his knees at Mizpeh, and the
battle gained by the Israelites when they fell on the
Philistines demoralised by the thunderstorm.
" Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." The cha
racteristic feature of the nscription lies in the word
"hitherto." It was no doubt a testimony to special
help obtained in that time of trouble ; it was a grate
ful recognition of that help ; and it was an enduring
monument to perpetuate the memory of it. But it
was more, much more. The word " hitherto " denotes
a series, a chain of similar mercies, an unbroken
succession of Divine interpositions and Divine deliver
ances. The special purpose of this inscription was
to link on the present deliverance to all the past, and
to form a testimony to the enduring faithfulness and
mercy of a covenant-keeping God. But was there not
something strange in this inscription, considering the

104 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
circumstances ? Could Samuel have forgot that tragic
day at Shiloh — the bewildered, terrified look of the
messenger that came from the army to bring the news,
the consternation caused by his message, the ghastly
horror of Eli and his tragic death, the touching death
of the wife of Phinehas, and the sad name which she
had with such seeming propriety given to her babe ?
Was that like God remembering them ? or h^d Samuel
forgot how the victorious Philistines soon after dashed
upon Shiloh like beasts of prey, plundering, destroying,
massacreing, till nothing more remained to be done to
justify the name of " Ichabod " ? How can Samuel
blot that chapter out of the history ? or how can he
say, with that chapter fresh in his recollection,
" Hitherto hath the Lord helped us " ?
All that Samuel has considered well. Even amid
the desolations of Shiloh the Lord was helping them.
He was helping them to know themselves, helping
them to know their sins, and helping them to know
the bitter fruit and woful punishment of sin. He
was helping them to achieve the great end for which
he had called them — to keep alive the knowledge of
the true God and the practice of His worship, onward
to the time when the great promise should be realised,
— when He should come in whom all the families of the
earth were to be blessed. Samuel's idea of what con
stituted the nation's glory was large and spiritual. The
true glory of the nation was to fulfil the function for
which God had taken it into covenant with Himself.
Whatever helped them to do this was a blessing, was a
token of the Lord's remembrance of them. The links
of the long chain denoted by Samuel's " hitherto " were"
not all of one kind. Some were in the form of mercies,
many were in the form of chastenings. For the higher

vii. io-i7.] THE PHILISTINES SUBDUED. lo^
the function for which Israel was called, the more
need was there of chastening. The higher the des
tination of a silver vessel, the greater is the need that
the silver be pure, and therefore that it be frequently
passed through the furnace. The destination of Israel
was the highest that could have been. So Samuel does
not merely give thanks for seasons of prosperity, but
for checks and chastenings too.
Happy they who, full of faith in the faithfulness and
love of God, can take a similar view of His dealings 1
Happy they who, when special mercies come, deem
the occasion worthy to be commemorated by some
special memorial, but who can embrace their whole life
in the grateful commemoration, and bracket joys and
sorrows alike under their " hitherto " ! It is not that
sorrows are less sorrows to them than to others ; it is
not that losses of substance entail less inconvenience,
or bereavements penetrate less deeply ; but that all are
seen to be embraced in that gracious plan of which
the final consummation is, as the apostle puts it, " to
present her to Himself a glorious Church, not having
spot or wrinkle or any such thing." And well is it for
us, both in individual life and in Church and national
life, to think of that plan of God in which mercies
and chastenings are united, but all with a gracious
purpose 1 It is remarkable how often in Scripture tears
are wiped away with this thought. Zion saying, " The
Lord hath forsaken me, and my God hath forgotten
me," is assured, " Behold, I have graven thee upon the
palms of My hands, thy walls are continually before
Me." Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing
to be comforted, is thus addressed, " Refrain thy voice
from weeping and thine eyes from tears ; for thy woi k
shall be rewarded, saith the Lord, and thy children

106 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
shall come again from the land of the enemy." " Weep
not," said our Lord to the woman of Nain ; and His
first words after His resurrection were, " Woman, why
weepest thou ? " Vale of tears though this world is,
there comes from above a gracious influence to wipe
them away ; and the march Zionward has in it some
thing of the tread and air of a triumphant procession,
for " the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come
to Zion with songs and everlasting joy on their heads ;
they shaH obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and
sighing shall flee away."
We have yet to notice the concluding verses of the
chapter (15-17), which give a little picture of the public
life of Samuel. He judged Israel all the days of his
life. The office of judge had a twofold sphere, external
and internal. Externally, it bore on the oppression of
the people by foreign enemies, and the judge became
the deliverer of the people. But in this sense there
was now nothing for Samuel to do, especially after the
accession of Saul to the kingdom. The judge seems
to have likewise had to do with the administration of
justice, and the preservation of the peace and general
welfare of the nation. It is very natural to suppose
that Samuel would be profoundly concerned to imbue
the people with just views of the purpose for which God
had called them, and of the law and covenant which
He had given them. The three places among which
he is said to have made his circuit, Bethel, Gilgal and
Mizpeh, were not far from each other, all being situated
in the tribes of Benjamin and Judah, — in that part of the
land which afterwards constituted the kingdom of the
two tribes. To these three places falls to be added
Ramah, also in the same neighbourhood, where was
his house. In this place he built an altar to the Lord.

vii. 10-17.] THE PHILISTINES SUBDUED. 107
Whether this was in connection with the tabernacle
or not, we cannot say. We know that in the time of
David's wanderings " the house of God " was at Nob
(Compare 1 Sam. xxi. I and Matt. xii. 4), but we have
nothing to show us when it was carried thither. All
we can say is, that Samuel's altar must have been a
visible memorial of the worship of God, and a solemn
protest against any idolatrous rites to which any of the
people might at any time be attracted.
In this way Samuel spent his life like Him whose
type he was, " always about his Father's business."
An unselfish man, having no interests of his own,
full of zeal for the service of God and the public welfare ;
possibly too little at home, taking too little charge of
his children, and thus at last in the painful position of
one, " whose sons walked not in his ways, but turned
aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted
judgment" (ch. viii. 1). That Samuel attained the
highest reputation for sanctity, intercourse with God
and holy influence, is plain from various passages of
Scripture. In Psalm xcix. 6, he is coupled with Moses
and Aaron, as having influence with God, — " they called
upon the Lord and He answered them." In Jeremiah
xv. 1, his name is coupled with that of Moses alone as
a powerful intercessor, "Though Moses and Samuel
stood before Me, yet My mind could not be toward this
people." His mother's act of consecration was wonder
fully fulfilled. Samuel stands out as one of the best
and purest of the Hebrew worthies. His name became
a perpetual symbol of all that was upright, pure and
Godlike. The silent influence of his character was a
great power in Israel, inspiring many a young heart
with holy awe, and silencing the flippant arrogance of
the scoffer. Mothers, did not Hannah do well, do

08 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
lobly, in dedicating her son to the Lord ? Sons and
laughters, was it not a' noble and honourable life ?
Then go ye and do likewise. And God be pleased to
ncline many a heart to the service ; a service, which
vith all its drawbacks, is the highest and the noblest ;
ind which bequeaths so blessed a welcome into the
lext stage of existence : " Well done, good and faithful
iervant ; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord "

CHAPTER X.
THE PEOPLE DEMAND A KING.
I Samuel viii.
WHATEVER impression the " Ebenezer " of
Samuel may have produced at the time, it
passed away with the lapse of years. The feeling
that, in sympathy with Samuel, had recognized so
cordially at that time the unbroken help of Jehovah
from the very beginning, waxed old and vanished away.
The help of Jehovah was no longer regarded as the
palladium of the nation. A new generation had risen
up that had only heard from their fathers of the deliver
ance from the Philistines, and what men only hear
from their fathers does not make the same impression
as what they see with their own eyes. The privilege
of having God for their king ceased to be felt, when
the occasions passed away that made His interposition
so pressing and so precious. Other things began to
press upon them, other cravings began to be felt, that
the theocracy did not meet. This double process went
on — the evils from which God did deliver becoming
more faint, and the benefits which God did not bestow
becoming more conspicuous by their absence — till a
climax was reached. Samuel was getting old, and his
sons were not like himself; therefore they afforded no
materials for continuing the system of judges. None

rto THE PIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
of them could ever fill their father's place. The people
forgot that God's policy had been to raise up judges from
time to time as they were needed. But would it not
be better to discontinue this hand-to-mouth system of
government and have a regular succession of kings ?
Why should Israel contrast disadvantageously in this
respect with the surrounding nations ? This seems to
have been the unanimous feeling of the nation. "All
the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and
said to Samuel, Make us a king to judge us like all the
nations." It seems to us very strange that they should have
done such a thing. Why were they not satisfied with
having God for their king ? Was not the roll of past
achievements under His guidance very glorious ? What
could have been more wonderful than the deliverance
from Egypt, and the triumph over the greatest empire
in the world ? Had ever such victories been heard of
as those over Sihon and Og ? Was there ever a more
triumphant campaign than that of Joshua, or a more
comfortable settlement than that of the tribes ? And if
Canaanites, and Midianites, and Ammonites, and Philis
tines had vexed them, were not Barak and Deborah,
Gideon and Jephthah, Samson and Samuel, more than
a match for the strongest of them all? Then there
was the moral glory of the theocracy. What nation
had ever received direct from God, such ordinances,
such a covenant, such promises? Where else were men
to be found that had held such close fellowship with
heaven as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses and
Aaron, and Joshua ? What other people had had such
revelations of the fatherly character of God, so that it
could be said of them, " As an eagle stirreth up her
nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her

iiii.] THE PEOPLE DEMAND A KING. in
wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings : so the
Lord did lead him, and there was no strange god with
him." Instead of wishing to change the theocracy, we
plight have expected that every Israelite, capable of
appreciating solid benefits, would have clung to it as
his greatest privilege and his greatest honour.
But it was otherwise. Comparatively blind to its
glories, they wished to be like other nations. It is too
much a characteristic of our human nature that it is "
indifferent to God, and to the advantages which are
conferred by His approval and His blessing. How
utterly do some leave God out of their calculations !
How absolutely unconcerned they are as to whether
they can reckon on His approval of their mode of life,
how little it seems to count ! You that by false pre
tences sell your wares and prey upon the simple and
unwary ; you that heed not what disappointment or
what pain and misery you inflict on those who believe
you, provided you get their money; you that grow
rich on the toil of underpaid women and children,
whose life is turned to slavery to fulfil your hard
demands, do you never think of God ? Do you never
take into your reckoning that He is against you, and
that He will one day come to reckon with you ? You
that frequent the haunts of secret wickedness, you that
help to send others to the devil, you that say, "Am
I my brother's keeper ? " when you are doing your
utmost to confirm others in debauchery and pollution,
is it nothing to you that you have to reckon one day
with an angry God ? Be assured that God is not
mocked, for 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.

IM THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
But the lesson of the text is rather for those who
have the favour and blessing of God, but are not
content, and still crave worldly things. You are in
covenant with God. He has redeemed you, not with
corruptible things such as silver and gold, but with the
precious blood of Christ. You are now sons of God,
and it doth not yet appear what you shall be. There
is laid up for you an inheritance incorruptible, unde
filed, and that fadeth not away. Yet your heart hankers
after the things of the world. Your acquaintances and
friends are better off. Your bare house, your homely
furnishings, your poor dress, your simple fare distress
you, and you would fain be in a higher worldly sphere,
enjoying more consideration, and participating more
freely in worldly enjoyments. Be assured, my friends,
you are not in a wholesome frame of mind. To be
depreciating the surpassing gifts which God has given
you, and to be exaggerating those which He has with
held, is far from being a wholesome condition. You
wish to be like the nations. You forget that your
very glory is not to be like them. Your glory is that
ye are a chosen generation, an holy nation, a royal
priesthood, a peculiar people, your bodies temples of
the Holy Ghost, your souls united to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Yet again, there are congregations, which though
in humble circumstances, have enjoyed much spiritual
blessing. Their songs have gone up, bearing the in
cense of much love and gratitude ; their prayers have
been humble and hearty, most real and true ; and the
Gospel has come to them not in word only, but in
power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.
Yet a generation has grown up that thinks little of
these inestimable blessings, and misses fine architecture,

viii.] THE PEOPLE DEMAND A KING. 113
and elaborate music, and highly cultured services.
They want to have a king like the nations. However
they may endanger the spiritual blessing, it is all-
important to have these surroundings. It is a perilous
position, all the more perhaps that many do not see
the peril — that many have little or no regard for the
high interests that are in such danger of being sacrificed.
This then, was the request of all the elders of Israel
to Samuel — " Give us a king to judge us like all the
nations." We have next to consider how it was
received by the prophet.
" The thing displeased Samuel." On the very face
of it, it was an affront to himself. It intimated dis
satisfaction with the arrangement which had made him
judge of the people under God. Evidently they were
tired of him. He had given them the best energies of
his youth and of his manhood. He had undoubtedly
conferred on them many real benefits. For all this, his
reward is to be turned off in his old age. They wish
to get rid of him, and of his manner of instructing them
in the ways of the Lord. And the kind of functionary
they wish to get in his room is not of a very flattering
order. The kings of the nations for the most part
were a poor set of men. Despotic, cruel, vindictive,
proud — they were not much to be admired. Yet
Israel's eyes are turned enviously to them 1 Possibly
Samuel was failing more than he was aware of, for old
men are slow to recognise the progress of decay, and
highly sensitive when it is bluntly intimated to them.
Besides this, there was another sore point which the
elders touched roughly. "Thy sons walk not in thy
ways." However this may have come about, it was a
sad thought to their father. But fathers often have the
feeling that while they may reprove their sons, they do
VOL. I. s

U4 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
not like to hear this done by others. Thus it was that
the message of the elders came home to Samuel, first
of all, in its personal bearings, and greatly hurt him. It
was a personal affront, it was hard to bear. The whole
business of his life seemed frustrated ; everything he
had tried to do had failed ; his whole life had missed
its aim. No wonder if Samuel was greatly troubled.
But in the exercise of that admirable habit which
he had learned so thoroughly, Samuel took the matter
straight to the Lord. And even if no articulate response
had been made to his prayer, the effect of this could
not but have been great and important. The very act
of going into God's presence was fitted to change, in
some measure, Samuel's estimate of the situation. It
placed him at a new point of view — at God's point of
view. When he reached that, the aspect of things
must have undergone a change. The bearing of the
transaction on God must have come out more promin
ently than its bearing on Samuel. And this was fully
expressed in God's words. " They have not rejected
thee, but they have rejected Me." Samuel was but the
servant, God was the lord and king. The servant was
not greater than his lord, nor the disciple greater than
his Master. The great sin of the people was their sin
against God. He it was to whom the affront had been
given ; He, if any, it was that had cause to remonstrate
and complain.
So prone are even the best of God's servants to put
themselves before their Master. So prone are ministers
of the Gospel, when any of their flock has acted badly,
to think of the annoyance to themselves, rather than
the sin committed in the holy eyes of God. So prone
are we all, in our families, and in our Churches, and
in society, to think of other aspects of sin, than its

viii.] THE PEOPLE DEMAND A KING. IIJ
essential demerit in God's sight. Yet surely this should
be the first consideration. That God should be dis
honoured is surely a far more serious thing than that
man rhould be offended. The sin against God is
infinitely more heinous than the sin against man. He
that has sinned against God has incurred a fearful
penalty — what if this should lie on his conscience for
ever, unconfessed, unforgiven ? It is a fearful thing to
fall into the hands of the living God.
Yet, notwithstanding this very serious aspect of the
people's offence, God instructs Samuel to " hearken to
their voice, yet protest solemnly to them, and show
them the manner of the kingdom." There were good
reasons why God should take this course. The people
had shown themselves unworthy the high privilege of
having God for their king. When men show them
selves incapable of appreciating a high privilege, it is
meet they should suffer the loss of it, or at least a
diminution of it. They had shown a perpetual tendency
to those idolatrous ways by which God was most
grievously dishonoured. A theocracy, to work success
fully, would need a very loyal people. Had Israel only
been loyal, had it even been a point of conscience and
a point of honour with them to obey God's voice, had
they even had a holy recoil from every act offensive
to Him, the theocracy would have worked most beauti
fully. But there had been such a habitual absence of
this spirit, that God now suffered them to institute a
form of government that interposed a human official
between Him and them, and that subjected them like
wise to many an inconvenience. Yet even in allowing
this arrangement God did not utterly withdraw His
loving-kindness from them. The theocracy did not
wholly cease. Though they would find that their kings

n6 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
would make many an exaction of them, there would
be among them some that would reign in righteous
ness, and princes that would rule in judgment. The
king would so far be approved of God as to bear the
name of " the Lord's anointed : " and would thus, in
a sense, be a type of the great Anointed One, the true
Messiah, whose kingdom, righteous, beneficent, holy,
would be an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion
from generation to generation.
The next scene in the chapter before us finds Samuel
again met with the heads of the people. He is now
showing them " the manner of the king " — the relation
in which he and they will stand to one another. He
is not to be a king that gives, but a king that takes.
His exactions will be very multifarious. First of all,
the most sacred treasures of their homes, their sons
and their daughters, would be taken to do hard work
in his army, and on his farms, and in his house. Then,
their landed property would be taken on some pretext
— the vineyards and olive-yards inherited from their
fathers — and given to his favourites. The tenth part
of the produce, too, of what remained would be claimed
by him for his officers and his servants, and the tenth
of their flocks. Any servant, or young man, or animal,
that was particularly handsome and valuable would
be sure to take his fancy, and to be attached for his
service. This would be ordinarily the manner of their
king. And the oppression and vexation connected with
this system of arbitrary spoliation would be so great
that they would cry out against him, as indeed they
did in the days of Rehoboam, yet the Lord would not
hear them. Such was Samuel's picture of what they
desired so much, but it made no impression ; the
people were still determined to have their king.

viii.] THE PEOPLE DEMAND A KING. 1 17
What a contrast there was between this exacting
king, and the true King, the King that in the fulness
of the time was to come to His people, meek and having
salvation, riding upon the foal of an ass 1 If there be
anything more than another that makes this King
glorious, it is His giving nature. " The Son of God,"
says the Apostle, " loved me, and gave Himself for me."
Gave Himself I How comprehensive the wordl All
that He was as God, all that He became as man. As
prophet He gave Himself to teach, as priest to atone
and intercede, as king to rule and to defend. " The
Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep." " This
is My body which is given for you." " If thou knewest
the gift of God, and Who it is that saith unto thee,
Give Me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of Him,
and He would have given thee living water." With
what kingly generosity, while He was on earth, He
scattered the gifts of health and happiness among the
stricken and the helpless 1 "Jesus went about all
Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching
the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of,
sickness, and all manner of disease among the people."
See Him, even as He hung helpless on the cross,
exercising His royal prerogative by giving to the thief
at His side a right to the Kingdom of God — "Verily I
say unto thee, this day shalt thou be with Me in
Paradise." See Him likewise, exalted on His throne
"at God's right hand, to be a Prince and a Saviour
for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of
sins." How different the attributes of this King from
him whom Samuel delineated! The one exacting all
that is ours ; the other giving all that is His 1
The last scene in the chapter shows us the people
deliberately disregarding the protest of Samuel, and

Il8 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
reiterating their wilful resolution — " Nay, but we will
have a king over us ; that we also may be like all the
nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out
before us, and fight our battles." Once more, Samuel
brings the matter to the Lord — repeats all that he
has heard ; and once more the Lord says to Samuel,
" Hearken unto their choice and make them a king."
The matter is now decided on, and it only remains to
find the person who is to wear the crown.
On the very surface of the narrative we see how
much the people were influenced by the desire to be
" like all the nations." This does not indicate a very
exalted tone of feeling. To be like all the nations was
surely in itself a poor and childish thing, unless the
nations were in this respect in a better condition than
Israel. Yet how common and almost irresistible is
this feeling 1
Singularity is certainly not to be affected for singu
larity's sake ; but neither are we to conform to fashion
simply because it is fashion. How cruel and horrible
often are its behests 1 The Chinese girl has to submit
to her feet being bandaged and confined till walking
becomes a living torture, and even the hours of what
should be rest and sleep, are often broken by bitter
pain. The women of Lake Nyassa insert a piece of
stone in their upper lip, enlarging it from time to time
till speaking and eating become most awkward and
painful operations, and the very lip sometimes is torn
away. Our fathers had terrible experience of the
tyranny of the drinking customs of their day ; and spite
of the greater freedom and the greater temperance of
our time, there is no little tyranny still in the drinking
laws of many a class among us. All this is just the
outcome of the spirit that made the Hebrews so desire

viii.] THE PEOPLE DEMAND' A KING. 119
a king — the shrinking of men's hearts from being unlike
others, the desire to be like the world. What men
dread in such cases is not wrong-doing, not sin, not
offending God ; but incurring the reproof of men, being
laughed at, boycotted by their fellows. But is not this
a very unworthy course ? Can any man truly respect
himself who says, " I do this not because I think it
right, not even because I deem it for my interest, but
simply because it is done by the generality of people ? "
Can any man justify himself before God, if the honest
utterance of his heart must be, " I take this course,
not because I deem it well-pleasing in Thy sight, but
because if I did otherwise, men would laugh at me
and despise me ? " The very statement of the case in
explicit terms condemns it. Not less is it condemned
by the noble conduct of those to whom grace has been
given to withstand the voice of the multitude and stand
up faithfully for truth and duty. Was there ever a
nobler attitude than that of Caleb, when he withstood
the clamour of the other spies, and followed the Lord
fully? or that of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
when alone among myriads, they refused to bow down
to the image of gold ? or that of Luther when, alone
against the world, he held unflinchingly by his convic
tions of truth ?
Let the young especially ponder these things. To
them it often seems a terrible thing to resist the general
voice, and hold by conscience and duty. To confess
Christ among a school of despisers, is often like
martyrdom. But think 1 What is it to deny Christ ?
Can that bring any peace or satisfaction to those who
know His worth ? Must it not bring misery and self-
contempt ? If the duty of confessing Him be difficult,
seek strength for the duty. Pray for the strength

THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.

which is made- perfect in your weakness. Cast your
thoughts onward to the day of Christ's second coming,
when the opinion and practice of the world shall all
be reduced to their essential worthlessness, and the
promises to the faithful, firm as the everlasting hills,
shall be gloriously fulfilled. For in that day, Hannah's
song shall have a new fulfilment : " He raiseth up the
poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar out of
the dunghill, to set them among princes, and make
them inherit the throne of glory."

CHAPTER XI.
SAUL BROUGHT TO SAMUEL.
I Samuel ix i — 14.
GOD'S providence is a wonderful scheme; a web
of many threads, woven with marvellous skill ;
a network composed of all kinds of materials, great
and small, but so arranged that the very smallest of
them is as essential as the largest to the completeness
of the fabric.
One would suppose that many of the dramas of the
Old Testament were planned on very purpose to show
how intimately things secular and things sacred, as we
call them, are connected together; how entirely the
minutest events are controlled by God, and at the same
time how thoroughly the freedom of man is preserved.
The meeting of two convicts in an Egyptian prison is
a vital link in the chain of events that makes Joseph
governor of Egypt ; a young lady coming to bathe in
the river preserves the life of Moses, and secures the
escape of the Israelites; the thoughtful regard of a
father for the comfort of his sons in the army brings
David into contact with Goliath, and prepares the way
for his elevation to the throne ; the beauty of a Hebrew
girl fascinating a Persian king saves the whole Hebrew
race from massacre and extermination.
So in the passage now before us. The straying of

122 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
some asses from the pastures of a Hebrew farmer
brings together the two men, of whom the one was
the old ruler, and the other was to be the new ruler
of Israel. That these two should meet, and that the
older of them should have the opportunity of instruct
ing and influencing the younger, was of the greatest
consequence for the future welfare of the nation. And
the meeting is brought about in that casual way that
at first sight seems to indicate that all things happen
without plan or purpose. Yet we find, on more careful
examination, that every event has been planned to fit
in to every other, as carefully as the pieces of a dis
sected map, or the fragments of a fine mosaic. But of
all the actors in the drama, not one ever feels that his
freedom is in any way interfered with. All of them
are at perfect liberty to follow the course that commends
itself to their own minds.
Thus wonderfully do the two things go together —
Divine ordination and human freedom. How it should
be so, it baffles us to explain. But that it is so, must be
obvious to every thoughtful mind. And it is because
we see the two things so harmonious in the common
affairs of life, that we can believe them to act har
moniously in the higher plane of redemption and salva
tion. For in that sphere, too, all things fall out in
accordance with the Divine plan. " Known unto God
are all His works from the beginning of the world."
Yet this universal predestination in no degree inter
feres with the liberty of man. If men reject God's
offers, it is because they are personally unwilling to
accept of them. If they receive His offers, it is because
they have been made willing to do so. " Ye will not
come unto Me that ye might have life," said our Lord
to the Jews. And yet it is ever true that " it is God

fx.l-14-] SAUL BROUGHT TO SAMUEL. 123
that worketh in you both to will and to do of His good
pleasure." God having given the people permission to appoint a
king, that king has now to be found. What kind of
person must the first king be — the first to supersede
the old rule of the Divinely-inspired judges, the first to
fulfil the cravings of the people, the first to guide the
nation which had been appointed by God to stand in
so close a relation to Himself ?
It seemed desirable, that in the first king of Israel,
two classes of qualities should be united, in some
degree contradictory to one another. First, he must
possess some of the qualities for which the people
desire to have a king; while at the same time, from
God's point of view, it is desirable that under him the
people should have some taste of the evils which
Samuel had said would follow from their choice.
To an Oriental people, a stately and commanding
personality was essential to an ideal king. They liked
a king that would look well on great occasions, that
would be a commanding figure at the head of an army,
or in the centre of a procession ; that would arrest the
eye of strangers, and inspire at first sight an involun
tary respect for the nation that had such a ruler at its
head. Nor could any one have more fully realized the
wishes of the people in this respect than Saul. " A
choice young man and a goodly ; there was not among
the children of Israel a goodlier person than he ; from
his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of
the people."
Further, though his tribe was small in number, it
was not small in influence. And his family was of a
superior caste, for Kish was " a mighty man of power."
And Saul's personal qualities were prepossessing and

124 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
promising. He showed himself ready to comply with
his father's order about the asses that had strayed, and
to undertake a laborious journey to look for them. He
was interested in his father's business, and ready to
" help him in his time of need. And the business which
he undertook he seems to have executed with great
patience and thoroughness. A foot journey over a great
part of the territory of Benjamin was no easy task.
Altogether, he shows himself, as we say, a capable
man. He is not afraid to face the irksome ; he does
not consult merely for his ease and pleasure; labour
does not distress him, and difficulties do not daunt
him. All this was so far promising, and it seems to have
been exactly what the people desired. But on the
other hand, there seems to have been, from the very
beginning, a great want in Saul. He appears from the
very first to have wanted all that was most conspicuous
and most valuable in Samuel. It is a circumstance not
without its significance, that the very name and work
of Samuel do not seem to have been familiar or even
known to him. It was his servant that knew about
Samuel, and that told Saul of his being in the city, in
the land of Zuph (ver. 6). This cannot but strike us as
very strange. We should have thought that the name
of Samuel would have been as familiar to all the people
of Israel as that of Queen Victoria to the people of
Great Britain. But Saul does not appear to have heard
it, as in any way remarkable. Does not this indicate
a family living entirely outside of all religious con
nections, entirely immersed in secular things, caring
nothing about godly people, and hardly ever even
pronouncing their name? It is singular how utterly
ignorant worldly men are of "what passes in religious

ix. I-14.] SAUL BROUGHT TO SAMUEL. 125
circles, if they happen to have no near relative, or
familiar acquaintance in the religious world to carry
the news to them from time to time. And as Saul
thus lived outside of all religious circles, so he seems
to have been entirely wanting in that great quality
which was needed for a king of Israel — loyalty to
the Heavenly King. Here it was that the difference
between him and Samuel was so great. Loyalty to
God and to God's nation was the very foundation
of Samuel's life. Anything like self-seeking was
unknown to him. He had early undergone that
momentous change, when God is substituted for self
as the pivot of one's life. The claims of the great
King were ever paramount in his eyes. What would
please God and be honouring to Him, was the first
question that rose to his mind. And as Israel was
God's people, so the interest and the welfare of Israel
were ever dear to him. And thus it was that Samuel
might be relied on not to think of himself, not to think
of his own wishes or interests, except as utterly
subordinate to the wishes and interests of his God and
his nation. It was this that gave such solidity to
Samuel's character, and made him so invaluable to his
people. In every sphere of life it is a precious quality.
Whether as domestic servants, or clerks, or managers,
dependent on others, those persons are ever of priceless
worth whose hearts are thus set on objects outside
themselves, and who are proof against the common
temptations of selfishness and worldliness. And when
they are the rulers of a nation, and are able to dis
regard their personal welfare in their burning desire
to benefit the whole people, they rise to the rank of
heroes, and after their death, their names are enshrined
in the memories of a grateful and admiring people.

126 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
But in these high qualities, Saul seems to have been
altogether wanting. For though he was not selfish
and self-indulgent at first, though he readily obeyed his
father in going to search for the strayed asses, he
had no deep root of unselfishness in his nature, and
by-and-bye, in the hour of temptation, the cloven foot
unhappily appeared. And ere long the people would
learn, that as Saul had in him no profound reverence
for the will of God, so he had in him no profound and
indefeasible regard for the welfare of God's people.
The people would come to see what a fatal mistake
they had made in selecting a king merely for superficial
qualities, and passing by all that would have allied
him, as Samuel was allied, to God himself. Now it
seems to have been God's purpose that the first king
of Israel should be a man of this kind. Through him
the people were to learn that the king who simply
fulfilled their notions, was capable, when his self-will
was developed, of dragging the nation to ruin. No !
it was not the superficial qualities of Saul that would
be a blessing to the nation. It was not a man out of
all spiritual sympathy with the living God that would
raise the standing of Israel among the kingdoms ar Mind,
and bring them the submission and respect of foreign
kings. The intense and consistent godliness of Samuel
was probably the quality that was not popular among
the people. In the worldliness of his spirit, Saul was
probably more to their liking. Yet it was this un
worldly but godly Samuel that had delivered them from
the bitter yoke of the Philistines, and it was this hand
some but unspiritual Saul that was to bring them again
into bondage to their ancient foes. This was the sad
lesson to be learned from the reign of Saul.
But God did not design altogether to abandon His

bt.i-14.] SAUL BROUGHT TO SAMUEL. 127
people. When the lesson should be learnt from Saul's
history, He would guide them to a king of a different
stamp. He would give them a king after His own
heart — one that would make the will of God the great
rule, and the welfare of the people the great end of his
government. David would engrave in the history of
the nation in deeper letters than even Samuel, the all-
important lesson, that for kings and countries as much
as for individuals, " the fear of the Lord is the begin
ning of wisdom ; " that God honours them that honour
Him, while they that despise Him shall indeed be
lightly esteemed.
But let us now come to the circumstances that led to
the meeting of Saul and Samuel. The asses of Kish
had strayed. Very probably they had strayed at a
time when they were specially needed. The operations
of the farm had to be suspended for want of them,
perhaps at a season when any delay would be especially
inconvenient. In all ranks of life, men are subject to
these vexations, and he is a happy man who does not
fret under them, but keeps his temper calm, in spite
of all the worry. Especially is he a happy man who
retains his equanimity under the conviction that the
thing is appointed by God, and that He who overruled
the loss of Kish's asses to such high events in the
history of his son, is able so to order all their troubles
and worries that they shall be found conducive to their
highest good. At Kish's order, Saul and one of the
servants go forth to seek the asses. With the precise
localities through which they passed, we are not
accurately acquainted, such places as Shalim or Zuph
not having yet been identified. But the tour must
have been an extensive one, extending over most of the
territory of Benjamin; and as it must have been neces-

128 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
sary to make many a detour, up hill and down dale, to
this farm and to that, the labour involved must have
been very great. It was not a superficial but a thorough
search. At last, when they came to the land of Zuph, they
had been away so long that Saul thought it necessary
to return, lest his father should think that some evil
had befallen them. But the servant had another string
to his bow. Though Saul was not familiar with the
name or the character of Samuel, his servant was
What God hides from the wise and prudent, He some
times reveals to babes. It is an interesting thing i»
the history of the Church, how often great people have
been indebted to servants for important guidance,
perhaps even for their first acquaintance with saving
truth. The little captive maid that ministered in the
house of Naaman the Syrian was the channel through
whom he came to know of the prophet of Israel who
was able to heal him. Many a distinguished Christian
has acknowledged, like the Earl of Shaftesbury, his
obligations to some pious nurse that when he was a
child told him Bible stories and pressed on his heart
the claims of God. Happy those servants who are
faithful in these circumstances, and of whom it can be
said, "They have done what they could 1 " Of this
servant of Saul's we know nothing whatever, save that,
in his master's dilemma, he told him of the Lord's
servant, and induced him to apply to him to extricate
him from his difficulty.
It does not appear that the city was Samuel's usual
place of abode. It was a place to which he had come
to hold a religious service, and the occasion was evi
dently one of much importance. It is interesting to
observe how the difficulty was got over, of their having

ix. 1-14.] SAUL BROUGHT TO SAMUEL. 129
no present to offer to the man of God, in accordance
with the custom of the country. Saul, though in com
fortable circumstances, had absolutely no particle of
money with him. His servant had but a quarter of a
shekel, not designed apparently for spending purposes,
but perhaps a little keepsake or kind of amulet he
carried about with him. But there was such hospitality
in those days that people going about the country had
no need for money. So it was when our Lord instructed
the disciples when sending them out on their missionary
tour — " Provide neither gold nor silver nor brass in
your purses, nor scrip for your journey, neither two
coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves, for the labourer is
worthy of his meat." Those who have presumed on
these instructions, holding that the modern missionary
does not need any sustenance to be provided for him,
but may safely trust to the hospitality of the heathen,
forget how different was the case and the custom among
the Hebrew people.
But now, as Saul and his servant came to the city,
another providential meeting takes place to help them
to their object. " As they went up the hill to the city,
they found young maidens going out to draw water."
The city was up the hill, and the water supply would
naturally be at the bottom. From the maidens that
were going down to the fountain, they obtained inform
ation fitted to quicken their movements. They learned
that the prophet had already arrived. The preparations
for the sacrifice which he was to offer were now going
on. It was just the time to get a word with him, if
they had business to transact. Very soon he would be
going up to the high place, and then the solemn rites
would begin, and be followed by the feast, which would
engross his whole attention. If they would catch him
VOL. I. 9

130 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
at the proper moment they must " make haste." That
they did quicken their pace, we cannot doubt. And it
was necessary ; for just as they reached the city Samuel
made his appearance, about to go up to the high place.
If they had lost that moment, they would probably
have had no opportunity during the whole day. Nor
is it likely that Saul, who had no great desire for the
company of the prophet, would have waited till the
sacrifice and the feast were over. The two men were
brought together just in the nick of time. And thus
another essential link of God's chain, bringing the old
and the new ruler of Israel into contact with each
other, was happily adjusted, all through means to us
apparently accidental, but forming parts of the great
scheme of God.
From this part of the narrative we may derive two
great lessons, the one with reference to God, and the
other with reference to man.
First, as it regards God, we cannot but see how
silently, secretly, often slowly, j'et surely, He accom
plishes His purposes. There are certain rivers in
nature that flow so gently, that when looking at the
water only, the eye of the spectator is unable to discern
any movement at all. Often the ways of God resemble
such rivers. Looking at what is going on in common
life, it is so ordinary, soabsolutely quiet, that you can
see no trace whatever of any Divine plan. Things
seem left to themselves, and God appears to have no
connection with them. And yet, all the while, the most
insignificant of them is contributing towards the accom
plishment of the mighty plans of God. By means of ten
thousand times ten thousand agents, conscious and un
conscious, things are moving on towards the grand
consummation. Men may be instruments in God's

x. 1-14] SAUL BROUGHT TO SAMUEL. 131
hands without knowing it. When Cyrus was moving
his armies towards Babylon, he little knew that he was
accomplishing the Divine purpose for the humbling
of the oppressor and the deliverance of His oppressed
people. And in all the events of common life, men
seem to be so completely their own masters, there seems
such a want of any influence from without, that God is
liable to slip entirely out of sight. And yet, as we see
from the chapter before us, God is really at work.
Whether men know it or not, they are really fulfilling
the purposes of His will. Calmly but steadily, like the
stars in the silent heavens, men are bringing to pass
the schemes of God. His wildest enemies are really
helping to swell His triumphs. Oh, how vain is the
attempt to resist His mighty hand ! The day cometh,
when all the tokens of confusion and defeat shall dis
appear, when the bearing even of the fall of a sparrow
on the plans of God shall be made apparent, and every
intelligent creature in earth and heaven shall join in
the mighty shout — "Alleluiah, for the Lord God
Omnipotent reigneth."
But again, there is a useful lesson in this chapter
for directing the conduct of men. You see in what
direction the mind of Saul's servant moved for guidance
in the day of difficulty. It was toward the servant of
God. And you see likewise how, when Saul and he had
determined to consult the man of God, they were provi
dentially guided to him. To us, the way is open to
God Himself, without the intervention of any prophet
Let us in every time of trouble seek access to God.
Have we not a thousand examples of it in Bible history,
and in other history too ? Men say it is not right
we should trouble God with trifles. Nay, the living
God knows not what trouble is, and in His scheme

«32 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
there are no trifles. There is no limit one way or
other in the command, "In everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be
made known unto God." "Acknowledge Him in all
your ways, and He will direct your steps." But above
all, acknowledge Him with reference to the way of life
eternal. Make sure that you are in the way to heaven.
Use well the guide book with which you are furnished.
Let God's word be a light to your feet and a lamp to
your path ; and then your path shall itself " be like the
shining light, shining brighter and brighter unto the
perfect day."

CHAPTER XII.
FIRST MEETING OF SAMUEL AND SAUL.
i Samuel ix. 15-27.
THE meeting between Samuel and Saul was pre
ceded by previous meetings between Samuel and
God. God had prepared the prophet for his visit from
the future king of Israel, and the first thing brought
before us in these verses is the communication on
this subject which had been made to the prophet a
day before.
It is very interesting to observe how readily Samuel
still lends himself for any service he can render on
behalf of his p'eople, under the new arrangement that
God had permitted for their government. We have
seen how mortified Samuel was at first, when the
people came to him with their request for a king. He
took it as a personal affront, as well as a grave public
error. Conscious as he was of having done his duty
faithfully, and of having rendered high service to the
nation, and reposing calmly, as he probably was, on the
expectation that at least for some time to come, Israel
would move forward peacefully and happily on the lines
which he had drawn for them, it must have been a
staggering blow when they came to him and asked
him to overturn all that- he had done, and make them
a king. It must havt been one of those bewildering

134 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
moments when one's whole life appears lost, and all
one's dearest hopes and hardest labours lie shattered,
like the fragments of a potter's vessel. We have seen
how, in that sad moment, Samuel carried his sorrows
to the Lord, and learning thus to view the whole matter
from God's point of view, how he came to make com
paratively little account of his own disappointment,
and to think only how he could still serve the cause of
God, how he could still help the people, how he could
prevent the vessel which he was no longer to steer
from dashing against the hidden rocks he saw so clearly
ahead. It is impossible not to be struck with the
beauty and purity of Samuel's character in this mode
of action.
How many a good man takes offence when slighted
or superseded by some committee or other body, in con
nection with a political, social, or religious cause which
he has tried to help 1 If they won't have me, he says, let
them do without me. If they won't allow me to carry
out the course which I have followed, and which has
been undoubtedly highly beneficial, I'll have nothing
more to do with them. He sulks in his tent like
Achilles, or goes over to the enemy like Coriolanus.
Not so Samuel ! His love for the people is too deep
to allow of such a course. They have behaved badly
to him, but notwithstanding he will not leave them.
Like an injured but loving wife, who labours with every
art of patient affection to reclaim the husband that has
abused her and broken her heart ; like a long-suffering
father, who attends with his own hands to the neglected
work of his dissipated son, to save him if possible from
the consequences of his folly — Samuel overlooks his
personal slight, and bears with the public folly of the
people, in the endeavour to be of some use to them in

b*. 15-27.] FIRST MEETING OP SAMUEL AND SAUL 135
the important stage of their history on which they are
entering. He receives Divine communications respect
ing the man who is to supersede him in the government
of the people, and instead of jealousy and dislike, shows
every readiness to help him. It is refreshing to find
such tokens of magnanimity and disinterestedness.
However paltry human nature may be in itself, it can
become very noble when rehabilitated by the Spirit of
God. Need we ask which is the nobler course ? You
feel that you have not been treated perhaps by your
church with sufficient consideration. You fret, you
complain, you stay away from church, you pour your
grievance into every open ear. Would Samuel have
done so ? Is not your conduct the very reverse of
his ? Side by side with his, must not yours be pro
nounced poor and paltry ? Have you not need to study
the thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians, and when
you read of the charity that " beareth all things,
believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all
things," ask yourselves whether it might not be said
of you that you have neither part nor lot in this
matter ?
The communication that God had made to Samuel
was, that on the following day He would send to him
the man whom he was to anoint as captain over Israel,
that he might save them from the Philistines; for He
had looked upon His people, because their cry was
come up to Him. There is an apparent inconsistency
here with what is said elsewhere. In chap. viii. 13
it is said, that " the Philistines came no more into the
coast of Israel, and that the hand of the Lord was
against the Philistines all the days of Samuel." But
probably " all the days of Samuel " mean only the days
when he exerted himself actively against them. As

136 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
long as Samuel watched and checked them, they were
kept in restraint ; but when he ceased to do so, they
resumed their active hostility. The concluding verses
of chap. xiii. (19-23) show that in Saul's time the Philis
tine oppression had become so galling that the very
smiths had been removed from the land of Israel, and
there was no right provision even for sharpening plough
shares, or coulters, or axes, or mattocks. Undoubtedly
Saul removed this oppression for a time, and David's
elegy shows how beneficial his reign was in some other
ways, although the last act of his life was an encounter
with the Philistines in which he was utterly defeated.
It is evident that before Saul's time the tyranny of their
foes had been very galling to the Israelites. The words
of God, " their cry is come up to Me," indicate quietly
a very terrible state of distress. They carry us back
to the words uttered at the burning bush, " I have
seen, I have seen the affliction of My people which are
in Egypt, have heard their cry by reason of their task
masters ; for I know their sorrows." God speaks after
the manner of men. He needs no cry to come into
His ears to tell Him of the woes of the oppressed.
Nevertheless He seems to wait till that cry is raised,
till the appeal is made to Him, till the consciousness of
utter helplessness sends men to His footstool. And a
very blessed truth it is, that He sympathizes with the
cry of the oppressed. There is much meaning in the
simple expression — " their cry is come up to Me." It
denotes a very tender sympathy, a concern for all that
they have been suffering, and a resolution to interpose
on their behalf. God is never impassive nor indifferent
to the sorrowr- and sufferings of His people. All are
designed to serve as chastenings with a view to ultimate
good. The eye of God is ever watching to see whether

ix. 15-27.] FIRST MEETING OF SAMUEL AND SAUL 137
the chastening is sufficient, and when it is so, to stop the
suffering. In the Inquisitor's chamber, the eye of God
was ever on the boot and the thumbscrew, on the knife
and the pincers, on the furnace and all the other instru
ments of torture. In the sick room, He watches the
spent and struggling patient, knows every paroxysm of
pain, knows all the restlessness and tossing of the weary
night, He understands the anguish of the loving heart
when one after another of its treasures is torn away.
He knows the unutterable distress when a child's mis
conduct brings down grey heirs with sorrow to the
grave. Appearances may be all the other way, but
" the Lord God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger
and of great compassion." The night may be long and
weary, but the dawn comes at the appointed time.
" 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."
But now Samuel and Saul have met. Saul is as
unfamiliar with Samuel's appearance as with his name ;
he goes up to him and asks where the seer's house is.
" I am the seer," replies Samuel ; but at the moment
Samuel was not at liberty, and could not converse with
Saul. He invites him to go up with him to the high
place, and take part in the religious service. Then he
invites him to the feast that was to follow the sacrifice.
Next day he is to deal with him as a prophet, making
important communications to him. But in regard to
the matter which occupies him at the moment, his
father's asses, he need trouble himself no more on that
head, for the asses are found. Then he gives Saul a
hint of what is coming. He makes an announcement
to him that he and his father's house are the objects
of the whole desire of Israel. It is not very apparent

138 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
whether or not Saul had any inkling of the meaning of
this remark. It may be that he viewed it as a mere
expression of politeness, savouring of the customary
exaggeration of the East. At all events, his answer
was couched in those terms of extravagant humility
which was likewise matter of Eastern custom. " Am
not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel ?
and my family the least of all the families of the tribe
of Benjamin ? Wherefore then speakest thou so tc
me?" The sacrifice next engages the attention of all.
Samuel's first meeting with Saul takes place over the
symbol of expiation, over the sacrifice that shows man
to be a sinner, and declares that without shedding of
blood there is no remission of sin. No doubt the
circumstance was very impressive to Samuel, and
would be turned to its proper use in subsequent con
versation with Saul, whether Saul entered into the
spirit of it or not. If it be asked, How could a sacrifice
take place on the height of this city, whereas God had
commanded that only in the place which He was to
choose should such rites be performed ? — the answer is,
that at that time Shiloh lay in ruins, and Mount Zion
was still in the possession of the Jebusites. The final
arrangements had not yet been made for the Hebrew
ceremonial, and in the present provisional and unsettled
state of things, sacrifices were not limited to a single
place. After the sacrifice, came the feast. It was now that
Samuel began to give more explicit hints to Saul of
the dignity to which he was to be raised. The feast
was held in " the parlour " — a room adjacent to the
place of sacrifice, to which Samuel had invited a large
company— thirty of the chief inhabitants of the town.

ix. 15-27.] FIRST MEETING 6P SAMUEL AND SAUL. I39
First Saul and his servant are complimented by having
the place of honour assigned to them. Then they are
honoured by having a portion set before them which
had been specially set apart for them the day before.
The speech concerning this portion in ver. 24 is some
what obscure if it be regarded as a speech of Samuel's.
It seems more natural to regard it as a speech of the
cook's. It will be observed that the word " Samuel '
in the middle of the verse is in italics, showing that
it is not in the Hebrew, so that it is more natural to
regard the clause as having " the cook " for its nomina
tive, and indeed this talk about the portion is more
suitable for the cook than for Samuel. Servants were
not forbidden to speak during entertainments ; nor did
their masters disdain even to have serious conversation
with them (see Nehemiah ii. 2-8). There is another
correction of the Authorized Version that needs to be
made. At the end of ver. 24 the words " Since I said "
we not a literal rendering. The original is simply the
word which is constantly rendered saying. It has
been suggested (" Speaker's Commentary ") that a word
•r two should be supplied to make the sense complete,
and the verse would then run : — " unto this time hath
X been kept for thee [against the festival of which
Samuel spake], saying, I have invited the people."
The part thus reserved was the shoulder and its ap
purtenances. Why this part was regarded as more
honourable than any other, we do not know, nor is it
of any moment; the point of importance being, first,
that by Samuel's express instructions it had been
reserved for Saul, and second, that these instructions
had been given as soon as Samuel made arrangements
for the feast. To honour Saul as the destined king
of Israel was Samuel's unhesitating purpose. Some

h& The first book op Samuel.
men might have said, It will be time enough to show
this mark of respect when the man is actually choser
king. Had there been the slightest feeling of grudge in
the mind of Samuel, this is what he would have thought.
But instead of grudging Saul his new dignity, he is
forward to acknowledge it. There shall be no holding
back on his part of honour for the man whom the Lord
delighted to honour.
If the words of ver. 24 were really spoken by the cook,
they must have added a new element of surprise and
impression to Saul. It was apparent that he had been
expected to this feast. The cook had been warned
that a man of consequence was coming, and had there
fore set apart that portion to him. Saul must have
felt both that a supernatural power had been at work,
and that some strange destiny— possibly the royal
dignity — was in reserve for him. To us, pondering
the circumstances, what is most striking is, the wonder
ful way in which the fixed purpose of God is accom
plished, while all the agents in the matter remain
perfectly free. That Saul and his servant should be
present with Samuel at that feast, was the fixed decree
of heaven. But it was brought about quite naturally.
There was no constraint on the mind of Saul's servant,
when, being in the land of Zuph, he proposed that
they should go into the city, and try to make inquiry
of the man of God. There was no constraint on the
damsels when at a certain time they went down to the
fountain for water, and on their way met Saul and his
servant. There was no constraint on Saul and his
servant, save that created by common sense, when they
quickened their pace in order to meet Samuel on the
way to the sacrifice. Every one of these events fell
out freely and naturally. Yet all were necessary links

x. 15-27.] FIRST MEETING OF SAMUEL AND SAUL 141
in the chain of God's purposes. From God's point of
view they were necessary, from man's point of view
they were casual. Thus necessity and freedom har
monized together, as they always do in the plans
and operations of God. It is absurd to say that the
predestination of God takes away the liberty of man.
It is unreasonable to suppose that because God has
predestinated all events, we need not take any step
in the matter of our salvation. Such an idea is founded
on an utter misunderstanding of the relation in which
God has placed us to Him. It overlooks the great
truth, that God's ways are not our ways, nor His
thoughts our thoughts. The relation of the Infinite
Will to the wills of finite creatures is a mystery we
cannot fathom ; but the effect on us should be to impel
us to seek that our will may ever be in harmony with
God's, and that thus the petition in the Lord's prayer
may be fulfilled, " Thy will be done on earth, as it is in
heaven." The feast is over; Samuel and Saul return to the
city, and there, on the housetop, they commune to
gether. The twenty-sixth verse seems to narrate in
detail what is summarily contained in the twenty-fifth.
After returning from the sacrifice and the feast, they
seem to have committed themselves to rest. In the
early morning, about daybreak, they had their conver
sation on the housetop, and thereafter Samuel sent Saul
away, convoying him part of the road. What the con
versation on the housetop was, we are not told; but
we have no difficulty in conjecturing. Samuel could
not but communicate to Saul the treasured thoughts
of his lifetime regarding the way to govern Israel. He
must have recalled to him God's purpose regarding His
people, beginning with the call of Abraham, dwelling

143 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
on the deliverance from Egypt, and touching on the
history of the several judges, and the lessons to be
derived from each. We may fancy the fervour with
which he would urge on Saul, that the one thing most
essential for the prosperity of the nation — the one thing
which those in power ought continually to watch and
aim at, was, loyalty by the people to their heavenly
King, and the faithful observance of His law and cove
nant. He would dwell emphatically on the many
instances in which neglect of the covenant had brought
disaster and misery, and on the wonderful change in
their outward circumstances which had come with
every return of fidelity to their King. Granted, they
were soon to have a king. They were to change their
form of government, and be like the rest of the nations.
But if they changed their form of government, they
were not to surrender the palladium of their nation,
they were not to abandon their " gloria et tutamen."
The new king would be tempted like all the kings
around him to regard his own will as his only rule of
-action, and to fall in with the prevalent notion, that
kings were above the law, because the king's will was
the law, and nothing could be higher than that. What
an infinite calamity it would be to himself and to the
nation, if the new king of Israel were to fall into such
a delusion 1 Yes, the king was above the law, and the
king's will was the law ; but it was the King of kings
alone who had this prerogative, and woe to the earthly
ruler that dared to climb into His throne, and take
into his puny hands the sceptre of the Omnipotent I
Such, we may well believe, was the tenor of that first
meeting of Samuel and Saul. We cannot but carry
forward our thoughts a little, and think what was the
last. The last meeting was at Endor, where in dark-

ix. 15-27.] FIRST MEETING OF SAMOEL AND SAUL. 143
ness and utter despair, the king of Israel had thought
of his early friend, had perhaps recalled his gentle
kindness on this first occasion of their meeting, and
wondered whether he might not be able and willing to
throw some light once more upon his path. But alas,
the day of merciful visitation was gone. The first
conversation was in the brightness of early morning ;
the last in midnight gloom. The time of day was
appropriate for each. On that sepulchral night, the
worst evils that he had dreaded, and against which he
had doubtless warned him on that housetop, had come
to pass. Self-willed and regardless of God, Saul had
taken his own course, and brought his people to the
very verge of ruin. Differing, toto ccelo, from Samuel in
his treatment of his successor, he had hunted David
like a partridge on the mountains, and stormed against
the man who was to bring back to the nation the
blessings of which he had robbed it. Brought to bay
at last by his recklessness and passion, he could only
reap the fruit of what he had sown ; " for God is not
mocked ; they that sow to the flesh shall of the flesh
reap corruption, and they that sow to the Spirit shall,
of the Spirit, reap life everlasting." Again there was
to ring out the great law of the kingdom, — " Them that
honour Me, I will honour ; while they that despise Me
shall be lightly esteemed."
The good words of Samuel fell not into good ground.
He had not in Saul a congenial hearer. Saul was too
worldly a man to care for, or appreciate spiritual things.
Alas, how often for a similar reason, the best words
of the best men fail of their purpose 1 But how is this
ever to be cured ? How is the uncongenial heart to
become a fit bed for the good seed of the Kingdom ?
I own, it is a most difficult thing. Those who are

144 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.

afflicted with indifference to spiritual truth will not
seek a remedy, because the very essence of their
malady is that they do not care. But surely their
Christian friends and relatives, and all interested in
their welfare, will care very much. Have you such
persons — persons whose worldly hearts show no sym
pathy with Divine truth — among your acquaintances
or in your families ? Persons so steeped in worldliness
that the strongest statements of saving truth are as
much lost upon them as grains of the best wheat would
be lost if sown in a heap of sand ? O how should you
be earnest for such in prayer ; there is a remedy, and
there is a Physician able to apply it ; the Spirit of God
if appealed to, can repeat the process that was so effectual
at Philippi, when " the Lord opened the heart of Lydia,
that she attended to the things that were spoken by
Paul." " If ye then that are evil know how to give
good things unto your children, how much more shall
your Father who is in heaven give the Holy Spirit
to them that ask Him."

CHAPTER XIII.
SAUL ANOINTED BY SAMUEL,
i Samuel x. i — 16.
THERE is a remarkable minuteness of detail in this
and other narratives in Samuel, suggesting the
authenticity of the narrative, and the authorship of one
who was personally connected with the transactions.
The historical style of Scripture is very characteristic;
sometimes great periods of time are passed over with
hardly a word, and sometimes events of little apparent
importance are recorded with what might be thought
needless minuteness. In Genesis, the whole history
of the world before the flood is despatched in seven
chapters, less than is occupied with the history of
Joseph. Enoch's biography is in one little verse, while
a whole chapter is taken up with the funeral of Sarah,
and another chapter of unusual length with the marry
ing of Isaac. Yet we can be at no loss to discover
good reasons for this arrangement. It combines two
forms of history — annals, and dramatic story. Annals
are short, and necessarily somewhat dry ; but they have
the advantage of embracing much in comparatively
short compass. The dramatic story is necessarily
diffuse ; it occupies a large amount of space ; but it
has the advantage of presenting a living picture — of
bringing past events before the reader as they happened
VOL. I, JO

H6 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
at the time. If the whole history of the Bible had
been in the form of annals, it would have been very
useful, but it would have wanted human interest. If it
had been all in the dramatic form, it would have
occupied too much space. By the combination of the
two methods, we secure the compact precision of the
one, and the living interest of the other. In the verses
that are to form the subject of the present lecture, we
have a lively dramatic picture of what took place in
connection with the anointing of- Saul by Samuel as
king of Israel. The event was a very important one,
as showing the pains that were taken to impress him
with the solemnity of the office, and his obligation to
undertake it in full accord with God's sacred purpose
in connection with His people Israel. Everything was
planned to impress on Saul that his elevation to the
royal dignity was not to be viewed by him as a mere
piece of good fortune, and to induce him to enter on
the office with a solemn sense of responsibility, and in
a spirit entirely different from that of the neighbour
ing kings, who thought only of their royal position as
enabling them to gratify the desires of their own
hearts. Both Saul and the people must see the hand
of God very plainly in Saul's elevation, and the king
must enter on his duties with a profound sense of the
supernatural influences through which he has been
elevated, and his obligation to rule the people in the
fear, and according to the will, of God.
Though the servant that accompanied Saul seems
to have been as much a companion and adviser as a
servant, and to have been present as yet in all
Samuel's intercourse with Saul, yet the act of anoint
ing which the prophet was now to perform was more
suitable to be done in private than in the presence

x. 1-16.] SAUL ANOINTED BY SAMUEL. 147
of another; consequently the servant was sent on
before (ch. ix. 27). It would seem to have been
Samuel's intention, while paying honour to Saul as one
to whom honour was due, and thus hinting at his
coming elevation, not to make it public, not to anticipate
the public selection which would follow soon in an
orderly way. It was right that Saul himself should
know what was coming, and that his mind should be
prepared for it ; but it was not right at this stage that
others should know it, for that would have seemed an
interference with the choice of the people. It must
have been in some quiet corner of the road that Samuel
took out his vial of sacred oil, and poured it on Saul
to anoint him king of Israel. The kiss which he gave
him was the kiss of homage, a very old way of
recognizing sovereignty (Ps. ii. 12), and still kept up
in the custom of kissing the sovereign's hand after
elevation to office or dignity. To be thus anointed by
God's recognised servant, was to receive the approval
of God Himself. Saul now became God's messiah —
the Lord's anointed. For the term messiah, as applied
to Christ, belongs to His kingly office. Though the
priests likewise were anointed, the title derived from
that act was not appropriated by them, but by the
kings. It was counted a high and solemn dignity,
making the king's person sacred, in the eyes of every
God-fearing man. Yet this was not an indelible
character; it might be forfeited by unfaithfulness and
transgression. The only Messiah, the only Anointed
One, who was incapable of being set aside, was He
whom the kings of Israel typified. Of Him Isaiah
foretold: "Of the increase of His government and
peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David
*nd upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it

148 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
with judgment and with justice, from henceforth even
for ever." And in announcing the birth of Jesus, the
angel foretold : " He shall reign over the house of
Jacob for ever, and of His kingdom there shall be
no end."
It is evident that Saul was surprised at the acts of
Samuel, We can readily fancy his look of astonish
ment after the venerable prophet had given him the
kiss of homage, — the searching gaze that asked, " What
do you mean by that ? " Samuel was ready with his
answer: " Is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee
to be captain over His heritage ? " But in so momentous
a matter, involving a supernatural communication of
the will of God, an assurance even from Samuel was
hardly sufficient. It was reasonable that Saul should
be supplied with tangible proofs that in anointing him
as king Samuel had complied with the will of God.
These, tangible proofs Samuel proceeded to give.
They consisted of predictions of certain events that
were about to happen — events that it was not within
the range of ordinary sagacity to foresee, and which
were therefore fitted to convince Saul that Samuel was
in possession of supernatural authority, and that the
act of consecration which he had just performed was
agreeable to the will of God.
The first of these proofs was, that when he had pro
ceeded on his journey as far as Rachel's tomb, he
would meet with two men who would tell him that the
lost asses had been found, and that his father's anxiety
was now about his son. It must be owned that the
localities here are very puzzling. If the meeting with
Samuel was near Ramah of Benjamin, Saul, in returning
to Gibeah, would not have occasion to go near Rachel's
tomb. We can only say he may have had some reason

... l-l6.] SAUL ANOINTED BY SAMUEL 149
for taking this route unknown to us. Here he would
find a confirmation of what Samuel had told him on
the day before ; and his mind being thus relieved of
anxiety, he would have more freedom to ponder the
marvellous things of which Samuel had spoken to him.
The next token was to be found in the plain of
Tabor, but this Tabor can have no connection with the
well-known mountain of that name in the plain of
Esdraelon. Some have conjectured that this Tabor is
derived from Deborah, Rachel's nurse, who was buried
in the neighbourhood of Bethel (Gen. xxxv. 8), but
there is no probability in this conjecture. Here three
men, going up to Bethel to a religious festival were to
meet Saul ; and they were to present him, as an act of
homage, with two of their three loaves. This was
another evidence that God was filling men's hearts with
a rare feeling towards him.
The third token was to be the most remarkable of
any. It was to occur at what is called "the hill of
God." Literally this is "Gibeah of God"— God's
Gibeah. It seems to have been Saul's own city, but
the name Gibeah may have been given to the whole
hill where the city lay. The precise spot where the
occurrence was to take place was at the garrison of the
Philistines. (Thus it appears incidentally that the old
enemy were again harassing the country.) Gibeah,
which is elsewhere called Gibeah of Saul, is here called
God's Gibeah, because of the sacred services of which
it was the seat. Here Saul would meet a company of
prophets coming down from the holy place, with psaltery,
and tabret, and pipe, and harp, and here his mind
would undergo a change, and he would be impelled to
join the prophets' company. This was a strange
token, with a strange result.

