3 2 hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; that all the earth may know, that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know, that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands." Who can forbear to recognise in these words the humble power of faith, which resounds to us afterwards in the song of the aged man (Ps. xviii. xxx. xxxi.)? "For by thee I have run through a troop: and by my God have I leaped over a wall." "For who is a God, save the Lord? or who is a rock, save our God?" His playing of the harp was able to overcome the gloomy mind of Saul, because the Spirit of God influenced his playing and songs. Taken to the king's court, he forgot not his art. He practised it daily (1 Sam. xviii. 10), and doubtless derived from it comfort in many a sad hour, for his chequered path began there. The king gave him his affection, and it is said of the royal prince that "he loved him as his own soul." But suspicion was lurking in the already darksome mind of Saul, when the people praised the shepherd-youth's valour above his own, and during an attack of melancholic passion he cast a javelin at the harmless singer. Saul regaining strength, and shrinking from a personal attack, appointed David to the post of a captain over a thousand, actuated by the same treacherous motive which David himself afterwards entertained against Uriah, viz. that the foe might kill him in the battle. David married the king's daughter: their union, contrary to Eastern habit, was not entered upon by external necessity, but by the bonds of love. The hand of the Lord protected David in his campaigns: Saul fell so greatly, that he actually asked Jonathan and his servants to assassinate David: overcome by Jonathan's reasonings he yielded for a time to feelings of penitence; but David's fresh victories rekindled his displeasure. He cast another javelin at him, which again entered the wall. He sent murderers after him, but Michal's love and cleverness made a way for escape. It is natural that the courtiers of such a monarch should resemble him. The words of David (in 1 Sam. xxiv. 10; xxvi. 19; Ps. vii.), and the conduct of Doeg, show that they fanned the flame of suspicion, and accused the harmless young man of secret designs against the life and crown of the king. The expectation of the king's favour or of gain may have prompted them to falsehood; but there was yet another motive which came powerfully into play. Such was the jealousy of the tribe of the Benjaminites, to whom Saul belonged, against the youth of the tribe of Judah, whose ascension to the throne they feared might result in their being obliged to yield place to others. All the courtiers of Saul were Benjaminites; so was Cush (Ps. vii.) and mocking Shimei (2 Sam. xvi.).10 Finally, we must not overlook that their enmity found ample fuel in the piety of David, for there were but few that could rightly appreciate it, and many who felt reproved by its exhibition. Obliged to flee from the court, he hastened to the school of the prophets on the plains (Najoth) near Ramah, between whom and himself there existed already spiritual sympathies. A brief interval of some kind of understanding with Saul seems then to have followed, since David was expected to take his place at the king's table.11 He knew, however, how little reliance was to be reposed in the changeable king, and Jonathan confirmed his first fears. Then commenced those days of exile, of which he sings in Psalm lvi. 9. "Thou tellest my wanderings; put thou my tears into thy bottle. Are they not in thy (1) 1 Sam. xvii. 45-47. (5) 1 Sam. xviii. 20. (9) 1 Sam. xxii. 7. 7 8 (4) 1 Sam. xviii. 25. (8) 1 Sam. xxii. 9. 13. (11) 1 Sam. xx. 25. (2) 1 Sam. xviii. 1. (3) 1 Sam. xviii. 7. 4 book?"* His next place of refuge was Nob, close to Jerusalem,1 where the tabernacle was at that time; he there went to Ahimelech, the high priest, the descendant of Eli. The close intimacy of the youthful David with the sons of the prophets, and his warm friendship with the high priest, furnish a striking testimony to his great attachment for the sanctuary and its officers. "Who is," said Ahimelech to the king, "so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king's son-in-law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is honourable in thine house? Did I then (to-day) begin to enquire of God for him?" After Doeg had slain that man, David immediately took his son under his protection. He next thinks of a place of refuge out of his native country, remote from the power of Saul. He resorted accordingly to Gath of the Philistines; but recognised and led before Achish, it was only by a stratagem that he was able to escape the vengeance of that king. On returning into Saul's kingdom, he first looked for an asylum in the