countrymen, and that he might therefore count on him as a permanent and faithful ally.

While David was at Ziklag, he had some important accessions to his followers; who, if not many in number, were brave and valiant men, and afterwards became the greatest ornaments of the Hebrew army. He resided in this quiet little city sixteen months. At the expiration of this time, the united confederacy of the Philistine chiefs had planned an invasion of the Hebrew country on a grand scale; and the king of Gath being called to march his contingent to join the army, did so, taking with him, as a part of his forces, David and his troop. Although, however, the king of Gath had the fullest confidence in the fidelity of David, it was not so with the other Philistine chiefs. They protested against marching in his company, and compelled Achish to send him back; so that he returned to Ziklag, after an absence of three days. How David would have acted had he and his men been allowed to remain a part of the Philistine army, it is impossible to say. It can scarcely be supposed that he would. have turned his arms against those who had received him as a helpless fugitive, and protected and to some extent provided for him; still less is it likely that he would have fought on the side of idolaters against the Lord's anointed, and the people of the Lord, while they were endeavouring to repel an unprovoked aggression on their fields and homes; although it must be admitted that the duplicity shown in the reports of David respecting his incursions, is strongly at variance with the general truthfulness and manly sincerity of his character. Happily for him, the decision of the Philistine chiefs saved him from this embarrassment. Arriving at Ziklag, the whole band were plunged into immediate and intense affliction. They found the city

SUCCESSFULLY PURSUES THE AMALEKITES.

99

in ruins, having been burned with fire; and all the inhabitants, with their own wives, children, and property, carried off by a horde of Amalekites.

At first, overwhelmed with sorrow, they wept bitterly, and deplored their loss; then the men gave way to anger, and talked of stoning the chief, to whom they were so devotedly attached. David, in this emergency, acted in a manner worthy of himself: "he encouraged himself in the Lord his God," and then called for Abiathar the priest, to bring the sacred ephod, that he might inquire of the Lord. He then put these two questions: "Shall I pursue after this troop? Shall I overtake them?" The Divine response was clear and satisfactory: it was, "Pursue; for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without doubt recover all." He acted on this Divine revelation; and although by the haste and urgency of the march two hundred of his men fainted by the way, and he was obliged to leave them behind, yet, with the other four hundred, he continued the pursuit, and by the aid of a young Egyptian, whom he found in the way, was guided to the place where the spoilers lay revelling in luxury and security.

By a judicious disposition of his men, David assailed and completely destroyed the Amalekites, with the exception of four hundred young men, who escaped on camels. By this exploit he not only recovered his wives, and the wives and families of his men with all their property, but obtained immense spoil in addition, which the marauders had taken from the frontier towns of Judah and of the Philistines. Returning with his booty to the two hundred men who had been left behind, some of those who had accompanied him objected to their sharing in the spoil, beyond the recovery of their own families and property. David

replied to this illiberal proposal, that those who were unable to continue the march, should share equally with those who had taken an actual part in the completion of the enterprise. And this rule he afterward established, as a permanent part of the military law of the Hebrew kingdom.

While David was the subject of these vicissitudes, Saul was placed in still more painful circumstances. Without confidence in himself or in God, weakened by the loss of David and his brave companions, he was driven by his distress to consult the woman of Endor,* who held intercourse with a familiar spirit. From this source he was assured of his own approaching fate. Yet it is impossible to withhold our admiration from the man, who, under all these adverse circumstances, crushed in spirit, and in the presence of impending death, bravely marshalled his forces, and met the foes of his country, superior as they were in numbers, in the possession of better weapons of warfare, and in military tactics; and who, in company with his noble sons, fought with heroic valour, and died on the field, in a fruitless effort to maintain the independence of his country.

The life of Saul has never yet been written, nor does it come within our province to undertake the task; but enough appears on the surface of the account to show that he was, as we have before said, in the usual acceptation of the term, a great man. Rash and impetuous; unsanctified in temper, and, when excited or provoked by rivalry, jealous and malevolent; he was, nevertheless, on other occasions, accessible to the finer feelings of human nature. He

* Jewish tradition supposes her to have been the mother of Abner, and that on account of this relationship she escaped being destroyed with the others.

THE DEATH OF SAUL AND JONATHAN.

101

was certainly endowed with a lofty capacity for government and war. When the state of the Hebrews, at the time that he assumed the reins of government, is considered, it must be admitted that he introduced great improvements in the internal policy of the country, and in respect to its means of military defence. There was, doubtless, truth also in the eulogy pronounced on him by David, who said, "Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights, who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel."

Returning to Ziklag, David found himself in possession of such a vast amount of spoil, that he was able to send valuable presents to the principal cities of Judah, and to other places where he had been kindly treated; and to his friends, in different parts of the country, who had rendered him assistance in his wandering life. This fact must have produced a very powerful impression in his favour. It would be regarded as an extraordinary circumstance, that just at the time when Saul and his army were unable to preserve the land from the aggressions of the Philistines, David, who had been driven from the country as a fugitive and an outlaw, should not only have earned the means of independent support for himself and his troop, but also be able to send liberal presents to his numerous friends.

Just at this juncture the decisive battle took place between the Hebrew and Philistine armies. It appears to have been fought on both sides with determined resolution, but the Hebrews were at length overpowered. Compelled to retreat up the slopes of Mount Gilboa, they were completely routed, and Saul and his sons. slain. Intelligence of this calamity was brought to

David by a young Amalekite, three days after his return to Ziklag.

There are few finer scenes in history than that presented in the conduct of David on this melancholy occasion. Separated from his family, his friends, the worship of God, and compelled to seek refuge in a land of idolaters, the death of his inveterate enemy at once removed all the causes of this complicated misery. Then, as David had been by Divine appointment anointed to be king over Israel, the throne being now vacant, there was no obstacle to his assuming the sovereignty, but the want of recognition on the part of the people; and it did not appear likely that this would be long withheld. In a word, this event removed all David's difficulties, and opened to him the way to the highest honour and dignity.

In these circumstances, how did David conduct himself? Did he evince any undue exultation? Were any signs of joy observable in his manner or action ? The very reverse was the case. As the bearer of the intelligence admitted that it was by his hand that the wounded king had died, David commanded him to be instantly put to death, which was done. "Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him and they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the Lord, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword." (2 Sam. i. 11, 12.) Then David poured

forth the feelings of his heart in

a song of lamenta

tion, in terms the most pathetic and tender that can be conceived :

"The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: How are the mighty fallen!