150 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
We must try, first, to form some idea of Saul's state
of mind in the midst of these strange events.
The thought of his being king of Israel must have
set his whole being vibrating with high emotion. No
mind can take in at first all that is involved in such a
stroke of fortune. A tumult of feeling surges through
the mind. It is intoxicated with the prospect. Glimpses
of this pleasure and of that, now brought within reach,
flit before the fancy. The whole pulses of Saul's
nature must have been quickened. A susceptibility of
impression formerly unknown must have come to
him. He was like a cloud surcharged with electricity ;
he was in that state of nervous excitement which craves
a physical outlet, whether in singing, or shouting, or
leaping, — anything to relieve the brain and nervous
system, which seem to tremble and struggle under the
extraordinary pressure.
But mingling with this, there must have been
another, and perhaps deeper, emotion at work in Saul's
bosom. He had been brought into near contact with
the Supernatural. The thought of the Infinite Power
that ordains and governs all had been stirred very
vividly within him. The three tokens of Divirte ordina
tion met with in succession at Rachel's tomb, in the
plain of Tabor, and in the neighbourhood of Gibeah,
must have impressed him very profoundly. Probably he
had never had any very distinct impression of the great
Supernatural Being before. The worldly turn of mind
which was natural to him would not occupy itself with
any such thoughts. But now it was made clear to him
not only that there was a Supernatural Being, but that
He was dealing very closely with him. It is always a
solemn thing to feel in the presence of God, and to
remember that He is searching us and knowing us,

«. 1-16.] SAUL ANOINTED BY SAMUEL. 151

knowing our sitting down and our rising up, and com
prehending all our thoughts afar off. At such times
the sense of our guilt, feebleness, dependence, usually
comes on us, full and strong. Must it not have been
so with Saul ? If the prospect of kingly power was
fitted to puff him up, the sense of God's nearness to
him was fitted to cast him down. What was he before
God ? An insignificant worm, a guilty sinner, unworthy
to be called God's son.
The whole susceptibilities of Saul were in a state
of high excitement; the sense of the Divine presence
was on him, and for the moment a desire to render
to God some acknowledgment of all the mercy which
had come upon him. When the company of pro
phets met him coming down the hill, " the Spirit
of God came upon him, and he prophesied with them."
When in the Old Testament the Spirit of God is said
to come on one, the meaning is not always that He
comes in regenerating and sanctifying grace. The
Spirit of God in Bezaleel, the son of Uri, made him
cunning in all manner of workmanship, to work in
gold, and in silver, and in brass. The Spirit of God,
when He came upon Samson, magnified his physical
strength, and fitted him for the most wonderful feats.
So the Spirit of God, when He came on Saul, did not
necessarily regenerate his being ; alas 1 in Saul's future
life, there is only too much evidence of an unchanged
heart! Still it might be said of Saul that he was
changed into another man. Elevated by the prospect
before him, but awed at the same time by a sense of
God's nearness, he had no heart for the pursuits in
which he would have engaged on his return home
had no such change occurred. In the mood of mind
in whigh he was now, he could not look at anything

152 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
frivolous : his mind soared to higher things. When
therefore he met the company of prophets coming down
the hill, he was impelled by the surge of his feelings
to join their company and take part in their song.
They were returning from the high place where they
had been engaged in worship, and now they seem to
have been continuing the service, sounding out the
high praises of God, and thankfully remembering His
mercies. It was the same God who had so wonderfully
drawn near to Saul, and conferred on him privileges
which were as exalted as they were undeserved. No
wonder the heart of Saul caught the infection, and
threw itself for the time into the service of praise ! No
young man could well have resisted the impulse. Had
he not been chosen out of all the ten thousands of Israel
for an honour and a function higher than any Israelite
had ever yet enjoyed ? Ought he not, must he not, in
all the enthusiasm of profoundest wonder, extol the name
of Him from whom so suddenly, so unexpectedly, yet
so assuredly, this marvellous favour had come ?
But it was an employment very different from what
had hitherto been his custom. That utter worldliness
of mind which we have referred to as his natural
disposition would have made him scorn any such
employment in his ordinary mood as utterly alien
to his feelings. Too often we see that worldly-
n inded men not only have no relish for spiritual exer
cises, but feel bitterly and scornfully toward those
who-affect them. The reason is not far to seek. They
know that religious men count them guilty of sin,
of great sin, in so neglecting the service of God. To
be condemned, whether openly or not, galls their
pride, and sets them to disparage those who have so
low an opinion of them. It is not said that Saul had felt

x. I-i6.] SAUL ANOINTED BY SAMUEL. 153
bitterly toward religious men previous to this time.
But whether he did so or not, he appears to have kept
aloof from them quite as much as if he had. And now
in his own city he appears among the prophets, as
if sharing their inspiration, and joining with them
openly in the praises of God. It is so strange a sight
that every one is astonished. "Saul among the pro
phets ! " people exclaim. " Shall wonders ever cease ? "
And yet Saul was not in his right place among the
prophets. Saul was like the stony ground seed in the
parable of the sower. He had no depth of root. His
enthusiasm on this occasion was the result of forces
that did not work at the heart of his nature. It was
the result of the new and most remarkable situation
in which he found himself, not of any new principle of
life, any principle that would involve a radical change.
It is a solemn fact that men may be worked on by
outer forces so as to do many things that seem to be
acts of Divine service, but are not so really. A man
suddenly raised to a high and influential position feels
the influence of the change, — feels himself sobered and
solemnized by it, and for a time appears to live and act
under higher considerations than he used to acknow
ledge before. But when he gets used to his new
position, when the surprise has abated, and every
thing around him has become normal to him, his old
principles of action return. A young man called
suddenly to take the place of a most worthy and
honoured father feels the responsibility of wearing
such a mantle, and struggles for a time to fulfil his
father's ideal. But ere long the novelty of his position
wears away, the thought of his father recurs less
frequently, and his old views and feelings resume their
sway. Admission to the fellowship of a Church which

154 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
sustains a high repute may have at first not only a
restraining, but a stimulating and elevating effect, until,
the position becoming familiar to one, the emotions it
first excited die away. This risk is peculiarly incident
to those who bear office in the Church. Ordination
to the ministry, or to any other spiritual office, solemn
izes one at first, even though one may not be truly
converted, and nerves one with strength and reso
lution to throw off many an evil habit. But the
solemn impression wanes with time, and the carnal
nature asserts its claims. How earnest and how
particular men ought ever to be in examining them
selves whether their serious impressions are the effect
of a true change of nature, or whether they are not mere
temporary experiences, the casual result of external
circumstances. But how is this to be ascertained? Let us recall
the test with which our Lord has furnished us. " Not
every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will
of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say unto
Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in Thy name, and in Thy name have cast out devils,
and in Thy name have done many wonderful works ?
Then will I say unto them, I never knew you ; depart
from Me, ye that work iniquity." The real test is a
changed will; a will no longer demanding that self
be pleased, but that God be pleased ; a will yielding
up everything to the will of God; a will continually
asking what is right and what is true, not what will
please me, or what will be a gain to me ; a will over
powered by the sense of what is due in nature to the
Lord and Judge of all, and of what is due in grace to
Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His

x. 1-16.] SAUL ANOINTED BY SAMUEL 155
own blood. Have you thus surrendered yourselves to
God ? At the heart and root of your nature is there
the profound desire to do what is well-pleasing in
His sight ? If so, then, even amid abounding infirmi
ties, you may hold that you are the child of God. But
if still the principle — silent, perhaps, and unavowed,
but real — that moves you and regulates your life be that
of self-pleasing, any change that may have occurred
otherwise must have sprung only from outward con
ditions, and the prayer needs to go out from you on the
wings of irrepressible desire, " Create in me a clean
heart, O Lord, and renew a right spirit within me."
Two things in this part of the chapter have yet to be
adverted to. The first is that somewhat mysterious
question (ver. 12) which some one asked on seeing Saul
among the prophets — " But who is their father ? "
Various explanations have been given of this question ;
but the most natural seems to be, that it was designed
to meet a reason for the surprise felt at Saul being
among the prophets — viz. that his father Kish was a
godless man. That consideration is irrelevant; for
who, asks this person, is the father of the prophets ?
The pi ophetic gift does not depend on fatherhood. It
is not by connection with their fathers that the prophetic
band enjoy their privileges. Why should not Saul be
among the prophets as well as any of them? Such men
are born not of blood, nor of the will of man, nor of the
will of the flesh, but of God.
The other point remaining to be noticed is Saul's
concealment from his uncle of all that Samuel had said
about the kingdom. It appears from this both that
Saul was yet of a modest, humble spirit, and perhaps
that his uncle would have made an unwise use of the
information if he had got it. It would be time enough

156 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
for that to be known when God's way of bringing it to
pass should come. There is a time to speak and a time
to keep silence. Saul told enough to the uncle to
establish belief in the supernatural power of Samuel,
but nothing to gratify mere curiosity. Thus in many
ways Saul commends himself to us in this chapter, and
in no way does he provoke our blame. He was like
the young man in the Gospel in whom our Lord found
so much that was favourable. Alas, he was like the
young man also in the particular that made all the rest
of little effect — " One thing thou lackest."

CHAPTER XIV.
SAUL CHOSEN KING.
i Samuel x. 17 — 27.
WHEN first the desire to have a king came to a
height with the people, they had the grace to
go to Samuel, and endeavour to arrange the matter
through him. They.did not, indeed, show much regard
to his feelings ; rather they showed a sort of childlike
helplessness, not appearing to consider how much he
would be hurt both by their virtual rejection of his
government, and by their blunt reference to the un
worthy behaviour of his sons. But it was a good thing
that they came to Samuel at all. They were not pre
pared to carry out their wishes by lawless violence ;
they were not desirous to make use of the usual Oriental
methods of revolution — massacre and riot. It was so
far well that they desired to avail themselves of the
peaceful instrumentality of Samuel. We have seen
how Samuel carried the matter to the Lord, and how
the Lord yielded so far to the wish of the nation as
to permit them to have a king. And Samuel having
determined not to take offence, but to continue in
friendly relations to the people and do his utmost to turn
the change to the best possible account, now pro
ceeds to superintend the business of election. He
summons the people to the Lord to Mizpeh; that is,

158 THE FIRST BOOK OP SAMUEL.
he convenes the heads of the various tribes to a
meeting, which was not to be counted a rough political
convention, but a solemn religious gathering in the
very presence of the Lord. Either before the meeting,
or at the meeting, the principle must have been settled
on which the election was to be made. It was, how
ever, not so much the people that were to choose as
God. The selection was to take place by lot. This
method was resorted to as the best fitted to show who
was the object of God's choice. There seems to have
been no trace of difference of opinion as to its being
the right method of procedure.
But before the lot was actually cast, Samuel ad
dressed to the assembly one of those stern, terrible
exposures of the spirit that had led to the transaction
which would surely have turned a less self-willed and
stiff-necked people from their purpose, and constrained
them to revert to their original economy. " Thus saith
the Lord God of Israel: I brought up Israel out of
Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyp
tians, and out of the hand of all kingdoms, and of them
that oppressed you ; and ye have this day rejected
your God, who Himself saved you out of all your adver
sities and your tribulations ; and ye have said unto
Him, Nay, but set a king over us." How could the
people, we may well ask, get over this ? How could
they prefer an earthly king to a heavenly ? What
possible benefit worth naming could accrue to them
from a transaction dishonouring to the Lord of heaven,
which, if it did not make Him their enemy, could not
but chill His interest in them ?
Perhaps, however, we may wonder less at the be
haviour of the Israelites on this occasion if we bear in
mind how often the same offence is committed, and

x. 17-27-1 SAUL CHOSEN RING. !$9
with how little thought and consideration, at the pre
sent day. To begin with, take the case — and it is a
very common one — of those who have been dedicated
to God in baptism, but who cast their baptismal cove
nant to the winds. The time comes when the provi
sional dedication to the Lord should be followed up by
an actual and hearty consecration of themselves. Failing
that, what can be said of them but that they reject God
as their King ? And with what want of concern is this
often done, and sometimes in the face of remonstrances,
as, for instance, by the many young men in our congre
gations who allow the time for decision to pass without
ever presenting themselves to the Church as desirous
to take on them the yoke of Christ 1 A moment's
thought might show them that if they do not actively
join themselves to Christ, they virtually sever them
selves from Him. If I make a provisional bargain with
any one to last for a short time, and at the end of
that time take no steps to renew it, I actually re
nounce it. Not to renew the covenant of baptism, when
years of discretion have been reached, is virtually to
break it off. Much consideration must be had for the
consciousness of unworthiness, but even that is not
a sufficient reason, because our worthiness can never
come from what we are in ourselves, but from our faith
in Him who alone can supply us with the wedding
garment. Then there are those who reject God in a more
outrageous form. There are those who plunge boldly
into the stream of sin, or into the stream of worldly
enjoyment, determined to lead a life of pleasure, let the
consequences be what they may. As to religion, it is
nothing to them, except a subject of ridicule on the
part of those who affect it Morality — well, if it fall

i6o THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
within the fashion of the world, it must be respected
otherwise let it go to the winds. God, heaven, hell, —
they are mere bugbears to frighten the timid and
superstitious. Not only is God rejected, but He is
defied. Not only are His blessing, His protection, His
gracious guidance scorned, but the devil, or the world,
or the flesh is openly elevated to His throne. Yet men
and women too can go on through years of life utterly
unconcerned at the slight they offer to God, and
unmoved by any warning that may come to them
"Who is the Almighty that we should serve Him?
And what profit shall we have if we bow down before
Him ? " Their attitude reminds us of the answer
of the persecutor, when the widow of his murdered
victim protested that he would have to answer both to
man and to God for the deed of that day. " To man,"
he said, " I can easily answer ; and as for God, I will
take Him in my own hands."
But there is still another class against whom the
charge of rejecting God may be made. Not, indeed, in
the same sense or to the same degree, but with one
element of guilt which does not attach to the others,
inasmuch as they have known what it is to have God
for their King. I advert to certain Christian men and
women who in their early days were marked by much
earnestness of spirit, but having risen in the world,
have fallen back from their first attainments, and
have more or less accepted the world's law. Perhaps
it was of their poorer days that God had cause to
remember " the kindness of their youth and the love
of their espousals." Then they were earnest in their
devotions, full of interest in Christian work, eager to
grow in grace and in all the qualities of a Christlike
character. But as they grew in wealth, and rose in

,17-27.] SAUL CHOSEN KING. 161

the world, a change came o'er the spirit of their dream.
They must have fine houses and equipages, and give
grand entertainments, and cultivate the acquaintance
of this great family and that, and get a recognized
position among their fellows. Gradually their life
comes to be swayed by considerations they never
would have thought of in early days. Gradually the
strict rules by which they used to live are relaxed, and
an easier and more accommodating attitude towards the
world is taken up. And as surely the glow of their
spiritual feelings cools down ; the charm of their
spiritual enjoyments goes off; the blessed hope, even
the glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, fades
away; and one scheme after another of worldly
advancement and enjoyment occupies their minds.
What glamour has passed over their souls to obliterate
the surpassing glory of Jesus Christ, the image of the
invisible God ? What evil spell has robbed the Cross
of its holy influence, and made them so indifferent to
the Son of God, who loved them and gave Himself for
them ? Is the gate of heaven changed, that they no
longer care to linger at it, as in better times they used
«o fondly to do ? No. But they have left their first
iove; they have gone away after idols ; they have been
caught in the snares of the god of this world. In so
far, they have rejected their God that saved them out
of all their adversities and tribulations ; and if they go
on to do so after solemn warning, their guilt will be
like the guilt of Israel, and the day must come when
" their own wickedness shall correct them, and their
backslidings shall reprove them."
But let us come back to the election. The first lot
was cast between the twelve tribes, and it fell on
Benjamin. The next lot we cast between the families
VOL. I.

THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.

of Benjamin, and it fell on the family of Matri; and
when they came to closer quarters, as it were, the lot
fell on Saul, the son of Kish. Again we see how the
most casual events are all under government, and
conspire to accomplish the purpose of Him who
worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.
" The lot is cast into the lap ; but the whole disposing
thereof is of the Lord."
No doubt Saul had anticipated this consummation.
He had had too many supernatural evidences to the
same effect to have any lingering doubt what would be
the result of the lot. But it was too much for him. He
hid himself, and could not be found. And we do not
think the worse of him for this, but rather the better.
It is one of the many favourable traits that we find at
the outset of his kingly career. However pleasant it
might be to ruminate on the privileges and honours of
royalty, it was a serious thing to undertake the leader
ship of a great nation. In this respect, Saul shared
the feeling that constrained Moses to shrink back when
he was appointed to deliver Israel from Egypt, and
that constrained Jeremiah to remonstrate when he was
appointed a prophet unto the nations. Many of the
best ministers of Christ have had this feeling when
they were called to the Christian ministry. Gregory
Nazianzen actually fled to the wilderness after his
ordination, and Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, in the
civil office which he held, tried to turn the people
from their choice even by acts of cruelty and severity,
after they had called on him to become their bishop.
But, besides the natural shrinking of Saul from so
rsspons;ble an office, we may believe that he was not
unmoved by the solemn representation of Samuel that
in their determination to have a human king the people

x. 17-27.] SAUL CHOSEN KING 163
had been guilty of rejecting God. This may have been
the first time that that view of the matter seriously
impressed itself on his mind. Even though it was
accompanied by the qualification that God in a sense
sanctioned the new arrangement, and though the use of
the lot would indicate God's choice, Saul might well
have been staggered by the thought that in electing a
king the people had rejected God. Even though his
mind was not a spiritual mind, there was something
frightful in the very idea of a man stepping, so to speak,
into God's place. No wonder then though he hid
himself 1 Perhaps he thought that when he could not
be found the choice would fall on some one else. But
no. An appeal was again made to God, and God
directly indicated Saul, and indicated his place of con
cealment. The stuff or baggage among which Saul
was hid was the collection of packages which the
people would naturally bring with them, and which it
was the custom to pile up, often as a rampart or defence,
while the assembly lasted. We can fancy the scene
when, the pile of baggage being indicated as the hiding-
place, the people rushed to search among it, knocking
the contents asunder very unceremoniously, until Saul
was at length discovered. From his inglorious place of
retreat the king was now brought out, looking no doubt
awkward and foolish, yet with that commanding figure
which seemed so suitable for his new dignity. And his
first encouragement was the shout of the people — " God
save the king I " How strange and quick the transition 1
A minute ago he was safe in his hiding-place, wonder-
ng whether some one else might not get the office.
Now the shouts of the people indicate that all is settled.
King of Israel he is henceforward to be.
Three incidents are recorded towards the end of the

164 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
chapter as throwing light on the great event of the day.
In the first place, " Samuel told the people the manner
of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up
before the Lord." This was another means taken by
the faithful prophet to secure that this new step should
if possible be for good, and not for evil. It was a new
protest against assimilating the kingdom of Israel to
the other kingdoms around. No 1 although Jehovah
was no longer King in the sense in which He had been,
His covenant and His law were still binding, and must
be observed in Israel to their remotest generation. No
change could repeal the law of the ten words given
amid the thunders of Sinai. No change could annul
the promise to Abraham, "In thee and in thy seed
shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." No
change could reverse that mode of approach to a holy
God which had been ordained for the sinner — through
the shedding of atoning blood. The destiny of Israel
was not changed, as the medium of God's communica
tions to the world on the most vital of all subjects in
which sinners could be interested. And king though
he was, Saul would find that there was no way of
securing the true prosperity of his kingdom but by
ruling it in the fear of God, and with the highest regard
to His will and pleasure ; while nothing was so sure to
drive it to ruin, as to depart from the Divine prescrip
tion, and plunge into the ways that were common
among the heathen.
The next circumstance mentioned in the history is,
that when the people dispersed, and when Saul returned
to his home at Gibeah, " there went with him a band
of men, whose hearts God had touched." They were
induced to form a body-guard for the new king, and
they did so under no physical constraint from him or

x. 17-27.] SAUL CHOSEN KING. 165
any one else, but because they were moved to do it from
sympathy, from the desire to help him and be of service
to him in the new position £0 which he had been raised.
Here was a remarkable encouragement. A friend in
need is a friend indeed. Could there have been any
time when Saul was more in need of friends ? How
happy a thing it was that he did not need to go and
search for them ; they came to him with their willing
service. And what a happy start it was for him in his
new office that these helpers were at hand to serve
him 1 A band of willing helpers around one takes off
more than half the difficulty of a difficult enterprise.
Men that enter into one's plans, that sympathize with
one's aims, that are ready to share one's burdens, that
anticipate one's wishes, are of priceless value in any
business. But they are of especial value in the Church
of Christ. One of the first things our Lord did after
entering on His public ministry was to call to Himself
the twelve, who were to be His staff, His ready helpers
wherever they were able to give help. Is it not the
joy of the Christian minister, as he takes up his charge,
if there go with him a band of men whose hearts God
has touched? How lonely and how hard is the ministry
if there be no such men to help ! How different when
efficient volunteers are there, in readiness for the Sunday-
school, and the Band of hope, and the missionary
society, and the congregational choir, and for visiting
the sick, and every other service of Christian love 1
Congregations ought to feel that it cannot be right to
leave all the work to their minister. What kind of
battle would it be if all the fighting were left to the
officer in command ? Let the members of congrega
tions ever bear in mind that it is their duty and then-
privilege to help in the work. If we wish to see the

166 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
picture of a prosperous Apostolic Church, let us study
the last chapter of the Epistle to the Romans. The
glory of the primitive Church of Rome was that it
abounded in men and women whose hearts God had
touched, and who " laboured much in the Lord."
Do any of us shrink from such work? Are any
willing to pray for God's work, but unwilling to take
part in it personally? Such a state of mind cannot
but suggest the question, Has the Lord touched your
hearts ? The expression is a very significant one.
It implies that one touch of God's hand, one breathing
of His Spirit, can effect such a change that what was
formerly ungenial becomes agreeable ; a vital principle
is imparted to the heart. Life can come only from
the fountain of life. Hearts can be quickened only
by the living Spirit of God. In vain shall we try
to serve Him until our hearts are touched by His
Spirit. Would that that Spirit were poured forth so
abundantly that "one should say, I am the Lord's,
and another should call himself by the name of
Jacob, and another should subscribe with his hand
to the Lord, and surname himself with the name of
Israel " 1
The last thing to be noticed is the difference of
feeling toward Saul among the people. While he was
received cordially by most, there was a section that
despised him, that scorned the idea of his delivering
the nation, and, in token of their contempt, brought
him no presents. They are called the children of
Belial. It was not that they regarded his election as
an invasion of the ancient constitution of the country,
as an interference with the sovereign rights of Jehovah,
but that, in their pride, they refused to submit to him ;
they would not have him for their king. The tokens

x. 17-27. j SAUL ChOSEN KING. 167
of Divine authority — the sanction of Samuel, the use
of the lot, and the other proofs that what was done
at Mizpeh had been ratified in heaven — made no
impression upon them. We are told of Saul that he
held his peace ; he would rather refute them by deeds
than by words; he would let it be seen, when the
opportunity offered, whether he could render any
service to the nation or not. But does not this ominous
fact, recorded at the very threshold of Saul's reign,
at the very time when it 'became so apparent that he
was the Lord's anointed, suggest to our minds a
corresponding fact, in reference to One who is the
Lord's Anointed in a higher sense? Is there not in
many a disposition to say even of the Lord Jesus
Christ, " How shall this man save us " ? Do not many
rob the Lord Jesus Christ of His saving power, reduc
ing Him to the level of a mere teacher, denying that
He shed His blood to take away sin ? And are there
not others who refuse their homage to the Lord from
sheer self-dependence and pride? They have never
been convinced of their sins, never shared the publican's
feeling, but rather been disposed to boast, like the
Pharisee, that they were not like other men. And
is not Christ still to many as a root out of a drv
ground, without form or comeliness wherefore they
should desire Him ? Oh for the spirit of wisdom and
illumination in the knowledge of Him 1 Oh that, the
eyes of our understandings being enlightened, we
might all see Jesus fairer than the children of men, the
chief among ten thousand, yea altogether lovely ; and
that, instead of our manifesting any unwillingness to
acknowledge Him and follow Him, the language of our
hearts might be, " Whom have we in heaven but Thee ?
and there is none on the earth that we desire besides

1 68 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
Thee." " Entreat us not to leave Thee, nor to return
from following after Thee ; for where Thou goest we
will go, and where Thou lodgest we will lodge ; Thy
people shall be our people," and Thou Thyself our
Lord and our God.

CHAPTER XV.
THE RELIEF OF fABESH-GILEAD,
I Samuel xi.
PRIMITIVE though the state of society was in
those days in Israel, we are hardly prepared to
find Saul following the herd in the field- after his
election as king of Israel. We are compelled to con
clude that the opposition to him was far from contempt
ible in number and in influence, and that he found it
expedient in the meantime to make no demonstration
of royalty, but continue his old way of life. If we go
back to the days of Abimelech, the son of Gideon, we
get a vivid view of the awful crimes which even an
Israelite could commit, under the influence of jealousy,
when other persons stood in the way of his ambitious
designs. It is quite conceivable that had Saul at once
assumed the style and title of royalty, those children of
Belial who were so contemptuous at his election would
have made away with him. Human life was of so little
value in those Eastern countries, and the crime of
destroying it was so little thought of, ihat if Saul had
in any way provoked hostility, he would have been
almost certain to fall by some assassin's hand. It was
therefore wise of him to continue for a time his old
way of living, and wait for some opportunity which
should arise providentially, to vindicate his title to the
sceptre of Israel,

1 70 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
Apparently he had not to wait long — according to
Josephus, only a month. The opportunity arose in a
somewhat out-of-the-way part of the country, where
disturbance had been brewing previous to his election
(comp. xii. 12). It was not the first time that the
inhabitants of Gilead and other dwellers on the east
side of Jordan came to feel that in settling there they
had to pay dear for their well- watered and well-sheltered
pastures. They were exposed in an especial degree to
the assaults of enemies, and pre-eminent among these
were their cousins, the Ammonites. Very probably the
Ammonites had never forgotten the humiliation inflicted
on them by Jephthah, when he smote them " from
Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty
cities, and till thou come to the plain of the vineyards,
with a very great slaughter." Naturally the Ammonites
would be desirous both to avenge these defeats and to
regain their cities, or at least to get other cities in lieu
of what they had lost. We do not know with certainty
the site of Jabesh-Gilead, or the reasons why it was
the special object of attack by King Nahash at this time.
But so it was; and as the people of Jabesh-Gilead either
knew not or cared not for their real defence, the God
of Israel, they found themselves too hard bestead by
the Ammonites, and, exhausted probably by the weary
siege, proposed terms of capitulation.
This is the first scene in the chapter before us.
"The men of Jabesh said to Nahash, king of the
Ammonites, Make a covenant with us, and we will
serve thee." The history of the Israelites in time of
danger commonly presents one or other of two
extremes : either pusillanimous submission, or daring
defiance to the hostile power. In this case it was
pusillanimous submission, as indeed it commonly was

xi.] THE RELIEF OF JABESH-GILEAD. 171
when the people followed the motions of their own
hearts, and were not electrified into opposition by some
great hero, full of faith in God. But it was not mere
cowardice they displayed in offering to become the
servants of the Ammonites ; there was impiety in it
likewise. For of their relation to God they made no
account whatever. By covenant with their fathers,
ratified from generation to generation, they were God's
servants, and they had no right voluntarily to transfer
to another master the allegiance which was due to God
alone. The proposal they made was virtually a breach
of the first commandment. And it was not a case of
necessity. Instead of humbling themselves before God
and confessing the sins that had brought them into
trouble, they put God altogether aside, and basely
offered to become the servants of the Ammonites.
Even the remembrance of the glorious victories of
their own Jephthah, when he went to war with the
Ammonites, in dependence on the God of Israel, seems to
have had no effect in turning them from the inglorious
proposal. We see here the sad effect of sin and careless
living in lowering men's spirits, sapping courage, and
discouraging noble effort. Oh, it is pitiable to see men
tamely submitting to a vile master 1 Yet how often is
the sight repeated 1 How often do men virtually say
to the devil, "Make a covenant with us, and we will
serve thee " 1 Not indeed in the open way in which it
used to be believed that one of the popes, before his
elevation to the papal chair, formally sold his soul to
the devil in exchange for that dignity. Yet how often
do men virtually give themselves over to serve a vile
master, to lead evil or at least careless lives, to indulge
in sinful habits which they know they should overcome,
but which they are too indolent and self-indulged to

17a THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
resist ! Men and women, with strong proclivities to sin,
may for a time resist, but they get tired of the battle ;
they long for an easier life, and they say in their hearts,
" We will resist no longer ; we will become your
servants." They are willing to make peace with the
Ammonites, because they are wearied of fighting.
" Anything for a quiet life 1 " They surrender to the
enemy, they are willing to serve sin, because they
will not surrender the ease and the pleasures of sin.
But sin is a bad master ; his wages are terrible to
.hink of. The terms which Nahash offered to the men
of Jabesh-Gilead combined insult and injury. "On this
condition will I make a covenant with you : that I may
thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach
unto all Israel." "The tender mercies of the wicked
are cruel." There is nothing in which the pernicious
influence of paganism was more notorious in ancient
times— andindeed, we may say, is more notorious in all
times — than in the horrible cruelties to which it led.
Barbarity was ,the very element in which it lived. And
that barbarity was often exemplified in cruelly depriving
enemies of those members and organs of the body
which are most needful for the comfort of life. The
hands and the eyes were especially the victims of this
diabolical feeling. Just as you may see at this day
in certain African villages miserable creatures without
hands or eyes who have fallen under the displeasure of
their chief and received this revolting treatment, so it
was in those early times. But Nahash was compa
ratively merciful. He was willing to let the men of
Jabesh off with the loss of one eye only. But as if to
compensate for this forbearance, he declared that he
would regard the transaction as a reproach upon all
Israel, The mutilated condition of that poor one-eyed

xi.] THE RELIEF OF JABESH-GILEAD. 173
community would be a ground for despising the whole
nation ; it would be a token of the humiliation and
degradation of the whole Israelite community. These
were the terms of Nahash. His favour could be pur
chased only by a cruel injury to every man's body and
a stinging insult to their whole nation. But these
terms were just too humiliating. Whether the men of
JaLesh would have been willing to lose their eyes as
the price of peace we do not know; but the proposed
humiliation of the nation was something to which they
were not prepared at once to submit. The nation itself
should look to that. The nation should consider whether
it was prepared to be thus insulted by the humiliation
of one of its cities. Consequently they asked for a
week's respite, that it might be seen whether the
nation would not bestir itself to maintain its honour.
If we regard Nahash as a type of another tyrant,
as representing the tyranny of sin, we may derive
from his conditions an illustration of the hard terms
which sin usually imposes. "The way of trans
gressors is hard." Oh, what untold misery does one
act of sin often bring! One act of drunkenness, in
which one is led to commit some crime of violence that
would never have been dreamt of otherwise ; one act
of dishonesty, followed up by a course of deceit and
double-dealing, that at last culminates in disgrace and
ruin ; one act of unchastity, leading to loss of character
and to a. downward career ending in utter darkness, —
how frightful is the retribution ! But happy is the
young person, when under temptation to the service of
sin, if there comes to him at the very threshold some
frightful experience of the hardness of the service,
if, like the men of Jabesh-Gilead, he is made to feel that
the loss and humiliation are beyond endurance, and to

174 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
betake himself to the service of another Master, whose
yoke is easy, whose burden is light, and whose rewards
are more precious than silver and gold !
With the activity of despair, the men of Jabesh now
publish throughout all Israel the terms that Nahash has
offered them. At Gibeah of Saul a deep impression is
made. But it is not the kind of impression that gives
much hope. " All the people lifted up their voices and
wept." It was just the way in which their forefathers
had acted at the Red Sea, when, shut in between the
mountains and the sea, they saw the chariots of
Pharaoh advancing in battle array against them; and
again, it was the way in which they spent that night
in the wilderness after the spies brought back their
report of the land. It was a sorrowful sight— a whole
mass of people crying like babies, panic-stricken, and
utterly helpless. But, as in the two earlier cases, there
was a man of faith to roll back the wave of panic.
As Moses at the Red Sea got courage to go forward,
as Caleb, the faithful spy, was able to resist all the
clamour of his colleagues and the people, so on this
occasion the spirit that rises above the storm, and
flings defiance even on the strongest enemies, came
mightily on one man — on Saul. His conduct at this
time is another evidence how well he conducted himself
in the opening period of his reign. " The Spirit of the
Lord came upon Saul when he heard the tidings, and
his anger was kindled greatly." The Spirit of the
Lord evidently means here that spirit of courage, of
noble energy, of dauntless resolution, which was needed
to meet the emergency that had arisen. His first act
was a symbolical one, very rough in its nature, but an
act of the kind that was best fitted to make an impres
sion on an Eastern people, A yoke of oxen was hewn

xi.] THE RELIEF OP JABESH-GILEAD. 175
in pieces, and the bloody fragments were sent by
messengers throughout all Israel, with a thundering
announcement that any one failing to follow Saul
would have his own oxen dealt with in a similar
fashion 1 It was a bold proclamation for a man to make
who himself had just been following his herd in the
field. But boldness, even audacity, is often the best
policy. The thundering proclamation of Saul brought
an immense muster of people to him. A sufficient
portion of them would set out with the king, hasten
ing down the passes to the Jordan valley, and having
crossed the river, would bivouac for the night in some
of the ravines that led up towards the city of Jabesh-
Gilead. Messengers had been previously pushed
forward to announce to the people there the approach
of the relieving force. Long before daybreak, Saul had
divided his force into three, who were to approach the
beleaguered city by different roads and surprise the
Ammonites by break of day. The plan was success
fully carried out. The assault on the Ammonite army
was made in the morning wateh, and continued till
midday. It was now the turn for the Ammonites to
fall under panic. Their assailants seem to have found
them entirely unprepared. There is nothing with
which the undisciplined ranks of an Eastern horde
are less able to cope than an unexpected attack. The
defeat was complete, and the slaughter must have been
terrific ; and " it came to pass that they which remained
of them were scattered, so that two of them were not
left together." The men of Jabesh-Gilead, who had
expected to spend that night in humiliation and anguish,
would be sure to spend it in a very tumult of joy,
perhaps rather in a wild excitement than in the calm
but intensely relieved condition of men of whom the

176 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
sorrows of death had taken hold, but whom the Lord
had delivered out of all their distresses.
It is no wonder though the people were delighted
with their king. From first to last he had conducted
himself admirably. He had not delayed an hour in
taking the proper steps. Though wearied probably
with his day's work among the herd, he set about the
necessary arrangements with the utmost promptitude.
It was a serious undertaking : first, to rouse to the
necessary pitch a people who were more disposed to
weep and wring their hands, than to keep their heads
and devise a way of escape in the hour of danger;
second, to gather a sufficient army to his standard;
third, to march across the Jordan, attack the foe,
confident and well equipped, and deliver the beleaguered
city. But dangers and difficulties only roused Saul to
higher exertions. And now, when in one short week he
has completed an enterprise worthy to rank among the
highest in the history of the nation, it is no wonder that
the satisfaction of the people reaches an enthusiastic
pitch. It would have been unaccountable had it
been otherwise. And it is no wonder that their
thoughts revert to the men who had stood in the way
of his occupying the throne. Here is another proof
that the opposition was more serious and more deadly
than at first appears. These men were far from con
temptible. Even now they might be a serious trouble
to the nation. Would it not be good policy to get rid
of them at once ? Did they not deserve to die, and
ought they not at once to be put to death ? It is not
likely that if this question had been mooted in the like
circumstances in any of the neighbouring kingdoms,
there would have been a moment's hesitation in answer
ing it. But Saul was full of a magnanimous spirit—

xl.] THE RELIEF OF JABESH-GILEAD. 177
nay, it seemed at the time a godly spirit. His mind
was impressed with the fact that the deliverance of
that day had come from God. And it was impressed
at the same time with the grandeur and sublimity of
the Divine power that had been brought into operation
on behalf of Israel. Saul perceived a tremendous
reality in the fact that " the Lord was their defence ;
the Holy One of Israel was their King." If Israel was
encircled by such a garrison, if Israel's king was under
such a Protector, what heed he fear from a gang of
miscreants like these children of Belial ? Why dim
the glory of the day by an act of needless massacre ?
Let forbearance to these misguided villains be another
proof of the respect the nation had to the God of Jacob,
as the Defender of Israel and Israel's King, and the cer
tainty of their trust that He would defend them. And
so " Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death.
this day ; for to-day the Lord hath wrought salvation
in Israel."
O Saul, Saul, how well for thee it would have been
hadst thou maintained this spirit 1 For then God would
not have had to reject thee from being king, and to
seek among the sheepfolds of Bethlehem a man after
His own heart to be the leader of His people 1 And
then thou wouldest have had no fear for the security
of thy throne ; thou wouldest not have hunted thy rival
like a partridge on the mountains; and never, never
wouldest thou have been tempted, in thy difficulties, to
seek counsel from a woman with a familiar spirit, on
the plea that God was departed from thee I
As we are thinking how well Saul has acted on this
occasion, we perceive that an old friend has come on
the scene who helps us materially to understand the
situation. Yes, he is all the better of Samuel's guidance
VOL. I. I3

178 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
and prayers. The good old prophet has no jealousy of
the man who took his place as head of the nation. But
knowing well the fickleness of the people, he is anxious
to turn the occasion to account for confirming their
feelings and their aims. Seeing how the king has
acknowledged God as the Author of the victory, he
desires to strike while the iron is hot. "Come," he
says, "let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom
there." Gilgal was the first place where the people
had encamped under Joshua on crossing the Jordan.
It was the place where the twelve stones taken from
the empty bed of the river had been set up, as a
testimony to the reality of the Divine presence in the
midst of them. In some aspects, one might have
thought that Samuel would invite them to Ebenezer,
where he had set up the stone of help, and that he
would add another testimony to the record that hitherto
the Lord had helped them. But Gilgal was nearer to
Jabesh-Gilead, and it was memorable for still higher
traditions. To Gilgal accordingly they went, to renew
the kingdom. "And there they made Saul king
before the Lord in Gilgal, and there they sacrificed
sacrifices of peace-offerings before the Lord, and there
Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly."
The first election of Saul had been effected without
any ceremonial, as if the people had been somewhat
afraid to have a public coronation when it was obvious
they had carried their point only by Divine sufferance,
not by Divine command. But now, unequivocal testi
mony has been borne that, so long as Saul pays be
coming regard to the heavenly King, the blessing and
countenance of the Almighty will be his. Let him then
be set apart with all due enthusiasm for his exalted
office. Let his consecration take place in the most

xi.] THE RELIEF OF fABESH-GILEAD. 179
solemn circumstances — let it be "before the Lord in
Gilgal ; " let it be accompanied with those sacrifices of
peace-offerings which shall indicate respect for God's
appointed method of reconciliation ; and let it be con
ducted with such devout regard to Him and to His law,
that when it is over, the Divine blessing shall seem to
fall on Saul in the old form of benediction, "The
Lord bless thee and keep thee; the Lord make His
face to shine on thee and be gracious to thee ; the
Lord lift up His countenance on thee and give thee
peace." Let the impression be deepened that "the
God of Israel is He that giveth strength and power
unto His people." Saul himself will not be the worse
for having these feelings confirmed, and it will be of
the highest benefit to the people.
And thus, under Samuel's guidance, the kingdom
was renewed. Thus did both Saul and the people give
unto the Lord the glory due to His name. And en
gaging in the ceremonial as they all did in this spirit,
" both Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly."
It was, perhaps, the happiest occasion in all the reign
of Saul. What contributed the chief element of bright
ness to the occasion was — the sunshine of Heaven. God
was there, smiling on His children. There were other
elements too. Samuel was there, happy that Saul had
conquered, that he had established himself upon the
throne, and, above all, that he had, in a right noble way,
acknowledged God as the Author of the victory at
Jabesh-Gilead. Saul was there, reaping the reward
of his humility, his forbearance, his courage, and his
activity. The people were there, proud of their king,
proud of his magnificent appearance, but prouder of the
super-eminent qualities that had marked the commence
ment of his reign. Nor was the pleasure of any one

i8o THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
marred by any ugly blot Or unworthy deed throwing a
gloom over the transaction.
For one moment, let us compare the joy of this com
pany with the feelings of men revelling in the pleasures
of sin and sensuality, or even of men storing a pile
of gold, the result of some successful venture or the
legacy of some deceased relative. How poor the
quality of the one joy compared to that of the other 1
For what is there outside themselves that can make
men so happy as the smile of God ? Or what condi
tion of the soul can be so full, so overflowing with
healthy gladness, as when the heart is ordered in
accordance with God's law, and men are really disposed
and enabled to love the Lord their God with all their
heart, and to love their neighbours as themselves ?
Is there not something of heaven in this joy ? Is it
not joy unspeakable and full of glory ?
One other question : Is it yours?

CHAPTER XVI.
JAMUEL'S VINDICATION OF HIMSELF.
i Samuel xii. I — 5.
IT was a different audience that Samuel had to
address at Gilgal from either that which came to
him to Ramah to ask for a king, or that which assembled
at Mizpeh to elect one. To both of these assemblies
he had solemnly conveyed his warning against the act
of distrust in God implied in their wishing for a king at
all, and against any disposition they might feel, when
they got a king, to pay less attention than before to
God's will and covenant. The present audience repre
sented the army, undoubtedly a great multitude, that
had gone forth with Saul to relieve Jabesh-Gilead, and
that now came with Samuel to Gilgal to renew the
kingdom. As the audience now seems to have been
larger, so it very probably represented more fully the
whole of the twelve tribes of Israel. This may explain
to us why Samuel not only returned to the subject on
which he had spoken so earnestly before, but enlarged
on it at greater length, and appealed with more fulness
to his own past life as giving weight to the counsels
which he pressed upon them. Besides this, the recog
nition of Saul as king at Gilgal was more formal, more
hearty, and more unanimous than at Mizpeh, and the
institution of royalty wa? now more an established and

182 THE FIRST BOOK OP SAMUEL.
settled affair. No doubt, too, Samuel felt that, after
the victory at Jabesh-Gilead, he had the people in a much
more impressible condition than they had been in before ;
and while their minds were thus so open to impression,
it was his duty to urge on them to the very uttermost
the truths that bore on their most vital well-being.
The address of Samuel on this occasion bore on
three things : I his own personal relations to them
in the past (vers. 1-5) ; 2 the mode of God's dealing
with their fathers, and its bearing on the step now
taken (vers. 6-12); and 3 the way in which God's
judgments might be averted and His favour and friend
ship secured to the nation in all time coming (vers.
13-25). 1 . The reason why Samuel makes such explicit reference
to his past life and such a strong appeal to the people
as to its blameless character is, that he may establish
a powerful claim for the favourable consideration of the
advice which he is about to give them. The value of
an advice no doubt depends simply on its own intrinsic
excellence, but the effect of an advice depends partly on
other things; it depends, to a great extent, on the
disposition of people to think favourably of the person
by whom the advice is given. If you have reason to
suspect an adviser of a selfish purpose, if you know
him to be a man who can plausibly represent that the
course which he urges will be a great benefit to you,
while in reality he has no real regard for any interest
but his own, then, let him argue as he pleases, you
do not allow yourselves to be moved by anything he
may say. But if you have good cause to know that he
is a disinterested man, if he has never shown himself
to be selfish, but uniformly devoted to the interests of
others, and especially of yourselves, you feel that

iii. 1-5.] SAMUEL'S VINDICATION OF HIMSELF. 183
what such a man urges comes home to you with extra
ordinary weight. Now, the great object of Samuel in
his reference to his past life was to bring the weight
of this consideration to bear in favour of the advice he
was to give to the people. For he could appeal to
them with the greatest confidence as to his absolute
disinterestedness. He could show that, with ever so
many opportunities of acting a selfish part, no man
could accuse him of having ever been guilty of crooked
conduct in all his relations to the people. He could
establish from their own mouths the position that he
was as thoroughly devoted to the interests of the nation
as any man could be. And therefore he called on them
to give their most favourable and their most earnest
attention to the advice which he was about to press
on them, the more so that he was most profoundly
convinced that the very existence of the nation in days
to come depended on its being complied with.
The first consideration he urged was, that he had
listened to their voice in making them a king. He had
not obstructed nor baulked them in their strong feeling,
though he might reasonably enough have done so. He
had felt the proposal keenly as a reflection on himself,
but he had waived that objection and gone on. He
had regarded it as a slur on the Almighty, but the
Almighty Himself "had been pleased to forgive it, and
he had transacted with Him on their behalf in the same
way as before. Nothing that he had done in this
matter could have an unfriendly aspect put on it. He
had made the best of an objectionable proposal ; and
now they had not only got their wish, but along
with it, objectionable though it was, a measure of the
sanction of God. " And now, behold, the king walketh
before you."

184 THE FIRST BOOK OP SAMUEL.
In the next place, Samuel adverts to his age. " I am
old and grey-headed ; and, behold, my sons are with
you, and I have walked before you from my childhood
unto this day." You have had abundant opportunities
to know me, and my manner of life. You know how
I began, and you know how I have gone on, till now
the circle of my years is nearly completed; a new
generation has grown up ; my sons are your contem
poraries ; I am old and grey-headed. You know how
my childhood was spent in God's house in Shiloh, how
God called me to be His prophet, and how I have gone
on in that exalted office, trying ever to be faithful to
Him that called me. What Samuel delicately points
to here is the uniformity of his life. He had not begun
on one line, then changed to another. He had not see
sawed nor zigzagged, one thing at one time, another
at another ; but from infancy to grey hairs he had kept
steadfastly to the same course, he had ever served the
same Master. Such steadiness and uniformity through
out a long life genders a wonderful weight of character.
The man that has borne an honoured name through all
the changes and temptations of life, through youth and
middle age, and even to hoar hairs, that has served
all that time under the same banner and never brought
discredit on it, has earned a title to no ordinary esteem.
It is this that forms the true glory of old age. Men
instinctively pay honour to the hoary head when it
represents a career of uniform and consistent integrity ;
and Christian men honour it all the more when it
represents a lifetime of Christian activity and self-
denial. Examine the ground of this reverence, and you
will find it to be this : such a mature and consistent
character could never have been attained but for many
a struggle, in early life, of duty against inclination, and

xu. I-S-] SAMUEL'S VINDICATION OF HIMSELF. 185
many a victory of the higher principle over the lower,
till at length the habit of well-doing was so established,
that further struggles were hardly ever needed. Men
think of him as one who has silently but steadily
yielded up the baser desires of his nature all through
his life to give effect to the higher and the nobler.
They think of him as one who has sought all through
life to give that honour to the will of God in which
possibly they have felt themselves sadly deficient, and
to encourage among their fellow-men, at much cost
of self-denial, those ways of life which inflict no damage
on our nature and bring a serene peace and satisfac
tion. Of such a mode of life, Samuel was an admirable
representative. Men of that stamp are the true nobles
of a community. Loyal to God and faithful to man ;
denying themselves and labouring to diffuse the spirit
of all true happiness and prosperity ; visiting the
fatherless and the widows in their affliction, and keep
ing themselves unspotted by the world — happy the
community whose quiver is full of them ! Happy the
Church, happy the country, that abounds in such
worthies 1 — men, as Thomas Carlyle said of his peasant
Christian father, of whom one should be prouder in.
one's pedigree than of dukes or kings, for what is the
glory of mere rank or accidental station compared to
the glory of Godlike qualities, and of a character which
reflects the image of God Himself?
The third point to which Samuel adverts is his
freedom from all acts of unjust exaction or oppression,
and from all those corrupt practices in the adminis
tration of justice which were so common in Eastern
countries. " Behold; here I am ; witness against me
before the Lord and before His anointed ; whose ox
have I taken ? or whose ass have I taken ? or whom

186 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.

have I defrauded ? whom have I oppressed ? or of
whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine
eyes therewith ? and I will restore it to you." It was
no small matter to be able to make this challenge,
which is as fearless in tone as it is comprehensive in
range, in the very midst of such a sea of corruption as
the neighbouring kingdoms of the East presented. It
would seem as if, down to this day, the people in most
of these despotic countries had never known any other
regime but one of unjust exaction and oppression.
We have seen, in an earlier chapter of this book, how
shamefully the very priests abused the privilege of
their sacred office to appropriate to themselves the
offerings of God. In the days of our Lord and John
the Baptist, what was it that rendered " the publicans "
so odious but that their exactions went beyond the
limits of justice and decency alike ? Even to this day,
the same system prevails as corrupt as ever. I have
heard from an excellent American missionary a tale of
a court of justice that came within his e xperiencc, even
at a conspicuous place like Beirut, that shows that
without bribery it is hardly possible to get a decision
on the proper side. A claim had been made to a piece
of land which he had purchased for his mission, and
as he refused to pay what on the very face of it was
obviously unjust, he was summoned before the magis
trate. The delays that took place in dealing with the
case were alike needless and vexatious, but the explana
tion came in a message from the authorities, slily
conveyed to him, that the wheels of justice would move
much faster if they were duly oiled with a little
American gold. To such a proposal he would not
listen for a moment, and it was only by threatening
an exposure before the higher powers that the decision

xii. 1-5.] samueLs Vindication of himseLP. 187
was at last given where really there was not the shadow
of a claim against him. From the same source I got
an illustration of the exactions that are made to this
day in the payment of taxes. The law provides that
of the produce of the land one tenth shall belong to
the Government for the public service. There is an
officer whose duty it is to examine the produce of every
farm, and carry off the share that the Government are
entitled to. The farmer is not allowed to do anything
with his produce till this officer has obtained the
Government share. After harvest the farmers of a
district will send word to the officer that their produce
is ready, and invite him to come and take his tenth.
The officer will return word that he is very busy, and
will not be able to come for a month. The delay of
a month would entail incalculable loss and inconvenience
on the farmers. They know the situation well; and
they send a deputation of their number to say that if
he will only come at once, they are willing to give him
two tenths instead of one, the second tenth being for
his own use. But this too they are assured that he
cannot do. And there is nothing for them but to
remain with him higgling and bargaining, till at last
perhaps, in utter despair, they promise him a proportion
which will leave no more than the half available for
themselves. And these are not exceptional instances — they are
the common experiences of Eastern countries, at least
in the Turkish empire. When such dishonest practices
prevail on every side, it often happens that even good men
are carried away with them, and seem to imagine that,
being universal, it is necessary for them to fall in with
them too. It was a rare thing that Samuel was able
to do to look round on that vast assembly and demand

THE FIRST BOOK OP SAMUEL.

whether one act of that kind had ever been committed
by him, whether he had ever deviated even an hair
breadth from the rule of strict integrity and absolute
honesty in all his dealings with them. Observe that
Samuel was not like one of many, banded together to
be true and upright, and supporting each other by
mutual example and encouragement in that course.
As far as appears, he was alone, like the seraph Abdiel,
" faithful found among the faithless, faithful only he."
What a regard he must have had for the law and
authority of God I How rigidly he must have trained
himself in public as in private life to make the will of
God the one rule of his actions I What was it to him
that slight peccadilloes would be thought nothing of by
the public ? What was it to him that men would have
counted it only natural that of the money that passed
through his hands a little should stick to his fingers,
provided he was faithful in the main ? What was it to
him that this good man and that good man were in the
way of doing it, so that, after all, he would be no worse
than they ? All such considerations would have been
absolutely tossed aside. " Get thee behind me, Satan,"
would have been his answer to all such proposals.
Unbending integrity, absolute honesty, unswerving truth,
was his rule on every occasion. " How can I do this
wickedness," would have been his question — " How can
I do this great wickedness, and sin against God ? "
Is there nothing here for us to ponder in these days
of intense competition in business and questionable
methods of securing gain ? Surely the rule of unbend
ing integrity, absolute honesty, and unswerving truth
is as binding on the Christian merchant as it was on
the Hebrew judge. Is the Christian merchant entitled
to make use of the plea of general corruption around

xii. 1-5.] SAMUEL'S VINDICATION OF HIMSELF. 189
him in business any more than Samuel was? Some
say, How else are we to make a living ? We answer,
No man is entitled even to make a living on terms which
shrt him out from using the Lord's Prayer, — from say
ing, " Give us this day our daily bread." Who would
dare to say that bread obtained by dishonesty or deceit
is God-given bread ? Who could ask God to bless any
enterprise or transaction which had not truth and
honesty for its foundation? Better let bread perish
than get it by unlawful means. For "man doth not
live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God." " The blessing of the Lord,
it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow with it."
Instead of Christian men accepting the questionable
ways of the world for pushing business, let them stand
out as those who never can demean themselves by any
thing so unprincipled. No doubt Samuel was a poor
man, though he might have been rich had he followed
the example of heathen rulers. But who does not
honour him in his poverty, with his incorruptible integrity
and most scrupulous truthfulness, as no man would or
could have honoured him had he accumulated the
wealth of a Cardinal Wolsey and lived in splendour
rivalling royalty itself? After all, it is the true rule,
"Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteous
ness ; and all these things shall be added unto you."
But ere we pass from the contemplation of Samuel's
character, it is right that we should very specially take
note of the root of this remarkable integrity and truth
fulness of his toward men. For we live in times when
it is often alleged that religion and morality have no
vital connection with each other, and that there may
be found an " independent morality " altogether separate
from religious profession. Let it be granted that this

igo THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
divorce from morality may be true of religions of an
external character, where Divine service is supposed to
consist of ritual observances and bodily attitudes and
attendances, performed in strict accordance with a very
rigid rule. Wherever such performances are looked on
as the end of religion, they may be utterly dissociated
from morality, and one may be, at one and the same
time, strictly religious and glaringly immoral. Nay,
further, where religion is held to be in the main the
acceptance of a system of doctrine, where the reception
of the doctrines of grace is regarded as the distinguishing
mark of the Christian, and fidelity to these doctrines
the most important duty of discipleship, you may again
have a religion dissociated from moral life. You may
find men who glory in the doctrine of justification by
faith and look with infinite pity on those who are
vainly seeking to be accepted by their works, and who
deem themselves very safe from punishment because of
the doctrine they hold, but who have no right sense of
the intrinsic evil of sin, and who are neither honest, nor
truthful, nor worthy of trust in the common relations of
life. But wherever religion is spiritual and penetrating,
wherever sin is seen in its true character, wherever
men feel the curse and pollution of sin in their hearts
and lives, another spirit rules. The great desire now
is to be delivered from sin, not merely in its punish
ment, but in its pollution and power. The end of
religion is to establish a gracious relation through Jesus
Christ between the sinner and God, whereby not only
shall God's favour be restored, but the soul shall be
renewed after God's image, and the rule of life shall be
to do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. Now we say,
You cannot have such a religion without moral reforma
tion. And, on the other hand, you cannot rely on

xii. 1-5.] SAMUEL'S VINDICATION OF HIMSELF. 191
moral reformation being accomplished without a religion
like this. But alas ! the love of sinful things is very
deeply grained in the fallen nature of man.
Godlessness and selfishness are frightfully powerful
in unregenerate hearts. The will of God is a terrible
rule of life to the natural man — a rule against which
he rebels as unreasonable, impracticable, terrible. How
then are men brought to pay supreme and constant
regard to that will ? How was Samuel brought to do
this, and how are men led to do it now? In both
cases, it is through the influence of gracious, Divine
love. Samuel was a member of a nation that God
had chosen as His own, that God had redeemed
from bondage, that God dwelt among, protected,
restored, guided, and blessed beyond all example.
The heart of Samuel was moved by God's goodness
to the nation. More than that, Samuel personally
had been the object of God's redeeming love; and
though the hundred-and-third Psalm was not yet
written, he could doubtless say, "Bless the Lord,
O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His
holy name. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who
healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from
destruction, who crowneth thee with loving-kindness
and tender mercies, who satisfieth thy mouth with good
things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. "
It is the same gracious Divine action, the same
experience of redeeming grace and mercy, that under
the Christian dispensation draws men's hearts to the
will of God; only a new light has been thrown on
these Divine qualities by the Cross of Christ. The
forgiving grace and love cf God have been placed in
a new setting, and when it is felt that God spared not
His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, a new

i9» THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
sense of His infinite kindness takes possession of the
soul. Little truly does any one know of religion, in
the true sense of the term, who has not got this view
of God in Christ, and has not felt his obligations to the
Son of God, who loved him and gave Himself for him.
And when this experience comes to be known, it
becomes the delight of the soul to do the will of God.
" For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath
appeared unto all men, teaching us that, denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly,
righteously, and godly in this present world ; looking
for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of
the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave
Himself for us that He might redeem us from all
iniquity, and purify to Himself a peculiar people,
zealous of good works."