tribe of Judah, then removed to the more distant regions of the Dead Sea to Kejilah, near Hebron, and then still further towards the South to the almost inaccessible mountain heights along the borders of the Dead Sea, into the wilderness of Ziph, of Mahon, and Engedi,―into mountain passes which are expressly called "The rocks of the wild goats," at an altitude of fifteen hundred feet above the level of the sea. The southernmost point is the wilderness of Pharan. On his retreat he had, however, not remained alone. Four hundred and soon six hundred men, ruined in their affairs, and hoping to better their condition through David,† had joined him.7 Nothing, however, was more remote from his thoughts than to lead them in rebellion against whom he knew to be "the anointed of the Lord;" he only employed them in skirmishes against foreign tribes. Saul, who was twice delivered into his hands, he twice treated with a generosity that touched his fierce persecutor and caused him to exclaim, "Thou art more righteous than I; for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil. And thou hast showed this day, how thou hast dealt well with me: forasmuch as when the Lord had delivered me into thine hand, thou killedst me not. For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? Wherefore the Lord reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day. And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand. Swear now, therefore, unto me by the Lord, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not (1) Vide ad. Ps. lix. (2) 1 Sam. xxii. 11; xiv. 3. (3) 1 Sam. xxii. 23. (4) Vide ad. Ps. lvi. (5) 1 Sam. xxiv. 3. (6) Vide ad. Psalm lvii. (7) 1 Sam. xxii. 2; xxiii. 13. * At the close of the narrative of the meeting of Jonathan and David, before his departure, we read (1 Sam. xx. 42): "And he arose and departed; and Jonathan went into the city." Which city? Gibea, close to Ramah, the place of Saul's nativity, seems to have been his usual residence (1 Sam. x. 26; xi. 4; xv. 34; xxiii. 19; xxvi. 1). But it is said (1 Sam. xvii. 54), that David took the head of Goliath to Jerusalem, and from the immediate sequel one feels inclined to infer that Saul occasionally resided there. Once for all observe, that the idea of great distances respecting the places of Judea referred to in David's history, should be abandoned. Gibea and Bethlehem were about four miles,-Gibeon, the place of the tabernacle (which according to Movers on the books of Chron. p. 293, etc. is identical with Gibea), about seven miles,-Ramah nine miles,-Jericho twenty-four miles,-the Dead Sea (which is, however, sixty-six miles in length) about thirty-six miles from Jerusalem. The greatest extent of the whole country did not exceed the distance from Berlin to Halle, i.e. from Sidon to Sodom one hundred and thirty-two miles, the greatest breadth from Rabbath Ammon to Joppa eighty-four miles. And yet according to 2 Samuel xxiv. the population of the country amounted, in the reign of David, to 1,300,000 valiant men that drew the sword: hence since the total population of a country generally equals four times the number of adult males-to about five millions. Still more diminutive appears the size of the kingdom of Judah-one day's journey on foot-i.e. sixty miles in length, and fortytwo in breadth. Many of them probably entertained views of David's future similar to those of Abigail. (1 Sam. xxv. 28-30.) destroy my name out of my father's house."1 David's words on this occasion, and on his second encounter with Saul (chap. xxvi.) should be well noticed; they exhibit so distinct an agreement between the mind of David and the sentiments which pervade many of his psalms, that their very expression bears a strong resemblance. "The Lord judge between me and thee, and the Lord avenge me of thee; but mine hand shall not be upon thee." "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." "If the Lord have stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering; but if they be the children of men, cursed be they before the Lord; for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, Go, serve other gods." "And, behold, as thy life was much set by this day in mine eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of the Lord, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation." The continuous reference in the Psalms to multitudes of enemies, to fraud, deceit, and persecution, to desire of revenge and thirst for blood, to David's repeatedly calling himself one innocently persecuted, to his escape into the mountains, to the abandonment of all earthly hopes, to persecutors set upon him like wild beasts; all these produce but poor impressions on such minds, who only listen to the voice of the poet, and perceive in them poetic forms only. We should