CHAPTER XVII.
SAMUEL'S DEALINGS WITH THE PEOPLE.
I Samuel xii. 6 — 25.
2, T T AVlNG vindicated himself (in the first five
O verses of this chapter), Samuel now proceeds
to his second point, and takes the people in hand. But
before proceeding to close quarters with them, he gives
a brief review of the history of the nation, in order to
bring out the precise relation in which they stood to God,
and the duty resulting from that relation (vers. 6-12).
First, he brings out the fundamental fact of their
history. Its grand feature was this : " It is the Lord
who advanced Moses and Aaron, and brought your
fathers up out of the land of Egypt." The fact was
as indisputable as it was glorious. How would Moses
ever have been induced to undertake the task of deliver
ance from Egypt if the Lord had not sent him ? Was
he not most unwilling to leave the wilderness and
return to Egypt ? What could Aaron have done for
them if the Lord had not guided and anointed him?
How could the people have found an excuse for leaving
Egypt even for a day if God had not required them ?
How could Pharaoh have been induced to let them go,
when even the first nine plagues only hardened his
heart, or how could they have escaped from him and
his army, had the Lord not divided the sea that His
ransomed might pass over? The fact could not be
VOL. I, I&

194 THE FIRST BOOK OP SAMUEL.

disputed — their existence as a people and their settle
ment in Canaan were due to the special mercy of the
Lord. If ever a nation owed everything to the power
above, Israel owed everything to Jehovah. No distinc
tion could even approach this in its singular glory.
And yet there was a want of cordiality on the part of
the people in acknowledging it. They were partly at
least blind to its surpassing lustre. The truth is, they
did not like all the duties and responsibility which it
involved. It is the highest honour of a son to have
a godly father, upright, earnest, consistent in serving
God. Yet many a son does not realise this, and some
times in his secret heart he wishes that his father were
just a little more like the men of the world. It is the
brightest chapter in the history of a nation that records
its struggles for God's honour and man's liberty ; yet
there are many who have no regard for these struggles,
but denounce their champions as ruffians and fanatics.
Close connection with God is not, in the eyes of the
world, the glorious thing that it is in reality. How
strange that this should be so 1 " O righteous Father,"
exclaimed Christ in His intercessory prayer, " thw
world hath not known Thee." He was distressed a»;
the world's blindness to the excellence of God. " How
strange it is," Richard Baxter says in substance some
where, " that men can see beauty in so many things —
in the flowers, in the sky, in the sun — and yet be blind
to the highest beauty of all, the fountain and essence
of all beauty, the beauty of the Lord 1 " Never rest,
my friends, so long as this is true of you. Is not the
very fact that to you God, even when revealed in Jesus
Christ, may be like a root out of a dry ground, having no
form or comeliness or any beauty wherefore you should
desire Hiro — is not that, if it be a fact, alike alarming

xii. 6-25.] SAMUEL'S DEALINGS WITH THE PEOPLE. 195
and appalling ? Make it your prayer that He who
commanded the light to shine out of darkness would
shine in your heart, to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Having emphatically laid down tl.e fundamental fact
in the history of Israel, Samuel next proceeds to reason
upon it. The reasoning rests on two classes of facts :
the first, that whenever the people forsook God they
had been brought into trouble ; the second, that when
ever they repented and cried to God He delivered them
out of their trouble. The prophet refers to several
instances of both, but not exhaustively, not so as to
embrace every instance. Among those into whose
hand God gave them were Sisera, the Philistines, and
the Moabites ; among those raised up to deliver them
when they cried to the Lord were Jerubbaal, and Bedan,
and Jephthah, and Samuel. The name Bedan does not
occur in the history, and as the Hebrew letters that
form the word are very similar to those which form
Barak, it has been supposed, and I think with reason,
that the word Bedan is just a clerical mistake for Barak.
The use the prophet makes of both classes of facts is
to show how directly God was concerned in what befell
the nation. The whole course of their history under
the judges had shown that to forsake God and worship
idols was to bring on the nation disaster and misery ;
to return to God and restore His worship was to secure
abundant prosperity and blessing. This had been
made as certain by past events as it was certain that to
close the shutters in an apartment was to plunge it into
darkness, and that to open them was to restore light.
Cause and effect had been made so very plain that any
child might see how the matter stood.
Now, what was it that had recently occurred?

196 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
They had had trouble from the Ammonites. At ver. 1 1
the prophet indicates — what is not stated before — that
this trouble with the Ammonites had been connected
with their coming to him to ask a king. Evidently,
the siege of Jabesh-Gilead was not the first offensive
act the Ammonites had committed. They had no doubt
been irritating the tribes on the other side of Jordan
in many ways before they proceeded to attack that
city. And if their attack was at all like that which took
place in the days of Jephthah, it must have been very
serious and highly threatening. (See Judges x. 8, 9.)
Now, from what Samuel says here, it would appear
that this annoyance from the Ammonites was the
immediate occasion of the people wishing to have a
king. Here let us observe what their natural course
would have been, in accordance with former precedent.
It would have been to cry to the Lord to deliver them
from the Ammonites. As they had cried for deliver
ance when the Ammonites for eighteen years vexed
and oppressed all the tribes settled on the east side
of Jordan, and when they even passed over Jordan to«^
fight against Judah and Benjamin and Ephraim, and
the Lord raised up Jephthah, so ought they to have
cried to the Lord at this time, and He would have given
them a deliverer. But instead of that they asked
Samuel to give them a king, that he might deliver
them. You see from this what cause Samuel had to
charge them with rejecting God for their King. You
see at the same time how much forbearance God exer
cised in allowing Samuel to grant their request.^ God
virtually said, " I will graciously give up My plan and
accommodate myself to theirs. I will give up the plan
of raising up a special deliverer in special danger, and
WiU let their king be their deliverer. If they and their

lii. 6-25.] SAMUEL'S DEALINGS WITH THE PEOPLE. 197
king a.e faithful to My covenant, I will give the same
mercies to them as they would have rectived had things
remained as they were. It will still be true, as I
promised to Abraham, that I will be their God and
they shall be My people."
3. This is the third thing that Samuel is specially con
cerned to press on the people ; and this he does in the
remaining yerses (vers. 1 3-25). They were to remember
that their having a king in no sense and in no degree
exempted them from their moral and spiritual obligations
tc God. It did not give them one atom more liberty
either in the matter of worship, or in those weightier
matters of the law — justice, mercy, and truth. It did
not make it one iota less sinful to erect altars to Baal
and Ashtaroth, or to join with any of their neighbours
in religious festivities in honour of these gods. " If
"ye will fear the Lord, and serve Him, and obey His
voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the
Lord, then shall both ye and also the king that
reigneth over you continue following the Lord your
God; but if ye will not obey the voice of the Lord,
but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then
shall the hand of the Lord be against you, as it was
against your fathers."
There is nothing very similar to this in the circum
stances in which we are placed. And yet it is often
needful to remind even Christian people of this great
truth: that' no change of outward circumstances car
ever bring with ft a relaxation of moral duty, or make
that lawful for us which in its own nature is wrong.
Nothing of moral quality can be right for us on ship
board which is wrong for us on dry land. Nothing can
be allowable in India which could not be thought of in
England or Scotland. The law of the Sabbath is not

198 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
more elastic on the continent of Europe than it is at home.
There is no such thing as a geographical religion or a
geographical Christianity. Burke used to say, looking
to the humane spirit that Englishmen showed at home
and the oppressive treatment they were often guilty of
to the natives of other countries, that the humanity of
England was a thing of points and parallels. But a
'ocal humanity is no humanity. Those who act as if
t were, make public opinion their god, instead of the
eternal Jehovah. They virtually say that what public
opinion does not allow in England is wrong in England,
and must be avoided. If public opinion allows it on the
continent of Europe, or in India, or in Africa, it may be
done. Is this not dethroning God, and abrogating His
immutable law ? If God be our King, His will must be
our one unfailing rule of life and duty wherever we are.
Truly, there is little recognition of a mutable public
opinion affecting the quality of our actions, in that
sublime psalm that brings out so powerfully the omni
science of God, — the hundred and thirty-ninth, "Whither
shall I go from Thy Spirit, and whither shall I flee from
Thy presence ? If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art
there ; if I make my bed in hell, behold Thou art there.
If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the
uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall Thy hand
lead me and Thy right hand shall hold me. If I say,
Surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall
be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from
Thee, but the night shineth as the day ; the darkness
ahd the light are both alike to Thee."
It was Samuel's purpose, then, to press on the
people that the change involved in having a king
brought no change as to their duty of invariable
allegiance to God. The lessons of history had been

xii. 6-25.] SAMUEL STEALINGS WITH THE PEOPLE. 199
clear enough; but they were always a dull-sighted
people, and not easily impressed except by what was
palpable and even sensational. For this reason Samuel
determined to impress the lesson on them in another
way. He would show them there and then, under
their very eyes, what agencies of destruction God held
in His hand, and how easily He could bring these to
bear on them and on their property. " Is it not wheat
harvest to-day ? " You are gathering or about to gather
that important crop, and it is of vital importance that
the weather be still and calm. But I will pray the
Lord, and He shall send thunder and rain, and you will
see how easy it is for Him in one hour to ruin the crop
which you have been nursing so carefully for months
back. " So Samuel called unto the Lord ; and the Lord
sent thunder and rain that day : and all the people
greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. And all the
people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto
the Lord thy God that we die not ; for we have added
unto all our sins this evil : to ask us a king." It wa3
an impressive proof how completely they were in God's
hands. What earthly thing could any of them or all of
them do to ward off that agent of destruction from their
crops ? There were they, a great army, with sword and
spear, young, strong, and valiant, yet they could not
arrest in its fall one drop of rain, nor alter the course
of one puff of wind, nor extinguish the blaze of one
tongue of fire. Oh, what folly it was to offer an affront
to the great God, who had such complete control over
" fire and hail, snow and vapours, stormy wind fulfil
ling His word " I What blindness to think they could
in any respect be better with another king !
Thus it is that in their times of trial God's people in
all ages have been brought to feel their entire depend-

200 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
ence on Him. In days of flowing prosperity, we have
little sense of that dependence. As the Psalmist puts it in
the thirtieth Psalm : " In my prosperity I said, I shall
never be moved." When all goes well with us, we ex
pect the same prosperity to continue ; it seems stereo
typed, the fixed and permanent condition of things.
When the days run smoothly, " involving happy
months, and these as happy years," all seems certain to
continue. But a change comes over our life. Ill-health
fastens on us ; death invades our circle ; relatives bring
us into deep waters ; our means of living fail ; we are
plunged into a very wilderness of woe. How falsely
we judged when we thought that it was by its own
inherent stability our mountain stood strong ! No, no ;
it was solely the result of God's favour, for all our
springs are in Him ; the moment He hides His face
we are most grievously troubled. Sad but salutary
experience ! Well for you, my afflicted friend, if it burns
into your very soul the conviction that every blessing
in life depends on God's favour, and that to offend God
is to ruin all 1
But now, the humble and contrite spirit having been
shown by the people, see how Samuel hastens to
comfort and reassure them. Now that they have begun
to fear, he can say to them, " Fear not." Now that they
have shown themselves alive to the evils of God's dis
pleasure, they are assured that there is a clear way of
escape from these evils. " Turn not aside from follow
ing the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart."
If God be terrible as an enemy, He is glorious as a
friend. No doubt you offered a slight to Him when
you sought another king. But it is just a proof of His
wonderful goodness that, though you have done this,
He does not cast you off. He will be as near to you as

lii. 6-485.] SAMUEL'S DEALINGS WITH THE PEOPLE. 201
ever He was if you are only faithful to Him. He will
still deliver you from your enemies when you call upon
Him. For His name and His memorial are still the
same : " The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gra
cious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and
in truth, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,
and that will by no means clear the guilty."
Samuel, moreover, reminds them that it was not
they that had chosen God ; it was God that had chosen
them. " The Lord will not forsake His people, for
His great name's sake, because it hath pleased the
Lord to make you His people." This was a great
ground of comfort for Israel. The eternal God had
chosen them and made them His people for great
purposes of His own. It was involved in this very
choice and purpose of God that He would keep His
hand on them, and preserve them from all such calami
ties as would prevent them from fulfilling His purpose.
Fickle and changeable, they might easily be induced
to break away from Him ; but, strong and unchangeable,
He could never be induced to abandon His purpose in
them. And if this was a comfort to Israel then, there
is a corresponding comfort to the spiritual Israel now.
If my heart is in any measure turned to God, to value
His favour and seek to do His will, it is God that has
effected the change. And this shows that God has a
purpose with me. Till that purpose is accomplished,
He cannot leave me. He will correct me when I sin,
He will recover me when I stray, He will heal me when
I am sick, He will strengthen me when I am weak ;
" I am confident of this very thing : that He which
hath begun a good work in me will perform it unto the
day of Jesus Christ."
Once more, in answer to the people's request that he

202 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
would intercede for them, Samuel is very earnest. " God
forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing
to pray for you." The great emphasis with which he
says this shows how much his heart is in it. " What
should I do, if I had not the privilege of intercessory
prayer for you ? " There is a wonderful revelation of
love to the people here. They are dear to him as his
children are dear to a Christian parent, and he feels for
them as warmly as he feels for himself. There is a
wonderful deepening of interest and affection when
men's relation to God is realized. The warmest heart
as yet unregenerate cannot feel for others as the
spiritual heart must do when it takes in all the
possibilities of the spiritual state — all that is involved
in the favour or in the wrath of the infinite God,
in the predominance of sin or of grace in the heart,
and in the prospect of an eternity of woe on the one
hand or of glory, honour, and heavenly bliss on the
other. How is it possible for one to have all these
possibilities full in one's view and not desire the
eternal welfare of loved ones with an intensity unknown
to others ? We know from experience how hard it
is to get them to do right Even one's own children
seem sometimes to baffle every art and endeavour of
love, and go off, in spite of everything, to the ways of
the world. Entreaty and remonstrance are apparently
in vain. The more one pleads, the less perhaps are
one's pleas regarded. One resource remains — inter
cessory prayer. It is the only method to which one
may resort with full assurance of its ultimate efficacy
for attaining the dearest object of one's heart. Does
the thought of giving up intercessory prayer come to
one from any quarter ? No wonder if the insinuation
i§ met by a deep, earnest " God forbid " I

rii. 6-25.] SAMUEL'S DEALINGS WITH THE PEOPLE. 203

" I bless God," said Mr. Flavel, one of the best and
sweetest of the old Puritan divines, on the death of his
father — " I bless God for a religious and tender father,
who often poured out his soul to God for me ; and this
stock of prayers I esteem the fairest inheritance on
earth." How many a man has been deeply impressed
even by the very thought that some one was praying
for him ! " Is it not strange," he has said to himself,
" that he should pray for me far more than I pray for
myself ? What can induce him to take such an interest
in me? " Every Christian ought to think much of inter
cessory prayer, and practise it greatly. It is doubly
blessed : blessed to him who prays and blessed to those
for whom he prays. Nothing is better fitted to enlarge
and warm the heart than intercessory prayer. To pre
sent to God in succession, one after another, our family
and our friends, remembering all their wants, sorrows,
trials, and temptations ; to bear before Him the interests
of this struggling Church and that in various parts of
the world, this interesting mission and that noble cause ;
to make mention of those who are waging the battles
of temperance, of purity, of freedom, of Christianity
itself, in the midst of difficulty, obloquy, and opposi
tion ; to gather together all the sick and sorrowing, all
the fatherless and widows, all the bereaved and dying,
of one's acquaintance, and ask God to bless them ; to
think of all the children of one's acquaintance in the
bright springtide of life, of all the young men and young
women arrived or arriving at the critical moment of
decision as to the character of their life, and implore
God to guide them — O brethren, this is good for one's
self; it enlarges one's own heart; it helps one's self in
prayer ! And then what a blessing it is for those
prayed for 1 Who can estimate the amount of spiritual

204 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
blessing that has been sent down on this earth in
answer to the fervent intercessions of the faithful ?
Think how Moses interceded for the whole nation after
the golden calf, and it was spared. Think how Daniel
interceded for his companions in Babylon, and the
secret was revealed to him. Think how Elijah inter
ceded for the widow, and her son was restored to life.
Think how Paul constantly interceded for all his
Churches, and how their growth and spiritual pros
perity evinced that his prayer was not in vain. God
forbid that any Christian should sin against the Lord
in ceasing to pray for the Church which He hath pur
chased with His own blood. And while we pray for
the Church, let us not forget the world that lieth in
wickedness. For of all for whom the desires of the
faithful should go up to heaven, surely the most neces
sitous are those who have as yet no value for heavenly
blessings. What duty can be more binding on us than
to "pray for her that prays not for herself" ?

CHAPTER XVIII.
SAUL AND SAMUEL AT GILGAL.
i Samuel xiii.
THE first thing that claims our attention in connec
tion with this chapter is the question of dates in
volved in the first verse. In the Authorized Version
we read, "Saul reigned one year; and' when he had
reigned two years over Israel, Saul chose him three
thousand men." This rendering of the original is now
quite given up. The form of expression is the same
as that which so often tells us the age of a king at
the beginning of his reign and the length of his
reign. The Revised Version is in close, but not in
strict, accord with the Hebrew. It runs, "Saul was
thirty years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned two years over Israel." A marginal note of the
Revised Version says, " The Hebrew text has, ' Saul
was a year old.' The whole verse is omitted in the
unrevised Septuagint, but in a later recension the
number thirty is inserted." There can be no doubt that
something has been dropped out of the Hebrew text.
Literally translated, it would run, " Saul was a year
old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years
over Israel." A figure seems to have dropped out after
" Saul was " and another after " he reigned." A blot
of some kind may have effaced these figures in the

zo6 THE FIRST BOOK OP SAMUEL.
priginal manuscript, and the copyist not knowing what
they were, may have left them blank. The Septuagint
conjecture of "thirty" as Saul's age is not very felici
tous, for at the beginning of Saul's reign his son
Jonathan was old enough to distinguish himself in the
war. Judging from probabilities, we should say that
the original may have run thus : " Saul was forty years
old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and
two years over Israel." This would make the length
of Saul's reign to correspond with the duration of Saul's
d3'i.it.sty as given in Acts xiii. 21. There it is said that
God gave to the people Saul "by the space of forty
yearsj." If to the thirty-two years which we suppose
to havt been the actual length of Saul's reign we add
seven i'iii a half, during which his son Ishbosheth
reigned, \»e get in round numbers as the duration of
his dynafaCy forty years. This would make Saul
about seventy-two at the time of his death.
The narrative in this chapter appears to be in imme
diate connexion with that of the last. The bulk of the
army had goue from Jabesh-Gilead to Gilgal, and there,
under Samuel, they had renewed the kingdom. There
they had listened to Samuel's appeal, and there the
thunderstorm had taken place that helped so well to
rivet the prophet's lessons. Therefore the bulk of the
army was disbanded, but two thousand men were kept
with Saul at Michmash and near Bethel, and one
thousand with Jonathan at Gibeah. These were neces
sary to be some restraint on the Philistines, who were
strong in the neighbourhood and eager to inflict every
possible annoyance on the Israelites. Saul, however,
does not seem to have felt himself in a position to take
any active steps against them.
But though S.\dl was inactive, Jonathan did not

xiii.] SAUL AND SAMUEL AT GILGAL. HOf]
slumber. Though very young, probably under twenty,
he had already been considered worthy of an important
command, and now, by successfully attacking a garrison
of the Philistines in Geba, he showed that he was
worthy of the confidence that had been placed in him.
It is interesting to mark in Jonathan that dash and
daring which was afterwards so conspicuous in David,
and the display of which on the part of David drew
Jonathan's heart to him so warmly. The news of the
exploit of Jonathan soon circulated among the Philis
tines, and would naturally kindle the desire to retaliate.
Saul would see at once that, as the result of this, the
Philistines would come upon them in greater force than
ever ; and it was to meet this expected attack that he
tailed for a muster of his people. Gilgal was the place
of rendezvous, deep down in the Jordan valley ; for the
higher part of the country was so dominated by the
enemy that no muster could take place there.
So it seemed as if the brilliant achievement of
Jonathan was going to prove a curse rather than a
blessing. In all kinds of warfare, we must be prepared
for such turns in 'the order of events. When one side
shows a great increase of activity, the other does the
same. When one achieves an advantage, the other
rouses itself to restore the balance. It has often
happened in times of religious darkness that the bold
attitude of some fearless reformer has roused the
enemy to activity and ferocity, and thus brought to
his brethren worse treatment than before. But such
reverses are only temporary, and the cause of truth
gains on the whole by the successful skirmishes of its
pioneers. Many persons, when they see the activity
and boldness which the forces of evil manifest in
our day, are led to conclude that our times are sadly

208 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
degenerate ; they forget that the activity of evil is the
proof and the result of the vitality and activity of good.
No doubt there were faint-hearted persons in the host
of Israel who would bring hard accusations against
Jonathan for disturbing the equilibrium between Israel
and the Philistines. They would shake their heads and
utter solemn truisms on the rashness of youth, and
would ask if it was not a shame to entrust a stripling
with such power and responsibility. But Jonathan's
stroke was the beginning of a movement which might
have ended in the final expulsion of the Philistines
from the territories of Israel if Saul had not acted
foolishly at Gilgal. In this case, it was not the young
man, but the old, that was rash and reckless. Jonathan
had acted with courage and vigour, probably also with
faith ; it was Saul that brought disturbance and disaster
to the host.
The dreaded invasion of the Philistines was not long
of taking place. Theforce which they brought together
is stated so high, that in the number of the chariots
some commentators have suspected an error of the
copyist, 30,000 for 3,000, an error easily accounted for,
as the extra cipher would be represented by a slight
mark over the Hebrew letter. But, be this as it may,
the invading host was of prodigiously large dimensions.
It was so large as to spread a thorough panic through
the whole community of Israel, for the people " hid
themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and
in high places, and in pits." Not content with such
protection, some of them crossed the Jordan, and took
refuge in Gilead and in Dan, not far from Jabesh-Gilead,
where another enemy had been so signally defeated.
Saul had remained in Gilgal, where he was followed
by a host of people, not in any degree impressed by

xiii.] SAUL AND SAMUEL AT GILGAL. 209
what God had done for them at Jabesh-Gilead, not
trying to rally their courage by the thought that God
was still their King and Defender, but full of that abject
fear which utterly unnerves both mind and body, and
prepares the way for complete disaster. How utterly
prostrated and helpless the people were is apparent
from that very graphic picture of their condition which
we find towards the end of the chapter : " There was
no smith found throughout all the land of Israel ; for
the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make to them
selves swords or spears ; but all the Israelites went
down to the Philistines to sharpen every man his share,
and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock." It
requires little effort of imagination to see that the
condition of the Israelites was, humanly speaking,
utterly desperate. An enormous array of warriors like
the Philistines, equipped with all the weapons of war,
and confident in their prowess and their power, pour
ing upon a land where the defenders had not even
swords nor spears, but only clubs and stones and such
like rude resources for the purposes of conflict, presented
a scene the issue of which could not have been doubtful
on all human calculations.
But surely the case was not a whit more desperate
than that of their forefathers had been, with the sea
before them, the mountains on either side, and the
Egyptian army, in all its completeness of equipment,
hastening to fall upon their rear. Yet out of that
terrible situation their Divine King had delivered them,
and a few hours after, they were all jubilant and trium
phant, singing to the Lord who had triumphed gloriously,
and had cast the horse and his rider into the sea. And
no one can fail to see that the very gravity of the
situation at the present time ought to have given birth
VOL. I. 14

2IC THE FIRST BOOK OP SAMUEL.

to a repetition of that spirit of faith and prayer which
had animated Moses, as it afterwards animated Deborah,
and Gideon, and many more, and through which deliver
ance had come. On every ground the duty incumbent
on Saul at this time was to show the most complete
deference to the will of God and the most unreserved
desire to enjoy His countenance and guidance. First,
the magnitude of the oanger, the utter disproportion
between the strength of the defending people and that
of the invading host, was fitted to throw him on God.
Second, the fact, so solemnly and earnestly urged by
Samuel, that, notwithstanding the sin committed by the
people in demanding a king, God was willing to defend
and rule His people as of old, if only they had due regard
to Him and His covenant, should have made Saul doubly
careful to act at this crisis in every particular in the
most rigid compliance with God's will. Thirdly, the
circumstance, which he himself had so well emphasized,
that the recent victory at Jabesh-Gilead was a victory
obtained from God, should have led him direct to God,
to implore a similar interposition of His power in this
new and still more overwhelming danger. If only Saul
had been a true man, a man of faith and prayer, he
would have risen to the height of the occasion at this
terrible crisis, and a deliverance as glorious as that
which Gideon obtained over the Midianites would have
signalized his efforts. It was a most testing moment in
his history. The whole fortunes of his kingdom seemed
to depend on his choice. There was God, ready to
come to his help if His help had been properly asked.
There were the Philistines, ready to swallow them up
if no sufficient force could be mustered against them.
But weighed in the balances, Saul was found wanting.
He did not honour God; he did not act as knowing that

xiii.] SAUL AND SAMUEL AT GILGAL. jh
all depended on Him. And this want of his would
have involved the terrible humiliation and even ruin
of the nation if Jonathan had not been of a different
temper from his father, if Jonathan had not achieved
the deliverance which would not have come by
Saul. Let us now examine carefully how Saul acted on the
occasion, all the more carefully because, at first sight,
many have the impression that he was justified in what
he did, and consequently that the punishment an
nounced by Samuel was far too severe.
It appears that Samuel had instructed Saul to wait
igeven days for him at Gilgal, in order that steps might
be properly taken for securing the guidance and help
of God. There is some obscurity in the narrative here,
arising from the fact that it was on the first occasion
of their meeting that we read how Samuel directed Saul
to wait seven days for him at Gilgal, till he should come
to offer burnt-offerings and to show him what he was
to do (chap. x. 8). We can hardly suppose, however,
that this first direction, given by Samuel, was not
implemented at an earlier time. It looks as if Samuel
had repeated the instruction to Saul with reference to
the circumstances of the Philistine invasion. But, be
this as it may, it is perfectly clear from the narrative
that Saul was under instructions to wait seven days at
Gilgal, at the end, if not before the end, of which time
Samuel promised to come to him. This was a distinct
instruction from Samuel, God's known and recognized
prophet, acting in God's name and with a view to the
obtaining of God's countenance and guidance in the
awful crisis of the nation. The seven days had come
to an end, and Samuel had not appeared. Saul deter
mined that he would wait no longer. "Saul said,

212 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
Bring hither a burnt-offering to me, and peace-offerings.
And he offered the burnt-offering."
Now, it has been supposed by some that Saul's
offence lay in his taking on him the functions of priest,
and doing that which it was not lawful for any but
priests to do. But it does not appear that this was
his offence. A king is often said to do things which
in reality are done by his ministers and others. All
that is necessarily involved in the narrative is, that
the king caused the priests to offer the burnt-offering.
For even Samuel had no authority personally to offer
sacrifices, and had he been present, the priests would
have officiated all the same.
The real offence of Saul was that he disregarded the
absence of God's prophet and representative, of the
man who had all along been the mediator between God
and the king and between God and the people. And
this was no secondary matter. If Saul had had a real
conviction that all depended at this moment on his
getting God's help, he would not have disregarded an
instruction received from God's servant, and he would
not have acted as if Samuel's presence was of no
moment. The significant thing in Saul's state of
mind, as -disclosed by his act, was that he was not
really bent on complying with the will of God. God
was not a reality to Saul. The thought of God just
loomed vaguely before his mind as a power to be con
sidered, but not as the power on whom everything
depended. What he thought about God was, that a
burnt-offering must be offered up to propitiate Him, to
prevent Him from obstructing the enterprise, but he did
not think of Him as the Being who alone could give it
success. It was substantially the carnal mind's view
of God. It says, no doubt there is a God, and He has

xiii.] SAUL AND SAMUEL AT GILGAL. 213
an influence on things here below ; and to keep Him
from thwarting us, we must perform certain services
which seem to please Him. But what a pitiful view
it is of God 1 As if the High and Lofty One that
inhabiteth eternity could be induced to bestow or to
withhold His favour simply by the slaughter of an
animal, or by some similar rite 1
But this was Saul's idea. "The sacrifice must be
offered ; the rite must be gone through. This piece of
outward homage must be paid to the power above, but
the way of doing it is of little moment. It is a sacred
form, no more. I am sorry not to have Samuel present,
but the fault is not mine. He was to be here, and he
has not come. And now these frightened people are
stealing away from me, and if I wait longer, I may be
left without followers. Priests, bring the animal and
offer the sacrifice, and let us away to the war I "
How different would have been the acting of a man
that honoured God and felt that in His favour was life 1
How solemnized he would have been, how concerned
for his own past neglect of God, and the neglect of his
people 1 The presence of God's prophet would have
been counted at once a necessity and a privilege. How
deeply, in his sense of sin, would he have entered
into the meaning of the burnt-offering ! How earnestly
he would have pleaded for God's favour, counten
ance, and blessing 1 If Jacob could not let the angel
go at Peniel unless he blessed him, neither would
Saul have parted from God at Gilgal without some
assurance of help. " If Thy presence go not with me,"
he would have said, " carry us not up hence." Alas,
we find nothing of all this 1 The servant of God is
not waited for ; the form is gone through, and Saul is
off to his work. And this is the doing of the man who

214 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
has been called to be king of Israel, and who has been
solemnly warned that God alone is Israel's defence,
and that to offend God is to court ruin !
When Samuel came, Saul was ready with a plausible
excuse. On the ground of expediency, he vindicated
his procedure. He could not deny that he had broken
his promise (it was a virtual promise) to wait for
Samuel, but there were reasons exceedingly strong to
justify him in doing so. Samuel had not come. The
people were scattered from him. The Philistines were
concentrating at Michmash, and might have come down
and fallen upon him at Gilgal. All very true, but
not one of them by itself, nor all of them together, a
real vindication of what he had done. Samuel, he
might be sure, would not be an hour longer than he
could help. There were far more people left to him
than Gideon's band, and the God that gave the victory
to the three hundred would not have let him suffer
for want of men. The Philistines might have been
discomfited by God's tempest on the way to Gilgal, as
they were discomfited before, on the way to Mizpeh.
O Saul, distrust of God has been at the bottom of your
mind! The faith that animated the heroes of former
days has had no control of you. You have walked by
sight, not by faith. Had you been faithful now, and
honoured God, and waited till His servant sent you off
with his benediction, prosperity would have attended
you, and your family would have been permanently
settled in the throne. But now your kingdom shall not
continue. Personally, you may continue to be king
for many years to come; but the penalty which God
affixes to this act of unbelief, formality, and presumption
is, that no line of kings shall spring from your loins. The
Lord hath sought Him a man after His pwn heart, and

xiii.] SAUL AND SAMUEL AT^ GILGAL. 215
the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over His
people. What a solemn and impressive condemnation have
we here, my friends, of that far too common practice —
deserting principle to serve expediency. I don't like to
tell a lie, some one may say, but if I had not done
so, I should have lost my situation. I dislike common
work on the Sabbath day, but if I did not do it, I could
not live. I don't think it right to go to Sunday parties
or to play games on Sunday, but I was invited by this
or that great person to do it, and I could not refuse him.
I ought not to adulterate my goods, and I ought not to
give false statements of their value, but every one in
my business does it, and I cannot be singular. What
do these vindications amount to, but just a confession
that from motives of expediency God's commandment
may be set aside ? These excuses just come to this :
It was better for me to offend God and gain a slight
benefit, than it would have been to lose the benefit and
please God. It is a great deal to lose a small profit
in business, or a small pleasure in social life, or a small
honour from a fellow-man ; but it is little or nothing to
displease God, it is little or nothing to treasure up
wrath against the day of wrath. Alas for the practical
unbelief that lies at the bottom of all this 1 It is the
doing of the fool who hath said in his heart, There is no
God. Look at this history of Saul. See what befell him
for preferring expediency to principle. Know that the
same condemnation awaits all who walk in his footsteps
— all who are not solemnized by that awful, that un
answerable, question, " What shall it profit a man if
he gain the whole world and lose his own soul ? "
Great offence has often been taken at the character
here ascribed to the man who was to fill the throne

2i6 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
after Saul — "The Lord hath sought Him a man
after His own heart." Was David, the adulterer, the
traitor, the murderer, a man after God's" own heart ?
But surely it is not meant to be affirmed that David
was such a man in every aspect, in every particular.
The point on which the emphasis should rest must
surely be that David was such a man in that feature
in which Saul was so wanting. And undoubtedly this
was eminently true of him. That which stood out
most fully in the public character of David was the
honour which he paid to God, the constancy with
which he consulted His will, the prevailing desire he
had to rule the kingdom in His fear and for His glory.
If God was but a form to Saul, He was an intense
reality to David. If Saul could not get it into his mind
that he ought to rule for God, David could not have
got it out of his mind if he had tried. That David's
character was deformed in many ways cannot be
denied; he had not only infirmities, but tumours,
blotches, defilements, most distressing to behold ; but
in this one thing he left an example to all of us, and
especially to rulers, which it would be well for all of us
to ponder deeply : that the whole business of govern
ment is to be carried on in the spirit of regard to the
will of God ; that the welfare of the people is ever to
be consulted in preference to the interests of the prince;
that for nations, as for individuals, God's favour is life,
and His frcwn ruin.

CHAPTER XIX.
JONATHAN'S EXPLOIT AT MICHMASH.
i Samuel xiv. i — 23.
IT has sometimes been objected to the representation
occurring at the end of the thirteenth chapter of the
utter want of arms among the Hebrews at this time that
it is inconsistent with the narrative of the eleventh.
If it be true, as stated there, that the Israelites gained
a great victory over the Ammonites, they must have
had arms to accomplish that; and, moreover, the
victory itself must have put them in possession of the
arms of the Ammonites. The answer to this is, that
the invasion of the Philistines subsequent to this in such
overwhelming numbers seems to have been the cause
of the miserable plight to which the Hebrews were
reduced, and of the loss of their arms.
Whether we are to take the statement as quite literal
that in the day of battle there was neither sword nor
spear found in the hand of any of the people save
Saul or Jonathan, or whether we are to regard this as
just an Oriental way of saying that these were the
only two who had a thorough equipment of arms, it is
plain enough that the condition of the Hebrew troops
was very wretched. That in their circumstances a
feeling of despondency should have fallen on all save
the few who walked by faith, need not excite any
surprise,

218 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
The position of the two armies is not difficult to
understand. Several miles to the north of Jerusalem,
a valley, now named Wady Suweinet, runs from west
to east, from the central plateau of Palestine down
towards the valley of the Jordan. The name Mukmas,
still preserved, shows the situation of the place which
was then occupied by the garrison of the Philistines.
Near to that place, Captain Conder* believes that he
has found the very rocks where the exploit of Jonathan
occurred. On either side of the valley there rises a
perpendicular crag, the northern one, called in Scripture
Bozez, being extremely steep and difficult of ascent.
"It seems just possible that Jonathan, with immense
labour, might have climbed up on his hands and his
feet, and his armour-bearer after him."
It is evident that Saul had no thought at this time
of making any attack on the Philistines. How could he,
with soldiers so poorly armed and so little to encourage
them ? Samuel does not appear to have been with
him. But in his company was a priest, Ahiah, the sor
of Ahitub, grandson of Eli, perhaps the same aa
Ahimelech, afterwards introduced. Saul still adhered
to the forms of religion ; but he had too much resem
blance to the Church of Sardis — " Thou hast a namt
that thou livest, and art dead."
The position of the army of Israel with reference to
the Philistines seems to have been very similar to what
it was afterwards when Goliath defied the army of the
living God. The Israelites could only look on, in
helpless inactivity. But just as the youthful spirit of
David was afterwards roused in these circumstances to
exertion, so on the present occasion was the youthful
* "Tent Work ip Palestine. *

xiv. 1-2 j.] JONATHAN'S EXPLOIT AT MICHMASH. 219
spirit of Jonathan. It was not the first time that he
had attacked the garrison of the Philistines. (See xiii. 3.)
But what he did on the former occasion seems to have
been under more equal conditions than the seemingly
desperate enterprise to which he betook himself now.
A project of unprecedented daring came into his mind.
He took counsel with no one about it. He breathed
nothing of it to his father. A single confidant and com
panion was all that he thought of — his armour-bearer,
or aide-de-camp. And even him he did not so much
consult as attach. " Come," said he, "and let us go over
unto the garrison of these uncircumcised ; it may be
that the Lord will work for us ; for there is no restraint
by the Lord to save by many or by few." No words
are needed to show the daring character of this project.
The physical effort to climb on hands and feet up a
precipitous rock was itself most difficult and perilous,
possible only to boys, fight and lithe of form, -and well
accustomed to it; and if the garrison observed them
and chose to oppose them, a single stone hurled from
above would stretch them, crushed and helpless, on the
valley below. But suppose they succeeded, what were
a couple of young men to do when confronted with, a
whole garrison ? Or even if the garrison should be
overpowered, how were they to deal with the Philistine
host, that lay encamped at no great distance, or at
most were scattered here and there over the country,
and would soon assemble ? In every point of view
save one, the enterprise seemed utterly desperate. But
that exception was a very important one. The one
point of view in which there was the faintest possibility
of success was, that the Lord God might favour the
enterprise. The God of their fathers might work for
them, and if He did so, there was no restraint with Him

220 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
to work by many or . by few. Had He not worked by
Ehud alone to deliver their fathers from the Moabites ?
Had he not worked by Shamgar alone, when with his
ox goad he slew six hundred Philistines ? Had he not
worked by Samson alone in all his wonderful exploits ?
Might he not work that day by Jonathan and his
armour-bearer, and, after all, only produce a new chapter
in that history which had already shown so many
wonderful interpositions ? Jonathan's mind was pos
sessed by the idea. After all, if he failed, he could but
lose his life. And was not that worth risking when
success, if it were vouchsafed, might rescue his country
from degradation and destruction, and fill the despair
ing hearts of his countrymen with emotions of joy and
triumph like those which animated their fathers when
on the shores of Sinai they beheld the horse and his
rider cast into the sea ?
It is this working of faith that must be regarded
as the most characteristic feature of the attempt of
Jonathan. He showed himself one of the noble heroes
of faith, not unworthy to be enrolled in the glorious
record of the eleventh chapter of the Hebrews. He
showed himself pre-eminent for the very quality in which
his father had proved deficient. Though the earnest
lessons of Samuel had been lost on the father, they had
been blessed to the son. The seed that in the one case
fell en stony places fell in the other on good ground.
While Samuel was doubtless disconsolate at the failure
of his work with Saul, he was succeeding right well,
unknown perhaps to himself, with the youth that said
little but thought much. While in spirit perhaps he
was uttering words like Isaiah's, " Then said I, I have
laboured in vain ; I have spent my strength for nought
and in vain," God was using him in a way that might

riv. 1-23.] JONA THAN'S EXPLOIT A T MICHMASH. 221
well have led him to add, " Yet surely my judgment
is with the Lord, and my work with my God." And
what encouragement is here for every Christian worker I
Don't despond when you seem to fail in your first and
most direct endeavour. In some quiet but thinking
little boy or girl in that family circle, your words are
greatly regarded. And just because that young mind
sees, and seeing wonders, that father or mother is so
little moved by what you say, it is the more impressed.
If the father or the mother were manifestly to take the
matter up, the child might dismiss it, as no concern of
his. But just because father or mother is not taking it
up, the child cannot get rid of it. " Yes, there is an
eternity, and we ought all to be preparing for it. Sin
is the soul's ruin, and unless we get a Saviour, we are
lost. Jesus did come into the world to save sinners ;
must we not go to Him ? Yes, we must be born again.
Lord Jesus, forgive us, help us, save us ! " Thus it
is that things hid from the wise and prudent are often
revealed to babes ; and thus it is that out of the mouth
of babes and sucklings God perfects praise.
But Jonathan's faith in God was called to manifest
itself in a way very different from that in which the
faith of most young persons has to be exercised now.
Faith led Jonathan to seize sword and spear, and hurry
out to an enterprise in which he could only succeed by
risking his own life and destroying the lives of others.
We are thus brought face to face with a strange but
fascinating development of the religious spirit — military
faith. The subject has received a new and wonderful
illustration in our day in the character and career
of that great Christian hero General Gordon. In .he
career of Gordon, we see faith contributing an element
of power, an element of daring, and an element of

THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.

security and success to a soldier, which can come from
no other source. No one imagines that without his
faith Gordon would have been what he was or could
have done what he did. It is little to say that faith
raised him high above all ordinary fears, or that it made
him ready at any moment to risk, and if need be, to
sacrifice his life. It did a great deal more. It gave
him a conviction that he was an instrument in God's
hands, and that when he was moved to undertake any
thing as being God's will, he would be carried through
all difficulties, enabled to surmount all opposition, and
to carry the point in face of the most tremendous odds.
And to a great extent the result verified the belief.
If Gordon could not be said to work miracles, he
achieved results that even miracles could hardly have
surpassed. If he failed in the last and greatest hazard
of his life, he only showed that after much success one
may come to believe too readily in one's inspiration ;
one may mistake the voice of one's own feeling for the
unfailing assurance of God. But that there is a great
amount of reality in that faith which hears God calling
one as if with audible voice, and goes forth to the most
difficult enterprises in the full trust of Divine protection
and aid, is surely a lesson which lies on the very
surface of the life of Gordon, and such other lives of
the same kind as Scripture shows us, as well as the
lives of those military heroes of whom we will speak
afterwards, whose battle has been not with flesh and
blood, but with the ignorance and the vice and the
disorder of the world.
One is almost disposed to envy Jonathan, with his
whole powers of mind and body knit up to the pitch
of firmest and most dauntless resolution, under the
inspiration that mpved him to this apparently desperate

xiv. 1-23.] JONATHAN'S EXPLOIT AT MICHMASH. 223

enterprise. All the world would have rushed to stop
him, insanely throwing away his life, without the faintest
chance of escape. But a voice spoke firmly in his bosom,
— I am not throwing away my life. And Jonathan did
not want certain tokens of encouragement. It was
something that his armour-bearer neither flinched nor
remonstrated. But that was not all. To encourage
himself and to encourage his companion, he fixed on
what might be considered a token for them to persevere
in one alternative, and desist in another. The token
was, that if, on observing their attempt, the Philistines
in the garrison should defy them, should bid them tarry
till they came to them, that would be a sign that they
ought to return. But if they should say, " Come up
to us," that would be a proof that they ought to
persevere. Was this a mere arbitrary token, without
anything reasonable underlying it ? It does not seem to
have been so. In the one case, the words of the Philis
tines would bear a hostile meaning, denoting that
violence would be used against them ; in the other case
they would denote that the Philistines were prepared to
treat them peaceably, under the idea perhaps that they
were tired of skulking and, like other Hebrews (ver. 21),
wishing to surrender to the enemy. In this latter
case, they would be able to make good their position
on the rock, and the enemy would not suspect their
real errand till they were ready to begin their work. It
turned out that their reception was in the latter fashion.
Whether in the way of friendly banter or otherwise, the
garrison, on perceiving them, invited them to come up,
and they would " show them a thing." Greatly en
couraged by the sign, they clambered up on hands
and feet till they gained the top of the rock. Then,
when nothing of the kind was expected, they fell or

224 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
the garrison and began to kill. So sudden and unex
pected an onslaught threw the garrison into a panic.
Their arms perhaps were not at hand, and for anything
they knew, a whole host of Hebrews might be hasten
ing after their leaders to complete the work of slaughter.
In this way, nearly twenty Philistines fell in half an
acre of ground. The rest of the garrison taking to
flight seems to have spread a panic among the host.
Confusion and terror prevailed on every side. Every
man's sword was against his fellow. " There was
trembling in the host, in the field, and among the
people ; the spoilers and the garrison, they also trembled,
and the earth quaked ; so it was a very great trembling.
Whether this implies that the terror and discomfiture
of the Philistines was increased by an earthquake, or
whether it means that there was so much motion and
commotion that the very earth seemed to quake, it is
not very easy to decide; but it shows how complete
was the discomfiture of the Philistines. Thus wonder
fully was Jonathan's faith rewarded, and thus won
derfully, too, was the unbelief of Saul rebuked.
Seen from the watch-tower at Gibeah, the affair was
shrouded in mystery. It seemed as if the Philistine
troops were retreating, while no force was there to
make them retreat. When inquiry was made as to
who were absent, Jonathan and his armour-bearer alone
were missed. So perplexed was Saul, that, to under
stand the position of affairs, he had called for Ahiah,
who had charge of the ark (the Septuagint reads, " the
ephod "), to consult the oracle. But before this could
be done, the condition of things became more plain.
The noise in the host of the Philistines went on
increasing, and when Saul and his soldiers came on
the spot, they found the Philistines, in their confusion,

xiv. 1-23.] JONA THAN'S EXPLOIT A T MICHMASH. 225
slaughtering one another, amid all the signs of wild
discomfiture. Nothing loath, they joined in harassing
the retreating foe. And as the situation revealed itself
others hastened to take part in the fray. Those
Hebrews that had come for protection within the
Philistine lines now turned against them, all the more
heartily perhaps because, before that, they had had to
place their feelings so much under restraint. And the
Hebrews that lay hid in caves and thickets and pits,
when they saw what was going on, rushed forth
to join in the discomfiture of the Philistines. What
a contrast to the state of things that very morning !
— the Israelites in helpless feebleness, looking with
despair on the Philistines as they lay in their strong
hold in all the pride of security, and scattered defiant
looks and scornful words among their foes ; now the
Philistine garrison surprised, their camp forsaken, their
army scattered, and the only desire or purpose animat- ^,
ing the remnant being to escape at the top of their
speed from the land of Israel, and find shelter and
security in their native country. " So the Lord saved
Israel that day ; and the battle passed over unto Beth-
aven.'K And thus the faith of Jonathan had a glorious
reward. The inspiration of faith vindicated itself, and
the noble self-devotion that had plunged into this other
wise desperate enterprise, because there was no restraint
to the Lord to save by many or by few, led thus to
a triumph more speedy and more complete than even
Jonathan could have ventured to dream of. None of
the judges had wrought a more complete or satisfactory
deliverance ; and even the crossing of the Red Sea
under Moses had not afforded a more glorious evidence
than this achievement of Jonathan's of the power oT
VOL. L IS

226 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
faith, or given more ample testimony to that principle
of the kingdom of God, which our Lord afterwards
enunciated, "*If ye have faith as a grain of mustard
seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence
unto yonder place; and it shall remove; and nc thing
shall be impossible unto you."
This incident is full of lessons for modern times.
First, it shows what wide and important results may
come from individual conviction. When an individual
heart is moved by a strong conviction of duty, it may
be that God means through that one man's conviction
to move the world. Modesty might lead a man to say,
I am but a unit ; I have no influence ; it will make very
little difference what I do with my conviction, whether
I cherish it or stifle it. Yet it may be of just world
wide importance that you be faithful to it, and stand
by it steadfastly to the end. Did not the Reformation
begin through the steadfastness of Luther, the miner's
son of Eisleben, to the voice that spoke out so loudly
to himself? Did not Carey lay the foundation of the
modern mission in India, because he could not get rid
of that verse of Scripture, " Go ye into all the world,
and preach the Gospel to every creature " ? Did not
Livingstone persevere in the most dangerous, the most
desperate enterprise of our time, because he could not
quench the voice that called him to open up Africa or
perish ? Or to go back to Scripture times. A Jewish
maiden at the court of the great king of Persia becomes
the saviour of her whole nation, because she feels that,
at tlie risk of her life, she must speak a word for them
to the king. Saul of Tarsus, after his conversion,
becomes impressed with the conviction that he must
preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, and through his
faithfulness to that conviction, he lays the foundation

xiv. 1-23.] JONATHAN'S EXPLOIT AT MICHMASH. 227
of the whole European Church. Learn, my friends,
every one, from this, never to be faithless to any
conviction given to you, though, as far as you know,
it is given to you alone. Make very sure that it comes
from the God of truth. But don't stifle it, under the
notion that you are too weak to bring anything out
of it. Don't reason that if it were really from God,
it would be given to others too. Test it in every way
you can, to determine whether it be right. And if it
stands these tests, manfully give effect to it, for it may
bear seed that will spread over the globe.
Second, this narrative shows what large results may
flow from individual effort. The idea may not have
occurred for the first time to some one ; it may have
been derived by him from another ; but it has com
mended itself to him, it has been taken up by him, and
worked out by him to results of great magnitude and
importance. Pay a visit to the massive buildings
and well-ordered institutions of Kaiserswerth, learn its
ramifications all over the globe, and see what has come
of the individual efforts of Fliedner. Think how many
children have been rescued by Dr. Barnardo, how
many have been emigrated by Miss Macpherson, how
many souls have been impressed by Mr. Moody, how
many orphans have been cared for by Mr. Mailer,
how many stricken ones have been relieved in the in
stitutions of John Bost. It is true, we are not promised
that every instance of individual effort will bring any
such harvest. It may be that we are to be content
with very limited results, and with the encomium
bestowed on the woman in the Gospel, " She hath done
what she could." But it is also true that none of us
can tell what possibilities there are in individual effort.
We cannot tell but in our case the emblem of the

228 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
seventy-second Psalm may be verified, " There shall
be an handful of corn in the earth on the top of the
mountains ; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon,
and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the
earth." Lastly, we may learn from this narrative that the
true secret of all spiritual success lies in our seeking
to be instruments in God's hands, and in our lending
ourselves to Him, to do in us and by us whatever
is good in His sight. Thus it was eminently with
Jonathan. " It may be that the Lord will work for us ;
for there is no restraint to ithe Lord to save by many
or by few." It was not Jonathan that was to work
with some help from God ; it was the Lord that was to
work by Jonathan. It was not Jonathan's project that
was to be carried out ; it was the Lord's cause that
was to be advanced. Jonathan had no personal ends
in this matter. He was willing to give up his life, if
the Lord should require it. It is a like consecration
in all spiritual service that brings most blessing and
success. Men that have nothing of their own to gain
are the men who gain most. Men who sacrifice all
desire for personal honour are the men who are most
highly honoured. Men who make themselves of no
reputation are the men who gain the highest reputation.
Because Christ emptied Himself, and took on Him the
form of a servant, God highly exalted Him and gave
Him a name above every name. And those who are
like Christ in the mortifying of self become like Christ
also in the enjoyment of the reward. Such are the
rules of the kingdom of heaven. " He that loveth his
life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this
world shall keep it unto life eternal,"

CHAPTER XX,
SAUL'S WILFULNESS.
¦ Samuel xiv. 24 — 52.
THAT Saul was now suffering in character under
the influence of the high position and great
power to which he had been raised, is only too ap
parent from what is recorded in these verses. No
doubt he pays more respect than he has been used to
pay to the forms of religion. He enjoins a fast on his
people at a very inconvenient time, under the idea that
fasting is a proper religious act. He is concerned for
the trespass of the people in eating their food with the
blood. He builds the first altar he ever built to God.
He consults the oracle before he will commit himself
to the enterprise of pursuing the retreating enemy by
night. He is concerned to find the oracle dumb, and
tries to discover through whose sin it is so. For a
ceremonial offence, committed by Jonathan in ignor
ance, he fancies that God's displeasure has come down
on the people, and he not only insists that Jonathan
shall die for this offence, but confirms his decision by
a solemn oath, sworn in the name of God. All this
shows Saul plunging and floundering from one mistake
to another, and crowning his blunders by a proposal so
outrageous, that the indignation of the people arrests
his purpose. The idea that the work of the day shall

230 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.

be wound up by the execution of the youth through
whom all the wonderful deliverance has come, and that
youth Saul's own son, is one that could never have
entered into any but a distempered brain. Reason
seems to have begun to stagger on her throne ; the sad
process has begun which in a more advanced stage
left Saul the prey of an evil spirit, and in its last and
most humiliating stage drove him to consult with the
witch of Endor.
But how are we to explain his increase of religious
ness side by side with the advance of moral obliquity
and recklessness ? Why should he be more careful in
the service of God while he becomes more imperious
in temper, more stubborn in will, and more regardless
of the obligations alike of king and father? The
explanation is not difficult to find. The expostulation
of Samuel had given him a fright. The announcement
that the kingdom would not be continued in his line,
and that God had found a worthier man to set over
His people Israel, had moved him to the quick.
There could be no doubt that Samuel was speaking the
truth. Saul had begun to disregard God's will in his
public acts, and was now beginning to reap the penalty
He felt that he must pay more attention to God's will.
If he was not to lose everything, he must try to be
more religious. There is no sign of his feeling penitent
in heart. He is not concerned in spirit for his
unworthy behaviour toward God. He feels only that
his own interests as king are imperilled. It is this
selfish motive that makes him determine to be more
religious. The fast, and the consultation of the oracle,
and the altar, and the oath that Jonathan shall die,
have all their origin in this frightened, selfish feeling.
And hence, in their very nature and circumstances, his

liv. 24-52.] SAUL'S WILFULNESS. 231
religious acts are unsuitable and unseemly. In place
of making things better by such services, he makes
them worse ; no peace of God falls like dew on his soul ;
no joy is diffused throughout his army ; discontent
reaches a climax when the death of Jonathan is called
for; and tranquillity is restored only by the rebellion
of the people, rescuing their youthful prince and hero.
Alas, how common has this spirit been in the history
of the world 1 What awful tragedies has it led to,
what slaughter of heretics, what frightful excesses dis
graceful to kings, what outrages on the common feel
ings of humanity 1 Louis XIV. has led a most wicked
and profligate life, and he has ever and anon qualms
that threaten him with the wrath of God. To avert
that wrath, he must be more attentive to his religious
duties. He must show more favour to the Church,
exalt her dignitaries to greater honour, endow her
orders and foundations with greater wealth. But that
is not all. He must use all the arms and resources of
his kingdom for ridding the Church of her enemies.
For twenty years he must harass the Protestants with
every kind of vexatious interference, shutting up their
churches on frivolous pretexts, compelling them to bury
their dead by night, forbidding the singing of psalms in
worship, subjecting them to great injustice in their civil
capacity, and at last, by the revocation of the edict
that gave them toleration, sweeping them from the
kingdom in hundreds of thousands, till hardly a Pro
testant is left behind. What the magnificent monarch
did on a large scale, millions of obscurer men have done
on a small. It is a sad truth that terror and selfishness
have been at the foundation of a great deal of that
which passes current as religion. Prayers and penances
and vows and charities in cases without number have

232 THE FIRST BOOK QF SAMUEL.
been little better than premiums of insurance, designed
to save the soul from punishment and pain. Nor have
these acts been confined to that Church which, more
than any other, has encouraged men to look for saving
benefit to the merit of their own works. Many a
Protestant, roused by his conscience into a state of
fright, has resolved to be more attentive to the duties
of religion. He will read his Bible more ; he will pray
more ; he will give more ; he will go to church more.
Alas, the spring of all this is found in no humiliation
for sin before God, no grief at having offended the
Father, no humble desire to be renewed in heart and
conformed to the image of the First-born ! And the
consequence is, as in the case of Saul, that things go,
not from bad to better, but from bad to worse. There
is no peace of God that passeth all understanding;
there is no general rectification of the disordered
faculties of the soul ; there is no token of heavenly
blessing, blessing to the man himself and blessing to
those about him. A more fiery element seems to come
into his temper; a more bitter tone pervades his life.
To himself it feels as if there were no good in trying
to be better ; to the world it appears as if religion put
more of the devil into him. But it is all because what
he calls religion is no religion ; it is the selfish bargain-
making spirit, which aims no higher than deliverance
from pain ; it is not the noble exercise of the soul,
prostrated by the sense of guilt, and helpless through
consciousness of weakness, lifting up its eyes to the
hills whence cometh its help, and rejoicing in the grace
that freely pardons all its sin through the blood of
Christ, and in the gift of the Holy Spirit that renews
and sanctifies the soul.
The first thing that Saul does, in the exercise of this

xiv. 24-52.] SAUL'S WILFULNESS. 233
selfish spirit, is to impose on the people an obligation
to fast until the day be over. Any one may see that
tc compel fasting under such circumstances was alike
cruel and unwise. To fast in the solitude of one's
chamber, where there is no extra wear and tear of the
bodily organs, and therefore no special need for
recruiting them, is comparatively safe and easy. But
to fast amid the struggles of battle or the hurry of a
pursuit ; to fast under the burning sun and that strain
of the system which brings the keenest thirst ; to fast
under exertions that rapidly exhaust the thews and
sinews, and call for a renewal of their tissues — to fast
in circumstances like these involves an amount of
suffering which it is not easy to estimate. It was cruel
in Saul to impose a fast at such a time, all the more
that, being commander-in-chief of the army, it was his
duty to do his utmost for the comfort of his soldiers.
But it was unwise as well as cruel ; with energies
impaired by fasting, they could not continue the pursuit
nor make the victory so telling. Perhaps he was
under- the influence of the delusion that the more
painful a religious service is, the more is it acceptable
to God. That idea of penance does find a place in oui
natural notions of religion. Saul, as we have seen,
grew up with little acquaintance with religious persons
and little knowledge of Divine things; and now that
perforce he is constrained to attend to them, it is no
wonder if he falls into many a serious error. For he
probably had no idea of that great rule of God'3
kingdom, " I will have mercy, and not sacrifice."
The folly of Saul's order became apparent when the
army came to a wood, where, as is common enough in
the country, a stream of wild honey poured out, probably
from the trunk of a hollow tree. Stretching out his

*U THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
rod or spear, Jonathan fixed it in a piece of the comb,
which he transferred with his hand to his mouth.
Immediately " his eyes were enlightened ; " the dull
feeling which settles on the eyes amid fatigue and
hunger disappeared ; and with the return of clear
vision to his eyes, there would come a restoration of
vigour to his whole frame. When told for the first
time of the order which his father had given, he showed
no regret at having broken it, but openly expressed his
displeasure at its having ever been imposed. " Then
said Jonathan, My father hath troubled the land. See,
I pray you, how mine eyes have been enlightened,
because I tasted a little of this honey. How much
more if haply the people had eaten freely to-day of
the spoil of their enemies which they found 1 for had
there not been a much greater slaughter among the
Philistines?" We must bear in mind that Jonathan
was a true man of God. He had set out that morning
in his wonderful exploit in the true spirit of faith and
full consecration to God. He was in far nearer fellow
ship with God than his father, and yet so far from
approving of the religious order to fast which his
father had given, he regards it with displeasure and
distrust. Godly men will sometimes be found less
outwardly religious than some other men, and will
greatly shock them by being so. The godly man has
an unction from the Holy One to understand His
will ; he goes straight to the Lord's business ; like our
blessed Lord, he finishes the work given him to do •
while the merely religious man is often so occupied
with his forms, that, like the Pharisees, he neglects the
structure for which forms are but the scaffolding ; in
paying his tithes of mint, anise, and cummin, he omits
the weightier matters — justice, mercy, and truth.

xiv. 24-52.] SauLs WILFULNESS. 235
But the evil caused by Saul's injudicious fast was
not yet over. The obligation to fast lasted only till
sunset, and when the day was ended, the people, faint
and ravenous, flew upon the spoil — sheep, oxen,
and calves — and devoured them on the spot, without
taking time or pains to sever the blood from the flesh.
To remedy this, Saul had a great stone placed beside
him, and ordered the people to bring every man his ox
or his sheep, and slay them on that stone, that he
might see that the blood was properly drained from the
flesh. Then we gather from the marginal reading of
ver. 35 that he was proceeding to erect with the stone
an altar to God, but that he did not carry this purpose
completely into effect, because he determined to con
tinue the pursuit of the Philistines. He saw how much
recruited his troops were by their food, and he therefore
determined to make a new assault. If it had not been
for the unwise order to fast given early in the day, if
the people had been at liberty to help themselves to the
honey as they passed it, or to such other refreshments
as they found in their way, they would have been some
hours earlier in this pursuit, and it would have been so
much the more effectual.
It would seem, however, that the priest who was in
attendance on Saul was somewhat alarmed at the
abrupt and rather reckless way in which the king
was malting his plans and giving his orders. " Let us
draw near hither unto God," said he. Counsel was
accordingly asked of God whether Saul should go down
after the Philistines and whether God would deliver
them into the hand of Israel. But to this inquiry no
answer was given. It was natural to infer that some
sin had separated between God and Saul, some iniquity
had caused God to hide His face from him. Here was

236 THE PlRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
a state of things that might well make Saul pause and
examine himself. Had he done so in an honest spirit,
he could hardly have failed to find out what was wrong.
God had given a wonderful deliverance that day through
Jonathan. Jonathan was as remarkable for the power
of faith as Saul for the want of it. Jonathan had been
wonderfully blessed that day, but now that Saul, through
the priest, sought to have a communication with God,
none was given. Might he not have seen that the real
cause of this was that Saul wanted what Jonathan
possessed ? Besides, was Saul doing justice to Jona
than in taking the enterprise out of his hands ? If
Jonathan began it, was he not entitled to finish it ?
Would not Saul have been doing a thing alike generous
and just had he stood aside at this time, and called on
Jonathan to complete the work of the day? If the
king of England was justified in not going to the help
of the Black Prince, serious though his danger was, but
leaving him to extricate himself, and thus enjoy the
whole credit of his valour, might not Saul have let his
son end the enterprise which he had so auspiciously
begun ? In these two facts, in the difference between
him and Jonathan as to the spirit of faith, and in the
way in which Saul displaced the man whom God so
signally countenanced in the morning, the king of
Israel might have found the cause of the silence of the
oracle. And the right thing for him would have been
to confess his error, stand aside, and call on Jonathan
to continue the pursuit and, if possible, exterminate
the foe.
But Saul took a different course. He had recourse
to the lot, to determine the guilty party. Now, it does
not appear that even the king of Israel, with the priest
at his side, was entitled to resort to the lot to ascertain

xiv. 24-52.] SAUL'S WILFULNESS. 237
the mind of God except in cases where all natural
means of discovering it confessedly failed. But we
have just seen that in this case the natural means had
not failed. Therefore there was no obligation on God
to order the lot supernaturally so as to bring out the
truth. In point of fact, the process ended so as to
point to the very last man in all the army to whom
blame was due. It was, as mathematicians say, a
reductio ad absurdum. It is a proof that an instrument
is out of order if it brings out a result positively
ludicrous. If near the equator an instrument gives the
latitude of the polar circle, it is a proof that it is not
working rightly. When the lot pointed to Jonathan,
it was a proof that it was not working rightly. Any
man might have seen this. And Saul ought to have
seen it. And he ought to have confessed that he was
entirely out of his reckoning. Frankly and cordially
he should have taken the blame on himself, and at once
exonerated his noble son.
But Saul was in no mood to take the blame on
himself. Nor had he moral sagacity enough to see
what an outrage it would be to lay the blame on
Jonathan. Assuming that he was guilty, he asked him
what he had done. He had done nothing but eat a
little honey, not having heard- the king's order to
abstain. The justification was complete. At worst, it
was but a ceremonial offence, but to Jonathan it was
not even that. But Saul was too obstinate to admit
the plea. By a new oath, he devoted his son to
death. Nothing could show more clearly the deplorable
state of his mind. In the eye of reason and of justice,
Jonathan had committed no offence. He had given
signal evidence of the possession in a remarkable degree
of the favour of God, He had laid the nation under

238 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
inconceivable obligations. All these pleas were for
him ; and surely in the king's breast a voice might
have been heard pleading, Your son, your first-born,
"the beginning of your strength, the excellency of
dignity, and the excellency of power " 1 Is it possible
that this voice was silenced by jealousy, jealousy of his
own son, like his after-jealousy of David ? What kind
of heart could this Saul have had when in such circum
stances he could deliberately say, "God do so, and
more also, for thou shalt surely die, Jonathan " ?
But " the Divine right of kings to govern wrong " is
not altogether without check. A temporary revolution
saved Jonathan. It was one good effect of excitement.
In calmer circumstances, the people might have been too
terrified to interfere. But now they were excited —
excited by their victory, excited by their fast followed
by their meal, and excited by the terror of harm be
falling Jonathan. They had far clearer and more
correct apprehension of the whole circumstances than
the king had. It is especially to be noted that they
laid great emphasis on the fact that that day God had
worked by Jonathan, and Jonathan had worked with
God. This made the great difference between him and
Saul. " As the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of
his head fall to the ground ; for he hath wrought with
God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan, that he
died not."
The opportunity of inflicting further damage on the
Philistines at this time was thus lost through the moral
obtuseness, recklessness, and obstinacy of Saul. But
in many a future campaign Saul as a warrior rendered
great service to the kingdom. He fought against all
his enemies on every side. On the east, the Moabites,
the Ammonites, and the Edomites had to be dealt with ;

xiv. 24-52.] SAULS WILFULNESS. 239
on the north, the kings of Zobah ; on the south, the
Amalekites ; ahd on the west, the Philistines. These
campaigns are briefly stated, but we may easily see
how much of hard military work is implied in connec
tion with each. We may understand, too, with what
honesty David, in his elegy over Saul and Jonathan,
might commemorate their warlike prowess : " From the
blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow
of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul
returned not empty." Whether these military expe
ditions were conducted in a better spirit than Saul
shows in this chapter we cannot tell. Whether further
proofs were given of God's presence with Jonathan
as contrasted with his absence from Saul we do not
know. It does not appear that there was any essential
improvement in Saul. But when Jonathan again
emerges from the obscurity of history, and is seen in a
clear and definite light, his character is singularly at
tractive — one of the purest and brightest in the whole
field of Scripture.
Evidently the military spirit ruled in Saul, but it did
not bring peace nor blessing to the kingdom. "He
gathered an host," surrounded himself with a standing
army, so as to be ready and have an excuse for any
expedition that he wished to undertake. After a briet
notice of Saul's family, the chapter ends by telling us
that " there was sore war against the Philistines all the
days of Saul ; and when Saul saw any strong man or
any valiant man, he took him unto him." The Philis
tines were far from being permanently subdued ; there
were not even intervals of peace between the two
countries. There was bitter war, an open sore,
perpetually bleeding, a terror on every side, never re
moved. How different it might have been had that

240 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
one day been better spent ! how different it would
certainly have been had Saul been- a man after God's
own heart! One day's misdeeds may bring a whole
generation of sorrow, for " one sinner destroyeth
much good." Once off the right rail, Saul never got
on it again ; rash and restless, he doubtless involved
his people in many a disaster, fulfilling all that Samuel
had said about taking from the people, fulfilling but
little that the people had hoped concerning deliverance
from the hand of the Philistines.
Who does not see what a fearful thing it is to leave
Cod and His ways, and give one's self up to the
impulses of one's own heart ? Fearful for even the
humblest of us, but infinitely fearful for one of great re
sources and influence, with a whole people under him !
How beautiful some prayers in the Psalms sound after
we have been contemplating the wild career of Saul !
" Show me Thy ways, O Lord ; teach me in Thy paths.
Lead me in Thy truth and teach me, for Thou art the
God of my salvation ; on Thee do I wait all the day."
" Oh that my ways were directed to keep Thy statutes 1
Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto
all Thy commandments."

CHAPTER XXI.
TBE FINAL REJECTION OF SAUL.
i Samuel xv.
HERE we find the second portion of God's indict
ment against Saul, and the reason for his final
rejection from the office to which he had been raised.
There is no real ground for the assertion of some critics
that in this book we have two accounts of Saul's rejec
tion, contradictory one of the other, because a different
ground is asserted for it in the one case from that
assigned in the other. The first rejection (i Sam. xiii.
13, 14) was the rejection of his house as the per
manent dynasty of Israel, but it did not imply either
that Saul was to cease to reign, or that God was to
withdraw all countenance and co-operation with him as
king. The rejection we read of in the present chapter
goes further than the first. It does not indeed imply
that Saul would cease to reign, but it does imply that
God would no longer countenance him as king, would
no longer make him his instrument of deliverance
and blessing to Israel, but would leave him to the
miserable feeling that he was reigning without authority.
More than that, as we know from the sequel, it implied
that God was about to bring his successor forward, and
thereby exhibit both to him and to the nation the evi
dence of his degradation and rejection, It is likely that
VOL. I. I@

242 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
the transactions of this chapter occurred when Saul's
reign was far advanced. If he had not been guilty of
fresh disregard of God's will, though David would still
have been his successor, he would have been spared
the shame and misery of going out and in before his
people like one who bore the mark of Cain, the visible
expression of the Divine displeasure.
Throughout the whole of this chapter, God appears
in that more stern and rigorous aspect of His character
which is not agreeable to the natural heart of man.
Judgment, we are told, is His strange work ; it is not
what He delights in ; but it is a work which He cannot
fail to perform when the necessity for it arises. There
is a gospel which is often preached in our day that
divests God wholly of the rigid, judicial character; it
clothes Him with no attributes but those of kindness
and love ; it presents Him in a countenance ever smil
ing, never stern. It maintains that the great work of
Christ in the world was to reveal this paternal aspect oi
God's character, to convince men of His fatherly feel
ings towards them, and to divest their minds of ah
those conceptions of indignation and wrath with whicl
our minds are apt to clothe Him, and which thi
theologies of men are so ready to foster. But this is i
gospel that says, Peace ! peace ! when there is no peace.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ does indeed reveal, and
reveal very beautifully, the paternal character of God ;
but it reveals at the same time that judicial character
which insists on the execution of His law. That God
will execute wrath on the impenitent and unbelieving is
just as much a feature of the Gospel as that He will
bestow all the blessings of salvation and eternal life on
them that believe. What the Gospel reveals respecting
the sterner, the judicial, aspect of God's character is,

xv.] THE FINAL REJECTION OF SAUL 243
that there is no bitterness in His anger against sinners ;
there is nothing in God's breast of that irritation and
impatience which men are so apt to show when their
fellow-men have offended them ; God's anger is just.
The calm, settled opposition of His nature to sin is
the feeling that dictates the sentence "The soul that
sinneth, it shall die." The Gospel is indeed a glorious
manifestation of the love and grace of God for sinners,
but it is not an indiscriminate assurance of grace for all
sinners; it is an offer of grace to all who believe on
God's Son, but it is an essential article of the Gospel
that without faith in Christ the saving love and grace
of God cannot be known. Instead of reducing the
character of God to mere good-nature, the Gospel
brings His righteousness more prominently forward
than ever ; instead of smoothing the doom of the im
penitent, it deepens their guilt, and it magnifies their
condemnation. Yes, my friends, and it is most whole
some for us all to look at times steadily in the face
this solemn attribute of God, as the Avenger of the
impenitent It shows us that sin is not a thing to be
trifled with. It shows us that God's will is not a thing
to be despised. There are just two alternatives for
thee, O sinner, who art not making God's will the rule
of thy life. Repent, believe, and be forgiven ; continue
to sin, and be lost for ever.
The transaction in connection with which Saul was
guilty of a fresh disregard of God's will was an expedi
tion which was appointed for him against the Ama
lekites. This people had been guilty of some very
atrocious treatment of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai,
the details of which are not given. Nations having a
corporate life, when they continue to manifest the
ipirit of preceding generations, are held responsible

244 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
for their actions, and liable to the penalty. Saul was
sent to inflict on Amalek the retribution that had been
due so long for his perfidious treatment of Israel on the
way to Canaan. In the narrative, various places are
mentioned as being in the Amalekite territory, but
their exact sites are not known ; and indeed this matters
little, all that it is important to know being that the
Amalekites were mainly a nomadic people, occupying
the fringe between Canaan and the desert on the south
border of Palestine, and doubtless subsisting to a large
extent on the prey secured by them when they made
forays into the territories of Israel. Saul gathered a
great army to compass the destruction of this bitter
and hostile people.
In reading of the instructions he received to
exterminate them, to "slay both man and woman,
infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass," we
shudder to think of the fearful massacre which this
involved. It was an order similar to that which the
Israelites received to exterminate the inhabitants of
Canaan, or that to destroy the Midianites, during the
lifetime of Moses. Though it seems very horrible to
us, in whose eyes human life has become very sacred,
it probably excited little feeling of the kind in the
breasts of the Israelites, accustomed as they were, and
as all Eastern nations were, to think very little of human
life, and to witness wholesale slaughter with little
emotion. But there is one thing in the order that we
must not overlook, because it gave a complexion to
the transaction quite different from that of ordinary
massacres. That circumstance was, that the prey was
to be destroyed as well as the people In the case of
an ordinary massacre, the conquering people abandon
themselves to the licence of their passions, and hasten

xv.] THE FINAL REJECTION OF SAUL. 245
to enrich themselves by appropriating everything
of value on which they can lay their hands. In the
case of the Israelites, there was to be nothing of the
kind. They were to destroy the prey just as thoroughly
as they were to destroy the people. They were to
enrich themselves in nothing. Now, this was a most
important modification of the current practice in such
things. But for this restriction, the extermination
of the Amalekites would have been a wild carnival of
selfish passion. The restriction appointed to Saul, like
that which Joshua had imposed at Jericho, bound the
people to the most rigid self-restraint, under circum
stances when self-restraint was extremely difficult.
The extermination was to be carried into effect with all
the solemnity of a judicial execution, and the soldiers
were to have no benefit from it whatever, any more
than the jailer or the hangman can have benefit from
the execution of some wretched murderer.
Now, let it be observed that it was in entirely
disregarding this restriction that a chief part of Saul's
disobedience lay. " Saul and the people spared Agag,
and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the
fatlings and the lambs, and all that was good, and
would not utterly destroy them ; but everything that
was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly." The
sparing of King Agag seems to have been a piece
of vanity with Saul, for a conqueror returning home
with a royal prisoner was greatly thought of in those
Eastern lands. But the sparing of the prey was a
matter of pure greed. Observe how the character
of the transaction was wholly changed by this circum
stance. Instead of wearing the aspect of a solemn
retribution on a sinful nation, on a people laden with
iniquity, all the more impressive because the ministers

*46 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
of God's vengeance abstained from appropriating a
vestige of the property, but consigned the whole, like a
plague-stricken mass, too polluted to be touched, to the
furnace of destruction— instead of this, it just ap
peared like an ordinary unprincipled foray, in which
the victorious party slew the other, mainly to get them
out of the way and enable them without opposition to
appropriate their goods. It was this consideration that
made the offence of Saul so serious, that made his
breach of the Divine order so guilty. Had he no
knowledge of the history of his people ? Did he not
remember what had happened at Jericho in the days of
Joshua, when Achan stole the wedge of gold and the
Babylonian garment, and, in spite of the fact that the
rest of the people had behaved well and that God's
purpose in the main was amply carried out, Achan and
all his. family were judicially stoned to death ? How
could Saul expect that such a flagrant violation of the
Divine command in the case of the Amalekites,
perpetrated not on the sly by a single individual, but
openly by the king and all the people, could escape the
retribution of God ?
Such then was Saul's conduct in the affair of
Amalek. The next incident in the narrative is the
communication that took place regarding it between the
Lord and Samuel. Speaking after the manner of men,
God said, It repented Him that He had set up Saul to
be king. That these words are not to be explained in
a strictly literal sense is evident from what is said in
ver. 29 : " The strength of Israel will not lie nor
repent, for He is not a man that He should repent."
The intimation to Samuel was equivalent to this : that
God was now done with Saul. He had been weighed
in the balances and found wanting. He had had

xv.] THE FINAL REJECTION OF SAUL 247

his time of probation, and he had failed. He was
joined to his idols, and must now be let alone. This
last and very flagrant act of disobedience settled the
matter. "My Spirit shall not always strive with
man." How did Samuel receive the announcement ? " It
grieved Samuel, and he cried to the Lord all night.''
It is the same word as is translated in Jonah, " It dis
pleased Jonah." But there is nothing to show that
Samuel was displeased with God. The whole trans
action was disappointing, worrying, heart-breaking.
Doubtless he had a certain liking for Saul. He admired
his splendid figure and many fine kingly qualities. It
was a terrible struggle to give him up. The Divine
announcement threw his mind into a tumult. All night
he cried unto the Lord. Doubtless his cry was some
what similar to our Lord's cry in Gethsemane, " If it be
possible, let this cup pass." If it be possible, recover
Saul. And observe, Samuel had good cause to raise
this cry on account of the man who would naturally have
been Saul's successor. He must have had great compla
cency in Jonathan. If Saul was to be set aside, why
should not Jonathan have the crown ? On whose head
would it sit more gracefully? In whose hand would
the sceptre be held more suitably ? But even this plea
would not avail. It was God's purpose to mark the
offence of Saul with a deeper stigma, and attach to it in
the mind of the nation a more conspicuous brand, by
cutting off his whole family and transferring the crown
to a quite different line. It took the whole night to
reconcile Samuel to the Divine sentence. How very
deeply and tenderly must this man's heart have been
moved by regard for Saul and for the people 1 In the
morning, his soul seems to have returned to its quiet

248 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
rest. His mood seems now to have been, " Not my
will but Thine be done!"
Next comes the meeting of Saul and Samuel. Samuel
seems to have expected to meet Saul at Carmel — the
Carmel of Nabal (chap. xxv. 2) — but, perhaps on
purpose to avoid him, Saul hastened to Gilgal. And
when they met there, Saul, with no little audacity, claimed
to have performed the commandment of the Lord. That
this plea was not advanced in simple ignorance, as some
have thought, is plain enough from Samuel's reception
of it and his rebuke. "What meaneth this bleating
<f sheep in mine ears and the lowing of the oxen in
wry ears ? " Facts are stubborn things, and they make
<juick work of sophistry. Oh, says Saul, these are
brought as a sacrifice to the Lord thy God ; they are an
extra proof of my loyalty to Him. Saul, Saul, is it not
enough that thou didst -allow the selfish greed whether
of thyself or of thy people to overbear the Divine
command ? Must thou add the sin of hypocrisy,
and pretend that it was a pious act ? And dost thou
imagine that in so doing thou canst impose either on
Samuel, or on God ? O sinners, you do miscalculate
fearfully when you give to God's servants such false
explanations of your sins 1 How long, think you, will
the flimsy material hold out? In the case of Saul, it
did not even enable him to turn the corner. It brought
out a fact which he must have trembled to hear : that
Samuel had had a communication about him from God
the very night before, and that God had spoken very
plainly about him. And what had God said ? God had
proceeded on the fact that Saul had disobeyed his voice,
and had flown upon the spoil to preserve what God
had commanded him to destroy. "Nay," says Saul, "it
was not J that di4 that, but the people, and they did it

xv.] THE FINAL REJECTION OF SAUL.

2W

to sacrifice to the Lord thy God in Gilgal." Tne excuse
hardly needed to be exposed. Why did you let the
people do so ? Why did you not fulfil God's command
as faithfully as Joshua did at Jericho ? Why did you
allow yourself, or the people either, to tamper with the
clear orders given you by your King and theirs ?
"Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken
than the fat of rams." Moral conduct is more than
ceremonial form. "Because thou hast rejected the
word of the Lord, He also hath rejected thee from
being king."
This terrible word pierces Saul to the quick. He is
thoroughly alarmed. He makes acknowledgment »f his
sin in so far as he had feared the people and obeyed
their words. He entreats Samuel to forgive him and
turn again with him that he may worship God. He
shows no evidence of true, heartfelt repentance. And
Samuel refuses to return with him, and refuses to
identify himself with one whom God hath rejected from
being king. But Saul is deeply in earnest. He tries
to detain Samuel by force. He takes hold of his
mantle, and holds it so firmly that it rends. It is a
symbol, says Samuel, of the rending of the kingdom
of Israel from thee this day, to be given by God to a
neighbour of thine that is better than thou. And this
is God's irreversible sentence. Your day of grace is
expired, and the Divine sentence is beyond recall. One
more appeal does Saul make to Samuel. Again he
owns his sin, but the request he makes shows clearly
that what he is most anxious about is that he should
not appear dishonoured before the people. It is his
own reputation that concerns him. " Honour me now,
I pray thee, before the elders of my people and before
Israel and turn again with me, that I may worship the

250 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
Lord thy God." Samuel yields. The abject wretched
ness of the man seems to have touched him. But it
is not said that Samuel worshipped with him. Samuel
would no doubt continue firm to his purpose not to
identify himself with Saul as king, or give him any
moral support in his attitude of disobedience. So far
from that, Samuel openly superseded him in deal
ing with Agag; he went out of his way, and did an
act which could not but appear a frightful one for a
venerable prophet of the Lord. It is the voice of the
real king that sounds in the command, "Bring ye
hither to me Agag, the king of the Amalekites." We
seem to see the royal prisoner advancing cringingly
before that imperial figure, in whose eye there is a look,
and in whose face and figure there is a determination,
that may well make him quail. "Surely," says Agag,
imploringly, " the bitterness of death is past." Spared
by the kirg, I am not to fare worse from the prophet.
Samuel knew him a merciless destroyer. " As thy
sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother
be childless among women." And Samuel hewed Agag
in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal. "Cursed be he
that dceth the work of God deceitfully, and cursed be
he that withholdeth his sword from shedding of blood."
It is a scene of terror. The swift retribution executed
on the one king was but the sign of the slower retribu
tion pronounced upon the other. In the one case the
doom was rapid; in the other it was deferred; in both it
was sure. And have we not here a sad picture of that
retribution which is sure to come on the impenitent
sinner, and in the procedure of Samuel a foreshadowing
of Him who cometh from Edom, with dyed garments
from Bozrah, who will one day speak to His enemies
in His wrath and vex them in His hot displeasure?

xv.] THE FINAL REJECTION OF SAUL. 251

Have we not here a foretaste of the opening of the sixth
seal, when the kings of the earth, and the great men,
and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty
men, shall say to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us,
and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the
throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb : for the great
day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to
stand" ?
And oh 1 how little in that day will those plausible
excuses avail with which men try to cover their sins
to themselves, and it may be to others. How will
the hail sweep away the refuges of lies ! How will the
real character of men's hearts, the true tenor of their
lives, in respect they have set aside God's will and set
up their own, be revealed in characters that cannot be
mistaken ! The question to be determined by your life
was, whether God or you was King. Which did you
obey, God's will or your own ? Did you set aside
God's will? Then you are certainly a rebel; and never
having repented, never having been washed, or sanctified,
or justified, your portion is with the rebels; the Father's
house is not for you 1
And now the breach between Samuel and Saul is
final. "Samuel came no more to visit Saul until the
day of his death; nevertheless Samuel mourned for
Saul; and the Lord repented that He had made Saul
king over Israel."
Saul is cut off now from his best means of grace —
he is virtually an excommunicated man. Was it hard ?
Do our sympathies in any degree go with him ? To
our compassion he is entitled in the highest degree, but
to nothing more. Saul's worst qualities had now become
petrified. His wilfulness, his selfishness, his passion-
ateness, his jealousy, had now got complete control,

252 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
nor could their current be turned aside. The threat
of losing his kingdom — perhaps the most terrible threat
such a man could have felt — had failed to turn him from
his wayward course. He was like the man in the iron
cage in the "Pilgrim's Progress," who gave his history :
" I left off to watch and be sober ; I laid the reins upon
the neck of my lusts ; I sinned against the light of the
word and the goodness of God; I have grieved the
Spirit and He is gone ; I tempted the devil, and he is
come to me ; I have provoked God to anger and He has
left me; I have so hardened my heart that I cannot
repent." It is a terrible lesson that comes to us from the career
of Saul. If our natural lusts are not under the restraint
of a higher power; if by that power we are not
trained to watch, and check, and overpower them; if we
allow them to burst all restraint and lord it over us as
they will, — then will they grow into so many tyrants,
who will rule us with rods of iron ; laugh at the feeble
remonstrances of cur conscience ; scoff at every mes
senger of God ; vex His Holy Spirit, and hurl us at last
to everlasting woe !

CHAPTER XXII.
DAVID ANOINTED BY SAMUEL.
i Samuel xvi. 1-13.
THE rejection of Saul was laid very deeply to heart
by Samuel. No doubt there many engaging
qualities in the man Saul, which Samuel could not but
remember, and which fed the flame of personal attach
ment, and made the fact of his rejection hard to digest.
And no doubt, too, Samuel was concerned for the
peace and prosperity of the nation. He knew that a
change of dynasty commonly meant civil war — it might
lead ,to the inward weakening of a kingdom already
weak enough, and its exposure to the attacks of hostile
neighbours that watched with lynx eyes for any
opportunity of dashing against Israel. Thus both on
personal and on public grounds the rejection of Saul
was a great grief to Samuel, especially as the rejection
of Saul implied the rejection of Jonathan, and the
prophet might ask, with no small reason, where, in all
the nation, could there be found a better successor.
It was not God's pleasure to reveal to Samuel the
tragic events that were to stretch Jonathan and his
brothers among the dead on the same day as their
father ; hut it was His pleasure to introduce him to the
man who, at a future time, was to rule Israel according
to the ideal which the prophet had vainly endeavoured

*54 ThE first book Of sAmUeL.
to press upon Saul. There is a sharpness in God's
expostulation with Samuel which implies that the
prophet's grief for Saul was carried to an excessive
and therefore sinful length. "How long wilt thou
mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from
reigning over Israel?" Grief on account of others
seems such a sacred, such a holy feeling, that we are
not ready to apprehend the possibility of its acquiring
the dark hue of sin. Yet if God's children abandon
themselves to the wildest excess for some sorrow which
bears to them the character of a fatherly chastening ;
if they refuse to give effect in any way to God's
purpose in the matter, and to the gracious ends which
He designs it to serve, they are guilty of sin, and
that sin one which is greatly dishonouring to God.
It can never be right to shut God out of view in con
nection with our sorrows, or to forget that the day
is coming — impossible though it may seem — when His
character shall be so vindicated in all that has happened
to His children, that all tears shall be wiped from their
eyes, and it shall be seen that His tender mercies have
been over all His works.
It was to Bethlehem, and to the family of Jesse,
that Samuel was to go to find the destined successor of
Saul. The place was not so far distant from Ramah
as to be quite beyond the sphere of Samuel's acquaint
ance. Of Jesse, one of the leading men of the place,
he would probably have at least a general knowledge,
though it is plain he had not any personal acquaint
ance with him, or knowledge of his family. Bethlehem
had already acquired a marked place in Hebrew history,
and Samuel could not have been ignorant of the
episode of the young Moabite widow who had given
such a beautiful proof of filial piety, and among whose

XW.1-I3-] DAVID ANOINTED BY SAMUEL 255
descendants Jesse and his sons were numbered. The
very name of Bethlehem was fitted to recall how God
honours those that honour Him, and might have
rebuked that outburst of fear which fell from Samuel,
whose first thought was that he could not go, because
if Saul heard of it he would kill him. Well, it is
plain enough that, with all his glorious qualities as a
prophet, Samuel was but a man, subject to the infir
mities of men. What an honest book the Bible is ! its
greatest heroes coming down so often to the human level
and showing the same weaknesses as ourselves ! But
God, "who stoops to human weakness, who fortified the
failing heart of Moses at the burning bush, and the
doubting heart of Gideon, and afterwards the weary
heart of Elijah and the trembling heart of Jeremiah,
condescends in like manner to the infirmity of Samuel,
and provides him with an ostensible object for his
journey, which was not fitted to awaken the jealous
temper of the king. Samuel is to announce that his
coming to Bethlehem is for the purpose of a sacrifice,
and the circumstances connected with the anointing of
a successor to Saul are to be gone about so quietly and
so vaguely that the great object of his visit will hardly
be so much as guessed by any.
The question has often been raised, Was this
diplomatic arrangement not objectionable? Was it
not an act of duplicity and deceit? Undoubtedly
it was an act of concealment, but it does not follow
that it was an act of duplicity. It was concealment
of a thing which Samuel was under no obligation to
divulge. It was not concealment of which the object
was to mislead any one, or to induce any one to do
what he would not have done had the whole truth been
known to him. When concealment is practised in

256 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
order to take an unfair advantage of any one, or to
secure an unworthy advantage over him, it is a de
testable crime. But to conceal what you are under no
obligation to reveal, when some important end is to be
gained, is a quite different thing. " It is the glory of
God to conceal a thing;" providence is often just a
vast web of concealment ; the trials of Job were the
fruit of Divine concealment ; the answers of our Lord
to the Syrophoenician woman were a concealment ; the
delay in going to Bethany when He heard of the illness
of Lazarus was just a concealment of the glorious
miracle which He intended by-and-bye to perform. One
may tell the truth, and yet not the whole truth, without
being guilty of any injustice or dishonesty. It was not
on Saul's account at all that Samuel was sent to anoint
a king at Bethlehem. It was partly on Samuel's
account and partly on David's. If David was here
after to fill the exalted office of king of Israel, it was
desirable that he should be trained for its duties from
his earliest years. Saul had not been called to the
throne till middle life, till his character had been
formed and his habits settled ; the next king must be
called at an earlier period of life. And though the
boy's father and brothers may not understand the full
nature of the distinction before him, they must be made
to understand that he is called to a very special service
of God, in order that they may give him up freely and
readily to such preparation as that service demands.
This seems to have been the chief reason of the
mission of Samuel to Bethlehem. It could not but be
known after that, that David was to be distinguished
as a servant of God, but no idea seems to have been
conveyed either to his brothers or to the elders of
Bethlehem that he was going to be king.

xvi. i-13.] DAVID ANOINTED BY SAMUEL. 257
The arrangements for the public worship of God in
those times — while the ark of God was still at Kirjath-
jearim — seem to have been far from regular, and it
appears to have been not unusual for Samuel to visit
particular places for the purpose of offering a sacrifice.
It would seem that the ordinary, though not the uniform,
occasion for such visits was the occurrence of something
blameworthy in the community, and if so this will
explain the terror of the elders of Bethlehem at the visit
of Samuel, and their frightened question, "Comest thou
peaceably ? " Happily Samuel was able to set their
fears at rest, and to assure them that the object of his
visit was entirely peaceable. It was a religious service
he was come to perform, such a service as may have
been associated with the other religious services he was
accustomed to hold as he went round in circuit in the
neighbourhood of Ramah. For this sacrifice the elders
of Bethlehem were called to sanctify themselves, as
were also Jesse and his sons. They were to take the
usual steps for freeing themselves of all ceremonial
uncleanness, and after the sacrifice they were to share
the feast. A considerable interval would necessarily
elapse between the sacrifice and the feast, for the
available portions of the animal had to be prepared for
food, and roasted on the fire. It was during this interval
that Samuel made acquaintance with the sons of Jesse.
First came the handsome and stately Eliab. And srange
it is that even with the fate of the handsome and stately
Saul full in his memory, Samuel leapt to the conclusion
that this was the Lord's anointed. Could he wonder
at God's emphatic No 1 Surely he had seen enough
of outward appearance coupled with inward unfitness.
One trial of that criterion had been enough for Israel.
But alas, it is not merely in the choice of kings that
VOL. I. 17

258 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
men are apt to show their readiness to rest in the
outward appearance. To what an infinite extent has
this tendency been carried in the worship of God I
Let everything be outwardly correct, the church beau
tiful, the music excellent, the sermon able, the con
gregation numerous and respectable — what a pattern
such a church is often regarded ! Alas ! how little
satisfactory it may be to God. The eye that searches
and knows us penetrates to the heart, — it is there only
that God finds the genuine elements of worship. The
lowly sense of personal unworthiness, the wondering
contemplation of the Divine love, the eager longing
for mercy to pardon and grace to help, the faith that
grasps the promises, the hope that is anchored within
the veil, the kindness that breathes benediction all
round, the love that beareth all things, believeth all
things, hopeth all things, endureth all things, — it is these
things, breathing forth from the hearts of a congrega
tion, that give pleasure to God.
Or look at what often happens in secular life. See
how intensely eager some are about appearances.
Why, it is one of the stereotyped rules of society that
it is necessary " to keep up appearances." Well-born
people may have become poor, very poor, but they
must live to outward appearance as if they were rich.
Between rivals there may be a deadly jealousy, but
they must, by courtesy, keep up the form of friendship.
And in trade a substantial appearance must be given
to goods that are really worthless. And often, men
who are really mean and unprincipled must pose as
persons very particular about the right and very
indignant at the wrong. And some, meaner than the
common, must put on the cloak of religion, and establish
a character for sanctity.

«vLi-i3] DAVID ANOINTED BY SAMUEL. 259
The world is full of idolatries, but I question if any
idolatry has been more extensively practised than the
idolatry of the outward appearance. If there be less
of this in our day than perhaps a generation back,
it is because in these days of sifting and trial men
have learned in so many ways by hard experience
what a delusion it is to lean on such a broken reed.
Yes, and we have had men among us who from a
point of view not directly Christian have exposed the
shams and counterfeits of the age, — men like Carlyle,
who have sounded against them a trumpet blast which
has been echoed and re-echoed round the very globe.
But surely we do not need to go outside the Bible for
this great lesson. " Thou desirest truth in the inward
parts, and in the hidden part Thou shalt make me to
know wisdom ; " " If I regard iniquity in my heart, the
Lord will not hear me." Or if we pass to the New
Testament, what is the great lesson of the parable of
the Publican and the Pharisee ? The Publican was a
genuine man, an honest, humble, self-emptied sinner.
The Pharisee was a silly puffed-up pretender. The
world seems to think that all high profession must be
hollow. I need not say that such an opinion is utterly
untenable. The world would have you profess nothing,
lest you should not come up to it. Christ says,
" Abide in Me, so shall ye bear much fruit." It was
on this principle that St. Paul professed so much and
did so much. " The life that I live in the flesh, I live
by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave
Himself for me."
There is nothing to be said of the other sons of Jesse.
Only the youngest one remained, apparently too young to
be at the feast ; he was in the field, keeping the sheep.
"And Jesse sent and brought him in. Now he wa»

260 The fiRst Book of SamUeL.
ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance " (ntarg.
eyes), "and goodly to look to. And the Lord said,
Arise, anoint him, for this is he." Though goodly
to look at he was too young, too boyish to be preferred
on the score of " outward appearance." It was qualities
unseen, and as yet but little developed, that commended
him. Greatly astonished must Jesse and his other
sons have been to see Samuel pouring on the ruddy
stripling, the holy oil, and anointing him for whatever
the office might be. But it has often been God's way
to find His agents in unexpected places. Here a
great king is found in the sheepfold. In Joseph's time
a prime minister of Egypt was found in the prison.
Our Lord found His chief apostle in the school of
Gamaliel. The great Reformer of the sixteenth century
was found in a poor miner's cottage. God is never
at a loss for agents, and if the men fail that might
naturally have been looked for to do Him service
substitutes for them are not far to seek. Out of the
very stones He can raise up children to Abraham.
But it was not a mere arbitrary arrangement that
David should have been a shepherd before he was
king. There were many things in the one employment
that prepared the way for the other. In the East
the shepherd had higher rank and a larger sphere of
duties than is common with us. The duties of the
shepherd, to watch over his flock, to feed and protect
them, to heal the sick, bind up the broken, and bring
again that which was driven away, corresponded to
those which the faithfulear. j godly ruler owed to the
people committed to his sceptre. I. was from the
time of David that the shepherd phraseology began to
be applied to rulers and their people ; and .we hardly
carry away the full lesson that the prophets intended

xvi. 1-13.] DAVID ANOINTED BY SAMUEL. 261
to teach in their denunciations of " the shepherds that
fed themselves and not the flock " when we apply these
exclusively to the shepherds of souls. So appropriate
was the emblem of the shepherd for denoting the
right spirit and character of rulers, that it was
ultimately appropriated in a very high and peculiar
sense to the person and office of the Lord Jesus Christ.
But long ere he appeared King David had familiarised
men's minds with the kind of benefits that flow from
the sceptre of a shepherd-ruler — the kind of blessings
that were to flow in their fulness from Christ. Never
did he write a more expressive word than this, " The
Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." On the
groundwork of his own earthly kingdom he had
drawn the pattern of things in heavenly places, for
describing which in after times no language could be
found more suitable than that borrowed from his first;
occupation. But in full harmony with the character- of Old
Testament typology, the glory of the thing symbolized
was infinitely greater than the glory of the symbol.
Much though the nation owed to the godly administra
tion of him whom God " took from the sheepfold, and
brought from following the ewes great with young, to
feed Jacob His people and Israel His inheritance," these
benefits were shadows indeed when compared with the
blessings procured by the great " Shepherd of Israel,"
" the good Shepherd that giveth His life for the sheep,"
whose shephejrd care does not terminate with the life
that now is, bi&jwiir be exercised in eternity in feeding
them and leading them M^ living fountains of water,
where God sha^fwipe away 111' tears from their eyes.
There are other joints of typical resemblance between
Pani4 and Christ th^t demand our n°tice here. Jf it

262 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
was a strange-like thing for God to find the model
king of Israel in a sheepcot at Bethlehem, it was still
more so to find the Saviour of the world in a workshop
at Nazareth. But again ; King David was chosen for
qualities that did not fall in with the ordinary concep
tion of what was king-like, but qualities that commended
him to God ; and in the same manner the Lord Jesus
Christ, God's Elect, in whom His soul delighted, was
not marked by those attributes which men might have
considered suitable in one who was to gain the empire
of the world. " He shall grow up as a tender plant,
and as a root out of a dry ground ; He hath no form
nor comeliness, and when we shall see Him there is
no beauty that we should desire Him." In bodily
form the Lord Jesus would seem to have resembled
David rather than Saul. There is no reason to think.
that there was any great physical superiority in Christ,
that He was taller than the common, or that He was
distinguished by any of those physical features that
at first sight captivate men. And even in the region
of intellectual and spiritual influence, our Lord did not
conform to the type that naturally commands the con
fidence and admiration of the world. He had a still,
quiet manner. His eloquence did not flash, nor blaze,
nor flow like a torrent. The power of His words was
due more to their wonderful depth of meaning, going
straight to the heart of things, and to the aptness of
His homely illustrations. Our Lord's mode of conquest
was very remarkable. He conquered by gentleness,
by forbearance, by love, by sympathy, by self-denial.
He impressed men with the glory of sacrifice, the glory
of service, the glory of obedience, obedience to the one
great authority — the will of God — to which all obedience
is due. He inspired them with a love of purity,—

xvi. i-lj] DAVID ANOINTED BY SAMUEL. 263
purity of heart, purity after the highest pattern. If
you compare our blessed Lord with those who have
achieved great conquests, you cannot but see the
difference. I do not mean with conquerors like Alex
ander, or Csesar, or Napoleon. Napoleon himself at
St. Helena showed in a word the vast difference
between Christ and them. " Our conquests," said he,
" have been achieved by force, but Jesus achieved His
by love, and to-day millions would die for Him." But
look at some who have conquered by gentler means.
Take such men as Socrates, or Plato, or Aristotle.
They achieved great intellectual conquests — they founded
intellectual empires. But the intellect of Jesus Christ
was of another order from theirs. He propounded no
theory of the universe, He did not affect to explain
the world of reason, He did not profess to lay bare
the laws of the human mind, or prescribe conditions
for the welfare of states. What strikes us about
Christ's method of influence is its quiet homeliness.
Yet quiet and homely though it was and is, how pro
digious, how unprecedented has been its power ! What
other king of men has wielded a tithe of His influence ?
And that not with one class of society, but with all ,
not only with the poor and uneducated, but with thinkers
and men of genius as well ; not only with men and women
who know the world, and know their own hearts and
all their wants, and apprehend the fitness of Christ to
supply them, but even with little children, in the simple
unconsciousness of opening years. For out of the
mouths of babes and sucklings He hath perfected
praise. Now let us mark this also, in conclusion, that
besides being a King Himself Jesus makes all His
people kings to God. Every Christian is designed to

THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.

be a ruler, an unconscious one it may be, but one who
exercises an influence in the same direction as Christ's.
How can you accomplish this ? By first of all drinking
into Christ's spirit, looking out on the world as He
did, with compassion, sympathy, self-sacrifice, and an
ardent desire for its renovation and its happiness. By
walking "worthy of the vocation wherewith you are
called." Not by the earthquake, or by the tempest, but
by the still small voice. By quiet, steady, persistent
love, goodness, and self-denial. These are the true
Christian weapons, often little thought of, but really
the armour of God, and weapons mighty to the pulling
down of strongholds and the subjugation of the world
to Christ.

CHAPTER XXIII.
DAVID'S EARLY LIFE*
I Samuel xvi. 14-23.
BEFORE we enter at large into the incident of
which these verses form the record it is desirable
to settle, as far as we can, the order of events in the
early life of David.
After being anointed by Samuel, David would pro
bably return to his work among the sheep. It is quite
possible that some years elapsed before anything else
occurred to vary the monotony of his first occupation.
The only interruption likely to have occurred to his
shepherd life would be, intercourse with Samuel.
It is rather striking that nothing is said, nothing is
even hinted, as to the private relations that prevailed
in youth between him and the venerable prophet who
had anointed him with the holy oil. But it cannot be
supposed that Samuel would just return to Ramah
without any further communication with the youth that
was to play so important a part in the future history of
the country. If Saul, with all his promising qualities
at the beginning, had greatly disappointed him, he
could only be the more anxious on that account about
the disposition and development of David. The fact
that after David became the object of the murderous
* A few paragraphs on tbe Life of David are reproduced from th*
author's book " David, King ol Israel,"

266 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
jealousy of Saul, it was to Samuel he came when he
fled from the court to tell what had taken place, and to
ask advice (ch. xix. 18, 19), seems to indicate that the
two men were on intimate terms, and therefore that
they had been much together before. Whether David
derived his views of government, from Samuel, or
whether they were impressed on him directly by the
Spirit of God, it is certain that they were the very
same as those which Samuel cherished so intensely,
and which he sought so earnestly to impress on Saul.
God's imperial sovereignty, and the earthly king's
entire subordination to him ; the standing of the people
as God's people, God's heritage, and the duty of the
king to treat them as such, and do all that he could
for their good ; the infinite and inexhaustible privilege
involved in this relation, making all coquetting with
false gods shameful, dishonouring to God, and dis
astrous to the people, — were ruling principles with
Samuel and David alike. If David was never formally
a pupil of Samuel's, informally he must have been so
to a large extent. Samuel lived in David ; and the
complacency which the old prophet must have had in
his youthful friend, and his pleasure in observing the
depth of his loyalty to God, and his eager interest in
the highest welfare of the people, must have greatly
mitigated his distress at the rejection of Saul, and
revived his hope of better days for Israel.
As David grew in years, but before he ceased to be
a boy, he might acquire that local reputation as "a
mighty valiant man and a man of war" which his
friend referred to when he first mentioned him to Saul.
In him as in Jonathan faith gendered a habit of dash
and daring which could not be suppressed in the days
Qf eager boyhood. The daring insolence of the Philis-

xvi. 14-23.] DAVID'S EARLY LIFE. 267
tines, whose country lay but a few miles to the west of
Bethlehem, might afford him opportunities -for deeds
of boyish valour. Jerusalem, the stronghold of the
Jebusites, was but two hours distant from Bethlehem,
and on tlie part of its people, too, collisions with
Israelites were doubtless liable to occur. It may
have bee.'i now, or possibly a little later, that the con
test occurred with the lion and the bear. The country
round Bethlehem was not a peaceful paradise, and the
career of a shepherd was not the easy life of lovesick
swains which poets dream.
It was at this period of David's life that Saul's pecu
liar malady took that form which suggested the use of
music to soothe his nervous irritation. His courtiers
recommended that he should seek out a cunning player
on the harp, whose soothing strains would calm him in
the paroxysms of his ailment. Obviously, it was desir
able that one who was to be so close to a king so full
of the military spirit as Saul should have a touch of
that spirit himself. David had become known to one
of the courtiers, who at once mentioned him as in all
respects suitable for the berth. Saul accordingly sent
messengers to Jesse, bidding him send to him David
his son, who was with the sheep. And David came
to Saul. But his first visit seems to have been quite
short. Saul's attacks were probably occasional, and at
first long intervals may have occurred between them.
When he recovered from the attack at which David had
been sent for, the cunning harper was needed no longer,
and would naturally return home. He may have been
but a very short time with Saul, too short for much
acquaintance being formed. But it is the way of the
historians of Scripture, when a topic has once been
introduced, to pursue it to its issues without note 9?

268 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
the events that came between. The writer having indi
cated how David was first brought into contact with
Saul, as his musician, pursues the subject of their re
lation, without mentioning that the fight with Goliath
occurred between. Some critics have maintained that
in this book we have two accounts of David's introduc
tion to Saul, accounts which contradict one another.
In the first of them he became known to him first as
a musician sent for in the height of his attack. In the
other it is as the conqueror of Goliath he appears before
Saul. It is the fact that neither Saul nor any of his
people knew on this occasion who he was that is so
strange. According to our view the order of events
was this : David's first visit to Saul to play before him
on his harp was a very short one. Some time after
the conflict with Goliath occurred. David's appearance
/iad probably changed considerably, so that Saul did not
recognize him. It was now that Saul attached David
to himself, kept him permanently, and would not let him
return to his father's house (ch. xviii. 2). And while
David acted as musician, playing to him on his harp in
the paroxysms of his ailment (ch. xviii. 10), he went out
at his command on military expeditions, and acquired
great renown as a warrior (ch. xviii. 5). Thus, to turn
back to the sixteenth chapter, the last two verses of that
chapter record the permanent office before Saul which
David came to fill after the slaughter of the Philistine.
In fact, we find in that chapter, as often elsewhere, a
brief outline of the whole course of events, some of which
are filled up in minute detail in the chapter following.
Having thus settled the chronology, or rather the
order of events in David's early history, it may be well
now to examine more fully that period of his life, in
§0 far as we have any materials for doing so,

xvi. 14-23.] DAVIDS EARLY LIFE. 269
According to the chronology of the Authorized
Version, the birth of David must have occurred about
the year before Christ 1080. It was about a hundred
years later than the date commonly assigned to the
Trojan war, and therefore a considerable time before
the dawn of authentic history, at least among the
Greeks or the Romans. The age of David succeeded
what might be called the heroic age of Hebrew history ;
in one sense, indeed, it was a continuation of that
period. Samson, the latest, and in some sense the
greatest of the Jewish heroes, had perished not very
long before ; and the scene of his birth and of some of
his most famous exploits lay within a very few miles
of Bethlehem. In David's boyhood old men would
still be living who had seen and talked with the Hebrew
Hercules, and from whose lips high-spirited boys would
hear, with sparkling eye and heaving bosom, the story
of his exploits and the tragedy of his death. The whole
neighbourhood would swarm with songs and legends
illustrative of the deeds of those mighty men of valour,
that eversince the sojourn in Egypt had been conferring
renown on the Hebrew name. The mind of boyhood
delights in such narratives ; they rouse the soul, ex
pand the imagination, and create sympathy with all
that is brave' and noble. We cannot doubt that such
things had a great effect on the susceptible temperament
of the youthful David, and contributed some elements
of that manly and invincible spirit which remained so
prominent in his character.
But a much more important factor in determining his
character and shaping his life was the religious awaken
ing in which Samuel had so prominent a share. Not a
word b said anywhere of the manner in which David's
heart was first turned to God; but this must have

«70 THE FIRST BOjK OF SAMUEL
been in his earliest years. We think of David as we
think of Samuel, or Jeremiah, or Josiah, or John the
Baptist, as sanctified to the Lord from his very child
hood. God chose him at the very outset in a more
vital sense than He afterwards chose him to be king.
In the exercise of that mysterious sovereignty which
we are unable to fathom, God made his youthful heart
a plot of good soil, into which when the seed fell it
bore fruit an hundredfold. In strong contrast to Saul,
whose early sympathies were against the ways and
will of God, those of David were warmly for them.
Samuel would find him an eager and willing listener
when he spoke to him of God and His ways. How
strange are the differences of young persons, in this
respect, when they come first under the instructions of
a minister or other servant of God ! Some so earnest,
so attentive, so impressed; so ready to drink in all
that is said; treasuring it, hiding it in their hearts,
rejoicing in it like those that find great spoil. Others
so hard to bring into line, so glad of an excuse for
absence, so difficult to interest, so fitful and uncon
cerned. No doubt much depends on the skill of the
teacher in working upon anything in their minds that
gives even a faint response to the truth. And in no
case is the aversion of the heart beyond the power of
the Holy Spirit to influence and to change. But for
all that, we cannot but acknowledge the mysterious
sovereignty which through causes we cannot trace
makes one man so to differ from another ; which made
Abel so different from Cain, Isaac from Ishmael, Moses
from Balaam, and David from Saul.
Was David at any time a member of any of the
schools of the prophets? We cannot say with certainty,
but wh§n we ponder what we read about them it

xvi. 14-23.] DAVID'S EARLY LIFE. 271
seems very likely that he was. These schools seem to
have enjoyed in an eminent degree the gracious power
of the Holy Spirit. The hearts of the inmates seem to
have burned with the glow of devotion ; the emotions
of holy joy with which they were animated could not
be restrained, but poured out from them, like streams
from a gushing fountain, in holy songs and ascriptions
to God; and such was the overpowering influence of
this spirit that for a time it infected even cold-hearted
men like Saul, and bore them along, as an enthusiastic
crowd gathers up stragglers and sweeps them onward
in its current. It seems highly probable that it was in
connection with these institutions, on which so signal
a blessing rested, that the devotional spirit became so
powerful in David afterwards poured out so freely in
his Psalms. For surely he could not be in the com
pany of men who were so full of the Spirit without
sharing their experience and pouring forth the feelings
that stirred his soul.
We all believe in some degree in the law of heredity,
and find it interesting to trace the features of forefathers,
physical and spiritual, in the persons of their descend
ants. The piety, the humanity, and the affectionateness
of Boaz and Ruth form a beautiful picture in the early
Hebrew history, and seem to come before us anew in
the character of David. Boaz was remarkable for the
fatherly interest he took in his dependants, for his
generous kindness to the poor, and for a spirit of gentle
piety that breathed oven through his secular life. Was
it not the same spirit that dictated the benediction,
" Blessed is he that considereth the poor ; the Lord will
deliver him in time of trouble"? Was it not the same
interest in the welfare of dependants that David showed
when " he dealt among the people, even the whole mul-

27a THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
titude of Israel, as well to the women as to the men, to
every one a cake of bread, and a good piece of flesh,
and a flagon of wine ? Ruth again was remarkable for
the extraordinary depth and tenderness of her affection ;
her words to Naomi have never been surpassed as an
expression of simple, tender feeling : " Entreat me not
to leave thee, nor to return from following after thee ;
for whither thou goest I will go, and where thou lodgest
I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy
God my God." Does not this extraordinary tenderness
seem to have fallen undiminished to the man who had
such an affection for Jonathan, who showed such emo
tion on the illness of his infant child, and poured out
such a flood of anguish on the death of Absalom ?
The history of Boaz and Ruth would surely take hold
very early of his mind. The very house in which he
lived, the fields where he tended his sheep, every object
around him, might have associations with their memory;
aged people might tell him stories of their benevolence,
and pious people give him traditions of their godliness,
and thus an element would be contributed to a character
in which the tenderness of a woman and the piety of
a saint were combined with the courage and energy
of a man.
The birthplace of David, Bethlehem, is more remark
able for its moral associations than its natural features.
Well has it been said by Edward Robinson of the place
where both David and Jesus were born, "What a mighty
influence for good has gone forth from this little spot
upon the human race both for time and for eternity 1 "
It was situated some six miles to the south of Jerusalem,
and about twice that distance to the north of Hebron.
The present town is built upon the north and north-east
elope of a long grey ridge, with a deep valley in front

xvi. 14-23.] DAVID'S EARLY LIFE. 273
and another behind, uniting at no great distance, and
running down toward the Dead Sea. The country
around is hilly, but hardly beautiful ; the limestone
rock gives a bare appearance to the hills, which is not
redeemed by boldness of form or picturesqueness of
outline. The fields, though stony and rough, produce
good crops of grain; olive groves, fig-orchards, and
vineyards abound both in the valleys-and on the gentler
slopes; the higher and wilder tracts were probably
devoted to the pasturing of flocks. The whole tract in
which Hebron, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem are situated
is elevated nearly four thousand feet above the level of
Jordan and the Dead Sea on the one side, and between
two and three thousand feet above the Mediterranean on
the other. Among these hills and valleys David spent
his youth, watching the flocks of his father.
We have seen that the life of a shepherd in those
scenes was not without its times of danger, making great
demands on the shepherd's courage and affection. In
the main, however, it was a quiet life, affording copious
opportunities for meditation and for quiet study. It
was the great privilege of David to see much of God
in His works and to commune with Him therein.
The Psalms are full of allusions to the varied aspects
of nature — the mountains, the rocks, the rivers, the
valleys, the forests, the lightning, the thunder, the
whirlwind. It is not easy to say how much of the written Word
existed in David's time, but at the most it could be but
a fragment of what we now possess. But if the mines
of revelation were few, all the more eager was his
search for their hidden treasures. And David had the
advantage of using what we may call a pictorial Bible.
When he read of the destruction of Sodom he could
vol. L 1 8

274 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.

see the dark wall of Moab frowning over the lake near
to which the guilty cities were consumed by the fire
of heaven. When he paused to think of the solemn
transactions at Machpelah, he could see in the distance
the very spot where so much sacred dust was gathered.
Close by his daily haunts one pillar marked the place
where God spake to Jacob, and another the spot where
poor Rachel died. In the dark range of Moab yon
lofty peak was the spot whence Moses had his view
and Balaam his vision. It was from that eminence
the prophet from Pethor saw a star come out of Jacob
and a sceptre rise out of Israel that should smite the
corners of Moab and destroy all the children of Seth.
The sympathy with God fostered by these studies and
meditations was of the closest kind ; an unusually cleai
and impressive knowledge seems to have been acquired
of the purpose of God concerning Israel ; drinking in
himself the lessons of revelation, he was becoming
qualified to become the instrument of the Holy Spirit
for those marvellous contributions to its canon which
he was afterwards honoured to make.
And among these hills and valleys, too, David would
acquire his proficiency in the two very different arts
which were soon to make him famous — the use of the
sling and the use of the harp. It seems to have been
his ambition, whatever he did, to do it in the best
possible way. His skill in the use of the sling was so
perfect that he could project a stone even at a small
object with unerring certainty. His harp was probably
a very simple instrument, small enough to be carried
about with him, but in handling it he acquired the
same perfect skill as in handling his sling. In his
hands it became a wonderfully expressive instrument.
And hence when Saul required a skilful musician to

xvi. 14-23.] DA VIDS EARLY LIFE. 275
soothe him, the known gifts of the young shepherd
of Bethlehem pointed him out as the man.
Of the influence of music in remedying disorders of
the nerves there is no want of evidence. " Bochart has
collected many passages from profane writers which
speak of the medicinal effects of music on the mind and
body, especially as appeasing anger and soothing and
pacifying a troubled spirit " (Speaker's Commentary). A
whole book was written on the subject by Caspar Lses-
cherus, Professor of Divinity at Wittenberg (a.d. 1688).
Kitto and other writers have added more recent in
stances. It is said of Charles IX of France that after
the massacre of St. Bartholomew his sleep was dis
turbed by nightly horrors, and he could only be com
posed to rest by a symphony of singing boys. Philip V.
of Spain, being seized with deep dejection of mind
that unfitted him for all public duties, a celebrated
musician was invited to surprise the king by giving a
concert in the neighbouring apartment to his majesty's,
with the effect that the king roused himself from his
lethargy and resumed his duties. We may readily
believe that in soothing power the harp was not
inferior to any of the other instruments.
Still, with all its success, it was but a poor method of
soothing a troubled spirit compared to the methods that
David was afterwards to employ. It dealt chiefly with
man's physical nature, it soothed the nervous system,
and removed the hindrance which their disorder caused
to the action of the powers of the mind. It did not
strike at the root of all trouble — alienation from God ;
it did not attempt to :reate and apply the only per
manent remedy for trouble — trust in a loving Father's
care. It was a mere foreshadow, on a comparatively
low and earthly ground, of the way in which David, as

*76 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
the Psalmist, was afterwards to provide the true "oil
of joy for the mourner," and to become a guide to the
downcast soul from the fearful pit and the miry clay
up to the third heaven of joy and peace. The sounds
of his har pcould only operate by an influence felt alike
by saint and sinner in soothing an agitated frame;
but with the words of his Psalms, the Divine Spirit,
by whose inspiration they were poured out, was in all
coming ages to unite Himself, and to use them for
showing the sin-burdened soul the true cause of its
misery, and for leading it by a holy path, sorrowing
yet rejoicing, to the home of its reconciled Father.
It is a painful thing to see any one in overwhelming
trouble ; it is doubly painful to see kings and others in
high places miserable amid all their splendours, helpless
amid all their resources. Alas, O spirit of man, what
awful trials thou art subject to I Well mayest thou
sometimes envy the very animals around thee, which, if
they have no such capacities of enjoyment as thou hast,
have on the other hand no such capacities of misery.
The higher our powers and position, the more awful the
anguish when anything goes wrong. Yet hast thou
not, O man, a capacity to know that thy misery cannot
be remedied till the cause of it is removed ? Prodigal
son, there is but one way to escape a miserable life.
Arise, go to thy Father. See how He is in Christ
reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing to men
their trespasses. Accept His offers and be at peace.
Receive His Spirit and your disorder shall be healed.
I own that not even then can we assure you of freedom
from grievous sorrows. The best of men in this world
have often most grievous sufferings. But they are
strengthened to bear them while they last ; they are
assured that all things work together for good to them

xvi. 14-23.] DAVID'S EARLY LIFE. 2?7
that love God, to them that are the called according to
His purpose ; and they know that when " the earthly
house of their tabernacle is dissolved, they have a
building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal
in the heavens."

CHAPTER XXIV.
DAVID'S CONFLICI' WITH GOLIATB
i Samuel xvii.
THESE irrepressible Philistines were never long
recovering from their disasters. The victory of
Jonathan had been impaired by the exhaustion of the
soldiers, caused by Saul's fast preventing them from
pursuing the enemy as far, and destroying their force
as thoroughly, as they might have done. A new attack
was organised against Israel, headed by a champion,
Goliath of Gath, whose height must have approached
the extraordinary stature of ten feet. Against this
army Saul arrayed his force, and the two armies
fronted each other on opposite sides of the valley of
Elah. This valley has generally been identified with
that which now bears the name of Wady-es-Sumt — a
valley running down from the plateau of Judah to
the Philistine plain, not more than perhaps eight or
ten miles from Bethlehem. The Philistine champion
appears to have been a man of physical strength
corresponding to the massiveness of his body. The
weight of his coat of mail is estimated at more than
one hundred and fifty pounds, and the head of his
spear eighteen pounds. Remembering the extraordinary
feats of Samson, the Philistines might well fancy that
it was new their turn to boast of a Hercules. Day
after day Goliath presented himself before the army ol

xvii.] DAVID'S CONFLICT WITH GOLIATH. 2?9
Israel, calling proudly for a foeman worthy of his steel,
and demanding that in default of any one able to fight
with him and kill him, the Israelites should abandon
all dream of independence, and become vassals of the
Philistines. And morning and evening, for nearly six
weeks, had this proud challenge been given, but never
once accepted. Even Jonathan, who had faith enough
and courage enough and skill enough for so much,
seems to have felt himself helpless in this great dilemma.
The explanation that has sometimes been given of his
abstention, that it was not etiquette for a king's son to
engage in fight with a commoner, can hardly hold water;
Jonathan showed no such squeamishness at Michmash ;
and besides, in cases of desperation etiquette has to be
thrown to the winds. Of the host of Israel, we read
simply that they were dismayed. Nor does Saul seem
to have renewed the attempt to get counsel of God
after his experience on the day of Jonathan's victory.
The Israelites could only look on in grim humiliation,
sullenly guarding the pass by the valley into their
territories, but returning a silent refusal to the demand
of the Philistines either to furnish a champion or to
become their servants.
The coming of David upon the scene corresponded
in its accidental character to the coming of Saul into
contact with Samuel, to be designated for the throne.
Everything seemed to be casual, yet those things which
seemed most casual were really links in a providential
chain leading to the gravest issues. It seemed to be by
chance that David had three brothers serving in Saul's
army ; it seemed also to be by chance that their father
sent his youthful shepherd son to inquire after their
welfare; it was not by design that as he saluted his
brethren Goliath came up and David heard his words

z8o The first book op samuEL
of defiance ; still less was it on purpose to wait for
David that Saul had sent no one out as yet to encounter
the Philistine ; and nothing could have appeared more
ridiculous than that the challenge should wait to be
answered by the stripling shepherd, who, with his
sling and shepherd's bag thrown over his shoulder, had
so little of the appearance of a man of war. It seemed
very accidental, too, that the only part of the giant's
person that was not thoroughly defended by his
armour, his eyes and a morsel of his forehead above
them, was the only part of him on which a small stone
from a sling could have inflicted a fatal injury. But
obviously all these were parts of the providential plan
by which David was at once to confer on his country a
signal boon, and to raise his name to the pinnacle of
fame. And, as usual, all the parts of this pre-arranged
plan fell out without constraint or interference ; a
new proof that Divine pre-ordination does not impair
the liberty of man.
One cannot but wonder whether, in offering his
prayers that morning, David had any presentiment of
the trial that awaited him, anything to impel him to
unwonted fervour in asking God that day to establish
the works of his hands upon him. There is no reason
to think that he had. His prayers that morning were
in all likelihood his usual prayers. And if he was
sincere in the expression of his own sense of weakness,
and in his supplication that God would strengthen him
for all the day's duties, it was enough. Oh ! how little
we know what may be before us, on some morning that
dawns on us just as other days, but which is to form a
great crisis in our life. How little the boy that is to
tell his first lie that day thinks of the serpent that is
lying in wait for him 1 How little the girl that is to

xvii.] DAVID'S CONFLICT WITH GOLIATH. 281
fall in with her betrayer thinks of the snare preparing
for her body and her soul I How little the party that
are to be upset in the pleasure boat and consigned to
a watery grave think how the day is to end ! Should
we not pray more really, more earnestly if we did
realise these possibilities ? True, indeed, the future is
hid from us, and we do not usually experience the
impulse to earnestness which it would impart. But is
it not a good habit, as you kneel each morning, to think,
" For aught I know, this may be the most important day
of my life. The opportunity may be given me of doing
a great service in the cause of truth and righteousness ;
or the temptation may assail me to deny my Lord and
ruin my soul. O God, be not far from me this day ;
prepare me for all that Thou preparest for me 1 "
The distance from Bethlehem being but a few hours'
walk, David starting in the morning would arrive early
in the day at the quarters of the army. When he
heard the challenge of the Philistine he was astonished
to find that no one had taken it up. There was a mys
tery about this, about the cowardice of his countrymen,
perhaps about the attitude of Jonathan, that he could
not solve. Accordingly, with all that earnestness and
curiosity with which one peers into all the circumstances
surrounding a mystery, he asked, what encouragement
there was to volunteer, what reward was any one to
receive who should kill this Philistine? Not that he
personally was caring about the reward, but he wished
to solve the mystery. It is evident that the considera
tion that moved David himself was that the Philistine
had defied the armies of the living God. It was the
same arrogant claim to be above the God of Israel,
which had puffed up their minds when they took posses
sion of the ark and placed it in the temple of their god.

*82 THE FIRST BOOK OP SAMUEL.
" You thought so that day," David might mutter, " but
what did you think next morning, when the mutilated
image of your god lay prostrate on the floor ? Please
God, your sensations to-morrow, yea, this very fore
noon, shall be such as they were then." The spirit of
faith started into full and high activity, and the same
kind of inspiration that had impelled Jonathan to climb
into the garrison at Michmash now impelled David to
vindicate the blasphemed name of Jehovah. Was it
the flash of this inspiration in his eye, was it the tone
of it in his voice, was it the consciousness that some
thing desperate was to follow in the way of personal
faith and daring, that roused the temper of Eliab, and
drew from him a withering rebuke of the presumption
of the stripling that dared to meddle with such matters ?
Eliab certainly did not spare him. Elder brothers are
seldom remiss in rebuking the presumption of younger.
" Why earnest thou down hither ? And with whom
hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness ? I
know thy pride and the naughtiness of thy heart ; for
thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle."
Irritating though such language was, it was borne with
admirable meekness. " What have I now done ? Is
there not a cause ? " " He that ruleth his spirit is
greater than he that taketh a city." Eliab showed
himself defeated by his own temper, a most mortifying
defeat; David held his temper firmly in command.
Which was the greater, which the better man ? And
the short question he put to Eliab was singularly apt,
" Is there not a cause ? " When all you men of war
are standing helpless and perplexed in the face of this
great national insult, is there not a cause why I should
inquire into the matter, if, by God's help, I can do any
thing for my God and my people ?

xvii.] DAVID'S CONFLICT WITH GOLIATH. 283
Undaunted by his brother's volley, he turned to
some one else, and obtained a similar answer to his
questions. Inspiration is a rapid process, and the
course for him to pursue was now fully determined
upon. His indignant tone and confident reliance on
the God of Israel, so unlike the tone of every one else,
excited the attention of the bystanders ; they rehearsed
his words to Saul, and Saul sent for him. And when
he came to Saul, there was not the slightest trace ot
fear or faintheartedness about him. " Let no man's
heart fail because of him ; thy servant will go and fight
with this Philistine." Brave words, but, as Saul thinks,
very foolish. " You go and fight with the Philistine ?
you a mere shepherd boy, who never knew the brunt
of battle, and he a man of war from his youth ? " Yes,
Saul, that is just the way for you to speak, with
your earthly way of viewing things ; you, who measure
strength only by a carnal standard, who know nothing
of the faith that removes mountains, who forget the
meaning of the name Isra-el, and never spent an
hour as Jacob spent his night at Peniel 1 Listen to
the reply of faith. " And David said unto Saul, Thy
servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion
and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock ; and I
went out after him and smote him, and delivered it out
of his mouth ; and when he arose against me I caught
him by his beard, and smote him and slew him. Thy
servant slew both the lion and the bear; and this
uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing
he hath defied the armies of the living God. David
said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the
paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He
will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine."
Could there have been a nobler exercise of faith,

284 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
a finer instance of a human spirit taking hold of the
Invisible ; fortifying itself against material perils by
realizing the help of an unseen God ; resting on His
sure word as on solid rock ; flinging itself fearlessly
on a very sea of dangers ; confident of protection and
victory from Him ? The only help to faith was the
emembrance of the encounter with the lion and the
bear, and the assurance that the same gracious help
would be vouchsafed now. But no heart that was not
full of faith would have thought of that, either as an
evidence that God worked by him then, or as a sure
pledge that God would work by him now. How many
in adventurer or sportsman, that in some encounter with
wild animals has escaped death by the very skin of his
teeth, thinks only of his luck, or the happiness of the
thought that led him to do so and so in what seemed
the very article of death ? A deliverance of this kind
is no security against a like deliverance afterwards' ; it
can give nothing more than a hope of escape. The
faith of David recognized God's merciful hand in the
first deliverance, and that gave an assurance of it in
the other. What ! would that God that had helped him to
rescue a lamb fail him while trying to rescue a nation ?
Would that God that had sustained him when all that
was involved was a trifling loss to his father fail him
in a combat that involved the salvation of Israel and the
honour of Israel's God ? Would He who had subdued
for him the lion and the bear when they were but
obeying the instincts of their nature, humiliate him in
conflict with one who was defying the armies of the
living God ? The remembrance of this deliverance
confirmed his faith and urged him to the conflict, and
the victory which faith thus gained was complete.
It swept the decks clear of every vestige of terror;

xvii.] DAVID'S CONFLICT WITH GOLIATH. 285
it went right to the danger, without a particle of
misgiving. There are two ways in which faith may assert its
supremacy. One, afterwards very familiar to David,
is, when it has first to struggle hard with distrust and
fear ; when it has to come to close quarters with the
suggestions of the carnal mind, grapple with these in
mortal conflict, strangle them, and rise up victorious
over them. For most men, most believing men, it is
only thus that faith rises to her throne. The other
way is, to spring to her throne in a moment ; to assert
her authority, free and independent, utterly regardless
of all that would hamper her, as free from doubt and
misgiving as a little child in his father's arms, conscious
that whatever is needed that father will provide. It
was this simple, child-like, but most triumphant exercise
of faith that David showed in undertaking this conflict.
Happy .they who are privileged with such an attain
ment 1 Only let us beware of despairing if we cannot
attain to this prompt, instinctive faith. Let us fall
back with patience on that other process where we
have to fight in the first instance with our fears and
misgivings, driving them from us as David had often
to do afterwards : " Why art thou cast down, O my
soul, and why art thou disquieted in me? Hope in
God, for I will yet praise Him who is the health of
my countenance and my God."
And now David prepared himself for the contest
Saul, ever carnal, and trusting only in carnal devices,
is fain to clothe him in his armour, and David makes
trial of his coat of mail; but he is embarrassed by a
heavy covering to which he is not accustomed, and
which only impedes the freedom of his arm. It is plain
enough that it is not in Saul's panoply that he can meet

286 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
the Philistine. He must fall back on simpler means.
Choosing five smooth stones out of the brook, with his
shepherd's staff in one hand and his sling in the other,
he drew near to the Philistine. When Goliath saw him
no words were bitter enough for his scorn. He had
sought a warrior to fight with; he gets a boy to annihilate.
It is a paltry business. " Come to me, and I will give
thy flesh to the fowls of the air and to the beasts of the
fields." 'Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man
glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory
in his might." Was ever such proof given of the sin
and folly of boasting as in the case of Goliath ? And yet,
as we should say, how natural it was for Goliath ! But
pride goeth beforedestruction, and a haughty spirit before
a fall. In the spiritual conflict it is the surest presage of
defeat. It was the Goliath spirit that puffed up St. Peter
when he said to his Master, " Lord, I will go with Thee
to prison and to death." It is the same spirit against
which St. Paul gives his remarkable warning, " Let him
that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." Can
it be said that it is a spirit that Churches are always
free from ? Are they never tempted to boast of the
talents of their leading men, the success of their
movements, and their growing power and influence in
the community ? And does not God in His providence
constantly show the sin and folly of such boasting?
"Because thou sayest, I am rich and increased with
goods, and have need of nothing, and knowest not that
thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind,
and naked."
In beautiful contrast with the scornful self-confidence
of Goliath was the simplicity of spirit and the meek,
humble reliance on God, apparent in David's answer:
" Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear

xvii.] DAVID'S CONFLICT WITH GOLIATH. 287
and with a shield ; but I come to thee in the name of
the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom
thor hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee
into my hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine
head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the
Philistines this day to the fowls of the air and to the
wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know
that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly
shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and
spear; for the battle is the Lord's, and He will give
you into our hand."
What a reality God was to David ! He advanced
"as seeing Him who is invisible." Guided by the wisdom
of God, he chose his method of attack, with all the
simplicity and certainty of genius. Conscious that God
was with him, he fearlessly met the enemy. A man
of less faith might have been too nervous to take the
proper aim. Undisturbed by any fear of missing, David
hurls the stone from his sling, hits the giant on the
unprotected part of his forehead, and in a moment has
him reeling on the ground. Advancing to his prostrate
foe, he seizes his sword, cuts off his head, and affords
to both friends and foes unmistakable evidence thaf
his opponent is dead. Rushing from their tents, the
Philistines fly towards their own country, hotly pursued
by the Israelites. It was in these pursuits of flying
foes that the greatest slaughter occurred in those Eastern
countries, and the whole road was strewn with the
dead bodies of the foe to the very gates of Ekron and
Gaza. In this pursuit, however, David did not mingle.
With the head of the Philistine in his hands, he came
to Saul. It is said that afterwards he took the head of
Goliath to Jerusalem, which was then occupied, at least
in part, by the Benjamites (Judges i. 21), though the

288 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
stronghold of Zion was in the hands cf ih\ T "-bushes
(2 Gam. v. 7). We do not know why Jens* ti was
chosen for depositing this ghastly trophy. All ':'. it it is
necessary to say in relation to this is, thit si'. ing it
was only the stronghold of Zion that is said f; have
been held by the Jebusites, there is no ground fcr the
objection which some critics have taken to the narrative
that it cannot be correct, since Jerusalem was not yet
in the hands of the Israelites.
It cannot be doubted that David continued to hold
the same conviction as before the battle, that it was
not he that conquered, but God. We cannot doubt
that after the battle he showed the same meek and
humble spirit as before. Whatever surprise his victory
might be to the tens of thousands who witnessed it, it
was no surprise to him. He knew beforehand that he
could trust God, and the result showed that he was
right. But that very spirit of implicit trust in God by
which he was so thoroughly influenced kept him from
taking any of the glory to himself. God had chosen
him to be His instrument, but he had no credit from
the victory for himself. His feeling that day was the
very same as his feeling at the close of his military
life, when the Lord had delivered him out of the hand
of all his enemies : — " The Lord is my rock, my fortress,
and my deliverer ; the God of my rock, in Him will I
trust ; He is my shield and the horn of my salvation,
my high tower and my refuge, my saviour; Thou
savest me from violence."
While David was preparing to fight with the Philis
tine, Saul asked Abner whose son he was. Strange
to say, neither Abner nor any one else could tell. Nor
could the question be answered till David came back
from his victory, and told the king that he was the son

xvii.] DAVID'S CONFLICT WITH GOLIATH. 289
of Jesse the Bethlehemite. We have already remarked
that it was strange that Saul should not have recog
nized him, inasmuch as he had formerly given attendance
on the king to drive away his evil spirit by means of
his harp. In explanation it has been urged by some
that David's visit or visits to Saul at that time may
have been very brief, and as years may have elapsed
since his last visit, his appearance may have so changed
as to prevent recognition. On the part of others,
another explanation has been offered. Saul may have
recognized David at first, but he did not know his
family. Now that there was a probability of his be
coming the king's son-in-law, it was natural that Saul
should be anxious to know his connections. The
question put to Abner was, Whose son is this youth ?
The commission given to him was to enquire " whose
son the stripling is." And the information given by
David was, " I am the son of thy servant Jesse the
Bethlehemite." It may be added that there is some
difficulty about the text of this chapter. It seems as if
somehow two independent accounts of David had been
mixed together. And in one important version of the
Septuagint several passages that occur in the received
text are omitted, certainly with the result of removing
some difficulties as the passage stands.
It is not possible to read this chapter without some
thought of the typical character of David, and indeed
the typical aspect of the conflict in which he was now
engaged. We find an emblematic picture of the con
quest of Messiah and His Church. The self-confident
boasting of the giant, strong in the resources of carnal
might, and incapable of appreciating the unseen and
invincible power of a righteous man in a righteous
cause, is precisely the spirit in which opposition to
VOL. I, 19

2go THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
Christ has been usually given, " Let us break their
bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us."
The contempt shown for the lowly appearance of David,
the undisguised scorn at the notion that through such
a stripling any deliverance could come to his people,
has its counterpart in the feeling towards Christ and
His Gospel to which the Apostle alludes : " We preach
Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to
the Greeks foolishness." The calm self-possession of
David, the choice of simple but suitable means, and the
thorough reliance on Jehovah which enabled him to
conquer, were all exemplified, in far higher measure,
in the moral victories of Jesus, and they are still the
weapons which enable His people to overcome. The
sword of Goliath turned against himself, the weapon
by which he was to annihilate his foe, employed by
that very foe to sever his head from his body, was
an emblem of Satan's weapons turned by Christ against
Satan, " through death he destroyed him that had the
power of death, and delivered them who all their life
time were subject to bondage." The representative
character of David, fighting, not for himself alone but
the whole nation, was analogous to the representative
character of Christ. And the shout that burst from
the ranks of Israel and Judah when they saw the
champion of the Philistines fall, and the enemy betake
themselves in consternation to flight, foreshadowed
the joy of redeemed men when the reality of Christ's
salvation flashes on their hearts, and they see the
enemies that have been harassing them repulsed and
scattered — a joy to be immeasurably magnified when
all enemies are finally conquered, and the loud voice is
heard in heaven, " Now is come salvation, and strength,
and the kingdom of our God and the power of His

xvii.] DAVID'S CONFLICT WITH GOLIATH. 291
Christ ; for the accuser of our brethren is cast down,
that accused them before our God day and night."
Lastly, while we are instructed by the study of this
conflict, let us be animated by it too. Let us learn
never to quail at carnal might arrayed against the cause
of God. Let us never fear to attack sin, however
apparently invincible it may be. Be it sin within or
sin without, sin in our hearts or sin in the world, let
us go boldly at it, strong in the might of God. That
God who delivered David from the paw of the wild
beast, and from the power of the giant, will make us
more than conquerors — will enable us to spoil " princi
palities and powers and triumph openly over them."

CHAPTER XXV.
SAUL'S JEALOUSY— DAVID'S MARRIAGE.
I Samuel xviii.
THE conqueror of Goliath had been promised, a"
his reward, the eldest daughter of the king ii
marriage. The fulfilment of that promise, if not utterly
neglected, was at least delayed ; but if David lost the
hand of the king's daughter, he gained, what could not
have been promised — the heart of the king's son. It
was little wonder that " the soul of Jonathan was knit
with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as
his own soul." Besides all else about David that was
attractive to Jonathan as it was attractive to every one,
there was that strongest of all bonds, the bond of a
common, all-prevailing faith, faith in the covenant God
of Israel, that had now shown itself in David in over
whelming strength, as it had shown itself in Jonathan
some time before at Michmash.
To Jonathan David must indeed have appeared a
man after his own heart. The childlike simplicity of
the trust he had reposed in God showed what a
profound hold his faith had of him, how entirely it
ruled his life. What depths of congeniality the two
young men must have discovered in one another ; in
what wonderful agreement they must have found them-
teives respecting the duty and destiny of the Hebrew

xvtii.] SAUL'S JEALOUSY. 293
people 1 That Jonathan should have been so fascinated
at that particular moment shows what a pure heart he
must have had. If we judge aright, David's faith had
surpassed Jonathan's; David had dared where Jonathr n
had shrunk; and David's higher faith had obtained
the distinction that might naturally have been expected
to fall to Jonathan. Yet no shadow of jealousy darkens
Jonathan's brow. Never were hands more cordially
grasped ; never were congratulations more warmly
uttered. Is there anything so beautiful as a beautiful
heart ? After well-nigh three thousand years, we are
still thrilled by the noble character of Jonathan, and
well were it for every young man that he shared in
some degree his high nobility. Self-seekers and self-
pleasers, look at him — and be ashamed.
The friendship between David and Jonathan will fall
to be adverted to afterwards ; meanwhile we follow the
course of events as they are detailed in this chapter.
One thing that strikes us very forcibly in this part
of David's history is the rapidity with which pain and
peril followed the splendid achievement which had
raised him so high. The malignant jealousy of Saul
towards him appears to have sprung up almost imme
diately after the slaughter of Goliath. " When David
was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, the
women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and
dancing, to meet King Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and
with instruments of music. And the women answered
one another as they played, saying, Saul hath slain his
thousands, and David his ten thousands. And Saul
was very wroth, and the saying displeased him ; and
he said, They have ascribed to David ten thousands,
and to me they have ascribed but thousands ; and what
pan be have more but the kingdom ? And Saul eyed

«94 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
David from that day and forward." This statement
seems (like so many other statements in Scripture
narratives) to be a condensed one, embracing things
that happened at different times ; it appears to denote
that as soon as David returned from killing Goliath his
name began to be introduced by the women into their
songs ; and when he returned from the expeditions to
which Saul appointed him when he set him over the
men of War, and in which he was wonderfully success
ful, then the women introduced the comparison, which
so irritated Saul, between Saul's thousands and David's
ten thousands. The truth is, that David's experience,
while Saul continued to be his persecutor, was a
striking commentary on the vanity of human life, —
on the singularly tantalizing way in which the most
splendid prizes are often snatched from men's hands
as soon as they have secured them, and when they
might reasonably have expected to enjoy their fruits.
The case of a conqueror killed in the very moment
of victory — of a Wolfe falling on the Plains of Quebec,
just as his victory made Britain mistress of Canada ; of
a Nelson expiring on the deck of his ship, just as the
enemy's fleet was helplessly defeated, — these are touch'
ing enough instances of the deceitfulness of fortune in
the highest moments of expected enjoyment. But there
is something more touching still in the early history of
David. Raised to an eminence which he never courted
or dreamt of, just because he had such trust in God
and such regard for his country; manifesting in his
new position all that modesty and all that dutifulness
which had marked him while his name was still un
known ; taking his life in his hand and plunging into
toils and risks innumerable just because he desired to
be of service to Saul and his country, — surely, if any

xviii.] SAUL'S JEALOUSY. 295
man deserved a comfortable home and a tranquil mind
David was that man. That David should have become
the worst treated and most persecuted man of his day ;
that for years and years he should have been maligned
and hunted down, with but a step between him and
death ; that the very services that ought to have
brought him honour should have plunged him into dis
grace, and the noble qualities that ought to have made
him the king's most trusty counsellor should have made
him a fugitive and an outlaw from his presence, — all
that is very strange. It would have been a great trial
to any man ; it was a peculiar trial to a Hebrew. For
under the Hebrew economy the principle of temporal
rewards and punishments had a prominence beyond the
common. Why was this principle reversed in the case
of David ? Why was one who had been so exemplary
doomed to such humiliation and trial, — doomed to a
mode of life which seemed more suitable for a miscreant
than for the man after God's own heart ?
The answer to this question cannot be mistaken now.
But that answer was not found so readily in David's
time. David's early years bore a close resemblance to
that period of'the career of Job when the hand of God
was heavy upon him, and thick darkness encompassed
one on whose tabernacle the candle of the Lord had
previously shone very brightly. It pleased God, in
infinite love, to make David pass through a long period
of hard discipline and salutary training for the office to
which he was to be raised. The instances were in
numerable in the East of young men of promising cha
racter being ruined through sudden elevation to supreme
unchallenged power. The case of Saul himself was a
sad instance of this doleful effect. It pleased God to
take steps to prevent it from happening in the case of

296 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.

David. It is said that when Alcibiades, the distinguished
Athenian, was young, Socrates tried hard to withhold
him from public life, and to convince him that he
needed a long course of inward discipline before he
could engage safely and usefully in the conduct of
public affairs. But Alcibiades had no patience for this;
he took his own way, became his own master, but with
the result that he lost at once true loftiness of aim and
all the sincerity of an upright soul. We do not need,
however, to illustrate from mere human history the
benefits that arise from a man bearing the yoke in,
his youth. Even our blessed Lord, David's antitype,
"though He was a Son, yet learned He obedience by
the things which He suffered." And how often has the
lesson been repeated ! What story is more constantly
repeated than, on the one hand, that of the young man
succeeding to a fortune in early life, learning every
wretched habit of indolence and self-indulgence, be
coming the slave of his lusts, and after a miserable life
sinking into a dishonoured grave ? And on the other,
how often do we find, in the biography of the men who
have been an honour to their race, that their early life
was spent amid struggles and acts of self-denial that
seem hardly credible, but out of which came their
resolute character and grand conquering power? O
adversity, thy features are hard, thy fingers are of iron,
thy look is stern and repulsive ; but underneath thy
hard crust there lies a true heart, full of love and full
of hope ; if only we had grace to believe this, in times
when we are bound with affliction and iron ; if only we
had faith to look forward a very little, when, like the
patriarch Job, we shall find that, after all, He who
frames our lot is " very pitiful and of tender mercy " 1
In the case of David, God's purpose manifestly was

xviii.] SA UL'S JEALOUSY. 297
to exercise and strengthen such qualities as trust in
God, prayerfulness, self-command, serenity of temper,
consideration for others, and the hope of a happy issue
out of all his troubles. His trials were indeed both
numerous and various. The cup of honour dashed
from his lips when he had just begun to taste it;
promises the most solemn deliberately violated, and
rewards of perilous service coolly withheld from him ;
faithful services turned into occasions of cruel persecu
tion ; enforced separation from beloved friends ; lacera
tion of feelings from Saul's cruel and bloody treatment
of some who had befriended him ; calumnious charges
persisted in after convincing and generous refutation;
ungrateful treatment from those he had benefited, like
Nabal ; treachery from those he had delivered, like the
men of Keilah ; perfidy on the part of some he had
trusted, like Cush; assassination threatened by some
of his own followers, as at Ziklag, — these and many
other trials were the hard and bitter discipline which
David had to undergo in the wilderness.
And not only was David thus prepared for the great
work of his future life, but as a type of the Messiah
he foreshadowed the deep humiliation through which
He was to pass on His way to His throne. He gave
the Old Testament Church a glimpse of the manner in
which " it became Him, by whom are all things and for
whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory,
to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through
suffering." The growth of the malignant passion of jealousy in
Saul is portrayed in the history in a way painfully
graphic. First, it is simply a feeling that steals
occasionally into his bosom. It needs some outward
occasion to excite it. Its first great effort to establish

298 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
itself was when Saul heard the Hebrew women ascrib
ing to David ten times as great a slaughter as they
ascribed to Saul. We cannot but be struck with the
ruggedness of the women's compliment. To honour
David as more ready to incur risk and sacrifice for his
country, even in encounters involving terrible bloodshed,
would have been worthy of women, and worthy of good
women ; but to make the standard of compliment the
number of lives destroyed, the amount of blood shed,
indicated surely a coarseness of feeling, characteristic
of a somewhat barbarous age. But the compliment
was quite significant to Saul, who saw in it a proof of
the preference entertained for David, and began to look
on him as his rival in the kingdom. The next step in
the history of Saul's jealousy is its forming itself into
an evil habit, that needed no outward occasion to excite
it, but kept itself alive and active by the vitality it had
acquired. " And Saul eyed David from that day and
forward " (ver. 9). If Saul had been a good man, he
would have been horrified at the appearance of this
evil passion in his heart; he would have said, " Get thee
behind me, Satan;" he would have striven to the utmosl
lo strangle it in the womb. Oh ! what untold mountains-
of guilt would this not have saved him in after life 1 And
what mountains of guilt, darkening their whole life,
would the policy of resistance and stamping out, when
an evil lust or passion betrays its presence in their heart,
save to every young man and young woman who find
for the first time evidence of its vitality 1 But instead
of stamping it out, Saul nourished it ; instead of extin
guishing the spark, he heaped fuel on the flame. And
his lust, having been allowed to conceive, was not long
of bringing forth. Under a fit of his malady, even as
David" was playing to him with his harp, he launched

xviii.] SAUL'S JEALOUSY. 299
a javelin at him, no doubt in some degree an act ol
insanity, but yet betraying a very horrible spirit.
Then, perhaps afraid of himself, he removes David
from his presence, and sends him out to battle as a
captain of a thousand. But David only gives fresh
proofs of his wisdom and his trustworthiness, and
establishes his hold more and more on the affections
of the people. The very fact of his wisdom, the evi
dence which his steady, wise, and faithful conduct affords
of God's presence with him, creates a new restlessness
in Saul, who, with a kind of devilish feeling, hates
him the more because "the Lord is with him, and
is departed from Saul."
The next stage in the career of jealousy is to ally
itself with cunning, under the pretence of great
generosity. " Saul said to David, Behold my elder
daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife ; only be
thou valiant for me, and fight the Lord's battles. For
Saul said, Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the
hand of the Philistines be upon him." But cunning
and treachery are close connections, and when this
promise ought to have been fulfilled, Merab was given
to Adriel the Meholathite to wife. There remained
his younger daughter Michal, who was personally
attached to David. "And Saul said, I will give him
her, that sne may be a snare to him, and that the
hand of the Philistines may be against him." The
question of dowry was a difficult one to David ; but
on that point the king bade his servants set his mind
at rest. "The king desireth not any dowry, but an
hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of
the king's enemies. And Saul thought to make David
fall by the hand of the Philistines."
Alas I the history of Saul's malignant passion is by

yxj THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
no means exhausted even by these sad illustrations
of its rise and progress. It swells and grows, like a
horrid tumour, becoming uglier and uglier continually.
And the notices are very significant and instructive
which we find as to the spiritual condition of Saul, in
connection with the development of his passion. We
are told that the Lord was departed from him. When
Saul was reproved by Samuel for his transgression,
he showed no signs of real repentance, he continued
consciously in a state of enmity with God, and took
no steps to get the quarrel healed. He preferred the
kind of life in which he might please himself, though
he offended God, to the kind of life in which he would
have pleased God, while he denied himself. And Saul
had to bear the awful penalty of his choice. Living apart
from God, all the evil that was in his nature came
boldly out, asserting itself without let or hindrance, and
going to the terrible length of the most murderous and at
the same time the meanest projects. Don't let any one
imagine that religion has no connection with morality !
Sham religion, as we have already seen, may exist side
by side with the greatest wickedness ; but that religion,
the beginning of which is the true fear of God, a
genuine reverential regard for God, a true sense of His
claims on us, alike as our Creator and our Redeemer, —
that religion lays its hand firmly on our moral nature,
and scares and scatters the devices of the evil that
still remains in the heart. Let us take warning at the
picture presented to us in this chapter of the terrible
results, even in the ordinary affairs of life, of the evil
heart of unbelief that departs from the living God.
The other side of the case, the effect of a true relation
to God in purifying and guiding the life, is seen in the
case of David, God being with him in all that he does,

xviii.] DAVID'S MARRIAGE TO MICHAL '301
he is not only kept from retaliating on Saul, not only
kept from all devices for getting rid of one who was
so unjust and unkind to himself, but he is remarkably
obedient, remarkably faithful, and by God's grace
remarkably successful in the work given him to do.
It is indeed a beautiful period of David's life — ths
most blameless and beautiful of any. The object of
unmerited hatred, the victim of atrocious plots, the
helpless object of a despot's mad and ungoverned fury,
yet cherishing no trace of bitter feeling, dreaming of
no violent project of rejief, but going out and in with
perfect loyalty, and straining every nerve to prove
himself a laborious, faithful, and useful servant of the
master who loathed him.
The question of David's marriage is a somewhat
difficult one, appearing to involve some contradictions.
First of all we read that a daughter of Saul, along with
great riches, had been promised to the man who should
kill Goliath. But after David kills him, there is no
word of this promise being fulfilled, and even after
wards, when the idea of his being the king's son-in-
law is brought forward, there is no hint that he ought
to have been so before. Are we to understand that it
was an unauthorized rumour that was told to David
(ch. xvii. 25-27) when it was said that the victor was to
get these rewards? Was it that the people recalled
what had been said by Caleb about Kirjath-sepher, a
town in that very neighbourhood, and inferred that
surely Saul would give his daughter to the conqueror,
as Caleb had given his? This is perhaps the most
reasonable explanation, because when David came into
Saul's presence nothing of the kind was said to him by
the king ; and also because, if Saul had really promised
it, there was no reason at the time why he should not

302 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
have kept his promise ; nay, the impulsive nature ol
the king, and the great love of Jonathan toward David,
and the love with which David inspired women, would
rather have led Saul to be forward in fulfilling it, and
in constituting a connection which would then have
been pleasant to all. If it be said that this would have
been a natural thing for Saul to do, even had there
been no promise, the answer is that David was such a
stripling, and even in his father's household occupied
so humble a place, as tb make it reasonable that he
should wait, and gain a higher position, before any
such thing should be thought of. Accordingly, when
David became older, and acquired distinction as a
warrior, his being the king's son-in-law had become
quite feasible. First, Saul proposes to give him his
elder daughter Merab. The murderous desire dictates
the proposal, for Saul already desires David's death,
though he has not courage himself to strike the blow.
But when the time came, for some reason that we do
not know of Merab was given to Adriel the Meholathite.
David's action at an after period showed that he regarded
this as a cruel wrong (2 Sam. iii. 1 3). Saul, however,
still desired to have that hold on David which his being
his son-in-law would have involved, and now proposed
that Michal his younger daughter should be his wife.
The proposal was accepted, but David could bring no
dowry for his wife. The only dowry the king sought
was a hundred foreskins of the Philistines. And the
hundred foreskins David paid down in full tale.
What a distressing view these transactions give us
of the malignity of Saul's heart 1 When parents have
sacrificed the true happiness of their daughters by
pressing on them a marriage of splendid misery, the
motive, however selfish and heartless, has not usually

¦cviii.] DAVIDS MARRIAGE TO MICHAL 3°3
been malignant. The marriage which Saul urged
between David and Michal was indeed a marriage of
affection, but as far as he was concerned his sin in
desiring it, as affording facilities for getting rid of him,
was on that account all the- greater. For nothing
shows a wickeder heart than being willing to involve
another, and especially one's own child, in a lifelong
sorrow in order to gratify some feeling of one's own.
Saul was not merely trifling with the heart and happi
ness of his child, but he was deliberately sacrificing
both to his vile passion. The longer he lives, Saul
becomes blacker and blacker. For such are they from
whom the Spirit of the Lord has departed.
We may well contrast David and Saul at this period
of their lives ; but what a strange thing it is that further
on in life David should have taken this leaf from Saul's
book, and acted in this very spirit towards Uriah the
Hittite ? Not that Uriah was, or was to be, son-in-law
to the king ; alas 1 there was an element of blackness in
the case of David which did not exist in that of Saul ;
but it was in the very spirit now manifested by Saul
towards himself that David availed himself of Uriah's
bravery, of Uriah's faithfulness, of Uriah's chivalrous
readiness to undertake the most perilous expeditions — ¦
availed himself of these to compass his death. What
do we learn from this ? The same seeds of evil were
in David's heart as in Saul's. But at the earlier period
of David's life he walked humbly with God, and God's
Spirit poured out on him not only restrained the evil
seed, but created a pure, holy, devoted life, as if there
were nothing in David but good. Afterwards, grieving
the Holy Spirit, David was left for a time to himself,
and then the very evil that had been so offensive in Saul
came creeping forth drew itself up and claimed that it

304 THE FIRST BOOK OP SAMUEL.
should prevail. It was a blessed thing for David that
he was not beyond being arrested by God's voice, and
humbled by His reproof. He saw whither he had been
going; he saw the emptiness and wickedness of his
heart ; he saw that his salvation depended on God in
infinite mercy forgiving his sin and restoring His Spirit,
and for these blessings he pled and wrestled as Jacob
had wrestled with the angel at Peniel. So we may well
see that for any one to trust in his heart is to play the
fool ; our only trust must be in Him who is able to keep
us from falling, and to present us faultless before the
presence of His glory with exceeding joy. " He that
abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth
much fruit, for without Me ye can do nothing. If a man
abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a root and withered,
and men take them and cast them into the fire and they
are burned."

CHAPTER XXVI.
SAUL'S FURTHER EFFORTS AGAINST DAVID.
i Samuel xix.
ANEW stage of his wicked passion is now reached
by Saul; he communes with his servants, and
even with his son, with a view to their killing David.
Ordinary conspirators are prone to confine their evil
designs to their own breasts ; or if they do have confi
dants, to choose for that purpose persons as vile as
themselves, whom they bind to secrecy and silence.
Saul must have been sadly overpowered by his passion
when he urged his very son to become a murderer, to
become the assassin of his friend, of the man with
whom God manifestly dwelt, and whom God delighted
to honour. It is easy to understand what line Sr-il
would take with Jonathan. Heir to the throne, he as
specially affected by the popularity of David ; if David
were disposed of, his seat would be in no danger.
The generous prince did his utmost to turn his father
from the horrid project : " He spake good of David
unto Saul, and said unto him, Let not the king sin
against his servant, against David ; because he hath
not sinned against thee, and because his works have
been to thee-ward very good. For he did put his life
in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the Lord
wrought a great salvation for all Israel : thou sawest it
VOL. I. 20

306 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
and didst rejoice : wherefore then wilt thou sin against
innocent blood, to slay David without a cause ? " For
the moment the king was touched by the intercession
of Jonathan. Possibly he was rebuked by the burst
of generosity and affection, — a spirit so opposite to his
own ; possibly he was impressed by Jonathan's argu
ment, and made to feel that David was entitled to very
different treatment. For the time, the purpose of Saul
was arrested, and " David was in his presence as in
times past." "Ofttimes," says Bishop Hall, "wicked
men's judgments are forced to yield unto that truth
against which their affections maintain a rebellion.
Even the foulest hearts do sometimes retain good
notions ; like as, on the contrary, the holiest souls give
way sometimes to the suggestions of evil. The flashes
of lightning may be discerned in the darkest prison.
But if good thoughts look into a wicked heart, they
stay not there ; as those that like not their lodging,
they are soon gone; hardly anything distinguishes
between good and evil but continuance. The light that
shines into a holy heart is constant, like that of the
sun, which keeps due times, and varies not his course
for any of these sublunary occasions."
But, as the heathen poet said, "You may expel
nature with a thunderbolt, but it always returns." The
evil spirit, the demon of jealousy, returned to Saul.
And strange to say, his jealousy was such that nothing
was more fitted to excite it than eminent service to
his country on the part of David. A new campaign
had opened against the Philistines. David had had a
splendid victory. He slew them with a great slaughter,
so that they fled before him. We may be sure that in
these circumstances the songs of the women would
swell out in heartier chorus than ever. And in

xix.] SAUL'S FURTHER EFFORTS AGAINST DAVID. 307
Saul's breast the old jealousy burst out again, and
sprang to power. A fit of his evil spirit was on him,
and David was playing on his harp in order to beguile
it away. He sees Saul seize a javelin, he instinctively
knows the purpose, and springs aside just as the javelin
flies past and lodges in the wall. The danger is too
serious to be encountered any longer. David escapes
to his house, but hardly before messengers from Saul
have arrived to watch the door, and slay him in the
morning. Knowing her father's plot, Michal warns
David that if he does not make his escape that night
his life is sure to go.
Michal lets him down through a window, and David
makes his escape. Then, to give him a sufficient start,
and prolong the time a little, she has recourse to one
of those stratagems of which Rebecca, and Rahab, and
Jeroboam's wife, and many another woman have shown
themselves mistresses — she gets up a tale, and pre
tends to the messengers that David is sick. The men
carry back the message to their master. There is a
peculiar ferocity, an absolute brutality, in the king's
next order, " Bring him up to me in the bed that I may
slay him." Evidently he was enraged, and he either
felt that it would be a satisfaction to murder David with
his own hand when unable to defend himself, or he
saw that his servants could not be trusted with the
dastardly business. The messengers enter the house,
and instead of David they find an image in the bed,
with a pillow of goat's hair for his bolster. When
Michal is angrily reproached by her father for letting
him escape, she parries the blow by a falsehood —
"He said unto me, Let me go; why should I kill
thee?" On this somewhat mean conduct of hers a light is

TBE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL

incidentally shed by the mention of the image which she
placed in the bed in order to personate David. What
sort of image was it? The original shows that it
was one of the class called " teraphim " — images which
were kept and used by persons who in the main
worshipped the one true God. They were not such
idols as represented Baal or Ashtoreth or Moloch, but
images designed to aid in the worship of the God of
Israel. The use of them was not a breach of the first
commandment, but it was a breach of the second.
We see plainly that David and his wife were not one
in religion ; there was discord there. The use of
the images implied an unspiritual or superstitious state
of mind ; or at least a mind more disposed to follow
its own fancies as to the way of worshipping God
than to have a severe and strict regard to the rule
of God. It is impossible to suppose that David could
have either used, or countenanced the use of these
images. God was too much a spiritual reality to him
to allow such material media of worship to be even
thought of. He knew too much of worship inspired by
the Spirit to dream of worship inspired by shapes of
wood or stone. When we read of these images we
are not surprised at the defects of character which we
see in Michal. That she loved David and had pleasure
in his company there is no room to doubt. But their
union was not the union of hearts that were one
in their deepest feelings. The sublimest exercises of
David's soul Michal could have no sympathy with.
Afterwards, when David brought the ark from Kirjath-
jearim to Mount Zion, she mocked his enthusiasm. How
sad when hearts, otherwise congenial and loving, are
severed on the one point on which congeniality is of
deepest moment J Agreement in earthly tastes and

xix.] SA UL'S FUR THER EFFOR TS A GAINST DA VID. 309
arrangements, but disagreement in the one thing need
ful — alas, how fatal is the drawback 1 Little blessing
can they expect who disregard this point of difference
when they agree to marry. If the one that is
earnest does so in the expectation of doing good to
the other, that good is far more likely to be done by
a firm stand at the beginning than by a course which
may be construed to mean that after all the difference
is of no great moment.
If the title of the fifty-ninth Psalm can be accepted
as authentic, it indicates the working of David's mind
at this period of his history. It is called " Michtam of
David, when Saul sent, and they watched the house to
kill him." It is not to be imagined that it was com
posed in the hurried interval between David reaching
his house and Michal sending him away. That David
had a short time of devotion then we may readily
believe, and that the exercises of his heart corresponded
generally to the words of the psalm, which might be
committed afterwards to writing as a memorial of the
occasion. From the words of the psalm it would
appear that the messengers sent by Saul to apprehend
him were men of base and cowardly spirit, and that
they were actuated by the same personal hatred to
him that marked Saul himself. No doubt the piety of
David brought to him the enmity, and the success of
David the rivalry, of many who would be emboldened
by the king's avowed intention, to pour out their insults
and calumnies against him in the most indecent fashion.
Perhaps it is to show the estimate he formecTof their
spirit, rather than to denote literally their nationality,
that the Psalmist calls on God to " awake to visit all
the heathen." Prowling about the city under cloud of
darkness coming and going and coming again to his

310 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
house, " they return at evening ; they make a noise
like a dog, and go about the city. Behold, they belch
out with their mouth ; swords are in their lips ; for
who, say they, doth hear ? " Thus showing his estimate
of his enemies, the Psalmist manifests the most absolute
reliance on the protection and grace of God. "But
Thou, O Lord, shalt laugh at them ; Thou shalt have
all the heathen in derision. Because of his strength
will I wait upon Thee ; for God is my defence. The
God of my mercy shall prevent me ; God shall let me
see my desire upon mine enemies." He does not ask
that they may be slain, but he asks that they may be
conspicuously dishonoured and humbled, and made to
go about the city like dogs, in another sense — not like
dogs seeking to tear upright men in pieces, but like
those starved, repulsive, cowardly brutes, familiar in
Eastern cities, that would do anything for a morsel of
food. His own spirit is serene and confident — " Unto
Thee, O my strength, will I sing; for God is my
defence, and the God of my mercy."
It may be that the superscription of this psalm is not
authentic, and that the reference is either to some other
passage in David's life, or in the life of some other
psalmist, when he was especially exposed to the ravings
of a murderous and calumnious spirit, and in the midst of
unscrupulous enemies thirsting for his life. The psalm
is eminently fitted to express the feelings and experiences
of the Church of Christ in times of bitter persecution.
For calumny has usually been the right-hand instru
ment of the persecutor. To justify himself, he has
found it necessary to denounce his victim. Erroneous
opinions, it is instinctively felt, are no such offence as
to warrant the wholesale spoliation and murder which
vehement persecution calls for. Crimes of a horrible

xix.] SAUL'S FURTHER EFFORTS AGAINST DAVID. 311
description are laid to the charge of the persecuted.
And even where the sword of persecution in its naked
form is not employed, but opposition and hatred vent
themselves on the more active servants of God in
venomous attacks and offensive letters, it is not counted
enough to denounce their opinions. They must be
charged with meanness, and double dealing, and vile
plots and schemes to compass their ends. They are
spoken of (as St. Paul and his companions were) as the
offscourings of the earth, creatures only to be hunted
out of sight and spoiled of all influence. Happy they
who can bear all in the Psalmist's tranquil and truthful
spirit; and can sum up their feelings like him — "I
will sing of Thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of Thy
mercy in the morning; for Thou hast been my defence
and refuge in the day of my trouble."
But let us return to David. Can we think of a more
desolate condition than that in which he found himself
after his wife let him down through a window ? It is
night, and he is alone. Who could be unmoved when-
place in such a position ? Forced to fly from his
home and his young wife, just after he had begun to
know their sweets, and no prospect of a happy return !
Driven forth by the murderous fury of the king whom
he had served with a loyalty and a devotion that could
not have been surpassed ! His home desolated and
his life threatened by the father of his wife, the man
whom even nature should have inspired with a kindly
interest in his welfare! What good had it done
him that he had slain that giant? What return had
he got for his service in ever so often soothing the
nerves of the irritable monarch with the gentle warb-
lings of his harp? What good had come of all his
perilous exploits against the Philistines, of the hundred

312 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
foreskins of the king's enemies, of the last great victory
which had brought so unprecedented advantage to
Israel ? Would it not have been better for him never
to have touched a weapon, never to have encountered
a foe, but kept feeding that flock of his father's, and
caring for those irrational creatures, who had always
returned his kindness with gratitude, and been far more
like friends and companions than that terrible Saul?
Such thoughts might perhaps hover about his bosom,
but certainly they would receive no entertainment from
him. They might knock at his door, but they would
not be admitted. A man like David could never
seriously regret that he had done his duty. He could
never seriously wish that he had never responded to the
call of God and of his country. But he might well feel
how empty and unprofitable even the most successful
worldly career may become, how maddening the changes
of fortune, how intolerable the unjust retributions of
men in power. His ill-treatment was so atrocious that,
had he not had a refuge in God, it might have driven
him to madness or to suicide. It drove him to the
throne of grace, where he found grace to help him in
his time of need.
It was no wonder that the fugitive thought of Samuel.
If he could get shelter with him Saul would surely let
him alone, for Saul could have no mind to meddle
with Samuel again. But more than that ; in Samuel's
company he would find congenial fellowship, and from
Samuel's mature wisdom and devotion to God's law
learn much that would be useful in after life. We can
easily fancy what a cordial welcome the old prophet
would give the youthful fugitive. Was not David in
a sense his son, seeing that he had chosen him from
among all the sons of Jesse, and poured on him the

xix.] SAUL'S FURTHER EFFORTS AGAINST DAVID. 313
holy oil ? If an old minister has a special interest in
one whom he has baptized, how much more Samuel in
one whom he had anointed ! And there was another
consideration that would have great effect with Samuel.
Old Christians feel very tenderly for young believers
who have had hard lines in serving God. It moves
them much when those on whom they have very
earnestly pressed God's ways have encountered great
trials in following them. Gladly would they do any
thing in their power to soothe and encourage them.
Samuel's words to David would certainly be words of
exceeding tenderness. They must have fallen like the
dew of Hermon on his fevered spirit. Doubtless they
would tend to revive and strengthen his faith, and assure
him that God would keep him amid all his trials, and at
last set him on high, because he had known his name.
From Ramah, his ordinary dwelling-place, Samuel
had gone with David to Naioth, perhaps under the
idea that they would elude the eye of Saul. Not so,
however. Word of David's place of abode was carried
to the king. Saul was deeply in earnest in his effort
to get rid of David, — surely a very daring thing when
he must have known God's purpose regarding him.
Messengers were accordingly sent to Naioth. It was
the seat of one of the schools of the prophets, and
David could not but be deeply interested in the work
of the place, and charmed with its spirit. Here, under
the wing of Samuel, he did dwell in safety ; but his
safety did not come in the way in which perhaps he
expected. Saul's purpose was too deeply seated to be
affected by the presence of Samuel. Nay, though Samuel
in all likelihood had told him how God had caused
him to anoint David as his successor, Saul determined
to drag him even from the hands of Samuel. But Saul

314 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
never counted on the form of opposition he was to
encounter. The messengers went to Naioth, but their
hearts were taken hold of by the Spirit who was then
working in such power in the place, and from soldiers
they were turned into prophets. A second batch of
messengers was sent, and with the same result. A
third batch followed, and still the same miraculous
transformation. Determined not to be baffled, and
having probably exhausted the servants whom he could
trust, Saul went himself to Ramah. But Saul was
proof no more than his servants against the marvellous
spiritual force that swept all before it. When he came
to Ramah, the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and
he went on and prophesied all the way from Ramah
to Naioth. And there, stripping himself of his royal
robes and accoutrements, he prophesied before Samuel
in like manner, and lay down, just as one of the
prophets, and continued so a whole day and night.
It was a repetition of what had taken place at "the
hill of God " when Saul returned from his search after
the asses (i Sam. x. io, 1 1), and it resuscitated the
proverb that had been first used on that occasion, is Saul
also among the prophets ? Transformed and occupied
as Saul was now, he was in no mood to carry out his
murderous project against David, who in the view of
this most unexpected form of deliverance might well
sing, " My safety cometh from the Lord, who made
heaven and earth."
The question cannot but press itself on us, What
was the character of the influence under which Saul
was brought on this remarkable occasion ? Observe
the phenomena so far as they are recorded. In the
first place, nothing is said of any appeal to Saul's reason
and conscience. In the second place, no such conduct

xix.] SAUL'S FURTHER EFFORTS AGAINST DAVID. 315
followed this experience as would have followed it, had
his reason and conscience been impressed. He was
precisely the same wicked man as before. In the third
place, there is no evidence of anything else having
taken place than a sort of contagious impression being
produced on his physical nature, something correspond
ing to the effect of mesmerism or animal magnetism.
In earnest religious movements of a very solid charac
ter, it has been often remarked that another unusual
experience runs alongside of them ; in some persons in
contact with them a nervous susceptibility is developed,
which sometimes causes prostration, and sometimes a
state of trance; and it has been found that many persons
are liable to the state of trance whose hearts and lives
are in no way transformed by the religious impression.
It seems to have been some such experience that befell
Saul. He was entranced, but he was not changed.
He was for the time another man, but there was no
permanent change ; after a time, his old spirit returned.
Evidently he was a man of great nervous susceptibility,
and it is plain from many things that his nerves had be
come weakened. He fell for the time under the strong
influence of the prophetic company ; but David did not
trust him, for he fled from Naioth.
And yet, even if this was all that happened to Saul,
there was something providential and merciful in it that
might have led on to better results. Was it not in some
sense a dealing of God with Saul ? Was it not a
reminder of that better way which Saul had forsaken,
and in forsaking which he had come to so much guilt
and trouble ? Was it not a gracious indication that
even yet, if he would return to God, though he could
not get back the kingdom he might personally be
blessed ? Whatever of this kind there might be in it,

316 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
it was trampled by Saul under foot. He had made his
bed, and, thorny though it was, he was determined to
lie on it. He would not change his life ; he would not
return to God.
Does not God, in His merciful providence, often deal
with transgressors as he dealt with Saul, placing them
in circumstances that make it comparatively easy for
them to turn from their sins and change their life?
Your marriage, a death in your circle, a change of resi
dence, a change of fortune, forming a new acquaintance,
coming under a new ministry, — oh ! friends, if there be
in you the faintest dissatisfaction with your past life,
the faintest desire for a better, take advantage of the
opportunity, and turn to God. Summon courage, break
with your associates in sin (the loss will be mar
vellously small), give up your dissipated pleasures,
betake yourselves to the great matters that concern
your welfare evermore. Mark in the providence that
gave you the opportunity, the kind hand of a gracious
Father, sadly grieving over your erring life, and longing
for your return. Harden not your heart as in the pro
vocation in the day of temptation in the wilderness.
Don't drive the angel out of your way, who stands in
your path, as he stood in Balaam's, to stop your progress
in the ways of sin. Who knows whether ever again
you shall have the same opportunity? And even if
you have, is it not certain that the disinclination you feel
now will be stiffer and stronger then ? Be a man, and
face the irksome. Whatever you do, determine to do
right. It is childish to stand shivering over a duty
which you know ought to be done. " Whatsoever thy
hand findeth to do, do it with thy might ; for there is
no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the
grave, whither thou goest,"

CHAPTER XXVII.
DAVID AND JONATHAN.
i Samuel xx.
WE have no means of determining how long time
elapsed between the events recorded in the
preceding chapter and those recorded in this. It is
not unlikely that Saul's experience at Naioth led to a
temporary improvement in his relations to David. The
tone of this chapter leads us to believe that at the
time when it opens there was some room for doubt
whether or not Saul continued to cherish any deli
berate ill-feeling to his son-in-law. David's own
suspicions were strong that he did; but Jonathan
appears to have thought otherwise. Hence the earnest
conversation which the two friends had on the subject ;
and hence the curious but crooked stratagem by which
they tried to find out the truth.
But before we go on to this, it will be suitable for
us at this place to dwell for a little on the remarkable
friendship between David and Jonathan — a beautiful
oasis in this wilderness history, — one of the brightest
gems in this book of Samuel.
It was a striking proof of the ever mindful and
considerate grace of God, that at the very opening of
the dark valley of trial through which David had to
pass in consequence of Saul's jealousy, he was brought

318 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
into contact with Jonathan, and in his disinterested
and sanctified friendship, furnished with one of the
sweetest earthly solaces for the burden of care and
sorrow. The tempest suddenly let loose on him must
have proved too vehement, if he had been left in Saul's
dark palace without one kind hand to lead him on, or
the sympathy of one warm heart to encourage him ;
the spirit of faith might have declined more seriously
than it did, had it not been strengthened by the bright
faith of Jonathan. It was plain that Michal, though
she had a kind of attachment to David, was far from
having a thoroughly congenial heart ; she loved him,
and helped to save him, but at the same time bore
false witness against him (chap. xix. 17). In his deepest
sorrows, David could have derived little comfort from
her. Whatever gleams of joy and hope, therefore, were
now shed by human companionship across his dark
firmament, were due to Jonathan. In merciful adapta
tion to the infirmities of his human spirit, God opened
to him this stream in the desert, and allowed him to
refresh himself with its pleasant waters ; but to show
him, at the same time, that such supplies could not be
permanently relied on, and that his great dependence
must be placed, not on the fellowship of mortal man,
but on the ever-living and ever-loving God, Jonathan
and he were doomed, after the briefest period of
companionship, to a lifelong separation, and the
friendship which had seemed to promise a perpetual
solace of his trials, only aggravated their severity,
when its joys were violently reft away.
In another view, David's intercourse with Jonathan
served an important purpose in his training. The
very sight he constantly had of Saul's outrageous
wickedness might have nursed a self-righteous feeling,

xx.] DAVID AND JONATHAN. 319
— ^might have encouraged the thought, so agreeable to
human nature, that as Saul was rejected by God for
his wickedness, so David was chosen for his goodness.
The remembrance of Jonathan's singular virtues and
graces was fitted to rebuke this thought ; for if regard
to human goodness had decided God's course in the
matter, why should not Jonathan have been appointed
to succeed his father ? From the self-righteous ground
on which he might have been thus tempted to stand,
David would be thrown back on the adorable sove
reignty of God ; and in deepest humiliation constrained
to own that it was God's grace only that made him
to differ from others.
Ardent friendships among young men were by no
means uncommon in ancient times; many striking
instances occurred among the Greeks, which have some
times been accounted for by the comparatively low
estimation in which female society was then held.
"The heroic companions celebrated by Homer and
others," it has been remarked, " seem to have but one
heart and soul, with scarcely a wish or object apart, and
only to live, as they are always ready to die, for one
another. . . . The idea of a Greek hero seems not to
have been thought complete without such a brother in
arms by his side." *
But there was one feature of the friendship of
Jonathan and David that had no parallel in classic
times, — it was friendship between two men, of whom
the younger was a most formidable rival to the older.
It is Jonathan that shines most in this friendship, for
he was the one who had least to gain and most to lose
from the other. He knew that David was ordained by
» ThirlwaU's " History of Greece."

320 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
God to succeed to his father's throne, yet he loved him ;
he knew that to befriend David was to offend his
father, yet he warmly befriended him ; he knew that
he must decrease and David increase, yet no atom of
jealousy disturbed his noble spirit. What but divine
grace could have enabled Jonathan to maintain this
blessed temper ? What other foundation could it have
rested on but the conviction that what God ordained
must be the very best, infinitely wise and good for hkn
and for all ? Or what could have filled the heart thus
bereaved of so fair an earthly prospect, but the sense
of God's love, and the assurance that He would com
pensate to him all that He took from him ? How
beautiful was this fruit of the Spirit of God! How
blessed it would be if such clusters hung on every
branch of the vine 1
Besides being disinterested, Jonathan's friendship for
David was of an eminently holy character. Evidently
Jonathan was a man that habitually honoured God, if
not in much open profession, yet in the way of deep
reverence and submission. And thus, besides being
able to surrender his own prospects without a murmur,
and feel real happiness in the thought that David would
be king, he could strengthen the faith of his friend, as
we read afterwards (chap, xxiii. 16) : " Jonathan, Saul's
son, arose and went to David into the wood, and
strengthened his hand in God." At the time when they
come together in the chapter before us, Jonathan's faith
was stronger than David's. David's faltering heart was
saying, " There is but a step between me and death "
(ver. 3), while Jonathan in implicit confidence in God's
purpose concerning David was thus looking forward to
the future, — "Thou shalt not only while yet I live
ehow me the kindness of the Lord that I die not ; but

xx.] DAVID AND JONATHAN. 321
also thou shalt not cut" off thy kindness from my house
for ever ; no, not when the Lord hath cut off the enemies
of David every one from the face of the earth." There
has seldom, if ever, been exhibited a finer instance of
triumphant faith, than when the prince, with all the
resources of the kingdom at his beck, made this request
of the helpless outlaw. What a priceless blessing is
the friendship of those who support and comfort us in
great spiritual conflicts, and help us to stand erect in
some great crisis of our lives ! How different from the
friendship that merely supplies the merriment of an idle
hour, at the expense, perhaps, of a good conscience,
and to the lasting injury of the soul !
But let me now briefly note the events recorded in
this chapter. It is a long chapter, one of those long
chapters in which incidents are recorded with such
fulness of detail, as not only to make a very graphic
narrative, but to supply an incidental proof of its
authenticity. First of all, we have the preliminary conversation
between David and Jonathan, as to the real feeling of
Saul toward David. Incidentally, we learn how much
Saul leant on Jonathan : " My father will do nothing,
either great or small, but he will show it me," — a proof
that Jonathan was, like Joseph before him, and like
Daniel after him, eminently trustworthy, and as sound
in judgment as he was noble in character. Guileless
himself, he suspected no guile in his father. But David
was not able to take so favourable a view of Saul. So
profound was his conviction to the contrary, that in
giving his leason for believing that Saul had concealed
from his son his real feeling in the matter, and the
danger in which he was, he used the solemn language
ef adjuration: "As the Lord liveth, and as thy suul
VOL. v 2l

$22 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL

liveth, there is but a step between me and death."
Viewed from the human point, this was true ; viewed
from under the Divine purpose and promise, it could not
be true. Yet we cannot blame David, knowing as he did
what Saul really felt, for expressing his human fears, and
the distress of mind to which the situation gave birth.
Next, we find a device agreed on between David and
Jonathan, to ascertain the real sentiments of Saul. It
was one of those deceitful ways to which, very probably,
David had become accustomed in his military experi
ences, in his forays against the Philistines, where
stratagems may have been, as they often were, a
common device. It was probable that David would be
missed from Saul's table next day, as it was the new
moon and a feast ; if Saul inquired after him, Jonathan
was to pretend that he had asked leave to go to a
yearly family sacrifice at Bethlehem; and the way in
which Saul should take this explanation would show
his real feeling and purpose about David. In the event
of Saul being enraged, and commanding Jonathan to
bring David to him, David implored Jonathan not to
comply ; rather kill him with his own hand than that ;
for there was nothing that David dreaded so much as
falling into the hands of Saul. Jonathan surely did not
deserve that it should be thought possible for him to
surrender David to his father, or to conceal anything
from him that had any bearing on his welfare. But
inasmuch as David had put the matter in the form he
did, it seemed right to Jonathan that a very solemn
transaction should take place at this time, to make their
relation as clear as day, and to determine the action
of the stronger of them to the other, jn time to come.
This is the third thing in the chapter. Jonathan
takes David into the field, that is, into some sequestered

vl] DAVID AND JONATHAN. 323
Wady, at some distance from the town, where they
would be sure to enjoy complete solitude; and there
they enter into a solemn covenant. Jonathan takes the
lead. He begins with a solemn appeal to God, calling
on Him not as a matter of mere form or propriety, but
of real and profound significance. First, he binds him
self to communicate faithfully to David the real state
of things on the part of his father, whether it should be
for good or for evil. And then he binds David, whom
by faith he sees in possession of the kingly power, in
spite of all that Saul may do against him, first to be
kind to himself while he lived, and not cut him off,
as new kings so often massacred all the relations of
the old ; and also after his death to show kindness to
his family, and never cease to remember them, not even
when raised to such a pitch of prosperity that all his
enemies were cut off from the earth. One knows not
whether most to wonder at the faith of Jonathan, or the
sweetness of his nature. It is David, the poor outlaw,
with hardly a man to stand by him, that appears to
Jonathan the man of power, the man who can dispose of
all lives and sway all destinies; while Jonathan, the
king's son and confidential adviser, is somehow reduced
to helplessness, and unable even to save himself. Bui
was there ever such a transaction entered into with.
such sweetness of temper ? The calmness of Jonathan
in contemplating the strange reverse of fortune both to
himself and to David, is exquisitely beautiful ; nor is
there in it a trace of that servility with which mean
natures worship the rising sun; it is manly and generous
while it is meek and humble; such a combination of the
noble and the submissive as was shown afterwards, in
highest form, in the one perfect example of the Lord
Jesus Christ.

J24 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
Next comes a statement of the way in which Jonathan
was to announce to David the result. It might not be
safe for him to see David personally, but in that case
he would let him know what had transpired about him
through a preconcerted signal, in reference to the place
where he would direct an attendant to go for some
arrows. As it happened, a personal interview was
obtained with David ; but before that, the telegraphing
with the arrows was carried out as arranged.
On the first day of the feast, David's absence passed
unnoticed, Saul being under the impression that he had
acquired ceremonial uncleanness. But as that excuse
could only avail for one day, Saul finding him absent
the second day, asked Jonathan what had become of
him. The excuse agreed on was given. It excited the
deepest rage of Saul. But his rage was not against
David so much as against Jonathan for taking his part.
Saul did not believe in the excuse, otherwise he would
not have ordered Jonathan to send and fetch David.
If David was at Bethlehem, Saul could have sent for
him himself ; if he lay concealed in the neighbourhood,
Jonathan alone would know his hiding-place, therefore
Jonathan must get hold of him. If this be the true
view, the stratagem of Jonathan had availed nothing;
the plain truth would have served the purpose no
worse. As it was, Jonathan's own life was in the most
imminent danger. Remonstrating with his father for
seeking to destroy David, he narrowly escaped his
father's javelin, even though, a moment before, in his
jealousy of David, Saul had professed to be concerned
for the interests of Jonathan. "Thou son of the
perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou
hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion,
and to the confusion of thy mother's nakedness ? "

*x] David and /onathan. 325
What strange and unworthy methods will not angry
men and women resort to, to put vinegar into their
words and make them sting 1 To try to wound a
man's feelings by reviling his mother, or by reviling
any of his kindred, is a practice confined to the dregs
of society, and nauseous, to the last degree, to every
gentle and honourable mind. In Saul's case, the
offence was still more infamous because the woman
reviled was his own wife. Surely if her failings
reflected on any one, they reflected on her husband
rather than her son. But that it was any real failing
that Saul denounced when he called her " the perverse
rebellious woman," we greatly doubt. To a man like
Saul, any assertion of her rights by his wife, any
refusal to be his abject slave, any opposition to his wild
and wicked designs against David, would mean per
versity and rebellion. We are far from thinking ill of
this nameless woman because her husband denounced
her to her son. But when we see Saul in one breath
trying to kill his son with a javelin and to destroy his
wife's character by poisoned words, and at the same
time thirsting for the death of his son-in-law, we have
a mournful exhibition of the depth to which men are
capable of descending from whom the Spirit of the
Lord hath departed.
No wonder that Jonathan arose from the table in
fierce anger, and did eat no meat the second day of the
month. One wonders how the feast went on thereafter,
but one does not envy the guests. Did Saul drown
his stormy feelings in copious draughts of wine, and
turn the holy festival into a bacchanalian rout, amid
whose boisterous mirth and tempestuous exhilaration
the reproaches of conscience would be stifled for the
hour ?

326 the first book of samuel
The third day has come, on which, by preconcerted
agreement, Jonathan was to reveal to David his father's
state of mind. David is in the agreed-on hiding-place;
and Jonathan, sallying forth with his servant, shoots
his arrows to the place which was to indicate the
existence of danger. Then, the lad having gone back
to the city, and no one being on the spot to observe
them or interrupt them, the two friends come together
and have an affecting meeting. When Jonathan parted
from David three days before, he had not been without
hopes of bringing to him a favourable report of his
father. David expected nothing of the kind ; but even
David must have been shocked and horrified to find
things so bad as they were now reported. In an act
of unfeigned reverence for the king's son, David
bowed himself three times to the ground. In token of
much love they kissed one another ; while under the
dark cloud of adversity that had risen on them both,
and that now compelled them to separate, hardly ever
again (as it turned out) to see one another in the flesh,
" they wept one with another until David exceeded."
" They wept as only strong men weep,
When weep they must, or die."
One consolation alone remained, and it was Jonathan
that was able to apply it. " Jonathan said to David,
Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us
in the name of the Lord, saying, The Lord be between
me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for
ever." Yes, even in that darkest hour, Jonathan could
say to David, " Go in peace." What peace ? " Thou
wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed
on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee." " The angel of
the Lord encampeth about them that fear Him, and

xx.] DAVID AND JONATHAN. 327
delivereth them." " Many are the afflictions of the
righteous, but the Lord delivereth them out of them all."
We cannot turn from this chapter without adding
a word on the friendships of the young. It is when
hearts are tender that they are most readily knit to
each other, as the heart of Jonathan was knit to the
heart of David. But the formation of friendships is too
important a matter to be safely left to casual circum
stances. It ought to be gone about with care. If you
have materials to choose among, see that you choose
the best. At the foundation of all friendship lies con
geniality of heart — a kindred feeling of which one often
becomes conscious by instinct at first sight. But
there must also be elements of difference in friends. It
is a great point to have a friend who is above us in
some things, and who will thus be likely lo draw us up
to a higher level of character, instead of dragging us
down to a lower. And a friend is very useful, if he is
rich in qualities where we are poor. A» it is in In
Memoriam— "He was rich where I was poor,
And he supplied my want the more
As his unlikeness fitted mine."
But surely, of all qualities in a friend or con.paiJon
who is to do us good, the most vital is, that he fears
the Lord. As such friendships are by far the most
pleasant, so they are by far the most profitable. And
when you have made friends, stick by them. Don't
let it be said of you that your friend seemed to be
everything to you yesterday, but nothing to-day. And
if your friends rise above you in the world, rejoice in
their prosperity, and banish every envious feeling ; or
if you should rise above them, do not forget them,

328 THE FIRST BOOK OP SAMUEL
nor forsake them, but, as if you had made a covenant
before God, continue to show kindness to them and
to their children after them. Pray for them, and ask
them to pray for you.
Perhaps it was with some view to the friendship of
Jonathan and his father that Solomon wrote, " There
is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother." Jonathan
was such a friend to David. But the words suggest
a higher friendship. The glory of Jonathan's love for
David fades before our Lord's love for His brethren.
If Jonathan were living among us, who of us could
look on him with indifference ? Would not our hearts
warm to him, as we gazed on his noble form and open
face, even though we had never been the objects of his
affection ? In the case of Jesus Christ, we have all the
noble qualities of Jonathan in far higher excellence
than his, and we have this further consideration, that
for us He has laid down His life, and that none who
receive His friendship can ever be separated from His
love. And what an elevating and purifying effect that
friendship will have ! In alliance with Him, you are
in alliance with all that is pure and bright, all that is
transforming and beautifying ; all that can give peace
to your conscience, joy to your heart, lustre to your
spirit, and beauty to your life ; all that can make your
garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia; all
that can bless you and make you a blessing. And
once you are truly His, the bond can never be severed ;
David had to tear himself from Jonathan, but you will
never have to tear yourselves from Christ. Your union
is cemented by the blood of the everlasting covenant ;
and by the eternal efficacy of the prayer, " Father, I
will that they also whom Thou hast given me be
with me where I am."

CHAPTER XXVIII.
DAVID AT NOB AND AT GATB.
i Samuel xxi.
WE enter here on a somewhat painful part of
David's history. He is not living so near to
God as before, and in consequence his course becomes
more carnal and more crooked. We saw in our last
chapter the element of distrust rising up somewhat
ominously in that solemn adjuration to Jonathan, " Truly
as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but
a step between me and death." These words, it is
true, gave expression to an undoubted and in a sense
universal truth, a truth which all of us should at all
times ponder, but which David had special cause to
feel, under the circumstances in which he was placed.
It was not the fact of his giving solemn expression to
this truth that indicated distrust on the part of David,
but the fact that he did not set over against it another
truth which was just as real, — that God had chosen
him for His service, and would not allow him to perish
at the hand of Saul. When a good man sees himself
exposed to a terrible danger which he has no means of
averting, it is no wonder if the contemplation of that
danger gives rise for the moment to fear. But it is his
privilege to enjoy promises of protection and blessing
at the hand of the unseen God, and if his faith in

330 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
these promises be active, it will not only neutralize the
fear, but raise him high above it. Now, the defect in
David's state of mind was, that while he fully realized
the danger, he did not by faith lay hold of that which
v/as fitted to neutralize it. It was Jonathan rather
than David who by faith realized at this time David's
grounds of security. All through Jonathan's remarks
in chapter xx. you see him thinking of God as David's
Protector, — thinking of the great purposes which God
meant to accomplish by him, and which were a pledge
that He would preserve him now, — thinking of David as
a coming man of unprecedented power and influence,
whose word would determine other men's destinies, and
dispose of their fortunes. David seems to have been
greatly indebted to Jonathan for sustaining his faith
while he was with him; for after he parted from
Jonathan, his faith fell very low. Time after time, he
follows that policy of deceit which he had instructed
Jonathan to pursue in explaining his absence from the
feast in Saul's house. It is painful in the last degree
to see one whose faith towered to such a lofty height
in the encounter with Goliath, coming down from that
noble elevation, to find him resorting for self-protection
to the lies and artifices of an impostor.
We cannot excuse it, but we may account for it.
David was wearied out by Saul's restless and incessant
persecution. We read in Daniel of a certain persecutor
that he should "wear out the saints of the Most High,"
and it was the same sad experience from which David
was now suffering. It does not appear that he was
gifted naturally with great patience, or power of endur
ing. Rather we should suppose that one of such nimble
and lively temperament would soon tire of a strained
and uneasy attitude. It appears that Saul's persistency

xxi.] David at nob and at gath. 331
in injustice and cruelty made David at last restless and
impatient. All the more would he have needed in such
circumstances to resort to God, and seek from Him the
oil of grace to feed his patience, and bear him above
the infirmities of his nature. But this was just what
he seems not to have done. Carnal fear therefore grew
apace, and faith fell into a state of slumber. The eye
of sense was active, looking out on the perils around
nim ; the eye of faith was dull, hardly able to decipher
a single promise. The eye of sense saw the vindictive
scowl of Saul, the javelin in his hand, and bands of
soldiers sent out on every side to seize David or slay
him ; the eye of faith did not see — what it might have
seen — the angel of the Lord encamping around him
and delivering him. It was God's purpose now to
allow David to feel his own weakness ; he was to pass
through that terrible ordeal when, tossed on a sea of
trials, one feels like Noah's dove, unable to find rest
for the sole of one's foot, and seems on the very eve
of dropping helpless into the billows; till the ark pre
sents itself, and a gracious hand is put forth to the
rescue. Left to himself, tempted to make use of carnal
expedients, and taught the wretchedness of such ex
pedients; learning also, through this discipline, to
anchor his soul more firmly on the promise of the
living God, David was now undergoing a most essential
part of his early training, gaining the experience that
was to qualify him to say with such earnestness to
others, " O taste and see that the Lord is good : blessed
is the man that trusteth in Him."
On leaving Gibeah, David, accompanied with a few
followers, bent his steps to Nob, a city of the priests.
The site of this city has not been discovered; some
think it stood on the north-eastern ridge of Mount

33* THE FIRST BOOK OP SAMUEL.
Olivet ; this is uncertain, but it is evident that it was
very close to Jerusalem (see Isa. x. 32). Its distance
from Gibeah would therefore be but five or six miles,
much too short for David to have had there any great
sense of safety. It appears to have become the seat of
the sacred services of the nation, some time after the
destruction of Shiloh. David's purpose in going there
seems to have been simply to get a shelter, perhaps for
the Sabbath day, and to obtain supplies. Doeg, indeed,
charged Ahimelech, before Saul, with having inquired
of the Lord for David, but Ahimelech with some
warmth denied the charge.* The privilege of con
sulting the Urim and Thummim seems to have been
confined to the chief ruler of the nation ; if with the
sanction of the priest David had done so now, he might
have justly been charged with treason ; probably it was
because he believed Doeg rather than Ahimelech, and
concluded that this royal privilege had been conceded
by the priests to David, that Saul was so enraged, and
inflicted such dreadful retribution on them. Afterwards,
when Abiathar fled to David with the high priest's
ephod, through which the judgment of Urim and
Thummim seems to have been announced, David re
garded that circumstance as an indication of the Divine
permission to him to make use of the sacred oracle.
But what shall we say of the untruth which David
told Ahimelech, to account for his coming there without
armed attendants ? "The king hath commanded me a
business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any-
* See 1 Sam. xxii. 15 : — " Have I to-day begun to inquire of God for
him ? be it far from me : let not the king impute anything unto his servant,
nor to all the house of my father ; for thy servant knoweth nothing of
all this, less or more " (R. V.) To deny beginning to do a thing is much
the same as to deny doing it.

xxi.] DAVID AT NOB AND AT GATH. 333
thing of the business whereabout I send thee, and what
I have commanded thee ; and I have commanded my
servants to such and such a place." Here was a state
ment not only not true, but the very opposite of the
truth ; spoken too to God's anointed high priest, and
in the very place consecrated to God's most solemn
service; everything about the speaker fitted to bring
God to his mind, and to recal God's protection of him
in time past ; yet the first thing he did on entering the
sacred place was to utter a falsehood, prompted by
distrust, prompted by the feeling that the pledged pro
tection of the God of truth, before whose shrine he now
stood, was not sufficient. How plain the connection
between a deficient sense of God's truthfulness, and
a deficient regard to truth itself! What could have
tempted David to act thus? According to some, it
was altogether an amiable and generous desire to keep
Ahimelech out of trouble, to screen him from the re
sponsibility of helping a known outlaw. But consider
ing the gathering distrust of David's spirit at the time,
it seems more likely that he was startled at the fear
which Ahimelech expressed when he saw David coming
alone, as if all were not right between him and Saul,
as if the truce that had been agreed on after the affaii
of Naioth had now come to an end. Probably David
felt that if Ahimelech knew all, he would be still more
afraid, and do nothing to help him ; moreover, the
presence of Doeg the Edomite was another cause of em
barrassment, for Saul had once ordered all his servants
to kill David, and if the fierce Edomite were told that
David was now simply a fugitive, he might be willing
enough to do the deed. Anyhow, David now lent him
self to the devices of the father of lies. And so the
brave spirit that had not quailed before Goliath, and

334 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
that had met the Philistines in so many terrific encoun
ters, now quailed before a phantom of its own devising,
and shrank from what, at the moment, was only an
imaginary danger.
David succeeded in getting from Ahimelech what he
wanted, but not without difficulty. For when David
asked for five loaves of bread, the priest replied that he
had no common bread, but only shewbread; he had
only the bread that had been taken that day from off
the table on which it stood before the Lord, and re
placed by fresh bread, according to the law. The priest
was willing to give that bread to David, if he could
assure him that his attendants were not under defile
ment. It will be remembered that our Lord adverted
to this fact, as a justification of His own disciples for
plucking the ears of corn and eating them on the
Sabbath. The principle underlying both was, that
when a ceremonial obligation comes into collision with
a moral duty, the lesser obligation is to give place to
the heavier. The keeping of the Sabbath free from all
work, and the appropriation of the shewbread to the
use of the priests alone, were but ceremonial obliga
tions; the preservation of -life was a moral duty. It
is sometimes a very difficult thing to determine duty,
when moral obligations appear to clash with each
other, but there was no difficulty in the collision of the
moral and the ceremonial. Our Lord would certainly
not have sided with that body of zealots, in the days
of conflict between the Maccabees and the Syrians, who
allowed themselves to be cut in pieces by the enemy,
rather than break the Sabbath by fighting on that day.
David had another request to make of Ahimelech.
" Is there -not here under thy hand spear or sword ?
for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons

xxi.] DAVID AT NOB AND AT GATH. 33$
with me, because the king's business required haste."
It was a strange place to ask for military weapons.
Surely the priests would not need to defend themselves
with these. Yet it happened that there was a sword
there which David knew well, and which he might
reasonably claim, — the sword of Goliath. " Give it me,"
said David ; " there is none like that." We read before,
that David carried Goliath's head to Jerusalem. Nob
was evidently in the Jerusalem district, and as the
sword was there, there can be little doubt that it was
at Nob the trophies had been deposited.
So far, things had gone fairly well with David at
Nob. But there was a man there " detained before the
Lord," — prevented probably from proceeding on his
journey because it was the Sabbath day, — whose presence
gave no comfort to David, and was, indeed, an omen
of evil. Doeg, the Edomite, was the chief of the herd-
men of Saul. Why Saul had entrusted that office to a
member of a nation that was notorious for its bitter
feelings towards Israel, we do not know ; but the
herdman seems to have been like his master in his
feelings towards David ; he would appear, indeed, to
have joined the hereditary dislike of his nation to the
personal dislike of his master. Instinctively, as we
learn afterwards, ' David understood the feelings of
Doeg. It would have been well for him, when a shudder
passed over him as he caught the scowling countenance
of the Edomite, had his own conscience been easier
than it was. It would have been well for him had he
been ruled by that spirit of trust which triumphed so
gloriously the day he first got possession of that sword.
It wouldhave been well for him had he been free from
the disturbing consciousness of having offended God
by borrowing the devices of the father of lies and

336 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
bringing them into the sanctuary, to pollute the air
of the house of God. No wonder, though, David was
restless again ! " And David arose, and fled that day
for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of
Gath." How different his state and prospects now from what
they had been a little time before ! Then the world
smiled on him ; fame and honour, wealth and glory,
flowed in on him ; God was his Father ; conscience was
calm ; he hardly knew the taste of misery. But how
has his sky become overcast ! A homeless and helpless
wanderer, with scarcely an attendant or companion ; in
momentary fear of death; fain to beg a morsel of
bread where he could get it ; a creature so banned and
cursed that kindness to him involved the risk of death ;
his heart bleeding for the loss of Jonathan ; his soul
clouded by distrust of God ; his conscience troubled by
the vague sense of unacknowledged sin ! And yet he
is destined to be king of Israel, the very ideal of a good
and prosperous monarch, and the earthly type of the
Son of God ! Like a lost sheep, he has gone astray for
a time, but the Good Shepherd will leave the ninety-
and-nine and go among the mountains till He find him ;
and his experience will give a wondrous depth to that
favourite song of young and old of every age and
country, "He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the
paths of righteousness, for His name's sake."
And now we must follow him to Gath, the city of
Goliath. Down the slope of Mount Olivet, across the
brook Kedron, and past the stronghold of Zion, and
probably through the very valley of Elah where he had
fought with the giant, David makes his way to Gath.
It was surely a strange place to fly to, a sign of the
despair in which David found himself 1 What reception

xxi.] DAVID AT NOB AND AT GATH. 337
could the conqueror of Goliath expect in his city?
What retribution was due to him for the hundred
foreskins, and for the deeds of victory which had
inspired the Hebrew singers when they sang of the
tens of thousands whom David had slain ?
It will hardly do to say that he reckoned on not
being recognised. It is more likely that he relied on
a spirit not unknown among barbarous princes towards
warriors dishonoured at home, as when Themistocles
took refuge among the Persians, or Coriolanus among
the Volscians. That he took this step without much
reflection on its ulterior bearings is well nigh certain.
For, granting that he should be favourably received,
this would be on the understanding that his services
would be at the command of his protector, or at the
very least it would place him under an obligation of
gratitude that would prove highly embarrassing at some
future time. Happily, the scheme did not succeed.
The jealousy of the Philistine nobles was excited.
" The servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this
David, the king of the land ? Did they not sing one
to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain
his thousands, and David his ten thousands ? " David
began to feel himself in a false position. He laid up
these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish.
The misery of his situation and the poverty of his
resources may both be inferred from the unworthy
device to which he resorted to extricate himself from
his difficulty. He feigned himself mad, and conducted
himself as madmen commonly do. " He scrabbled on
the door of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon
his beard." But the device failed. " Have I need of
madmen," asked the king, " that ye have brought this
fellow to play the madman in my presence ? shall this
VOfc. It S3

338 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
fellow come into my house ?" A Jewish tradition
alleges that both the wife and daughter of Achish were
mad ; he had plenty of that sort of people already : no
need of more ! The title of the thirty-fourth Psalm tells
us, " he drove him away, and he departed."
Have any of you ever been tempted to resort to a
series of devices and deceits either to avoid a danger
or to attain an object ? Have you been tempted to
forsake the path of straightforward honesty and truth,
and to pretend that things were different with you
from what they really were ? I do not accuse you of
that wickedness which they commit who deliberately
imprison conscience, and fearlessly set up their own
will and their own interests as their king. What you
have done under the peculiar circumstances in which
you found yourselves is not what you would ordinarily
have done. In this one connection, you felt pressed to
get along in one way or another, and the only available
way was that of deceit and device. You were very
unhappy at the beginning, and your misery increased
as you went on. Everything about you was in a con
strained, unnatural condition, — conscience, temper
feelings, all out of order. At one time it seemed as if
you were going to succeed ; you were on the crest of u
wave that promised to bear you to land, but the wave
broke, and you were sent floundering in the broken
water. You were obliged to go from device to device,
witii a growing sense of misery. At last the chain
snapped, and both you and your friends were confronted
w'th the miserable reality. But know this: that it
would have been infinitely worse for you if your device
1 ad succeeded than that it failed. If it had succeeded,
you would have been permanently entangled in evil
«rinciples and evil ways, that would have ruined your

xxi.] DAVID AT NOB AND AT GATH. 339
soul. Because you failed, God showed that He had
not forsaken you. David prospering at Gath would
have been a miserable spectacle ; David driven away by
Achish is on the way to brighter and better days.
For, if we can accept the titles of some of the Psalms,
it would seem that the carnal spell, under which David
had been for some time, burst when Achish drove him
away, and that he returned to his early faith ard trust.
It was to the cave of Adullam that he fled, and the
hundred and forty-second Psalm claims to have been
written there. So also the thirty-fourth Psalm, as we
have seen, bears to have been written "when he
changed his behaviour " (feigned madness) " before
Abimelech " (Achish ?), " who drove him away, and he
departed." So much uncertainty has been thrown of
late years on these superscriptions, that we dare not
trust to them explicitly; yet recognising in them at
least the value of old traditions, we may regard them
as more or less probable, especially when they seem to
agree with the substance of the Psalms themselves.
With reference to the thirty-fourth, we miss something
in the shape of confession of sin, such as we should
have expected of one whose lips had not been kept
from speaking guile. In other respects the psalm fits
the situation. ' The image of the young lions roaring
for their prey might very naturally be suggested by the
wilderness. But the chief feature of the psalm is the
delightful evidence it affords of the blessing that comes
from trustful fellowship with God. And there is an
expression that seems to imply that that blessing had
not been always enjoyed by the Psalmist ; he had lost
it once ; but there came a time when (ver. 4) " I
sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me
from all my fears." And the experience of that new

340 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
time was so delightful that the Psalmist had resolved
that he would always be on that tack : " I will bless the
Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my
mouth." How changed the state of his spirit from the
time when he feigned madness at Gath ! When he
asks, "What man is he that desireth life and loveth
many days that he may see good?" (ver. 12)— what
man would fain preserve his life from harassing anxiety
and bewildering dangers ? — the prompt reply is,
" Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking
guile." Have nothing to do with shifts and pretences
and false devices ; be candid and open, and commit all
to God. " O taste and see that the Lord is good :
blessed is the man that trusteth in Him O fear the
Lord, ye His saints " (for you too are liable to forsake
the true confidence), " for there is no want to them that
fear Him. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger,
but they that seek the Lord shall not lack any good
thing. The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and
delivereth them out of all their troubles. . . . Many
are the afflictions of the righteous ; but . the Lord
delivereth them out of them all."
" The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains
of hell gat hold upon me ; I found trouble and sorrow.
Then called I upon the name of the Lord : O Lord,
I beseech Thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is the Lord,
and righteous ; yea, our God is merciful. The Lord
preserveth the simple; I was brought low, and He
helped me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the
Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee" (Psalm cxvi.
3-7).

CHAPTER XXIX.
DAVID AT ADULLAM, MIZPEH, AND HARETB.
I Samuel xxii.
THE cave of Adullam, to which David fled on leav
ing Gath, has been placed in various localities
even in modern times ; but as the Palestine Explora
tion authorities have placed the town in the valley of
Elah, we may regard it as settled that the cave lay
there, not far indeed from the place where David had
had his encounter with Goliath. It was a humble
dwelling for a king's son-in-law, nor could David have
thought of needing it on the memorable day when he
did such wonders with his sling and stone. These
" dens and caves of the earth " — effects of great con
vulsions in some remote period of its history — what
service have they often rendered to the hunted and
oppressed I How many a devout saint, of whom the
world was not worthy, has blessed God for their
shelter! With how much purer devotion and loftier
fellowship, with how much more sublime and noble
exercises of the human spirit have many of them been
associated, than some of the proudest and costliest
temples that have been reared in name — often' little
more — to the service of God !
If David at first was somewhat an object of jealousy
to his own family in this the day of his trials they

342 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
showed a different spirit. " When his brethren and all
his father's house heard of it, they went down thither
to him." As the proverb says, " Blood is thicker than
water," and often adversity draws families together
between whom prosperity has been like a wedge.
If our relations are prospering while we are poor,
we think of them as if they had moved away from us;
but when their fortunes are broken, and the world turns
its back on them, we get closer, our sympathy revives.
We think all the better of David's family that when
they heard of his outlaw condition they all went down
to him. Besides these, " every one that was in distress,
and every one that was in debt, and every one that
was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and
he became a captain over them ; and there were with
him about four hundred men." The account here given
of the circumstances of this band is not very flattering,
but there are two things connected with it to be borne
in mind : in the first place, that the kind of men who
usually choose the soldier's calling are not your men of
plodding industry, but men who shrink from mono
tonous labour ; and, in the second place, that under the
absolute rule of Saul there might be many very worthy
persons in debt and discontented and in distress, men
who had come into that condition because they were
not so ready to cringe to despotism as their ruler de
sired. Mixed and motley therefore though David's
troop may have been, it was far from contemptible;
and their adherence was fitted greatly to encourage
him, because it showed that public feeling was with
him, that his cause was not looked on as desperate,
that his standard was one to which it was deemed safe
and hopeful to resort.
But if, at the first glance, the troop appeared some-

xxii.] DAVID AT ADULLAM, MIZPEH, HARETH. 343
what disreputable, it was soon joined by two men, the
one a prophet, the other a priest, whose adherence must
have brought to it a great accession of moral weight.
The prophet was Gad (ver. 5), who next to Samuel
seems to have stood highest in the nation as a man of
God, a man of holy counsel, and elevated, heavenly
character. His open adherence to David (which seems
to be implied in ver. 5) must have had the best effects
both on David himself and on the people at large. It
must have been a great blessing to David to have such
a man as Gad beside him; for, with all his personal
piety, he seems to have required a godly minister at
his side. No man derived more benefit from the com
munion of saints, or was more apt to suffer for want
of it; for, as we have seen, he had begun to decline
in spirituality when he left Samuel at Naioth, and still
more when he was parted from Jonathan. When Gad
joined him, David must have felt that he was sent to
him from the Lord, and could not but be full of grati
tude for so conspicuous an answer to his prayers. It
would seem that Gad remained in close relation to
David to the close of his life. It was he that came from
the Lord to offer him his choice between three forms of
chastisement after his offence in numbering the people ;
and from the fact of his being called " David's seer "
(2 Sam. xxiv. Il) we conclude that he and David were
intimately associated. It was he also that instructed
David to buy the threshing-floor of Araunah the
Jebusite, and thus to consecrate to God a spot with
which, to the very end of time, the most hallowed
thoughts must always be connected.
The other eminent person that joined David about
this time was Abiathar the priest. But before advert
ing to this, we must follow the thread of the nanative

344 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
and especially note the tragedy that occurred at Nob,
the city of the priests.
From the mode of life which David had to follow
and the difficulty of obtaining subsistence for his troop
at one place for any length of time, he was obliged
to make frequent changes. On leaving the cave of
Adullam, which was near the western border of the tribe
of Judah, he traversed the whole breadth of that tribe,
and crossing the Jordan, came to the territories of Moab.
He was concerned for the safety of his father and
mother, knowing too well the temper of Eastern kings,
and how they thirsted for the blood, not only of their
rivals, but of all their relations. He feared that they
would not be let alone at Bethlehem or in any other part
of Saul's kingdom. But what led him to think of the king
of Moab ? Perhaps a tender remembrance of his ances
tress Ruth, the damsel from Moab, who had been so
eminent for her devotion to her mother-in-law. Might
there not be found in the king of Moab somewhat of
a like disposition, that would look with pity on an old
man and woman driven from their home, not indeed,
like Naomi, by famine, but by what was even worse, the
shameful ingratitude and murderous fury of a wicked
king ? If such was David's hope, it was not without
success ; his father and his mother dwelt with the king
of Moab all the time that David was in the hold.
But it was not God's purpose that David should lurk
in a foreign land. The prophet Gad directed him to
return to the land of Judah. It was within the boun
daries of that tribe, accordingly, that the rest of David's
exile was spent, with the exception of the time at the
very end when he again resorted to Philistine territory.
His firsthiding-place was the forest of Hareth.
While Pavid was here, Saul, encamped in military

xxii.] DAVID AT ADULLAM, MIZPEH, HARETH. 345
state at Gibeah, delivered an extraordinary speech to
the men of his own tribe. " Hear now, ye Benjamites ;
will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and
vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands, and
captains of hundreds ; that all of you have conspired
against me, and there is none that showeth me that my
son hath made a league with the son of Jesse, and there
is none of you that is sorry for me, or that showeth me
that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to
lie in wait, as at this day ? " It would have been
difficult for any other man to condense so much that was
vile in spirit into the dimensions of a little speech like
this. It begins with a base appeal to the cupidity of his
countrymen, the Benjamites, among whom he was pro
bably in the habit of distributing the possessions of his
enemies, as, for instance, the Gibeonites, who dwelt near
him, and whom he slew, contrary to the covenant made
with them by Joshua (2 Sam. xxi. 2). It accuses his
people of having conspired against him, because they
had not spoken to him of the friendship of his son with
David, although that fact must have been notorious.
It accuses the noble Jonathan of having stirred up
David against Saul, while neither Jonathan nor David
had ever lifted a little finger against him, and both the
one and the other might have been trusted to serve him
with unflinching fidelity if he had only given them a
fair chance. It indicates that nothing would be more
agreeable to Saul than any information about David
or those connected with him that would give him an
excuse for some deed of overwhelming vengeance. Did
ever man draw his own portrait in viler colours than
Saul in this speech ?
There was one bosom — let us hope only one — in
which it awoke a response. It was that of Doeg the

J4« THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
Edomite. He told the story of what he had seen at
Nob, adding thereto the unfounded statement that
Ahimelech had inquired of the Lord for David.
Ahimelech and the whole college of priests were accord
ingly sent for, and they came. The charge brought
against him was a very offensive one ; in so far, it was
a statement of facts, but of facts placed in an odious
light, of facts coloured with a design which Ahimelech
never entertained. Oh, how many an innocent man
has suffered in this way ! Even in courts of justice,
by pleaders whose interest is on the other side, and some
times by judges (like Jeffreys) steeped in hatred and
prejudice, how often have acts that were quite innocent
been put to the account of treason, or put to the
account of malice, or cunningly forged into a chain,
indicating a deliberate design to injure another I It
can never be too earnestly insisted on that to be just
to a man you must not merely ascertain the real facts
of his case, but you must put the facts in their true
light, and not colour them with prejudices of your own
or with suppositions which the man repudiates.
The conduct of Ahimelech was manly and straight
forward, but indiscreet. He admitted the facts, with
the exception of the statement that he had inquired of
the Lord for David. He vindicated right manfully the
faithful, noble services of David, services that ought to
have excluded the very idea of treason or conspiracy.
He protested that he knew nothing of any ground the
king had against David, or of any cause that could
have led him >to believe that in helping him he was
offending Saul. But just because Ahimelech's defence
was so true and so complete, it was most offensive to
Saul. What is there a despot likes worse to hear
than that he is entirely in the wrong ? What words

xxii.] DAVID AT ADULLAM, MIZPEH, HARETH. 347
irritate him so much as those which prove the entire
innocence of some one with whom he is angry ?
Saul was angry both with David and with Ahimelech.
Ahimelech had the great misfortune to prove to him
that in both cases there was no shadow of ground for
his anger. In proportion as Saul's reason should
have been satisfied, his temper was excited. What
an uncontrollable condition that temper must have been
in when the death of Ahimelech was decreed, and all
his father's house 1 We do not wonder that no one
could be found in his bodyguard to execute the order.
Did this not stagger and sober the king ? Far from
it. His fit of rage was so hot and imperious that he
would not be baulked. Turning to Doeg, he com
manded him to fall on the priests. And this vile man had
the brutality to execute the order, and to plunge his
sword into the heart of fourscore and five unarmed
persons that wore the garments which even in heathei i
nations usually secured protection and safety. And as
if it were not enough to kill the men, their city, Nob,
was utterly destroyed. Men and women, children and
sucklings, oxen and asses and sheep — a thorough
massacre was made of them all. Had Nob been a
city of warriors that had resisted the king's armies
with haughty insolence, harassed them by sorties,
entrapped them by stratagems, and exasperated them
by hideous cruelty to their prisoners, but at last been
overpowered, it could not have had a more terrible
doom. And had Saul never committed any other
crime, this would have been enough to separate him
from the Lord for ever, and to bring down on him the
horrors of the night at Endor and of the day that
followed on Mount Gilboa.
This cruel and sacrilegious murder must have told

348 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
against Saul and his cause with prodigious effect.
There could not have been a single priest or Levite
throughout the kingdom whose blood would not boil at
the news of the massacre, and whose sympathies would
not be enlisted, more or less, on behalf of David, now
openly proclaimed by Saul as his rival, and probably
known to have been anointed by Samuel as his suc
cessor. Not only the priests and Levites, but every
rightminded man throughout the land would share in
this feeling, and many a prayer would be offered for
David that God would protect him, and spare him to
be a blessing to his country. The very presence in his
camp of Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, who escaped
the massacre, with his ephod, — an official means of
consulting God in all cases of difficulty, — would be a
visible proof to his followers and to the community at
large, that God was on his side. And when the solemn
rites of the national worship were performed in his
camp, and when, at each turn of public affairs, the high
priest was seen in communication with Jehovah, the
feeling could not fail to gain strength that David's
cause was the cause of God, and the cause of the
country, and that, in due time, his patient sufferings
and his noble services would be crowned with the due
reward. But if the news of the massacre would tend on the
whole to improve David's position with the people, it
must have occasioned a terrible pang to David himself.
There was, indeed, one point of view in which some
thing of the kind was to be looked for. Long ago, it
had been foretold to Eli, when he tolerated so calmly
the scandalous wickedness of his sons, " Behold, the
days come that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of
thy father's house, but there shall not be an old man

urii.] DAVID AT ADULLAM, MIZPEH, HARETH. 349
in thine house. And thou shalt see an enemy in My
habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give
Israel : and there shall not be an old man in thy house
for ever." Ahimelech was a grandson of Eli, and the
other massacred priests were probably of Eli's blood.
Here, then, at last, was the fulfilment of the sentence
announced to Eli ; doomed as his house had been, their
subsistence for years back was of the nature of a respite ;
and here, at length, was the catastrophe that had been
so distinctly foretold.
That consideration, however, would not be much, if
any, consolation to David. If the falsehood which he
had told to Ahimelech was really dictated by a desire
to save the high priest from conscious implication with
his affairs — with the condition of one who was now an
outlaw and a fugitive, it had failed most terribly of
the desire deflect. The issue of the lie only served to
place David's duplicity in a more odious light. There
is one thing in David, when he received the information,
that we cannot but admire — his readiness to take to
himself his full share of blame. " I have occasioned
the death of all thy father's house." And more than
that, he did not even protest that it was impossible to
have foreseen what was going to happen. For at the
very time when he was practising the falsehood on
Ahimelech, he owns that he had a presentiment of mis
chief to follow. " I knew it that day, when Doeg -the
Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul."
Nor did he excuse himself on the ground that the
massacre was the fulfilment of the longstanding sentence
on Eli's house. He knew well that that circumstance
in no degree lessened his own guilt, or the guilt of
Doeg and Saul. Though God may use men's wicked
passions to bring about His purposes, that in no degree

3J0 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
lessens the guilt of these passions. It seems as if
David never could have forgiven himself his share in
this dreadful business. And what a warning this
conveys to us ! Are you not sometimes tempted to
think that sin to you is not a very serious matter,
because you will get forgiveness for it, the atoning
work of the Saviour will cleanse you from its guilt ?
Be it so ; but what if your sin has involved others, and
if no atoning blood has been sprinkled on them ? What
of the youth whom your careless example first led to
drink, and who died a miserable drunkard ? What of
the clerk whom you instructed to tell a lie ? What of
the companion of your sensuality whom you drove
nearer to hell ? Alas, alas ! sin is like a network,
the ramifications of which go out on the right hand
and on the left, and when we break God's law, we
cannot tell what the consequences to others may
be ! And how can we be ever comforted if we have
been the occasion of ruin to any ? It seems as if the
burden of that feeling could never be borne ; as if the
only way of escape were, to be put out of existence
altogether !
The superscription of the fifty-second Psalm bears — -
" Maschil of David ; when Doeg the Edomite came and
told Saul, David is come to the house of Ahimelech."
There is not much in this title to recommend it, as the
information that was given by Doeg to Saul is not stated
accurately. We might have expected, too, that if Doeg
was alone in the Psalmist's eye, the atrocious slaughter
of the priests would have had a share of reprobation,
as well as the sharp, calumnious, mischievous tongue
which is the chief object of denunciation. And though
Doeg, as the chief of Saul's bondmen, might be a rich
man, that position would hardly have entitled him to be

xxii) DAVID AT ADULLAM, MIZPEH, HARETB. 351
called a mighty man, nor to assume the swaggering
tone of independence here ascribed to him. Whoever
was really the object of denunciation in this psalm,
seems however to have belonged to the same class with
Doeg, in respect of his wicked tongue and love of mis
chief. It is indeed a wretched character that is de
lineated : the Psalmist's enemy is at once mischievous
and mighty ; and not only is he mischievous, but he
boasts himself in it He is shameless and without
conscience, bent on doing all the evil that he can. Let
him only have a chance of bringing a railing accusation
against God's servants, and he does it with delight.
But his conduct is senseless as it is wicked. God is
unchangeably good, and His goodness is a sure defence
to His servants against all the calumnious devices of
the greatest and strongest of men. It is the tongue of
this evil man that is his instrument of mischief. It
is utterly unscrupulous, sharp as a razor, cunning,
devouring. A liar is a serious enemy, one who is
utterly unprincipled, clever withal, and who trains him
self with great skill to do mischief with his tongue. It
is painful to be at the mercy of a calumniator who does
not launch against you a clumsy and incredible calumny,
but one that has an element of probability in it, only
fearfully distorted. Especially when the calumniator is
one that deviseth mischief, who loves evil more than good,
to whom truth is too tame to be cared for, who delights
in falsehood because it is more piquant, more exciting.
To those who have learned to regard it as the great
business of life to spread light, order, peace, and joy,
such men appear to be monsters, and indeed they
are; but it is a painful experience to lie at their
mercy. To this class belonged Doeg, a monster in human

3S2 The first book op samuEL
form, to whom it was no distress, but apparently a
congenial employment, to murder in cold blood a very
hecatomb of men consecrated to the service of God.
No doubt it would appal David to think that such a
man was now leagued with Saul as his bitter and
implacable enemy. But his faith saw him in the same
prostrate position in which his faith had seen Goliath.
Men cannot defy God in vain. Men dare not defy that
truth and that.mercy which are attributes of God. "God
shall likewise destroy thee for ever : He shall take thee
away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling-place, and
root thee out of the land of the living. The righteous
also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him."
What became of Doeg we do not know. The his
torian does not introduce his name again. Before
David came to power, he had probably received his
doom. Had he still survived, we should have been
likely again to fall in with his name. The Jews have
a tradition that he was Saul's armour-bearer at the
battle of Gilboa, and that the sword by which he
and his master fell, was no other than that which
had slain the priests of the Lord. As for the truth
of this we cannot say. But even supposing that no
special judgment befel him, we cannot fancy him as
other than a most miserable man. With such a heart
and such a tongue, with the load of a guilty life ly'ng
heavy on his soul, and that life crowned by such an
infamous proceeding as the massacre of the priests,
we cannot think of him as one who enjoyed life, but as
a man of surly and gloomy nature, to whom life grew
darker and darker, till it was extinguished in soim.
miserable ending. In contrast with such a career, how
bright and how much to be desired was David's antici
pated future : — " I am like a green olive-tree in the

*xii.] DAVID AT ADULLAM, MltPEH, HARETB. 3$3
house of my God : I trust in the mercy of God for ever
and ever. I will praise Thy name for ever, because
Thou hast done it : and I will wait on Thy name, for it
is good before Thy saints."
"Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; but he that
trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about."

CHAPTER XXX.
DAVID AT KEILAH, ZIPH, AND MA OB.
I Samuel xxiii.
THE period of David's life shortly sketched in this
chapter, must have been full of trying and exciting
events. If we knew all the details, they would pro
bably be full of romantic interest; many a tale of
privation, disease, discomfort, on the one hand, and of
active conflicts and hair-breadth escapes on the other.
The district which he frequented was a mountainous
tract, bordering on the west coast of the Dead Sea, and
lying exposed more or less to the invasions of the
neighbouring nations. In the immediate neighbour
hood of Ziph, Maon, and Carmel, the country — a fine
upland plain — is remarkably rich and fertile ; but
between these places and the Dead Sea it changes to a
barren wilderness ; the rocky valleys that run down to
the margin of the sea, parched by the heat and drought,
produce only a dry stunted grass. Innumerable caves
are everywhere to be seen, still affording shelter to
outlaws and robbers. But at Engedi (now Ain-Jidy,
" the fountain of the goat "), the last place mentioned
in this chapter, the traveller finds a little plain on the
shore of the Dead Sea, where the soil is remarkably
rich ; a delicious fountain fertilizes it ; shut in between
walls of rock, both its climate and its products are like

xxiii.] David at keilaH, ziph, and maoM 355
those of the tropics ; it only wants cultivation to render
it a most prolific spot.
By what means did David obtain sustenance for him
self and his large troop in these sequestered regions ?
Bayle, in the article in his famous Dictionary on
" David," — an article which gave the cue to much that
has been said and written against him since, — speaks
of them as a troop of robbers, and compares them to
the associates of Catiline, and even Dean Stanley calls
them " freebooters." Both expressions are obviously
unwarranted. The only class of persons whom David
and his troop regarded as enemies were the open
enemies of his country, — that is, either persons who
lived by plunder, or the tribes on whom Saul, equally
with himself, would have made war. That David re
garded himself as entitled to attack and pillage the
Hebrew settlers in his own tribe of Judah is utterly
inconsistent with all that we know both of his character
and of his history. If David had a weakness, it lay
in his extraordinary partiality for his own people,
contrasted with his hard and even harsh feelings to
wards the nations that so often annoyed them. Nothing
was too good for a Hebrew, nothing too severe for an
alien. In after life, we see how his heart was torn to
its very centre by the judgment that fell upon his people
after his offence in numbering the people (2 Sam. xxiv.
17) ; while the record of his severity to the Ammonites
cannot be read without a shudder (2 Sam. xii. 31).
Besides, in this very narrative, in the account of his
collision with Nabal (1 Sam. xxv. 7), we find David
putting in the Very forefront of his message to the
churl the fact that all the time he and his troop were
in Carmel the shepherds of Nabal sustained no hurt,
and his flocks no diminution. Instead of fleecing

356 THE FIRST BOOK OP SAMUEL
his own countrymen, he sent them presents when he
was more successful than usual against their common
foes (i Sam. xxx. 26). Unquestionably therefore
such terms as " robbers " and " freebooters " are quite
undeserved. One chief source of support would obviously be the
chase — the wild animals that roamed among these
mountains, the wild goat and the coney, the pigeon
and the partridge, and other creatures whose flesh
was clean. Possibly, patches of soil, like the oasis
at Engedi, would be cultivated, and a scanty return
obtained from the labour. A third employment would
be that of guarding the flocks of the neighbouringshep-
herds both from bears, wolves, and lions, and from the
attacks of plundering bands, for which service some ac
knowledgment was certainly due. At the best, it was
obviously a most uncomfortable mode of life, making
not a little rough work very necessary ; an utter con
trast to the peaceful early days of Bethlehem, and
rendering it infinitely more difficult to sing, "The Lord
is my shepherd, I shall not want."
Acting as guardian to the shepherds in the neighbour
hood, and being the avowed foe of all the Arab tribes
who were continually making forays from their desert
haunts on the land of Judah, David was in the very midst
of enemies. Hence probably the allusions in some of the
psalms. " Consider mine enemies, for they are many,
and they hate me with cruel hatred." " Mine enemies
would daily swallow me up, for there be many that fight
against me, O Thou Most High." " My soul is among
lions, and I lie even among them that are set on fire,
even the sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows
and their tongue a sharp sword." Could we know all
his trials and difficulties, we should be amazed at his

xxiii.] DAVID AT KEILAH, ZIPH, AND MAON. 357
tranquillity. One morning, an outpost brings him word
that Saul is marching against him. He hastily arranges
a retreat, and he and his men clamber over the moun
tains, perhaps under a burning sun, and reach their
halting-place at night, exhausted with thirst, hunger,
and fatigue. Scarcely have they lain down, when an
alarm is given that a body of Bedouins are plundering
the neighbouring sheepfolds. Forgetful of their fatigues,
they rush to their arms, pursue the invaders, and rescue
the prey. Next morning, perhaps, the very men whose
flock he had saved, refuse to make him any acknow
ledgment. Murmurs rise from his hungry followers,
and a sort of mutiny is threatened if he will not allow
them to help themselves. To crown all, he learns by-
and-bye, that the people whom he has delivered have
turned traitors and are about to give him up to Saul.
Wonderful was the faith that could rise above such
troubles, and say, "Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord,
for He shall pluck my feet out of the net."
In illustration of these remarks let us note first what
took place in connection with Keilah. This was a place
of strength and importance not far from the land of the
Philistines. A rumour reaches him that the Philistines
are fighting against it and robbing the threshing-floors.
The first thing he does, on hearing this rumour, is to
inquire of God whether he should go and attack the
Philistines. It is not a common case. The Philistines
were a powerful enemy; probably their numbers were
large, and it was a serious thing for David to provoke
them when he had so many enemies besides. This
was evidently the feeling of his followers. " Behold, we
be afraid here in Judah : how much more then if we go
to Keilah against the armies of the Philistmes ? " But
David is in an admirable frame of mind, and his only

35* THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
anxiety is about knowing precisely the will of God.
He inquires again, and when he gets his answer he does
not hesitate an instant. It was about this time that
Abiathar the son of Ahimelech came to him, bringing
an ephod from Nob, perhaps the only sacred thing that
in the hurry and horror of his flight he was able to carry
away. And now, in his time of need, David finds the
value of these things ; he knows the privilege of fearing
God, and of having God at his right hand. The
fears of his men appear now to be overcome ; he goes
to Keilah, attacks the Philistines, smites them with
a very great slaughter, brings away their cattle and
rescues the people. It is a great deliverance, and
David, with peace and plenty around him, and the
benedictions of the men of Keilah, breathes freely and
praises God.
But his sense of ease and tranquillity was of short
duration. Saul hears of what has taken place, and
hears that David has taken up his quarters within the
town of Keilah. He chuckles over the news with
fiendish satisfaction, for Keilah is a fortified town; he
will be able to shut up David within its walls and lay
siege to the place, and when he has taken it, David will
be at his mercy. But Saul, as usual, reckons without
his host. David has received information that leads him
to suspect that Saul is meditating mischief against him,
and it looks as if he had come to Keilah only to fall
into a trap, — to fall into the hands of Saul. But though
a new danger has arisen, the old refuge still remains.
" Bring hither the ephod," he says to Abiathar. And
communication being again established with Heaven,
two questions are asked : Will Saul come down to
Keilah, to destroy the city for David's sake ? Yes, he
will. Will the men of Keilah whom David has saved

xxiii.] DAVID AT KEILAH, ZIPH, AND MAON. 359
from the Philistines distinguish themselves for theii
gratitude or for their treachery ? They will become
traitors ; they will deliver David up to Saul. So there
is nothing for it but for David to escape from Keilah-
The worst of it is, he has no other place to go to. He
goes forth from Keilah, as his father Abraham went
forth from Ur of the Chaldees, not knowing whither.
He and his followers went " whithersoever they could
go." Treachery was a new foe, and when the treachery
was on the part of those on whom he had just conferred
a signal benefit, it was most discouraging ; it seemed to
indicate that he could never be safe.
Flying from Keilah, he takes refuge in a part of the
wilderness near Ziph. Being very rocky and moun
tainous, it affords good opportunities for hiding ; but in
proportion as it is advantageous for that purpose, it is
unfavourable for getting sufficient means of subsistence.
A wood in the neighbourhood of Ziph afforded the
chance of both. In this wood David enjoys the extra
ordinary privilege of a meeting with Jonathan. What
a contrast to his treatment from the men of Keilah!
If, on turning his back on them, he was disposed
to say, "All men are liars," the blessed generosity
of Jonathan modifies the sentiment. In such circum
stances, the cheering words of his friend and the
warmth of his embrace must have come on David
with infinite satisfaction. They were to him what the
loving words of the dying thief were to the Saviour,
amid the babel and blasphemy of Calvary. Who,
indeed, does not see in the David of this time,
persevering in his work under such fearful discourage
ments, under the treachery of men with hearts like
Judas Iscariot, experiencing the worst treatment from
some whom he had benefited already, and from others

360 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
whom he was to benefit still more — who can fail to see
the type of Christ, patiently enduring the cross at the
hands and in the stead of the very men whom by His
sufferings He was to save and bless ? For David, like
our blessed Lord, though not with equal steadfastness,
drinks the cup which the Father has given him ; he
holds to the work which has been given him to do.
The brief note of Jonathan's words to David in the
wood is singularly beautiful and suggestive. "Jona
than, Saul's son, arose and went to David into the
wood, and strengthened his hand in God. And he
said unto him, Fear not; for the hand of Saul my
father shall not find thee ; and thou shalt be king over
Israel, and I shall be next unto thee, and that also
Saul my father knoweth." To begin with the last
of Jonathan's words, what a lurid light they throw
on the conduct of Saul ! He was under no misappre
hension as to the Divine destiny of David. He must
have known therefore that in fighting against David,
he was fighting against God. It looks unaccountable
madness ; yet what worse is it than a thousand other
schemes in which, to carry out their ends, men have
trampled on every moral precept, as if there were no
God, no lawgiver, ruler, or judge above, no power in
hell or heaven witnessing their actions to bring them
all into judgment ?
In his words to David the faith and piety of
Jonathan were as apparent as his friendship. He
strengthened his hand in God. Simple but beautiful
words! He put David's hand as it were into God's
hand, in token that they were one, in token that the
Almighty was pledged to keep and bless him, and that
when he and his God were together, no weapon formed
against him would ever prosper. Surely no act of

xxiii.] DAVID AT KEILAH, ZIPH, AND MAON. 361
friendship is so true friendship as this. To remind our
Christian friends in their day of trouble of their relation
to God, to encourage them to think of His interest in
them and His promises to them ; to drop in their ear
some of His assurances — "I will never leave thee nor for
sake thee," — is surely the best of all ways to encourage
the downcast, and send them on their way rejoicing.
And what a hallowed word that was with which
Jonathan began his exhortation — "Fear not." The
"fear not's" of Scripture are a remarkable garland.
All of them have their root in grace, not in nature.
They all imply a firm exercise of faith. And Jonathan's
" fear not " was no exception. If David had not been
a man of faith, it would have sounded like hollow
mockery. " The hand of Saul my father shall not find
thee." Was not Saul with his well-equipped force,
at that very moment, within a few miles of him, while
he, with his half-starved followers was at his very wits'
end, not knowing where to turn to next ? " Thou
shalt be king over Israel." Nay, friend, I should
be well pleased, David might have said, if I were
again feeding my father's flocks in Bethlehem, with all
that has happened since then obliterated, reckoned as
if it had never been. " And I shall be next unto thee."
O Jonathan, how canst thou say that ? Thou art the
king's eldest son, the throne ought to be thine, there is
none worthier of it ; the very fact that thou canst say
that to me shows what a kingly generosity is in thy
bosom, and how well entitled thou art to reign over
Israeli Yes, David, but does not the very fact of
Jonathan using> such words show that he is in closest
fellowship with God ? Only a man pervaded through
and through by the Spirit of God could speak thus
to the person who stands between him and what the

362 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
world would call his reasonable ambition. In that
spirit of Jonathan there is a goodness altogether Divine.
Oh what a contrast to his father, to Saul ! What a
contrast to the ordinary spirit of jealousy, when some
one is like to cut us out of a coveted prize ! Some one
at school is going to beat you at the competition. Some
one in business is going to get the situation for which
you are so eager. Some one is going to carry off the
fair hand to which you so ardently aspire. Where, oh
where, in such cases, is the spirit of Jonathan ? Look
at it, study it, admire it ; and in its clear and serene
light, see what a black and odious spirit jealousy is ;
and oh, seek that you, by the grace of God, may be,
not a Saul, but a Jonathan !
It would appear that Saul had left the neighbourhood
of Ziph in despair of finding David, and had returned
to Gibeah. But the distance was small — probably not
more than a long day's journey. And after a time,
Saul is recalled to Ziph by a message from the Ziphites.
" Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying,
Doth not David hide himself with us in strong holds in
the woods, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the
south of Jeshimon ? Now therefore, O king, come
down according to all the desire of thy soul to come
down ; and our part shall be to deliver him into the
king's hand." The men of Keilah had not gone the length
of treachery, for when they were thinking of it, David
escaped; but even if they had, they would have had some
thing to say for themselves. Was it not better to give
up David and let him suffer, than to keep him in their
city, and let both him and them and their city share the
fate, as they would have been sure to do, of Ahimelech
and the city of Nob, — that is, be utterly destroyed ?
But the men of Ziph were in no such dilemma. Their

odii.] DAVID AT KEILAH, ZIPH, AND MAON. 363
treachery was simple meanness. They no doubt wished
to ingratiate themselves with Saul. They had no faith
either in David, or in God's promises regarding him.
Disbelieving God, they acted inhumanly to man. They
let Saul know his best opportunity, and when he came
on the spot, apparently of a sudden, David and his troop
were surrounded, and their escape seemed to be cut off.
Here was a strange commentary on the strong assurance
of Jonathan, " Saul my father shall not find thee." Has
he not found me, only to too good purpose ? But
man's extremity is God's opportunity. When Saul
seems ready to pounce on David, a messenger arrives,
" Haste thee, and come, for the Philistines have invaded
the land." The danger was imminent, and Saul could
not afford to lose an hour. And thus, on the very eve
of seizing the prey he had been hunting for years, he is
compelled to let it go.
It is edifying to observe all the different ways in
which the Divine protection toward David had been
shown, all the time that he had been exposed to the
hostility of Saul. First of aU, when Saul spoke to his
servants and to Jonathan that they should kill David,
Jonathan was raised up to take his side, and by his
friendly counsels, arrested for the time the murderous
purpose of Saul. Next, when Saul hurled a javelin at
David, a rapid movement saved his life. The third
time, he was let down through a window by his wife,
in time to escape. The fourth time, the messengers
that were sent to apprehend him were filled with the
Spirit of God, and even Saul, determined to make up
for their lack of service, underwent the same transform
ation. The fifth time, when he was in Keilah, he
was supernaturally warned of the unkind treachery of
the men of Keilah, and thus escaped the snare. And

364 THE FIRST BOOK OP SAMUEL.
now, a sixth escape is effected, in the very article
of death, so to speak, by a Philistine invasion. Thus
was illustrated that wonderful diversity of plan that
characterises the ways of God, that " variety in unity "
which we may trace alike in the kingdom of nature,
of providence, and of grace. A similar variety is seen
in His deliverances of Israel. At one time the sea
is divided, at another the sun stands still; Gideon
delivers by lamps and pitchers, Shamgar by his ox-
goad, Samson by the jawbone of an ass, Jephthah
by his military talents, David by his sling and stone,
Daniel by his skill in dreams, Esther by her beauty
and power of fascination. To remember such things
ought to give you confidence in times of perplexity and
danger. If it be God's purpose to deliver you, He has
thousands of unseen methods, to any one of which He
may resort, when, to the eye of sense, there seems not
the shadow of a hope. And one reason why He seems
at times to doom His children to inevitable ruin, is that
He may call their faith and their patience into higher
exercise, and teach them more impressively the sublime
lesson — " Stand still, and see the salvation of God."
The fifty-fourth Psalm bears an inscription that
would refer it to this occasion. There are some
expressions in the psalm that hardly agree with this
reference ; but the general situation is quite in keeping
with it. " Save me, O God," the Psalmist cries, " by
Thy name, and judge me by Thy strength." The
danger from which he needs to be saved comes from
strangers that are risen up against him, and opposers
that seek after his soul; persons "that have not set
God before them." To be saved by God's name is to
be saved through attributes which are manifestly
Pivinej to be judged by God's strength, is to be

xxiii.] DAVID AT KEILAH, ZIPH, AND MAON. 365
vindicated, to be shown to be under God's favour and
protection, by the manifest exercise of His power. The
petitions are such as David might well have made after
his conversation with Jonathan. The psalm is evidently
the song of one whose hand had been " strengthened
in God." Its great central truth is, " God is mine
helper; the Lord is with them who (like Jonathan)
uphold my soul." And there comes after that a happy
exercise of the spirit of trust, enabling the Psalmist to
say, " He hath delivered me out of all trouble." This
result is wonderful and beautiful. How remarkable
that in that wilderness of Judah, amid a life of hardship,
exposure, and peril, with a powerful king thirsting for
his blood, and using his every device to get hold of
him, he should be able to say of God, "He hath
delivered me out of all trouble." It is the faith that
removes mountains : it is the faith that worked so
wonderfully when the lad with the sling and stones
went out so bravely against the giant. What wonders
cannot faith perform when it gets clear of all the
entanglements of carnal feeling, and stands, firm and
erect, on the promise of God 1 How infinitely would
such a faith relieve and sustain us in the common
troubles and anxieties of life, and in deeper perplexities
connected with the cause of God ! Take this short
clause as marking out the true quality and highest at
tainment of simple faith, and resolve that you will not
rest in your own endeavours till your mind reaches the
state of tranquillity which it describes so simply, — " He
hath delivered me out of all trouble."

T

CHAPTER XXXI.
DAVID TWICE SPARES THE LIFE OF SAUL.
i Samuel xxiv., xxvi.
HE invasion of the Philistines had freed David from
the fear of Saul for a time, but only for a time.
He knew full well that when the king of Israel had
once repelled that invasion he would return to prosecute
the object on which his heart was so much set. For a
while he took refuge among the rocks of Engedi, that
beautiful spot of which we have already spoken, and
which has been embalmed in Holy Writ, as suggest
ing a fair image of the Beloved One — " My beloved is
unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards
of Engedi " (Song of Solomon i. 14). The mountains
here and throughout the hill country of Judea are
mostly of limestone formation, abounding, like all such
rocks, in caverns of large size, in which lateral chambers
run off at an angle from the main cavity, admitting of
course little or no light, but such that a person inside,
while himself unseen, may see what goes on at the
entrance to the cave. In the dark sides of such a cave,
David and his men lay concealed when Saul was
observed by him to enter and lie down, probably un
attended, to enjoy the mid-day sleep which the heat of
the climate often demands. We cannot fail to remark
the singular providence that concealed from Saul at

xxiv., xxvi.] DAVID TWICE SPARES SAUL. 367
this time the position of David. He had good informa
tion of his movements in general; the treacherous
spirit which was so prevalent, greatly aided him in
this ; but on the present occasion, he was evidently in
ignorance of his situation. If only he had known, how
easy it would have been for him with his three thousand
chosen men to blockade the cave, and starve David and
his followers into surrender !
The entrance of the king being noticed by David's
men, they urged their master to avail himself of the
opportunity of getting rid of him which was now so
providentially and unexpectedly presented to him.
We can hardly think of a stronger temptation to do
so than that under which David now lay. In the first
place, there was the prospect of getting rid of the weary
life he was leading, — more like the life of a wild beast
hunted by its enemies, than of a man eager to do good
to his fellows, with a keen relish for the pleasures of
home and an extraordinary delight in the services of
God's house. Then there was the prospect of wearing
the crown and wielding the sceptre of Israel, — the
splendours of a royal palace, and its golden oppor
tunities of doing good. Further, there was the voice
of his followers urging him to the deed, putting on it a
sacred character by ascribing to it a Divine permission
and appointment. And still further, there was the
suddenness and unexpectedness of the opportunity.
Nothing is more critical than a sudden opportunity of
indulging an ardent passion ; with scarcely a moment for
deliberation, one is apt to be hurried blindly along, and
at once to commit the deed. With all his noble nature,
Robert the Bruce could not refrain from plunging his
dagger into the heart of the treacherous Comyn, even
in the convent of the Minorite friars. The discipline

368 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
of David's spirit must at this time have been admirable.
Not only did he restrain himself, but he restrained his
followers too. He would neither strike his heartless
enemy, nor suffer another to strike him. On the first
of the two occasions of his sparing him — recorded
in the twenty-fourth chapter — he might naturally
believe that- his forbearance would turn Saul's heart
and end the unjust quarrel. On the second occasion
of the same sort — recorded in the twenty-sixth chapter
— he could have had no hope of the kind. It was a
pure sense of duty that restrained him. He acted in
utter contempt of what was personal and selfish, and
in deepest reverence for what was holy and Divine.
How different from the common spirit of the world !
Young people, who are so ready to keep up a sense of
wrong, and wait an opportunity of paying back your
schoolfellows, study this example of David. Ye grown
men, who could not get such-a-one to vote for you, or
to support your claim in your controversy^ and who
vowed that you would never rest till you had driven
him from the place, how does your spirit compare with
that of David? Ye statesmen, who have received an
affront from some barbarous people, utterly ignorant
of your ways, and who forthwith issue your orders for
your ships of war to scatter destruction among their
miserable villages, terrifying, killing, mutilating, no
matter how many of the wretches that have no arms to
meet you in fair fight — think of the forbearance of
David. And think too of many passages in the New
Testament that give the idea of another treatment and
another species of victory : — " Therefore, if thine enemy
hunger, feed him ; if he thirst, give him drink ; for in
so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be
not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good."

xxiv., xxvi.] DAVID TWICE SPARES SAUL 369
The special consideration that held back the arm of
David from killing Saul was that he was the Lord's
anointed. He held the office of king by Divine appoint
ment, — not merely as other kings may be regarded as
holding it, but as God's lieutenant, called specially,
and selected for the office. For David to remove him
would be to interfere with the Divine prerogative. It
would be so much the more inexcusable as God had
many other ways of removing him, any one of which
He might readily employ. " David said furthermore,
As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him ; or his
day shall come to die ; or he shall descend into battle,
and perish. The Lord forbid that I should stretch
forth mine hand against the Lord's anointed."
Let us briefly follow the narrative on each of the
two occasions.
First, when David saw Saul asleep at the entrance
of the cave near Engedi, he crept towards him as he
lay, and removed a loose piece of his garment. When
Saul rose up and proceeded on his way, David boldly
followed him, believing that after sparing the king's
life he was safe from attack either from him or his
people. His respectful salutation, drawing the king's
attention, was followed by an act of profound obeisance.
David then addressed Saul somewhat elaborately, his
address being wholly directed to the point of disabusing
the king's mind of the idea that he had any plot what
ever against his life. His words were very respectful
but at the same time bold. Taking advantage of the
act of forbearance which had just occurred, he de
manded of the king why he listened to men's words,
saying Behold, David seeketh thy hurt. He protested
that for himself nothing would induce him to stretch
forth his hand against the Lord's anointed. That
VOL. I. 24

370 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
very day, he had had the chance, but he had forborne.
His people had urged him, but he would not comply.
There was the skirt of his garment which he had just
cut off: it would have been as easy for him, when he
did that, to plunge his sword into the heart of the king.
Could there be a plainer proof that Saul was mistaken
in supposing David to be actuated by murderous or other
sinful feelings against him ? And yet Saul hunted for
his life to take it. Rising still higher, David appealed
to the great Judge of all, and placed the quarrel in His
hands. To vary the case, he quoted a proverb to the
effect that only where there was wickedness in the heart
could wickedness be found in the life. Then, with
the easy play of a versatile mind, he put the case in
a comical light : did it become the great king of Israel
to bring his hosts after one so insignificant — " after a
dead dog, after a flea " ? Was ocean to be tossed into
tempest " to waft a feather or to drown a straw " ?
Once more, and to sum up the whole case, he appealed
solemnly to God, virtually invoking His blessing on
whoever was innocent in this quarrel, and calling down
His wrath and destruction on the party that was really
guilty. The effect on Saul was prompt and striking. He
was touched in his tenderest feelings by the singular
generosity of his opponent. He broke down thoroughly,
welcomed the dear voice of David, " lifted up his voice
and wept." He confessed that he was wrong, that
David had rewarded him good and he had rewarded
David evil. David had given him that day a convinc
ing proof of his integrity ; though it seemed that the
Lord had delivered him into his hand, he killed him
not. He had reversed the principle on which men
were accustomed to act when they came upon an

xxiv.,xxvL] DAVID TWICE SPARES SAUL. 371
enemy, and had him in their power. And all these
acknowledgments of David's superior goodness Saul
made, while knowing well and frankly owning that
David should be the king, and that the kingdom should
be established in his hand. One favour only Saul
would beg of David in reference to that coming time
— that he would not massacre his family, or destroy
his name out of his father's house — a request which
it was easy for David to comply with. Never would
he dream of such a thing, however common it was in
these Eastern kingdoms. David sware to Saul, and the
two parted in peace.
How glad David must have been that he acted as
he did ! Already his forbearance has had a full
reward. It has drawn out the very best elements of
Saul's soul ; it has placed Saul in a light in which we
can think of him with interest, and even admiration.
How can this be the man that so meanly plotted for
David's life when he sent him against the Philistines ?
that gave him his daughter to be his wife in order that
he might have more opportunities to entangle him ?
that flung the murderous javelin at his head ? that
massacred the priests and destroyed their city simply
because they had shown him kindness ? Saul is indeed
a riddle, all the more that this generous fit lasted but
a very short time ; and soon after, when the treacherous
Ziphites undertook to betray David, Saul and his
soldiers came again to the wilderness to destroy
him. It has been thought by some, and with reason, that
something more than the varying humour of Saul is
necessary to account for his persistent efforts to kill
David. And it is believed that a clue to this is supplied
by expressions of which David made much use, and by

372 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
certain references in the Psalms, which imply that tc
a great extent he was the victim of calumny, and of
calumny of a very malignant and persistent kind. In
the address on which we have commented David began
by asking why Saul listened to men's words, saying,
Behold, David seeketh thy life? And in the address
recorded in the twenty-sixth chapter (ver. 19) David
says very bitterly, " If they be the children of men that
have stirred thee up against me, cursed be they before
the Lord ; for they have driven me out this day from
abiding in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, Go, serve
other gods." Turning to the seventh Psalm, we find in
it a vehement and passionate appeal to God in connec
tion with the bitter and murderous fury of an enemy,
who is said in the superscription to have been Cush the
Benjamite. The fury of that man against David was
extraordinary. Deliver me, O Lord, " lest he tear my
soul like a lion, rending it in pieces when there is none
to deliver." It is plain that the form of calumny which
this man indulged in was accusing David of " reward
ing evil to him that was at peace with him," an accusa
tion not only not true, but outrageously contrary to the
truth, seeing he had " delivered him that without cause
was his enemy." It is not unlikely therefore that at
Saul's court David had an enemy who had the bitterest
enmity to him, who never ceased to poison Saul's
mind regarding him, who put facts in the most offensive
light, and even after the first act of David's generosity
to Saul not only continued, but continued more fero
ciously than ever to inflame Saul's mind, and urge him
to get rid of this intolerable nuisance. What could
have inspired Cush, or indeed any one, with such a
hatred to David we cannot definitely say ; much of it
was due to that instinctive hatred of holy character

xxiv., xxvi] DAVID TWICE SPARES SAUL 373
which worldly men of strong will Show in every age,
and perhaps not a little to the apprehension that if
David did ever come to the throne, many a wicked man,
now fattening on the spoils of the kingdom through
the favour cf Saul, would be stript of his wealth and
consigned to obscurity.
It would seem, then, that had Saul been left alone he
would have left David alone. It was the bitter and in
cessant plotting of David's enemies that stirred him up.
Jealousy was only too active a feeling in his breast, and
it was easy to work upon it, and fill him With the idea
that, after all, David was a rebel and a traitor. These
things David must have known; knowing them, he
made allowance for them, and did not suffer his heart
to become altogether cold to Saul. The kindly feelings
which Saul expressed when he dismissed from his view
all the calumnies with which he had been poisoned, and
looked straight at David, made a deep impression on
his rival, and the fruit of them appeared in that beauti
ful elegy on Saul and Jonathan, which must seem a
piece of hypocrisy if the facts we have stated be not
kept in view : " Saul and Jonathan were pleasant and
lovely in their lives, and in their death they were not
divided." In the second incident, recorded in the twenty-sixth
chapter, when David again spared the life of Saul, not
much more needs to be said. Some critics would hold
it to be the same incident recorded by another hand
in some earlier document consulted by the writer of
I Samuel, containing certain variations such as might
take place at the hand of a different historian. But let
us observe the differences of the two chapters, (i) The
scene is different ; in the one case it is near Engedi, in
the other in the wilderness, near the hill Hachilah, which

374 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.-

is before Jeshimon. (2) The place where Saul was
asleep is different ; in the one case a cave ; in the other
case a camp, protected by a trench. (3) The trophy
carried off by David was different ; in the one case the
skirt of his garment, in the other a spear and cruse
of water. (4) The position of David when he made
himself known was different ; in the one case he went
out of the cave and called after Saul ; in the other he
crossed a gully and spoke from the top of a crag.
(5) His way of attracting attention was different; in
the one case he spoke directly to Saul, in the other he
rallied Abner, captain of the host, for failing to protect
the person of the king. But we need not proceed
further with this list of differences. Those we have
adverted to are enough to repel the assertion that there
were not two separate incidents of the same kind.
And surely if the author was a mere compiler, using
different documents, he might have known if the inci
dents were the same. If it be said that we cannot
believe that two events so similar could have happened,
that this is too improbable to be believed, we may
answer by referring to similar cases in the Gospels, or
even in common life. Suppose a historian of th«
American civil war to describe what took place at Bull
Run. First he gives an account of a battle there
between the northern and southern armies, some inci
dents of which he describes. By-and-bye he again
speaks of a battle there, but the incidents he gives are
quite different. Our modern critics would say it was
all one event, but that the historian, having consulted
twc accounts, had clumsily written as if there had been
two battles. We know that this fancy of criticism is
baseless. In the American civil war there were two
battles of Bull Run between the same contending

xxiv., xxvi.] DAVID TWICE SPARES SAUL. 375
parties at different times. So we may safely believe
that there were two instances of David's forbearance to
Saul, one in the neighbourhood of Engedi, the other in
the neighbourhood of Ziph.
And all that needs to be said further respecting the
second act of forbearance by David is that it shines
forth all the brighter because it was the second, and
because it happened so soon after the other. We may
see that David did not put much trust in Saul's profes
sion the first time, for he did not disband his troop, but
remained in the wilderness as before. It is quite
possible that this displeased Saul. It is also possible
that that inveterate false accuser of David from whom
he suffered so much would make a great deal of this
to Saul, and would represent to him strongly that if
David really was the innocent man he claimed to be,
after receiving the assurance he got from him he would
have sent his followers to their homes, and returned in
peace to his own. That he did nothing of the kind
may have exasperated Saul, and induced him to change
his policy, and again take steps to secure David, as
before. Substantially, David's remonstrance with Saul
on this second occasion was the same as on the first.
But at this time he gave proof of a power of sarcasm
which he had not shown before. He rated Abner on
the looseness of the watch he kept of his royal master,
and adjudged him worthy of death for not making it
impossible for any one to come unobserved so near the
king, and have him so completely in his power. The
apology of Saul was substantially the same as before ;
but how could it have been different? The acknow
ledgment of what was to happen to David was hardly
so ample as on the last occasion. David doubtless
parted from Saul with the old conviction that kindness

376 The first Book op samVEL
was not wanting in his personal feelings, but that the
evil influences that were around him, and the fits of
disorder to which his mind was subject, might change
his spirit in a single hour from that of generous bene
diction to that of implacable jealousy.
But now to draw to a close. We have adverted to
that high reverence for God which was the means of
restraining David from lifting up his hand against Saul,
because he was the Lord's anointed. Let us now
notice more particularly what an admirable spirit of
self-restraint and patience David showed in being
willing to bear all the risk and pain of a most dis
tressing position, until it should please God to bring to
him the hour of deliverance. The grace we specially
commend is that of waiting for God's time; Alas ! into
how many sins, and even crimes, have men been
betrayed through unwillingness to wait for God's time !
A young man embarks in the pursuits of commerce ;
but the gains to be derived from ordinary business
come in far too slowly for him; he makes haste to
be rich, engages in gigantic speculation, plunges into
frightful gambling, and in a few years brings ruin on
himself and all connected with him. How many sharp
and unhandsome transactions continually occur just
because men are impatient, and wish to hurry on some
consummation which their hearts are set on! Nay,
have not murders often taken place just to hasten the
removal of some who occupied places that others were
eager to fill ? And how often are evil things done by
those who will not wait for the sanction of honourable
marriage ?
But even where no act of crime has been com
mitted, impatience of God's time may give rise to many
an evil feeling that does not go beyond one's own

xxiv., xxvi.] DAViD Twice spares saUL. 377
breast. Many a son who will succeed to an inheritance
on the death of his father, or of some other relative,
is tempted tc wish, more or less consciously, for an
event the last to be desired by a filial heart. You
may say, it is human nature ; how could any one help
it? The example of David shows how one may help
it. The heart that is profoundly impressed with the
excellence of the Divine will, and the duty and privilege
of loyally accepting all His arrangements, can never
desire to anticipate that will in any matter, great or
small. For how can any good come in the end from
forcing forward arrangements out of the Divine order ?
If, for the moment, this brings any advantage in one
direction, it is sure to be followed by far greater evils
in another. Do we all realize the full import of our
prayer when we say, " Thy will be done on earth as it
is in heaven " ? Of one thing you may be very sure,
there is no impatience in heaven for a speedier fulfil
ment of desirable events than the will of God has
ordained. There is no desire to force on the wheels of
Providence if they do not seem to be moving fast
enough. So let it be with us. Let us fix it as a first
principle in our minds, as an immovable rule of our
lives, that as God knows best how to order His provi
dence, so any interference with Him is rash and perilous,
and wicked too; and with reference both to events
which are not lawfully in our hands, and the time at
which they are to happen, let us realize it as alike our
duty and our interest to say to God, in the spirit 01
full and unreserved trust — "Not our will, but Thine
be done.'

CHAPTER XXXII.
DAVID AND NABAL.
i Samuel xxv.
WE should be forming far too low an estimate of
the character of the people of Israel if we did
not believe that they were very profoundly moved by
the death of Samuel. Even admitting that but a small
proportion of them are likely to have been in warm
sympathy with his ardent godliness, he was too remark
able a man, and he had been too conspicuous a figure
in the history of the nation, not to be greatly missed,
and much spoken of and thought of, when he passed
away. Cast in the same mould with their great leader and
legislator Moses, he exerted an influence on the nation
only second to that which stood connected with the
prophet of the Exodus. He had not been associated
with such stirring events in their history as Moses;
neither had it been his function to reveal to them the
will of God, either so systematically, or so compre
hensively, or so supernaturally ; but he was marked by
the same great spirituality, the same intense reverence
for the God of Israel, the same profound belief in the
reality of the covenant between Israel and God, and
the same conviction of the inseparable connection be-'
tween a pure worship and flowing prosperity en the

xxv.] DAVID AND NASAL. 379
one hand, and idolatrous defection and national calamity
on the other.
No man except Moses had ever done more to rivet
this truth on the minds and hearts of the people. It
was the lifelong aim and effort of Samuel to show that
it made the greatest difference to them in every way
how they acted toward God, in the way of worship,
trust, and obedience. He made incessant war on that
cold worldly spirit, so natural to us all that leaves God
out of account as a force in our lives, and strives to
advance our interests simply by making the most of the
conditions of material prosperity.
No doubt with many minds the name of Samuel
would be associated with a severity and a spirituality
and a want of worldliness that were repulsive to them,
as indicating one who carried the matter, to use a
common phrase, too far. But at Samuel's death even
these men might be visited with a somewhat remorse
ful conviction that, if Samuel had gone too far, they
had not gone half far enough. There might come from
the retrospect of his career a wholesome rebuke to
their worldliness and neglect of God ; for surely, they
would feel, if there be a God, we ought to worship
Him, and it cannot be well for us to neglect Him
altogether. On the other hand, the career of Samuel would be
recalled with intense admiration and gratitude by all
the more earnest of the people. What an impressive
witness for all that was good and holy had they not
had among them ! What a living temple, what a
Divine epistle, written not in tables of stone, but in
fleshy tables of the heart ! What glory and honour
had not that man's life been to the nation,— so uniform,
so consistent, so high in tone ! What a reproof it

3&> THE FIRST BOOK OP SAMUEL.
carried to low and selfish living, what a splendid
example it afforded to old and young of the true way
and end of life, and what a blessed impulse it was
fitted to give them in the same direction, showing so
clearly " what is good, and what doth the Lord require
of thee but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk
humbly with thy God."
By a remarkable connection, though perhaps not by
design, two names are brought together in this chapter
representing very opposite phases of human character
— Samuel and Nabal. In Samuel we have the high-
minded servant of God, trained from infancy to smother
his own will and pay unbounded regard to the will of
his Father in heaven ; in Nabal we see the votary of
the god of this world, enslaved to his worldly lusts,
grumbling and growling when he is compelled to submit
to the will of God. Samuel is the picture of the serene
and holy believer, enjoying unseen fellowship with God,
and finding in that fellowship a blessed balm for the
griefs and trials of a wounded spirit ; Nabal is the
picture of the rich but wretched worldling who cannot
even enjoy the bounties of his lot, and is thrown into
such a panic by the mere dread of losing them that he
actually sinks into the grave. Under the one picture
we would place the words of the Apostle in the third
chapter of Philippians — "Whose god is their belly, whose
glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things ; "
under the other the immediately following words, "Our
conversation is in heaven." Such were the two men to
whom the summons to appear before God was sent
about the same time ; the one ripe for glory, the other
meet for destruction ; the one removed to Abraham's
bosom, the other to the pit of woe ; each to the master
whom he served, and each to the element in which he

xxv.] DAVID AND NABAL. 381
had lived. Look on this picture and on that, and
say which you would be like. And as you look
remember how true it is that as men sow so do they
reap. The one sowed to the flesh, and of the flesh he
reaped corruption ; the other sowed to the Spirit, and
of the Spirit he reaped life everlasting. The continuity
of men's lives in the world to come gives an awful
solemnity to that portion of their lives which they
spend on earth : — " He that is unjust, let him be unjust
still : and he that his filthy, let him be filthy still : and
he that is righteous, let him be righteous still : and he
that is holy, let him be holy still."
There is another lesson to be gathered from a matter
of external order before we proceed to the particulars
of the narrative. This chapter, recording David's
collision with Nabal, and showing us how David lost
his temper, and became hot and impetuous and im
patient in consequence of Nabal's treatment, comes in
between the narrative of his two great victories over
the spirit of revenge and impatience. It gives us a
very emphatic lesson — how the servant of God may
conquer in a great fight and yet be beaten in a small.
The history of all spiritual warfare is full of such cases.
In the presence of a great enemy, the utmost vigilante
is maintained ; every effort is strained, every stimulus
is applied. In the presence of a small foe, the spirit
of confidence, the sense of security, is liable to leave
every avenue unguarded, and to pave the way for signal
defeat. When I am confronted with a great trial, I
rally all my resources to bear it, I realize the presence
of God, I say, " Thou God seest me " ; but when it is a
little trial, I am apt to meet it unarmed and unguarded,
and I experience a humiliating fall. Thus it is that
men who have in them the spirit of martyrs, and who

382 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
would brave a dungeon or death itself rather than
renounce a testimony or falter in a duty, often suffer
defeat under the most ordinary temptations of everyday
life, — they lose their temper on the most trifling
provocations; almost without a figure, they are "crushed
before the moth."
Whether the death of Samuel brought such a truce
to David as to allow him to join in the great national
gathering at his funeral we do not know with certainty ;
but immediately after we find him in a region called
" the wilderness of Paran," in the neighbourhood of the
Judean Carmel. It was here that Nabal dwelt. This
Carmel is not to be confounded with the famous
promontory of that name in the tribe of Asher, where
Elijah and the priests of Baal afterwards had their cele
brated contest ; it was a hill in the tribe of Judah, in
the neighbourhood of the place where David had his
encampment. A descendant of the lion-hearted Judah
and of the courageous Caleb, this Nabal came of a
noble stock ; but cursed with a narrow heart, a sense
less head, and a grovelling nature, he fell as far below
average humanity as his great ancestors had risen
above it. With all his wealth and family connection,
he appears to us now as poor a creature as ever lived,
— a sort of " golden beast," as was said of the Emperor
Caligula ; and we cannot think of him without reflect
ing how little true glory or greatness mere wealth or
worldly position confers, — how infinitely more worthy
of honour are the sterling qualities of a generous
Christian heart. It is plain that in an equitable point
of view Nabal owed much to David; but what he
owed could not be enforced by an action at law, and
Nabal was one of those poor creatures that acknowledge
no other obligation,

xxv.] DAVID AND NABAL. 383
The studied courtesy and modesty with which David
preferred his claim is interesting ; it could not but be
against the grain to say anything on the subject; if
Nabal had not had his "understanding blinded" he
would have spared him this pain ; the generous heart
is ever thinking of the services that others are render
ing, and will never subject modesty to the pain of
urging its own. "Ye shall greet him in my name."
said David to his messengers ; " and thus shall ye say
to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee,
and peace to thy house, and peace be to all that thou
hast." No envying of his prosperity — no grudging to
him his abundance ; but only the Christian wish that
he might have God's blessing with it, and that it might
all turn to good. It was the time of sheep-shearing,
when the flocks were probably counted and the increase
over last year ascertained ; and by a fine old custom
it was commonly the season of liberality and kindness.
A time of increase should always be so ; it is the time
for helping poor relations (a duty often strangely over
looked), for acknowledging ancient kindnesses, for
relieving distress, and for devising liberal things for
the Church of Christ. David gently reminded Nabal
that he had come at this good time; then he hinted
at the services which he and his followers had done
him ; but to show that he did not wish to press hard
on him, he merely asked him to give what might come
to his hand ; though, as the anointed king of Israel,
he might have assumed a more commanding title, he
asked him to give it to " thy son, David." So modest,
¦ gentle, and affectionate an application, savouring so
little of the persecuted, distracted outlaw, savouring
so much of the mild self-possessed Christian gentleman,
— deserved treatment very different from what it

!«4 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
received. The detestable niggardliness of Nabal's heart
would not suffer him to part with anything which he
could find an excuse for retaining. But greed so
excessive, even in its own eyes, must find some cloak
to cover it; and one of the most common and most
congenial to flinty hearts is — the unworthiness of the
applicant. The miser is not content in simply refusing
an application for the poor, he must add some abusive
charge to conceal his covetousness — they are lazy, im
provident, intemperate; or if it be a Christian object
h« is asked to support, — these unreasonable people are
always asking. Any excuse rather than tell the naked
truth, "We worship our money; and when we spend
it, we spend it on ourselves." Such was Nabal.
" Who is David ? and who is the son of Jesse ? There
be many servants now-a-days that break away every
man from his master. Shall I then take my bread, and
my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my
shearers, and give it unto men, that I know not
whence they be?"
As often happens, excessive selfishness overreached
itself. Insult added to injury was more than David
chose to bear ; for once, he lost self-command, and was
borne along by impetuous passion. Meek men, when
once their temper is roused, usually go to great
extremes. And if David's purpose had not been provi
dentially arrested, Nabal and all that belonged to him
would have been swept before morning to destruction.
With the quickness and instinctive certainty of a
clever woman's judgment, Abigail, Nabal's wife, saw
at once how things were going. With more than the
calmness and self-possession of many a clever woman,
she arranged and despatched the remedy almost instan
taneously after the infliction of the wrong. How so

xxv.] DAVID AND NABAL. 385
superior a woman could have got yoked to so worthless
a man we can scarcely conjecture, unless on the vulgar
and too common supposition that the churl's wealth
and family had something to do with the match. No
doubt she had had her punishment. But luxury had
not impaired the energy of her spirit, and wealth had
not destroyed the regularity of her habits. Her prompt
ness and her prudence all must admire, her commissariat
skill was wonderful in its way ; and the exquisite tact
and cleverness with which she showed and checked
the intended crime of David — all the while seeming to
pay him a compliment — could not have been surpassed.
" Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord liveth, and as
thy soul liveth, seeing the Lord hath withholden thee
from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself
with thine own hand, now let thine enemies and they
that seek evil to my lord be as Nabal." But the most
remarkable of all her qualities is her faith ; it reminds
us of the faith of Rahab of Jericho, or of the faith of
Jonathan ; she had the firm persuasion that David was
owned of God, that he was to be the king of Israel,
and that all the devices men might use against him
would fail ; and she addressed him — poor outlaw though
he was — as one of whose elevation to sovereign power,
after what God had spoken, there could not be the
shadow of a doubt. Her liberality, too, was very great.
And there was a truthful, honest tone about her.
Perhaps she spoke even too plainly of her husband, but
the occasion admitted of no sort of apology for him ;
there was no deceit about her, and as httle flattery.
Her words had a wholesome honest air, and some of
her expressions were singularly happy. When she
spoke of the soul of my lord as " bound in the bundle
of life with the Lord thy God," she seemed to anticipate
VOIr, If ?S

386 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
the very language in which the New Testament describes
the union of Christ and His people, " Your life is hid
with Christ in God." She had a clear conception of the
" sure mercies of David," certainly in the literal, and
we may hope also in the spiritual sense.
The revengeful purpose and rash vow of David were
not the result of deliberate consideration ; they were
formed under the influence of excitement, — most unlike
the solemn and prayerful manner in which the expedi
tion at Keilah had been undertaken. God unacknow
ledged had left David to misdirected paths. But if we
blame David, as we must, for his heedless passion, we
must not less admire the readiness with which he
listens to the reasonable and pious counsel of Abigail.
With the ready instinct of a gracious heart he recog
nises the hand of God in Abigail's coming, — this mercy
had a heavenly origin ; and cordially praises Him for
His restraining providence and restraining grace.
He candidly admits that he had formed a very sinful
purpose; but he frankly abandons it, accepts her
offering, and sends her away in peace. " Blessed be
the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to
me ; and blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou
which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood,.
and from avenging myself with mine own hand." It
is a mark of sincere and genuine godliness to be not
less thankful for being kept from sinning than from
being rescued from suffering.
And it was not long before David had convincing
proof that it is best to leave vengeance in the hands of
God. " It came to pass, about ten days after, that the
Lord smote Nabal that he died." Having abandoned
himself at his feast to the beastliest sensuality, his
nervous system underwent a depression corresponding

xxv.] DAVID AND NABAL. 387
to the excitement that had accompanied the debauch.
In this miserable state of collapse and weakness, the
news of what had happened gave him a fright from
which he never recovered. A few days of misery, and
this wretched man went to his own place, there to
join the great crowd of selfish and godless men who
said to God, " Depart from us," and to whom God
will but echo their own wish — " Depart from Me ! "
When David heard of his death, his satisfaction at
the manifest interposition of God on his behalf, and his
thankfulness for having been enabled to conquer his
impetuosity, overcame for the time every other con
sideration. Full of this view, he blessed God for
Nabal's death, rejoicing over his untimely end more
perhaps than was altogether becoming. We, at least,
should have liked to see David dropping a tear over
the grave of one who had lived without grace and
who died without comfort. Perhaps, however, we are
unable to sympathize with the earnestness of the feel
ing produced by God's visible vindication of him; a
feeling that would be all the more fervent, because
what had happened to Nabal must have been viewed as
a type of what was sure to happen to Saul. In the
death of Nabal, David by faith saw the destruction of
all his enemies — no wonder though his spirit was lifted
up at the sight.
If it were not for a single expression, we should,
without hesitation, set down the thirty-seventh Psalm
as written at this period. The twenty-fifth verse seems
to connect it with a later period ; even then it seems
quite certain that, when David wrote it, the case of
Nab?l (among other cases perhaps) was full in his
view. The great fact in providence on which the
psalm turns is the sure and speedy destruction of the

388 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
wicked ; and the great lesson of the psalm to God's
servants is not to fret because of their prosperity, but
to rest patiently on the Lord, who will cause the meek
to inherit the earth. Many of the minor expressions
and remarks, too, are quite in harmony with this
occasion : " Trust in the Lord and do good, so shalt
thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed"
"Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; fret not
thyself in any wise to do evil." "The meek shall
inherit the earth." "The mouth of the righteous
speaketh wisdom" — unlike Nabal, a fool by name and
a fool by nature. The great duty enforced is that of
waiting on the L6yd ; not merely because it is right in
itself to do so, but. because " He shall bring forth thy
righteousness as the light and thy judgment as the
noonday." The chapter ends with Abigail's marriage to David.
We are told, at the same time, that he had another
wife, Ahinoam the Jezreelite, and that Michal, Saul's
daughter, had been taken from him, and given to
another. These statements cannot but grate upon our
ear, indicating a laxity in matrimonial relations very
far removed from our modern standard alike of duty
and of delicacy. We cannot acquit David of a want
of patience and self-restraint in these matters; un
doubtedly it is a blot in his character, and it is a blot
that led to very serious results. It was an element of
coarseness in a nature that in most things was highly
refined. David missed the true ideal of family life, the
true ideal of love, the true ideal of purity. His poly
gamy was not indeed imputed to him as a crime ; it
was tolerated in him, as it had been tolerated in Jacob
and in others; but its natural and indeed almost
necessary effects were not obviated. In his family it

xxv.] DAVID AND NABAL 389
bred strife, animosity, division ; it bred fearful crimes
among brothers and sisters ; while, in his own case, his
unsubdued animalism stained his conscience with the
deepest sins, and rent his heart with terrible sorrows.
How dangerous is even one vulnerable spot — one un
subdued lust of evil ! The fable represented that the
heel of Achilles, the only vulnerable part of his body,
because his mother held him by it when she dipped him
in the Styx, was the spot on which he received his
fatal wound. It was through an unmortified lust of
the flesh that nearly all David's sorrows came. How
emphatic in this view the prayer of the Apostle — " I
pray God that your whole spirit and soul and body
be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord."
And how necessary and appropriate the exhortation,
"Put on the whole armour of God" — girdle, breast
plate, sandals, helmet, sword — all ; leave no part un
protected, " that ye may be able to withstand in the
evil day, and having done all to stand."
Thus, then, it appears, that for all that was beautiful
in David he was not a perfect character, and not with
out stains that seriously affected the integrity and
consistency of his life. In that most important part of
a young man's duty — to obtain full command of him
self, yield to no unlawful bodily indulgence, and do
nothing that, directly or indirectly, can tend to lower
the character or impair the delicacy of women, — David,
instead of an example, is a beacon. Greatly though his
early trials were blessed in most things, they were not
blessed in all things. We must not, for this reason,
turn from him as some do, with scorn. We are to
admire and imitate the qualities that were so fine,
especially in early life. Would that many of us were
Ijke him in his tenderness, his godliness, and h;s

390 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
attachment to his people ! His name is one of the
embalmed names of Holy Writ, — all the more that
when he did become conscious of his sin, no man
ever repented more bitterly ; and no man's spirit, when
bruised and broken, ever sent more of the fragrance
as "of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory
palaces."

CHAPTER XXXIII
DAVID'S SECOND FLIGHT TO GATB.
I Samuel xxvii. ; xxviii. I, 2 ; xxix.
WE are not prepared for the sad decline in the
spirit of trust which is recorded in the begin
ning of the twenty-seventh chapter. The victory gained
by David over the carnal spirit of revenge, shown so
signally in his sparing the life of Saul a second time,
would have led us to expect that he would never again
fall under the influence of carnal fear. But there are
strange ebbs and flows in the spiritual life, and some
times a victory brings its dangers, as well as its glory.
Perhaps this very conquest excited in David the spirit
of self-confidence ; he may have had less sense of his
need of daily strength from above ; and he may have
fallen into the state of mind against which the Apostle
warns us, "Let him that thinketh he standeth take
heed lest he fall"
In his collision with Nabal we saw him fail in what
seemed one of his strong points — the very spirit of
self-control which he had exercised so remarkably
toward Saul; and now we see him fail in another
of his strong points — the spirit of trust toward God.
Could anything show more clearly that even the most
eminent graces of the saints spring from no native
fountain of goodness within them, but depend on the
continuance of their vital fellowship with Him of

392 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
whom the Psalmist said, "All my springs are in Thee"?
(Psalm Ixxxvii. 7). Carelessness and prayerlessness
interrupt that fellowship ; the supply of daily strength
ceases to come ; temptation arises, and they become
weak like other men. " Abide va. Me," said our Lord,
with special emphasis on the need of permanence in the
relation; and the prophet says, "They that wait on
the Lord," as a habitual exercise, "shall renew their
strength ; they shall mount up with wings as eagles ;
they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk
- nd not faint."
The most strange thing about David's new decline
i>%, that it led him to try a device which he had tried
tefore, and which had proved a great failure. We see
him retreating before an enemy he had often conquered ;
retreating, too, by a path every foot of which he had
traversed, and with whose bitter ending he was already
familiar. Just as before, his declension begins with
distrust; and just as before, dissimulation is the pro
duct of the distrustful spirit. He is brought into the
most painful dilemma, and into experience of the most
grievous disaster ; but God, in His infinite mercy, ex
tricates him from the one and enables him to retrieve
the other. It is affliction that brings him to his senses
and drives him to God ; it is the returning spirit of
prayer and trust that sustains him in his difficulties,
and at last brings to him, from the hand of God, a
merciful deliverance from them all.
Our first point of interest is the growth and mani
festation of* the spirit of distrust. " David said in his
heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul ;
there is nothing better for me than that I should
speedily escape into the land of the Philistines." We
find it difficult to account for the sudden triumph of

xxvii. ;"xxviii. 1,2; xxix.] DA VID'S SECOND FLIGHT. 393
this very despondent feeling. It is hardly enough to
say that David could have had no confidence in Saul's
expressions of regret and declared purposes of amend
ment. That was no new feature of the case. Perhaps
one element of the explanation may be, that Saul, with
his three thousand men, had not only become familiar
with all David's hiding-places, but had stationed troops
in various parts of the district that would so hamper
his movements as to hem him in as in a prison. Then
also there may have been some new outbreak of the
malignant fury of Cush the Benjamite, and other enemies
who were about Saul, rousing the king to even more
earnest efforts than ever to apprehend him. There is
yet another circumstance in David's situation, that has
not, we think, obtained the notice it deserves, but which
may have had a very material influence on his decision.
David had now two wives with him, Abigail the widow
of Nabal, and Ahinoam the Jezreelitess. He would
naturally be desirous to provide them with the comforts
of a settled home. A band of young men might put up
with the risks and discomforts of a roaming life, which
it would not be possible for women to bear. The
rougher sex might think nothing of midnight removals,
and attacks in the dark, and scampers over wild passes
and rugged mountains at all hours of the day and night,
and snatches of food at irregular times, and all the
other experiences which David and his men had borne
patiently and cheerfully in the earlier stages of their
outlaw history. But for women this was unsuitable.
It is true that this alone would not have led David to
say, "I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul."
But it would increase his sense of difficulty ; it would
make him feel more keenly the embarrassments of his
situation ; it would help to overwhelm him. And when

394 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
he was thus at his wit's end, the sense of danger from
Saul would become more and more serious. The ten
sion of a mind thus pressed on every side is something
terrible. Pressed and tortured by invincible difficulties,
David gives way to despair — " I shall one day perish
by the hand of Saul."
Let us observe the manner in which this feeling
grew to such strength as to give rise to a new line of
conduct. It got entrance into his heart. It hovered
about him in a somewhat loose form, before he took
hold of it, and resolved to act upon it. It approached
him in the same manner in which temptation approaches
many a one, first presenting itself to the imagination
and the feelings, trying to get hold of them, and then
getting possession of the will, and turning the whole
man in the desired direction. Like a skilful adversary
who first attacks an outpost, apparently of little value,
but when he has got it erects on it a battery by which
he is able to conquer a nearer position, and thus gradu
ally approaches, till at last the very citadel is in his
hands, — so sin at first hovers about the outposts of
the soul. Often it seems at first just to play with the
imagination ; one fancies this thing and the other, this
sensual indulgence or that act of dishonesty ; and then,
having become familiar with it there, one admits it to
the inner chambers of the soul, and ere long the lust
bringeth forth sin. The lesson not to let sin play even
with the imagination, but drive it thence the moment
one becomes conscious of its presence, cannot be
pressed too strongly. Have you ever studied the
language of the Lord's Prayer ?: — " Lead us not into
temptation." You are being led into temptation when
ever you are led to think, with interest and half long
ing, of any sinful indulgence. Wisdom demands of you

xxvii ; xxviii. i, 2 j xxix.] DA VID'S SECOND FLIGHT. 395
that the moment you are conscious of such a feeling
you resolutely exclaim, " Get thee behind me, Satan 1 "
It is the tempter trying to establish a foothold in the
outworks, meaning, when he has done so, to advance
nearer and nearer to the citadel, till at last you shall
find him in strong possession, and your soul entangled
in the meshes of perdition.
The conclusion to which David came, under the
influence of distrust, as to the best course for him to
follow shows what opposite decisions may be arrived
at, according to the point of view at which men take
their stand. " There is nothing better for me than that
I should escape speedily into the land of the Philis
tines." From a more correct point of view, nothing
could have been worse. Had Moses thought of his
prospects from the same position, he would have said,
"There is nothing better for me than to remain the son
of Pharaoh's daughter, and enjoy all the good things
to which Providence has so remarkably called me ; " but
standing on the ground of faith, his conclusion was
precisely the opposite. Looking abroad over the world
with the eye of sense, the young man may say, " There
is nothing better for me than that I should rejoice ii
my youth, and that my heart should cheer me in tht
days of my youth, and that I should walk in the ways of
mine heart and in the sight of mine eyes." But the eye
of faith sees ominous clouds and gathering storms in the
distance, which show that there could be nothing worse.
As usual, David's error was connected with the
omission of prayer. We find no clause in this chapter,
"Bring hither the ephod." He asked no counsel of
God; he did not even sit down to deliberate calmly
on the matter. The impulse to which he yielded
required him to decide at once. The word " speedily "

396 THE FIR ST BOOK OF SAMUEL
indicates the presence of panic, the action of a tumul
tuous force on his mind, inducing him to act as
promptly as one does in raising one's arm to ward off
a threatened blow. Possibly he had the feeling that,
if God's mind were consulted, it would be contrary to
his desire, and on that ground, like too many persons,
he may have shrunk from honest prayer. How
different from the spirit of the psalm — " Show me Thy
ways, O Lord, teach me Thy paths ; lead me in Thy
truth and teach me, for Thou art the God of my
salvation ; on Thee do I wait all the day." Dost thou
imagine, David, that the Lord's arm is shortened that
it cannot save, and His ear heavy that it cannot hear ?
Would not He who delivered you in six troubles cause
that in seven no evil should touch thee ? Has He not
promised that thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the
tongue, neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when
it cometh ? Dost thou not know that thy seed shall be
great and thine offspring as the grass of the earth?
Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a
shock of corn cometh in in his season.
So " David arose, and he passed over with the six
hundred men that were with him, unto Achish the son
of Maoch, king of Gath." It is thought by some that
this was a different king from the former, the name
Achish like the name Pharaoh being used by all the
kings. At first the arrangement seemed to succeed.
Achish appears to have received him kindly. " David
dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man
with his household, even David with his two wives."
The emphasis laid on the household and the wives
shows how difficult it had been to provide for them
before. And Saul, at last, gave up the chase, and
sought for him no more, Of course, in giving him a

xxvii. ; xxviii. 1,2; xxix.] DA VlD'S SECOND PLIGHT. 39}
friendly reception, Achish must have had a view to his
own interest. He would calculate on making use of
him in his battles with Saul, and very probably give
an incredulous smile if he heard anything of the
scruples he had shown to lift up his hand against
the Lord's anointed.
Availing himself of the favourable impression made
on Achish, David now begs to have a country town
allotted to him as his residence, so as to avoid what
appeared the unseemliness of his dwelling in the royal
city with him. There was much common sense in the
demand, and Achish could not but feel it. Gath was but
a little place, and Achish, if he was but lord of Gath,
was not a very powerful king. The presence in such
a place of a foreign prince, with a retinue of soldiers
six hundred strong, was hardly becoming. Possibly
Achish's own body guard did not come up in number
and in prowess to the troop of David. The request for
a separate residence was therefore granted readily, and
Ziklag was assigned to David. It lay near the southern
border of the Philistmes, close to the southern desert.
At Ziklag he was away from the eye of the lords of
the Philistines that had always viewed him with such
jealousy ; he was far away from the still greater jealousy
of Saul ; and with Geshurites, and Gezrites, and Amale
kites in his neighbourhood, the natural enemies of his
country, he had opportunities of using his troop so as
at once to improve their discipline and promote the
welfare of his native land.
There was another favourable occurrence in David's
experience at this time. From a parallel passage
(1 Chron. xii.) we learn that during his residence
among the Philistines he was constantly receiving
important accessions to his troop. One set of men

398 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
who came to him, Benjamites, of the tribe of Saul, were
remarkably skilful in the use of the bow and the sling,
able to use either right hand or left with equal ease.
The men that came to him were not from one tribe
only, but from many. A very important section were
from Benjamin and Judah. At first David seemed to
have some suspicion of their sincerity. Going out to
meet them he said to them, " If ye be come peaceably to
me to help me, my heart shall be knit unto you ; but if
ye be come to betray me to my enemies, seeing there is
no wrong in my hands, the God of our fathers look
thereon and rebuke it." The answer was given by
Amasai, in the spirit and rhythmical language of
prophecy : " Thine are we, David, and on thy side,
thou son of Jesse ; peace, peace be unto thee, and
peace be to thine helpers ; for thy God helpeth thee."
Thus he was continually receiving evidence of the
favour in which he was held by his people, and his
band was continually increasing, " until it was a great
host, like the host of God." It seemed, up to this
point, as if Providence had favoured his removal to the
land of the Philistines, and brought to him the security
and the prosperity which he could not find in the land
of Judah. But it was ilk-gained security and only
mock-prosperity ; the day of his troubles drew on.
The use which, as we have seen, he made of his
troop was to invade the Geshurites, the Gezrites, and
the Amalekites. In taking this step David had a
sinister purpose. It would not have been so agreeable
to the Philistmes to learn that the arms of David had
been turned against these tribes as against his own
countrymen. When therefore he was asked by Achish
where he had gone that, day, he returned an answer
fitted, and indeed intended, to deceive. Without saying

xxviLj xxviii. i, 2 ; xxix.] DA VIDS SECOND FLIGHT. 39J
in words, " I have been fighting against my own people
in the south of Judah," he led Achish to believe that he
had, and he was pleased when his words were taken
in that sense. Achish, we are told, believed David, be
lieved that he had been in arms against his countrymen.
" He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him ;
therefore he shall be my servant for ever." Could
there have been a more lamentable spectacle ? one of
the noblest of men stained by the meanness of a false
insinuation ; David, the anointed of the God of Israel,
ranged with the common herd of liars !
Nor was this the only error into which his crooked
policy now led him. To cover his deceitful course he
had recourse to an act of terrible carnage. It was
deemed by him important that no one should be able
to carry to Achish a faithful report of what he had
been doing. To prevent this he made a complete
massacre, put to death every man, woman, child of the
Amalekites and other tribes whom he now attacked.
Such massacres were indeed quite common in Eastern
warfare. The Bulgarian and other massacres of which
we have heard in our own day show that even yet,
after an interval of nearly three thousand years, they
are not foreign to the practice of Eastern nations. In
point of fact, they were not thought more of, or worse
of, than any of the other incidents of war. War was
held to bind up into one bundle the whole lives and
property of the enemy, and give to the conqueror
supreme control over it. To destroy the whole was
just the same in principle as to destroy a part. If the
destruction of the whole was necessary in order to carry
out the objects of the campaign, it was not more wicked
to perpetrate such destruction than to destroy a part.
True, according to our modern view, there is some-

406 THE PiRsT Book OP SAMUEL.

thing mean in falling on helpless, defenceless women
and children, and slaughtering them in cold blood.
And yet our modern ideas allow the bombardment or
the besieging of great cities, and the bringing of the
more slow but terrible process of starvation to bear
against women and children and all, in order to compel
a surrender. Much though modern civilisation has
done to lessen the horrors of war, if we approve of all
its methods we cannot afford to hold up our hands in
horror at those which were judged allowable in the
days of David. Yet surely, you may say, we might
have expected better things of David. We might have
expected him to break away from the common senti
ment, and to show more humanity. But this would
not have been reasonable. For it is very seldom that
the individual conscience, even in the case of the best
men, becomes sensible at once of the vices of its age.
How many good men in this country, in the early part
of this century, were zealous defenders of slavery, and
in America down to a much later time ! There is
nothing more needful for us in studying history, even
Old Testament history, than to remember that very
remarkable individual excellence may be found in con
nection with a great amount of the vices of the age.
We cannot attempt to show that David was not guilty
of a horrible carnage in his treatment of the Amalekites.
All we can say is, he shared in the belief of the time
that such carnage was a lawful incident of war. We
cannot but feel that in the whole circumstances it left
a stain upon his character ; and yet he may have en
gaged in it without any consciousness of barbarity,
without any idea that the day would come when his
friends would blush for the deed.
The Philistines were now preparing a new campaign

xxvii. ; xxviii. 1, 2 ; xxix.] DA VIZI'S SECOND FLIGHT. 401
under Achish against Saul and his kingdom, -and Achish
determined that David should go with him ; further,
that he should go in the capacity of "keeper of his
head," or captain of his body guard, and that this
should not be a temporary arrangement, but per
manent — " for ever." It is difficult for us to conceive
the depth of the embarrassment into which this intima
tion must have plunged David. We must bear in
mind how scrupulous and sensitive his conscience was
as to raising his hand against the Lord's anointed ; and
we must take into account the horror he must have
felt at the thought of rushing in deadly array against
his own dear countrymen, with most of whom he had
had no quarrel, and who had never done him any
harm. When Achish made him head of his body
guard he paid a great compliment to his fidelity and
bravery ; but in proportion as the post was honourable
it was disagreeable and embarrassing. For David and
his men would have to fight close to Achish, under
his very eye ; and any symptoms of holding back from
the fray — any inclination to be off, or to spare the foe,
which natural feeling might have dictated in the hour
of battle, must be resisted in presence of the king.
Perhaps David reckoned that if the Israelites were
defeated by the Philistines he might be able to make
better terms for them — might even be of use to Saul
himself, and thus render such services as would atone
for his hostile attitude. But this was a wretched con
solation. David was entangled so that he could
neither advance nor retreat. Before him was God,
closing His path in front ; behind him was man, closing
it in rear; and we may well believe he would have
willingly given all he possessed if only his feet could
have been clear and his conscience upright as before.
VOL. I. 26

402 THE FIRST BOOK OP SAMUEL
Still, he does not appear to have returned to a
candid frame of mind, but rather to have continued the
dissimulation. He had gone with Achish as far as the
battle-field, when it pleased God, in great mercy, to
extricate him from his difficulty by using the jealousy
of the lords of the Philistines as the means of his
dismissal from the active service of King Achish. But
instead of gladly retiring when he received intimation
that his services were dispensed with, we find him
(chap. xxix. 8) remonstrating with Achish, speaking as
tf it were a disappointment not to be allowed to go
with him, and as if he thirsted for an opportunity of
chastising his countrymen. It is sad to find him
continuing in this strain. We are told that the time
during which he abode in the country of the Philistines
was a full year and four months. It was to all
appearance a time of spiritual declension ; and as
distrust ruled his heart, so dissimulation ruled his
conduct. It could hardly have been other than a time
of merely formal prayers and comfortless spiritual
experience. If he would but have allowed himself to
believe it, he was far happier in the cave of Adullam or
the wilderness of Engedi, when the candle ot the Lord
shone upon his head, than he was afterwards amid
the splendour of the palace of Achish, or the princely
independence of Ziklag.
The only bright spot in this transaction was the
very cordial testimony borne by Achish to the faultless
way in which David had uniformly served him. It is
seldom indeed that such language as Achish employed
can be used of any servant — " I know that thou art
good in my sight, as an angel of God." Achish must
have been struck with the utter absence of treachery
and of all self-seeking in David. David had shown

xXWfc ; xxviii. 1,2; xxix.] DA VlD'S SECOND PLIGHT. 463
that singular, unblemished trustworthiness that earned
such golden opinions for Joseph in the house of
Potiphar and from the keeper of the prison. In this
respect he had kept his light shining before men with
a clear, unclouded lustre. Even amid his spiritual
backsliding and sad distrust of God, he had never
stained his hands with greed or theft, he had in all
these respects kept himself unspotted of the world.
The chapter of David's history which we have now
been pursuing is a very painful one, but the circum
stances in which he was placed were extremely difficult
and trying. It is impossible to justify the course he
took. By-and-bye we shall see how God chastised
him for it, and by chastising him brought him to
Himself. But to those who are disposed to be -very
severe on him we might well say, He that is without
sin among you, let him first cast a stone at him. Who
among you have not been induced at times to try
carnal and unworthy expedients for extricating your
selves from difficulty ? Who, in days of boyhood or
girlhood, never told a falsehood to cover a fault ? Who
of you have been uniformly accustomed to carry to God
every difficulty and trial, with the honest, immovable
determination to do simply and solely what might seem
to be agreeable to God's will ? Have we not all cause
to mourn over conduct that has dishonoured God and
distressed our consciences ? May He give all of us light
to see wherein we have come short in the past, or
wherein we are coming short in the present. And
from the bottom of our hearts may we be taught to
raise our prayer, From all the craft and cunning of
Satan ; from all the devices of the carnal mind ; from
all that blinds us to the pure and perfect will of God-
good Lord, deliver us.

CHAPTER XXXIV.
SAUL AT ENDOR.
I Samuel xxviii. 3-25.
FOR a considerable time Saul had been drifting
along like a crippled vessel at sea, a melancholy
example of a man forsaken of God. But as his decisive
encounter with the Philistines drew on, the state of
helplessness to which he had been reduced became
more apparent than ever. He had sagacity enough to
perceive that the expedition which the Philistines were
now leading against him was the most formidable that
had ever taken place in his day. It was no ordinary
battle that was to be fought; it was one that would
decide the fate of the country. The magnitude of the
expedition on his part is apparent from an expression
in the fourth verse — " Saul gathered all Israel together."
The place of encounter was not any of the old battle
fields with the Philistines. Usually the engagements
had taken place in some of the valleys that ran down
from the territories of Dan, or Benjamin, or Judah into
the Philistine plain, or on the heights above these.
But such places were comparatively contracted, and
did not afford scope for great bodies of troops. This
time the Philistines chose a wider and more com
manding battle-field. Advancing northwards along their
own maritime plain, and beyond it along the plain of
Sharon, they turned eastwards into the great plain of

xxviii. 3-25.] SAUL AT ENDOR. 405
Esdraelon or Jezreel, and occupied the northern side of
the plain. The troops of Saul were encamped on the
southern side, occupying the northern slope of Mount
Gilboa. There the two armies faced each other, the
wide plain stretching between.
It was a painful moment for Saul when he got his
first view of the Philistine host, for the sight of it
filled him with consternation. It would appear to have
surpassed that of Israel very greatly in numbers, in
resources, as it certainly did in its confident spirit.
Yet, if Saul had been a man of faith, none of these
things would have moved him. Was it not in that
very neighbourhood that Barak, with his hasty levies,
had inflicted a signal defeat on the Canaanites ? And
was it not in that very plain that the hosts of Midian
lay encamped in the days of Gideon, when the barley
cake rolling into their camp overturned and terrified
the host, and a complete discomfiture followed ? (Why
should not the Lord work as great a deliverance now ?
If God was with them, He was more than all that could
be against them. J Might not this be another of the
days foretold by Moses, when one should chase a
thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight ?
Yes, ifQ>o<\ was with them. All turned upon that if.
And Saul felt that God was not with them, and that
they could not count on any such deliverance as, in
better times, had been vouchsafed to their fathers.
(^And why, O Saul, when you felt thus, did you not
humble yourself before God, confess all your sins, and
implore Him to show you mercy ? Why did you not
cry, " Return, O Lord, how long ? And let it repent
Thee concerning Thy servants " ? Would you have
found God inexorable ? Would His ear have been
heavy that it could not hear ? Don't you remember

406 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
how Moses said that when Israel, in sore bondage,
should cry humbly to God, the Lord would hear his
cry, and have mercy on him ? Why, O Saul, do you
not fall in the dust before Him?
Somehow Saul felt that he could not. Among other
effects of sin and rebellion, one of the worst is a
stiffening of the soul, making it hard and rigid, so that
it cannot bend, it cannot melt, it cannot change its
course. The long career of wilfulness that Saul had
followed had produced in him this stiffening effect;
his spirit was hardened in its own ways, and incapable
of all exercise of contrition or humiliation, or anything
essentially different from the course he had been
following.*! There are times in the life of a deeply
afflicted woman when the best thing she could do
would be to weep, but that is just the thing she cannot
do. There are times when the best thing an inveterate
sinner could do would be to fling himself before God
and sob for mercy, but fling himself before God and
sob he cannot. Saul was incapable of that exercise of
soul which would have saved him and his people.
[Most terrible effect of cherished sin ! It dries up the
fountains of contrition and they will not flow. It
stiffens the knees and they will not bend. It paralyses
the voice and it will not cry. It blinds the eyes and
they see not the Saviour. It closes the ears and the
voice of mercy is unheard. It drives the distressed one
to wells without water, to refuges of lies, to trees twice
dead, to physicians who have no medicines, to gods who
have no salvation ; all he feels is that his case is despe
rate, and yet somewhere or other he must have helpf)
Saul did not neglect the outward means by which in
other days God had been accustomed to direct the
nation- H? tried every authorized way he could think

xxviii. 3-25.] SAUL AT ENDoTl. 407
of for getting guidance from above. He believed in a
heavenly power, and he asked its guidance and its help.,
But God took no notice of him. He answered him
neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. {Men,
though in heart rebellious against God's will, will go
through a great deal of mechanical service in the hope
of securing His favour. It is not their muscles that
get stiffened, but their souls. What a strange concep
tion they must have of God when they fancy that
mere external services will please Him \) How little
Saul knew of God when he supposed that, overlooking
all the rebellion of his heart, God would respond to a
mechanical effort or efforts to communicate with Him !
Don't you know, O Saul, that your iniquities have
separated between you and your God, and your sins
have hid His face from you that He will not hear?
Nothing will have the least effect on Him till you own
your sin. " I will go and return unto My place, until
they acknowledge their offence and seek My face."
And this is just what you will not, cannot do 1
How infinitely precious would one tear of genuine
repentance have been in that dark hourl It would
have saved thousands of the Israelites from a bloody
death ; it would have saved the nation from defeat and
humiliation; it would have removed the obstacle to
fellowship with the Hope of Israel, who would have
stood true to His ancient character, — "the Saviour
thereof in time of trouble."
But Saul's day of grace was over, and accordingly
we find him driven to the most humbling expedient to
which a man can stoop — seeking counsel from a quarter
against which, in his more prosperous days, he had
directed his special energies, as a superstitious, demoral
izing agency. He had been most zealous in extermin-

408 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
ating a class of persons, abounding in Eastern countries,
who pretend to know the secrets of the future, and to
have access to the inhabitants of the unseen world.
Little could he have dreamt in those days of fiery zeal
that a time would come when he would rejoice to learn
that one poor wretch had escaped the vigilance of his
officers, and still carried on, or pretended to carry on,
a nefarious traffic with the realms of the departed ! It
shows how little man is acquainted with the inner
feelings of other men — how little he knows even himself.
Doubtless he thought, in the days of exterminating zeal,
that it was sheer folly and drivelling superstition that
encouraged these sorcerers, and that by clearing them
away he would be ridding the land of a mass of rubbish
that could be of service to no one. He did not consider
that there are times of wretchedness and despair when
the soul that knows not God will seek counsel even of
men with a familiar spirit — he little dreamt that such
would be the case with himself. " Is thy servant a dog
that he should do this thing ? " he would have asked
with great indignation in those early days, if it had
been insinuated that he would ever be tempted to
resort to such counsellors. " What better could I
ever be of anything they could tell me ? Surely it
would be wiser to meet any conceivable danger full in
the face than to seek after such counsel as they could
give ! " He did not consider that when man's spirit is
overwhelmed within him, and his craving for help is
like the passion of a madman, he will clutch like a
drowning man at a straw, he will even resort to a
woman with a familiar spirit, if, peradventure, some
hint can be got to extricate him from his misery.
But to this complexion it came at last. With
dreadful sacrifice of self-respect, Saul had to ask hin

xxviii. 3.25.] SAUL AT ENDOR. 409
advisers to seek out for him a woman of this description.
They were able to tell him of such a woman residing
at Endor, about ten miles from where they were. With
two attendants he set out after nightfall, disguised, and
found her. Naturally, she was afraid to do anything
in the way of business in the face of such measures
as the king had taken against all of her craft, nor would
she stir until she had got a solemn promise that she
would not be molested in any way. Then, when all
was ready, she asked whom she should call up. " Call
up Samuel," said Saul. \Yo the great astonishment of
the woman herself, she sees Samuel rising up. A
shriek from her indicates that she is as much astonished
and for the moment frightened as anyone can be.
Evidently she did not expect such an apparition. The
effect was much too great for the cause. She sees
that in this apparition a power is concerned much
beyond what she can wield. Instinctively she appre
hends that the only man of importance enough to receive
such a supernatural visit must be the head of the nation.
" Why did you deceive me ? " she said, " for thou art
Saul." " Never mind that," is virtually Saul's reply ;
" but tell me what you have seen." The Revised
Version gives her answer better than the older one — " I
saw a god arise out of the earth." "What is his
appearance ? " earnestly asks Saul. " He is an old
man, and he is covered with a mantle." And Saul
sees that it is really Samuel.)
(But what was it that really happened, and how did
it come about ? That the woman was able, even if she
really had the aid of evil spirits, to bring Samuel into
Saul's presence we cannot believe. Nor could . she
believe it herself. If Samuel really appeared — and the
narrative attunes that he did— it R*ust have heen by

410 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
a direct miracle, God supernaturally clothing his spirit
in something like its old form, and bringing him back
to earth to speak to Saul. In judgment it seemed good
to God to let Saul have his desire, and to give him
a real interview with Samuel. " He gave him his
request, but sent leanness to his soul." So far from
having his fears allayed and his burden removed, Saul
was made to see from Samuel's communication that
there was nothing but ruin before him; and he must
have gone back to the painful duty of the morrow
staggering under a load heavier than before. )
Samuel begins the conversation ; and he does so by
reproaching Saul for having disquieted him, and brought
him back from his peaceful home above to mingle again
in the strife and turmoil of human things. Nothing
can exceed the haggard and weird desolation of Saul's
answer. " I am sore distressed ; for the Philistines
make war against me, and God is departed from me
and answereth me no more, neither by prophets nor
by dreams : therefore I have called thee, that thou
mayest make known unto me what I shall do." Was
ever a king in such a plight? Who would have thought,
when Samuel and Saul first came together, and Saul
listened so respectfully to the prophet counselling him
concerning the kingdom, that their last meeting should
be like this ? In all Saul's statement there is no word
that carries such a load of meaning and of despair as
this — " God is departed from me." It is the token of
universal confusion and calamity. And Saul felt it, and
as no one understood these things like Samuel, he had
sought Samuel to counsel his wayward son, to tell him
what to do.
It is not every sinner that makes the discovery in
this life what awful results follow when God is departed

«xviii. 3. 25.] SA UL A T ENDOR. 41 1
from him. But if the discovery does not dawn on one
in this life, it will come on him with overwhelming
force in the life to come. Men little think what they
are preparing for themselves when they say to God,
" Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge
of Thy ways." The service of God is irksome ; the
restraints of God's law are distressing ; they like a
free life, freedom to please themselves. And so they
part company with God. The form of Divine service
may be kept up or it may not: but God is not their
God, and God's will is not their rule. They have left
God's ways, they have followed their own. (And when
conscience has sometimes given them a twinge, when
God has reminded them by the silent monitor of His
claims, their answer has been, Let us alone, what
have we to do with Thee ? Depart from us, leave us
in peace. Ah ! how little have you considered that the
most awful thing that could happen to you is just for
God to depart from you ! If we could conceive the
earth a sensitive being, and somehow to get a dislike
for the sun, and to pray the sun to depart from ner,
how awful would be the fulfilment 1 Losing all the
genial influences that brighten her surface, that cover
her face with beauty and enrich her soil with abundance,
all the foul and slimy creatures of darkness would creep
out, all the noxious influences of dissolution and death
would riot in their terrible freedom ! And is not this
but a poor faint picture of man forsaken by God p O
sinner, if ever thy wish should be fulfilled, how wilt
thou curse the day in which thou didst utter it ! When
vile lusts rise to uncontrollable authority — when those
whom you love turn hopelessly wicked, when you find
yourselves joyless, helpless, hopeless, when you try
to repent and cannot repent, when you try to pray and

412 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
cannot pray, when you try to be pure and cannot be
pure — what a terrible calamity you will then feel it
that God is departed from you 1 Trifle not, O man,
with thy relation to God ; and let not thy history be
such that it shall have to be written in the words of
the prophet — " But they rebelled and vexed His Holy
Spirit ; therefore He was turned to be their enemy and
He fought against them " (Isaiah lxiii. io).
There was no comfort for Saul in Samuel's reply,
but much the contrary. Why should he have asked
advice of the Lord's servant, when he owned that he
was forsaken by the Lord Himself ? What could the
servant do for him if the Master was become his
enemy ? What can a priest or a minister do for any
man if God has turned His face away from him ? Can
he make God deny Himself, and become favourable to
one who has scorned or sinned away His Holy Spirit ?
Saul was experiencing no more than he had just reason
to expect since that fatal day when he had first deliber
ately set up his own will above God's will in the affair
of Amalek. In the course which he began then, he
had persistently continued, and God was now just
executing the threatenings which Saul had braved.
And next day would witness the last of his sad history.
The Lord would deliver Israel into the hands of the
Pnilistines ; in the collision of the armies he and his
sons would be slain ; disaster to his arms, death to
himself, and destruction to his dynasty would all come
together on that miserable day.
It is no wonder that Saul was utterly prostrated : " He
fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore
afraid, because of the words of Samuel ; and there was
no strength in him ; for he had eaten no bread all the
day, nor all the night." He could not have expected

xxviii. 3-25.] SAUL AT ENDOR. 413
that the interview with Samuel would be a pleasant
one, but he never imagined that it would announce
such awful calamities. Have you not known some
times the terrible sensation when you had heard there
was something wrong with some of your friends, and
on going to inquire, discovered that the calamity was
infinitely worse than you had ever dreamt of? A
momentary paralysis comes over one ; you are stunned
and made helpless by the tidings. We may even be
tempted to think that surely Samuel was too hard on
Saul ; might he not have tempered his awful message
by some qualifying word of hope and mercy ? The
answer is, Samuel spoke the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth. We are all prone to the
thought that when evil men get their doom there will
surely be something to modify or mitigate its rigour.
Samuel's words to Saul indicate no such relaxation.
Moral law will vindicate itself as natural law vindicates
itself — " Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also
reap." The last incident in the chapter is interesting and
pleasing. We might have thought that such a calling
as that followed by the witch of Endor would have
destroyed all the humanities in her nature; that she
would have looked on the king's distress with a cold,
stoical eye, and that her only concern would be to
obtain for herself a fee adapted to the occasion. But
she shows much of the woman left in her after all.
When she rehearses her service, and the peril of her
life at which it has been rendered, to prepare the way
for her asking a favour, the favour which she does ask is
not for herself at all, — it is on Saul's own behalf, that
she might be permitted the honour of preparing for
him a meal, Saul's mind is top much occupied and too

414 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
much agitated to care for anything of the kind. Still
prostrate on the ground he says, "I will not eat."
Men overwhelmed by calamity hate to eat, they are
too excited to experience hunger. It was only when
his servants, thinking how much he had gone through
already, how much more he had to go through on the
morrow, and how utterly unfit his exhausted body was
for the strain — it was then only that he yielded to the
request of the woman. And the woman showed that,
for all her sinister business, she was equal to the
occasion of entertaining a king. The "fat calf in the
house " corresponded to the " fatted calf" in the parable
of the prodigal son. It was not. the custom even in
families of the richer class to eat meat at ordinary
meals ; it was reserved for feasts and extraordinary
occasions ; and in order to be ready for any emergency
a calf was kept close to the house, whose flesh, from
the delicate way in which it was reared and fed, was
tender enough to be served even at so hasty a meal.
With cakes of unleavened bread, this dish could be
presented very rapidly, and, unlike the hasty meals
which are common among us, was really a more sub
stantial and nourishing entertainment than ordinary.
It is touching to mark these traces of womanly feeling
in this unhappy being, reminding us of the redeeming
features of Rahab the harlot. What effect the whole
transaction had on the woman we are not told, and it
would be vain to conjecture.
And now Saul retraces his dark and dreary way
southward to the heights of Gilboa. We can hardly
exaggerate his miserable condition. He had much to
think of, and he would have needed a clear, unclouded
mind. We can think of him only as miserably dis
tracted, and unable to let his mind settle on anything,

xxviii. 3-25.] SAUL AT ENDOR. 415
It would have needed his utmost resources to arrange
for the battle of to-morrow, a battle in which he knew
that defeat was coming, but which he might endeavour,
nevertheless, to make as little disastrous as possible.
Moreover, he knew it was to be the last day of his
life, and troubled thoughts could not but steal in on
him as to what should happen when he stood before
God. No doubt, too, there were many sad thoughts
about his sons, who were to be involved in the same
fate as himself. Was there no way of saving any of
then- ? The arrangement of his temporal effects, too,.
would claim attention, for, restless and excitable as he
had been, it was not likely that his private affairs would
be in very good order. Anon his thoughts might wander
back to his first interview with Samuel, and bitter re
morse would send its pang through him as he thought
how differently he might have left the kingdom if he
had faithfully followed the counsels of the prophet.
Possibly amid all these gloomy thoughts one thought
of a brighter order might steal into his mind — how
thoroughly David, who would come to the throne after
him, would retrieve his errors and restore prosperity,
and make the kingdom what it had never been under
him, a model kingdom, worthy to shadow forth the
glories of Messiah's coming reign. Poor distracted
man, he was little fitted either to fight a battle with the
Philistines or to encounter the last enemy on his own
account. What a lesson to be prepared beforehand I
On a deathbed, especially a sudden one, distractions can
hardly fail to visit us — this thing and the ether thing
needing to be arranged and thought of. Happy they
who at such a moment can say, " I am now ready to
depart." " Into Thy hands I commend my spirit, for
Thou hast redeemed me, Q Lord God of truth."

CHAPTER XXXV.
DA VID A T ZIKLAG.
I Samuel xxx.
AFTER David had received from King Achish the
appointment of captain of his body guard, he
had with his "troops accompanied the Philistine army,
passing along the maritime plain to the very end of
their journey — to the spot selected for battle, close to
" the fountain which is in Jezreel." It seems to have
been only after the whole Philistine host were ranged
in battle array that the presence of David and his men,
who remained in the rear to protect the king, arrested
the attention of the lords of the Philistines, and on their
remonstrance they were sent away. It is probable that
David's return to Ziklag, and the expedition in which
he had to engage to recover his wives and his property,
took place at or about the very time when Saul made
his journey to Endor, and when the fatal battle of
Gilboa was raging. We have seen that though David
never, like Saul, threw off the authority of God, he had
been following ways of his own, ways of deceit and
unfaithfulness. He too had been exposing himself to
the displeasure of God, and on him, as on Saul, some
retribution behoved to fall. But in the two cases we
see the difference between judgment and chastisement.
In the case of Saul it was judgment that came down ;
his }ife anc1 hj§ career were terminated avowedly as

xxx.] DAVID AT ZIKLAG. 417
the punishment of his offence. In the case of David
the rod was lifted to correct, not to destroy ; to bring
him back, not to drive him for ever away ; to fit him
for service, not to cut him asunder, or appoint him
his portion with the hypocrites. There is every reason
to believe that the awful disaster that befel David on
his return to Ziklag was the means of restoring him to
a trustful and truthful frame.
It appears from the chapter now before us that, in
the absence of David and his troop, severe reprisals
had been taken by the Amalekites for the defeat and
utter destruction which they had lately inflicted on
a portion of their tribe. We must remember that the
Amalekites were a widely dispersed people, consisting
of many tribes, each living separately from the rest,
but so related that in any emergency they would readily
come to one another's help. News of the extermina
tion of the tribes whom David had attacked, and whom
he had utterly destroyed lest any of them should bring
word to Achish of his real employment, had been
brought to their neighbours ; and these neighbours
determined to take revenge for the slaughter of their
kinsmen. The opportunity of David's absence was
taken for invading Ziklag, for which purpose a large
and well-equipped expedition had been got together;
and as they met with no opposition, they carried every
thing before them. Happily, however, as they found
no enemies they did not draw the sword ; they counted
it better policy to carry off all that could be transported,
so as to make use of the goods, and sell the women and
children into slavery, and as they had a great multitude
of beasts of burden with them (ver. 17) there could
be no difficulty in carrying out this plan. It seems
very strange that David should have left Ziklag
vol. 1. Z7

418 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL
apparently without the protection of a single soldier;
but what seems to us folly had all the effect of con
summate wisdom in the end; the passions of the
Amalekites were not excited by opposition or bj' blood
shed ; their destructive propensities were satisfied with
destroying the town of Ziklag, and every person and
thing that could be removed was carried away unhurt.
But for days to come David could not know that their
expedition had been conducted in this unusually peace
ful way ; his imagination and his fears would picture
far darker scenes.
It must have been an awful moment to David —
hardly less so than to Saul when he saw the host of
the Philistines near Jezreel — to reach what had been
recently so peaceful a home and find it a mass of
smoking ruins. If he had been disposed to congratu
late himself on the success of the policy which had dic
tated his escape from the land of Judah, and his settling
at Ziklag under protection of King Achish, how in one
moment must the rottenness of the whole plan have
flashed upon him, and how awed must he have been
at the proof now so clearly afforded that the whole
arrangement had been frowned on by the G-od of
heaven ! What an agony of suspense and distress he
must have been in till more definite news could be
obtained ; and what a burst of despair must have been
heard through the camp when it became known to his
followers that the worst that could be conceived had
happened — that their, houses were all destroyed, then-
property seized, and their wives and children carried
off, to be disgraced, or sold, or butchered, as might suit
the fancy of their masters ! And then, that remorse
less massacre that they had lately inflicted on the kinsmen
of their invaders, how likely it would be to exasperate

xxx.] DAVID AT ZIKLAG. 419
their passions against them ! What mercy would they
show whose neighbours had received no mercy ? What
a dreadful fate would these helpless women and children
be now experiencing !
It was probably one of the bitterest of the many
bitter hours that David ever spent. First there was the
natural feeling of disappointment, after a long and weary
march, when the comforts of home had been so eagerly
looked forward to, and each man seemed already in the
embrace of his family, to find home utterly obliterated,
and its place marked by blackened ruins. Then there
was the far more intense pang to every affectionate
heart, caused by the carrying off of the members of their -
families; this, it appears, was the predominant feel
ing of the camp : " the soul of the people was grieved,
every man for his sons and for his daughters." And
somehow David was the person blamed, partly perhaps
through that hasty but unjust feeling that blames tin.
leader of an expedition for all the mishaps attending
it, and partly also, it may be, because Ziklag had been
left utterly undefended. " What business had he to
march us all at the heels of these uncircumcised Philis
tines, as if we ought to make common cause with them
only to march us back again just as we came, to gaii
nothing there ahd to lose everything here 1 " To ah'
this was added a further element of excitement : it was
not merely calamities known and seen that worked in
the minds of the people; the gloom of dreaded but
uncertain horrors helped to excite them still more.
Imagination would quickly supply the place of evidence
in picturing the situation of their wives and children.
The feelings of the troops were so fearfully excited
against David that they spoke of stoning him. The very
men that had lately approached him with the beautiful

420 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
salutation, " Peace, peace be to thee, and peace be to
thine helpers, for thy God helpeth thee," now spoke
of stoning him. How like the spirit and the conduct
of their descendants a thousand years later, shouting
at one time, " Hosanna to the Son of David," and but
a few days after, "Crucify Him, crucify Him." The
state of David's feelings must have been all the more
terrible for the uneasy conscience he had in the matter,
for he had too much cause to feel that the dissembling
policy which he had been pursuing had caused another
massacre, more frightful than that of the priests after
his visit to Nob.
It is probable that at this awful moment the mind of
David was visited by a blessed influence from above.
The wail of woe that spread through his camp, and the
dismal ruins that covered the site of his recent home,
seem to have spoken to him in that tone of rebuke which
the words of the prophet afterwards conveyed, "Thou
art the man ! " Under great excitement the mind works
with great rapidity, and passes almost with the speed
of lightning from one mood to another. It is quite
possible that under the same electric shock, as we may
call it, that brought David to a sense of his sin he
was guided back to his former confidence in the mercy
and grace of his covenant God. In one instant, we
may believe, the miserable hollowness of all those
carnal devices in which he had been trusting would
flash upon his mind, and God — his own loving
Father and covenant God — would appear waiting to be
gracious and longing for his return. And now the
prodigal son is in his Father's arms, weeping, sobbing,
confessing, but at the same time feeling the luxury
of forgiveness, rejoicing, trusting and delighting in
His protection and blessing.

xxx.] DAVID AT ZIKLAG. 421
It may indeed be objected that we are proceeding
too much on mere imagination in supposing that
David's return to a condition of holy trust in God was
effected in this rapid way. The view may be wrong,
and we do not insist on it. What we found on is
the very short interval between his last act of dissimula
tion in professing to desire to accompany Achish to
battle, and his manifest restoration to the spirit of
trust, evinced in the words, applied to him when the
people spoke of stoning him, " But David strengthened
himself in the Lord his God " (ver. 6). These words
show that he has got back to the true track at last,
and from that moment prosperity returns. What a
blessed thing it was for him that in that hour of
utmost need he was able to derive strength from the
thought of God, — able to think of the Most High as
watching him with interest, and still ready to deliver
himl It was a somewhat similar incident, though not
preceded by any such previous backsliding — a similar
manifestation of the magical power of trust — that took
place in the life of a more modern David, one who in
serving God and doing good to man had to encounter
a life of wandering, privation, and danger seldom
surpassed — the African missionary and explorer,
David Livingstone. In the course of his great journey
from St. Paul de Loanda on the west coast of Africa
to Quilimane on the east, he had to encounter many
an angry and greedy tribe, whom he was too poor
to be able to pacify by the ordinary method of
valuable presents. On one occasion, in the fork at the
confluence of the river Loangwa and the river Zambesi,
he found one of those hostile tribes. It was necessary -
for him to have canoes to cross — they would lend him

422 THE FIRST BOOK OP SAMUEL
only one. In other respects they showed an attitude
of hostility, and the appearances all pointed to a furious
attack the following day. Livingstone was troubled
at the prospect, — not that he was afraid to die, but
because it seemed as if all his discoveries in Africa
would be lost, and his sanguine hopes for planting
commerce and Christianity among its benighted and
teeming tribes knocked on the head. But he remem
bered the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, "Go ye
therefore into all the world, and preach the gospel unto
every creature, and Io, I am with you alway, even unto
the end of the world." On this promise he rested, and
steadied his fluttering heart. " It is the word of a
gentleman," he said, " the word of one of the most
perfect honour. I will not try, as I once thought, to
escape by night, but I will wait till to-morrow, and
leave before them all. Should such a man as I be
afraid ? I will take my observations for longitude to
night, though it should be my last. My mind is now
quite at rest, thank God." He waited as he had said,
and next morning, though the arrangements of the
natives still betokened battle, he and his men were
allowed to cross the river in successive detachments,
without molestation, he himself waiting to the last, and
not a hair of their heads being hurt. It was a fine
instance of a believing Christian strengthening himself
in his God. When faith is genuine, and the habit
of exercising it is active, it can remove mountains.
The first result of the restored feeling of trust in
David was his giving honour to God's appointed
ordinance by asking counsel of Him, through Abiathar
the priest, as to the course he should follow. It is the
first time we read of him doing so since he left his own
country. At first one wonders how he could have

xxx.] DAVID AT ZIKLAG. 423
discontinued so precious a means of ascertaining the
will of God and the path of duty. But the truth is,
when a man is left to himself he cares for no advice
or direction but his own inclination. He is not
desirous to be led ; he wishes only to go comfortably.
Indifference to God's guidance explains much neglect
of prayer.
David has now made his application, and he has got
a clear and decided answer. He can feel now that he
is treading on soljd ground. How much happier he
must have been than when driving hither and thither,
scheming and dissembling, and floundering from one
device of carnal wisdom to another ! As for his people,
he can think of them now with far more tranquillity ;
have they not been all along in God's keeping, and is it
not true that He that keepeth Israel neither slumbers
nor sleeps ?
We need not dwell at great length on the incidents
that immediately followed. No events could have fallen
out more favourably. One-third of his troops was
indeed so exhausted that they had to be left at the
brook Besor. With the other four hundred he set
out in search of the foe. The special providence of
God, so clearly and frequently displayed on this
occasion, provided a guide for David in the person of
an Egyptian slave, who, having fallen sick, had been
abandoned by his master, and had been three days and
nights without meat or drink. Careful treatment having
resuscitated this young man, and a solemn assurance
having been given him that he would neither be killed
nor given back to his master (the latter alternative
seems to have been as terrible as the other), he con
ducts them without loss of time to the camp of the
Amalekites. Each day's journey brought them nearer

424 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
and nearer to the great wilderness where, some five or
six hundred years before, their fathers had encountered
Amalek at Rephidim, and had gained a great victory
over them, after not a few fluctuations, through the
uplifted arms of Moses, the token of reliance on the
strength of God. Through the same good hand on
David, the Amalekites, surprised in the midst of a time
of careless and uproarious festivity, were completely
routed, and all but destroyed. Every article they had
stolen, and every woman and child they had carried
off, were recovered unhurt. Such a deliverance was
beyond expectation. When the Lord turned again the
captivity of Ziklag, they were like men that dream.
The happy change of circumstances was signalized
by David by two memorable acts, the one an act of
justice, the other an act of generosity. The act of
justice was his interfering to repress the selfishness of
the part of his troops who were engaged in the fight
with Amalek, some of whom wished to exclude the
disabled portion, who had to remain at the brook Besor,
from sharing the spoil. The objectors are called " the
wicked men and the men of Belial." It is a significant
circumstance that David had been unable to inspire
all his followers with his own spirit — that even at the
end of his residence in Ziklag there were wicked men
and men of Belial among them. No doubt these were
the very men that had been loudest in their complaints
against David, and had spoken of stoning him when
they came to know of the calamity at Ziklag. Com
plaining men are generally selfish men. They objected
to David's proposal to share the spoil with the whole
body of his followers. Their proposal was especially
displeasing to David at a time when God had given
them such tokens of undeserved goodness. It was of

xxx.] DAVID AT ZIKLAG. 4*5
the same sort as the act of the unforgiving servant in
the parable, who, though forgiven his ten thousand
talents, came down with unmitigated ferocity on the
fellow-servant that owed him an hundred pence.
The act of generosity was his distribution over the
cities in the neighbourhood of the spoil which he had
taken from the Amalekites. If he had been of a selfish
nature he might have kept it all for himself and his
people. But it was " the spoil of the enemies of the
Lord." It was David's desire to recognise God in
connection with this spoil, both to show that he had
not made his onslaught on the Amalekites for personal
ends, and to acknowledge, in royal style, the goodness
which God had shown him. That it was an act of
policy as well as a recognition of God may be readily
acknowledged. Undoubtedly David was desirous to
gain the favourable regard of his neighbours, as a help
toward his recognition when the throne of Israel should
become empty. But we may surely admit this, and
yet recognise in his actions on this occasion the
generosity as well as the godliness of his nature. He
was one of those men to whom it is more blessed to
give than to receive, and who are never so happy them
selves as when they are making others happy. The
Bethel mentioned in ver. 27 as first among the places
benefited can hardly be the place ordinarily known by
that name, which was far distant from Ziklag, but some
other Bethel much nearer the southern border of the -
land. The most northerly of the places specified of
whose situation we are assured was Hebron, itself well
to the south of Judah, and soon to become the capital
where David reigned. The large number of places that
shared his bounty was a proof of the royal liberality
with which it was spread abroad.

426 THE FIRST BOOK OP SAMUEL
And in this bounty, this royal profusion of gifts,
we may surely recognise a fit type of " great David's
greater Son." How clearly it appeared from the very
first that the spirit of Jesus Christ exemplified His own
maxim which we have just quoted, " It is more blessed
to give than to receive." Once only, and that in His in
fancy, when the wise men laid at His feet their myrrh,
frankinci.nse, and gold, do we read of anything like a
lavish contribution of the gifts of earth being given to
Him. But follow Him through the whole course of His
earthly life and ministry, and see how just was the
image of Malachi that compared Him to the sun — " the
Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings."
What a gloriously diffusive nature He had, dropping
gifts of fabulous price in every direction without money
and without price 1 "Jesus went about in all Galilee"
(it was now the turn of the north to enjoy the benefit),
" teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel
of the kingdom, and healing all manner of diseases and
all manner of sickness among the people." Listen to
the opening words of the Sermon on the Mount ; what
a dropping of honey as from the honeycomb we have
in those beatitudes, which so wonderfully commend the
precious virtues to which they are attached I Follow
Jesus through any part of His earthly career, and you
find the same spirit of royal liberality. Stand by Him
even in the last hour of His mortal life, and count His
deeds of kindness. See how He heals the ear of
Malchus, though He healed no wounds of His own.
Listen to Him deprecating the tears of the weeping
women, and turning their attention to evils among
themselves that had more need to be wept for. Hear
the tender tones of His prayer, " Father, forgive them,
for they know not what they do." Observe the gracious

-xx.] David at Ziklag. 427
look He casts on the thief beside Him in answer to his
prayer — " Verily I say unto thee, this day shalt thou
be with Me in Paradise." Mark how affectionately He
provides for His mother. See Him after His resurrec
tion saying to the weeping Mary, Woman, why weepest
thou? Count that multitude of fishes which He has
brought to the nets of His disciples, in token of the
riches of spiritual success with which they are to be
blessed. And mark, on the day of Pentecost, how
richly from His throne in glory He sheds down the
Holy Spirit, and quickens thousands together with the
breath of spiritual life. " Thou hast ascended on high,
Thou hast led captivity captive, Thou hast received
gifts for men ; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord
(Sod might dwell among them."
It is a most blessed and salutary thing for you all to
cherish the thought of the royal munificence of Christ.
Think of the kindest and most lavish giver you ever
knew, and think how Christ surpasses him in this
very grace as far as the heavens are above the earth.
What encouragement does this give you to trust in
Him I What a sin it shows you to commit when you
turn away from Him I But remember, too, that Jesus
Christ is the image of the invisible God. Remember
that He came to reveal the Father. Perhaps we are
more disposed to doubt the royal munificence of the
Father than that of the Son. But how unreasonable
is this ! Was not Jesus Christ Himself, with all the
glorious fulness contained in him, the gift of God — His
unspeakable gift ? And in every act of generosity done
by Christ have we not just an exhibition of the Father's
heart ? Sometimes we think hardly of God's generosity
in connection with His decree of election. Leave that
alone ; it is one of the deep things of God ; remember

4*8 THE PlRsT BOOK OF SAMUEL.
that every soul brought to Christ is the fruit of God's
unmerited love and infinite grace ; and remember too
what a vast company the redeemed are, when in the
Apocalyptic vision, an early section of them — those
that came out of " the great tribulation "—formed a
great multitude that no man could number. Sometimes
we think that God is not generous when He takes away
very precious comforts, and even the most cherished
treasures of our hearts and our homes. But that is
love in disguise ; " What I do thou knowest not now,
but thou shalt know hereafter." And sometimes we
think that He is not generous when He is slow to
answer our prayers. But He designs only to encourage
us to perseverance, and to increase and finally all
the more reward our faith. Yes, truly, whatever
anomalies Providence may present, and they are many ;
whatever seeming contradictions we may encounter to
the doctrine of the exceeding riches of the grace of
God, let us ascribe all that to our imperfect vision and
our imperfect understanding. Let us correct all such
narrow impressions at the cross of Christ. Let us
reason, like the Apostle : " He that spared not His own
Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not
with Him also freely give us all things ? " And let us
feel assured that when at last God's ways and dealings
even with this wayward world are made plain, the one
conclusion which they will go to establish for evermore
is — that God is Love.

CHAPTER XXXVL
THE DEATH OF SAUL
i Samuel xxxi.
THE plain of Esdraelon, where the battle between
Saul and the Philistines was fought, has been
celebrated for many a deadly encounter, from the very
earliest period of history. Monuments of Egypt lately
deciphered make it very plain that long before the
country was possessed by the Israelites the plain had ex
perienced the shock of contending armies. The records
of the reign of Thotmes III., who has sometimes been
called the Alexander the Great of Egypt, bear testimony
to a decisive fight in his time near Megiddo, and enu«
merate the names of many towns in the neighbourhood,
most of which occur in Bible history, of which the spoil
was carried to Egypt and placed in the temples of the
Egyptian gods. Here, too, it was afterwards that Barak
encountered the Canaanites, and Gideon the Midianites
and Amalekites ; here " Jehu smote all that remained
of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men,
and his familiar friends, and his priests, until he left
none remaining ; " here Josiah was slain in his great
battle with the Egyptians ; here was the great lamenta
tion after Josiah's death, celebrated by Zechariah, " the
mourning of Hadad-Rimmon in the valley of Me
giddo ; " in short, in the words of Pr. Clarke, " Esdraelon

430 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
has been the chosen place of encampment in every great
contest carried on in the country, until the disastrous
march of Napoleon Bonaparte from Egypt into Syria.
Jews, Gentiles, Saracens, Crusaders, Egyptians, Per
sians, Druses, Turks, Arabs, and French, warriors out
of every nation which is under heaven, have pitched
their tents upon the plains of Esdraelon, and have
beheld their banners wet with the dews of Tabor and
Hermon." So late as 1840, when the Pacha of Egypt
had seized upon Syria, he was compelled to abandon
the country when the citadel of Acre, which guards the
entrance of the plain of Esdraelon by sea, was bom
barded and destroyed by the British fleet. It is no
wonder that in the symbolical visions of the Apocalypse,
a town in this plain, Ar-Mageddon, is selected as the
battle-field for the great conflict when the kings of the
whole earth are to be gathered together unto the battle
of the great day of Almighty God. As in the plains
of Belgium, the plains of Lombardy, or the carse of
Stirling, battle after battle has been fought in the space
between Jezreel and Gilboa, to decide who should be
master of the whole adjacent territory.
The Philistine host are said to have gathered them
selves together and pitched in Shunem (chap, xxviii. 4),
and afterwards to have gathered all their hosts to
Aphek, and pitched by the fountain which is in Jezreel
(xxix. 1). That is to say, they advanced from a west
ward to a northward position, which last they occupied
before the battle. Saul appears from the beginning to
have arranged his troops on the northern slopes of
Mount Gilboa, and to have remained in that position
during the battle. It was an excellent position for
fighting, but very unfavourable for a retreat. Appa
rently the Philistines began the battle by moving south-

xxxi] THE DEATH OF SlUL. 431
wards across the plain till they reached the foot of
Gilboa, where the tug of war began. Notwithstanding
the favourable position of the Hebrews, they were
completely defeated. The archers appear to have done
deadly execution ; as they advanced nearer to the host
of Israel, the latter would move backward to get out of
range ; while the Philistines, gaining confidence, would
press them more and more, till the orderly retreat
became a terrible rout. So utterly routed was the
Israelite army that they do not appear to have tried a
single rally, which, as they had to retreat over Mount
Gilboa, it would have been so natural for them to do.
Panic and consternation seem to have seized them very
early in the battle ; that they would be defeated was
probably a foregone conclusion, but the attitude of a
retreating army seems to have been assumed more
quickly and suddenly than could have been supposed.
If the Philistine army, seeing the early confusion of the
Israelites, had the courage to pour themselves along
the valleys on each side of Gilboa, no way of retreat
would be left to their enemy except over the top of the
hill. And when that was reached, and the Israelites
began to descend, the arrows of the pursuing Philistines
would fall on them with more deadly effect than ever,
and the slaughter would be tremendous.
Saul seems never to have been deficient in personal
courage, and in the course of the battle he and his staff
were evidently in the very thickest of the fight. " The
Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons ;
and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and
Melchi-shua, the sons of Saul." Saul himself was
greatly distressed in his flight by reason of the archers.
Finding himself wounded, and being provided with
neither chariot nor other means of escape, a horror

43* THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
seized him that if once the enemy got possession of
him alive they would subject him to some nameless
mutilation or horrible humiliation too terrible to be
thought of. Hence his request lo his armour-bearer
to fall on him. When the armour-bearer refused, he
took a sword from him and killed himself.
It may readily be allowed that to one not ruled
habitually by regard to the will of God this was the
wisest course to follow. If the Philistine treatment of
captive kings resembled the Assyrian, death was far
rather to be chosen than life. When we find on
Assyrian monuments such frightful pictures as those of
kings obliged to carry the heads of their sons in pro
fessions, or themselves pinned to the ground by stakes
driven through their hands and feet, and undergoing
the horrible process of being flayed alive, we need not
wonder at Saul shrinking with horror from what he
might have had to suffer if he had been taken prisoner.
But what are we to think of the moral aspect of his
act of suicide ? That in all ordinary cases suicide is a
daring sin, who can deny ? God has not given to man
the disposal of his life in such a sense. It is a daring
thing for man to close his day of grace sooner than
God would have closed it. It is a reckless thing to
rush into the presence of his Maker before His Maker
has called him to appear. It is a presumptuous thing
to calculate on bettering his condition by plunging into
an untried eternity. No doubt one must be tender in
judging of men pressed hard by real or imaginary terrors,
perhaps their reason staggering, their instincts tremb
ling, and a horror of great darkness obscuring every
thing. Yet how often, in his last written words, does
the suicide bear testimony against himself when he hopes
that God will forgive him, and beseeches his friends to

xxxi.] THE DEATH OF SAUL 433
forgive him. Does not this show that in his secret
soul he is conscious that he ought to have borne longer,
ought to have quitted himself more like a man, and
suffered every extremity of fortune before quenching
the flame of life within him ?
The truth is, that the suicide of Saul, as of many
another, is an act that cannot be judged by itself, but
must be taken in connection with the course of his
previous life. We have said that to one not habitually
ruled by regard to the will of God, self-destruction at
such a moment was the wisest course. That is to say,
if he merely balanced what appeared to be involved
in terminating his life against what was involved in
the Philistines taking him and torturing him, the former
alternative was by far the more tolerable. But the
question comes up, — if he had not habitually disregarded
the will of God, would he ever have been in that pre
dicament ? The criminality of many an act must be
thrown back on a previous act, out of which it has
arisen. A drunkard in a midnight debauch quarrels
with his father, and plunges a knife into his heart.
When he comes to himself he is absolutely unconscious
of what he has done. He tells you he had no wish
nor desire to injure his father. It was not his proper
self that did it, but his proper self over-mastered, over
thrown, brutalized by the monster drink. Do you
excuse him on this account ? Far from it. You excuse
him of a deliberate design against his father's life. But
you say the possibility of that deed was involved in
his getting drunk. For a man to get drunk, to deprive
himself for the time of his senses, and expose himself
to an influence that may cause him to commit a most
horrible and unnatural crime, is a fearful sin. Thus
you carry back the criminality of the murder to the
vol. 1, 28

434 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
previous act of getting drunk. So in regard to the
suicide of Saul. The criminality of that act is to be
carried back to the sin of which he was guilty when he
determined to follow his own will instead of the will of
God. It was through that sin that he was brought
into his present position. Had he been dutiful to God
he would never have been in such a dilemma. On the
one hand he never would have been so defeated and
humiliated in battle ; and on the other hand he would
have had a trust in the Divine protection even when a
bloody enemy like the Philistines was about to seize
him. It was the true source alike of his public defeat
and of his private despair that he indicated when he
said to Samuel, " God is departed from me ; " and
he might have been sure that God would not have
departed from him if he had not first departed from God.
It is a most important principle of life we thus get
sight of, when we see the bearing that one act of sin
has upon another. It is very seldom indeed that the
consequences of any sin terminate with itself. Sin has
a marvellous power of begetting, of leading you on to
other acts that you did not think of at first, of involving
you in meshes that were then quite out of your view.
And this multiplying process of sin is a course that
may begin very early. Children are warned of it in
the hymn — " He that does one fault at first, and lies to
hide it, makes it two." A sin needs to be covered, and
another sin is resorted to in order to provide the
covering. Nor is that all. You have a partner in
your sin, and to free yourseh" you perhaps betray your
partner. That partner may be not only the weaker
vessel, but also by far the heavier sufferer, and yet, in
your wretched selfishness, you deny all share of the
sin, or you leave your partner to be ruined. Alas !

xxxi.] IHE DEATH OF SAUL 435
alas ! how terrible are the ways of sin. How difficult
it often is for the sinner to retrace his steps ! And
how terrible is the state of mind when one says, I
must commit this sin or that — I have no alternative !
How terrible was Saul's position when he said, "I
must destroy myself." Truly sin is a hard, unfeeling
master — " The way of transgressors is hard." He only
that walketh uprightly walketh surely. "Blessed are
the undefiled in the way, that walk in the law of
the Lord."
The terrible nature of the defeat which the Israelites
suffered on this day from the Philistines is apparent
from what is said in the seventh verse — " And when
the men of Israel that were on the other side of the
valley, and they that were beyond Jordan, saw that the
men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were
dead, they forsook their cities and fled; and the
Philistines came and dwelt in them." The plain of
Esdraelon is interrupted, and in a sense divided into
two, by three hills — Tabor, Gilboa, and Little Hermon.
On the eastern side of these hills the plain is
continued on to the Jordan valley. The effect of the
battle of Gilboa was that all the rich settlements
in that part of the plain had to be forsaken by the
Israelites and given up to the Philistines. More than
that, the Jordan valley ceased to afford the protection
which up to this time it had supplied against enemies
from the west. For the most part, the trans-Jordanic
tribes were exposed to quite a different set of enemies.
It was the Syrians from the north, the Moabites and
the Ammonites from the east, and the Midianites and
Amalekites from the remoter deserts, that were usually
the foes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh. But on this
occasion a new foe assailed them. The Philistines

436 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
actually crossed the Jordan, and the rich pastures
of Gilead and Bashan, with the flocks and herds that
swarmed upon them, became the prey of the uncir-
cumcised. Thus the terror of the Philistines, hitherto
confined to the western portion of the country, was
spread, with all its attendant horrors, over the length
and breadth of Israel. We get a vivid view of the
state of the country when David was called to take
charge, of it. And we get a vivid view of the worse
than embarrassment, the fatal crime, into which
David would have been led if he had remained in
the Philistine camp and taken any part in this
campaign. How utterly crushed the Philistines considered the
Israelites to be, and how incapable of striking any
blow in their own defence, is apparent from the
humiliating treatment of the bodies of Saul and his
6ons, the details of which are given in this chapter and
in the parallel passage in I Chronicles (chap. x.). If
there had been any possibility of the Israelites being
stung into a new effort by the dishonour done to their
king and princes, that dishonour would not have been
so terribly insulting. But there was no such pos
sibility. The treatment was doubly insulting. Saul's
head, severed from his body, was put in the temple of
Dagon (i Chron. x.) ; his armour was hung up in the
house of Ashtaroth ; and his body was fastened to the
wall of Beth-shan. The same treatment seems to have
been bestowed on his three sons. The other part of
the insult arose from the idolatrous spirit in which all
this was done. The tidings of the victory were ordered
to be carried to the house of their idols as well as to
their people (i Sam. xxxi. 9). The trophies were
displayed in the temples of these idols. The spirit of

xxxi.] THE DEATH OF SAUL. 437
vaunting, which had so roused David against Goliath
because he defied the armies of the living God, appeared
far more offensively than ever. Not only was Israel
defeated, but in the view of the Philistines Israel's
God as well Dagon and Ashtaroth had triumphed
over Jehovah. The humiliation suffered in the days
when the ark of God brought such calamities to them
and their gods was now amply avenged. The
image of Dagon was not found lying on its face, all
shattered save the stump, after the heads of Saul and
his sons had been placed in his temple. Yes, and the
nobles at least of the Philistines would boast that the
slaughter of Goliath by David, and the placing of his
head and his armour near Jerusalem — probably in
the holy place of Israel — were amply avenged. Well
was it for David, we may say again, that he had no
share in this terrible battle I Henceforth undoubtedly
there would be no more truce on his part towards the
Philistines. Had they not dishonoured the person of
his king ? had they not insulted the dead body of
Jonathan his noble friend ? had they not hurled new
defiance against the God of Israel? had they not spread
robbery and devastation over the whole length and
breadth of the country, and turned every happy family
into a group of cowering slaves? Were this people
to be any longer honoured with his friendship ? " O
my soul, come not thou into their secret ; unto then-
assembly, mine honour, be not thou united 1 "
The only redeeming incident, in all this painful
narrative, is the spirited enterprise of the men of
Jabesh-gilead, coming to Beth-shan by night, removing
the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall, and
burying them with all honour at Jabesh. Beth-shan
was a considerable distance from Gilboa, where Saul

438 THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.
and his sons appear to have fallen ; but probably it
was the largest city in the neighbourhood, and there
fore the best adapted to put the remains of the king
and the princes to open shame. Jabesh-gilead was
somewhere on the other side of the Jordan, distant from
Beth-shan several miles. It was highly creditable to
its people that, after a long interval, the remembiance
of Saul's first exploit, when he relieved them from the
cruel threats of the Ammonites, was still strong enough
to impel them to the gallant deed which secured
honourable burial for the bodies of Saul and his sons.
We are conscious of a reverential feeling rising in our
hearts toward this people as we think of their kindness
to the dead, as if the whole human race were one family,
and a kindness done nearly three thousand years ago
were in some sense a kindness to ourselves.
That first exploit of Saul's, rescuing the men of
Jabesh-gilead, seems never to have been surpassed by
any other enterprise of his reign. As we now look.
back on the career of Saul, which occupies so large a
portion of this book, we do not find much to interest
or refresh us. He belonged to the order of military
kings. He was not one of those who were devoted to
the intellectual, or the social, or the religious elevation
of his kingdom. His one idea of a king was to rid
his country of its enemies. " He fought," we are told,
" against all his enemies on every side, against Moab,
and against the children of Ammon, and against Edom,
and against the king of Zobah, and agair.st the Philis
tines : and whithersoever he turned himself he vexed
them. And he did valiantly and smote Amalek, and
delivered Israel out of the hands of them that spoiled
them." That success gave him a good name as king, but
it did not draw much affection to him ; and it had more

xxxi] THE DEATH OF SAUL 439
effect in ridding the people of evil than in conferring
on them positive good. Royalty bred in Saul what it
bred in most kings of the East, an imperious temper,
a despotic will. Even in his own family he played
the despot. And if he played the despot at home
he did so not less in public. All that we can say in
his favour is, that he did not carry his despotism so
far as many. But his jealous and in so far despotic
temper could not but have had an evil effect on his
people. We cannot suppose that when jealousy was
so deep in his nature David was the only one of his
officers who experienced it. The secession of so many
very able men to David, about the time when he was
with the Philistines, looked as if Saul could not but
be jealous of any man who rose to high military
eminence. That Saul was capable of friendly impulses
is very different from saying that his heart was
warm and winning. The most vital want in him was
the want of godliness. He had little faith in the
nation as God's nation, God's heritage. He had little
love for prophets, or for men of faith, or for any
who attached great importance to moral and spiritual
considerations. His persecution of David and his
murder of the priests are deep stains than can never
be erased. And that godless nature of his became
worse as he went on. It is striking that the last
transaction in his reign was a decided failure in the
the very department in which he had usually excelled.
He who had gained what eminence he had as a military
king, utterly failed, and involved his people in utter
humiliation, in that very department. His abilities
failed him because God had forsaken him. The Philis
tines whom he had so often defeated crushed him in
the end. To him the last act of life was very different

44° THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.

from that of Samson — Samson conquering in his death ,
Saul defeated and disgraced in his.
Need we again urge the lesson ? " Them that
honour Me I will honour; but they that despise Me
shall be lightly esteemed." You dare not leave God
out in your estimate of the forces that bear upon
your life. You dare not give to Him a secondary
place. God must have the first place in your regards.
Are you really honouring Him above all, prizing His
favour, obeying His will, trusting in His word ? Are
you even trying, amid many mortifying failures, to
do so ? It is not the worst life that numbers many
i failure, many a confession, many a prayer for mercy
uid for grace to help in time of need, provided always
your heart is habitually directed to God as the great
end of existence, the Pole Star by which your steps
are habitually to be directed, the Sovereign whose
holy will must be your great rule, the Pattern
whose likeness should be stamped on your hearts, the
God and Father of your Lord Jesus Christ, whose
love, and favour, and blessing are evermore the best
and brightest inheritance for all the children of men.

END Or VOL. L

By GEORGE ADAM SMITH, D.D., LL.D.
The
Historical Geography
of the Holy Land
Seventh Edition. With Scripture Index and Six Colored
Maps, specially prepared. 8vo, cloth, 730 pages, $4.50

... No one work has ever before embodied all this variety of material
to illustrate the whole subject His geographical statements are pen-pictures.
We are made to see the scene. No important problem is untouched. With
out question it will take its place at once as a standard work, indispensable to
the thoroughgoing student of the Bible. — Sunday-School Times.
... An exhaustive collection of material lay outside the plan of the author.
His intention is rather to show how the history of the land is conditioned by
its physical structure. It is thus the idea of Karl Ritter which rules the treat
ment and presentation. Very comprehensive sections are concerned, not with
the history, but with the nature of the land. . . . The author pays special
attention to the military operations. One could sometimes imagine that an
officer is writing, who, above all, regards the land from the point of view of the
military strategist. In this connection especially the history of Israel in its
chief crises in Old Testament times receives striking illumination. Large pas
sages are frequently quoted from the Old Testament in order to explain them
by the exhibition of their geographical background. In addition the author
has a special gift of vivid representation. He makes the history transact itself
before the eye of the reader in dramatic form. One sees, everywhere, that the
landscapes which he describes stand before his own eyes. Thus the book is
an extremely valuable means of aid to the understanding of the history, espe
cially of the Old Testament. — Prof. Schurer, of Kiel, in the Theol, Literal
tur-Zeitung. The book is too rich to summarize. . . . The language is particularly well
chosen. Few pages are without some telling phrase happily constructed to
attract attention and hold the memory, and we often feel that the wealth of
imagery would be excessive for prose were it not that it is chosen with such
appropriateness and scientific truth. . . . To the reader much of the pleasure
of perusing the volume comes from its luxurious typography, and the exquisite
series of orographical maps prepared by Mr. Bartholomew from the work of
the Survey. These maps alone are more suggestive and enlightening than
many treatises, and they are destined, we trust, to enliven many a sermon, and
turn the monotony of the records of Israelitish wars into a thrilling romance. —
Speaker.

A. C. ARMSTRONG & SON
3 and 5 w". 18th Street, New York

By GEORGE ADAM SMITH, P.P., LL.P.
The Book of Isaiah
In Two Volumes. Crown 8vo, cloth, $1.50 each.
Volume I. Chapters I.— XXXIX.
Volume II. Chapters XL. — LXVI.
This is a noble volume of a noble series. Isaiah will ever be the cream of
the Old Testament evangelistic prophecy, and as the ages go on will supply
seed-thought of the Holy Ghost which grow into flowers and fruits, vines
and trees, of divine truth for the refreshment and nourishment cf the intellect,
heart, character, and life. How can any Pastor or instructor qf the puolicj
young or old, afford to be •without such aids ? — Baltimore Methodist.
Prof. George Adam Smith has such a mastery of the scholarship of his
subject that it would be a sheer impertinence for most scholars, even though
tolerable Hebraists, to criticise his translations ; and certainly it is not the
intention of the present reviewer to attempt anything of th e kind, to do which
he is absolutely incompetent. All we desire is to let English readers know
how very lucid, impressive — and, indeed^ how vivid — a study of Isaiah is
within their reach ; the fault of the book, if it has a fault, being rather that it
finds too many points of connection between Isaiah and our modern world,
than that it finds too few. In other words, no one can say that the book is
not full of life. — Spectator.
It would be difficult to say how highly we appreciate the work, or how
useful we believe it will be. — Church Bells.
He writes with great rhetorical power, and brings out into vivid reality the
historical position of his author. — Saturday Review.
Mr. Smith gives us models of expositions; expositions for cultivated con
gregations, no doubt, but still expositions which may have been largely
preached in church. They are full of matter, and show careful scholarship
throughout. We can think of no commentary on Isaiah from which the
preacher will obtain scholarly and trustworthy suggestions for his sermons so
rapidly and so pleasantly as from this. — Record.
The Book of the Twelve Prophets
COMMONLY CALLED THE MINOR
In Two Volumes. Crown 8vo, cloth, $1.50 each.
Vol. I. — Amos, Hosea and Micah. Seventh Edition.
Vol. II. — Zephaniah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Obadiah,
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"Zechariah" IX.— XIV., and Jonah. Fourth Edition.
In Dr. Smith's volumes we have much more than a popular exposition of
the minor Prophets. We have that which will satisfy the scholar and the stu
dent quite as much as the person who reads for pleasure and for edification.
... If the minor Prophets do not become popular reading it is not because
anything more can be done to make them attractive. Dr. Smith's volumes
present this part of Scripture in what is at once the most attractive and the
most profitable form. — Dr. Marcus Dods, in the British Weekly.
Few interpreters of the Old Testament to-day rank higher than George
Adam Smith. He is at home in criticism, in geographical and archaeological
questions, and in philology. . . . Hardly any commentator of the present day
is more successful than he in putting the student at once into the heart of an
Old Testament problem. — S. S. 'Times.
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