bring the history of David to them, to perceive that such passages express the much-stirred life of a much-tried man. though the historic basis for the understanding of the Psalms, furnished in the books of Samuel, could be desired more extensive, it is nevertheless sufficient for enabling us to recognise the fundamental traits of the events and conditions of mind, to which allusion is made in the Psalms. Al Even the generous conduct of David had not yet cured Saul of his suspicion the former preferred, tired of his long wanderings on mountains and plains, once more to try his fortune with the Philistines. No longer alone, but heading six hundred warriors, and a heroic fame for his precursor, he might expect a good reception with Achish, on offering his services to him. He met one, and engaged in expeditions against the Amalekites and other nations, continued there until at last his loyalty was put to a severe test, when the Philistines made preparations for war against Saul. He manifested on that occasion the same sagacity of which he had furnished the evidence in other junctures. Foreseeing the result, he responded in undivided terms to the call of Achish: he next joined, accompanied by his people, the van of the army, and found his anticipations realised. The misgivings of the Philistine captains as to the propriety of permitting this Hebrew to march against his countrymen, effected his being sent back. His wanderings had now reached their termination. After Saul was killed in that battle, the tribe of Judah chose David for their king. It had been a time of much- tried waiting, covering not less than ten years. David had stood the test with persevering faith. How noble the generosity which, after the death of Saul, caused him to rear a standing memorial to his valour in his song, "Of the bow," where he sings: "Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions. Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain upon you, nor fields of offerings: for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been. (1) 1 Sam. xxiv. 17-21. (2) Vide ad. Psalms xi. and xvi. (3) Psalms xxii. lvii. v. etc. (4) 1 Sam. xxviii. 2. (5) 1 Sam. xxix. anointed with oil." How warmly flows the expression of his gratitude to those who had buried Saul.1 As he had sworn to Saul at their meeting, (1 Sam. xxiv. 22), he showed kindness to his descendants: though afterwards, to perform an imagined piece of necessary justice, he suffered himself to be misguided to deliver seven of Saul's sons into the hands of the Gibeonites.3 How touchingly he expresses (Psalm xviii.) the deep gratitude that filled his heart after he had overcome his time of trial, when he forcibly describes how the hand of God had visibly been stretched out from heaven, and drawn him out of great waters. He did not at once obtain the government of the entire nation: his own tribe (Judah) alone acknowledged him (which in numbers, however, nearly equalled the rest*), and he ruled it at Hebron for seven years and a half, while the other eleven tribes remained under the descendants of Saul. After that period they, too, rendered him homage. One of his first acts was the arrangement of the priestly worship, and the removal of the ark to Zion. In victorious campaigns he then successively humbled the Philistines, the Edomites, the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Syrians, and extended the frontiers of his kingdom to the Euphrates. His fame spread to distant regions. The sceptre of his kingdom was confirmed to his race for eternal times. 5 An event occurred, however, which deeply affected the honoured and aged king, and reminded him of his former days of tribulation. 4 Absalom's ambition gave rise to revolt, and once more drove him from the capital, towards the region of that wilderness where he had spent the greater portion of his days, when he fled from Saul." He had even to leave the boundaries of Canaan and go beyond Jordan. Of less importance was the insurrection of the Benjaminite, Sheba, and the projected rebellion of Adomijah. In the seventieth year of his life, after a reign of forty years and six months, David died, and was buried at Jerusalem. His noble principles of government are expressed in Psalm ci.: one of his subjects furnishes the following testimonial, in Psalm lxxviii. 70-72: "God chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds; from following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands." As with a mother's faithfulness he tended the nursing lambs when he was their shepherd, so he transferred that faithfulness to his people when he became their shepherd. This is a bird's eye view of the history of David. The different Psalms may be referred, if not with certainty, yet with more or less of probability, to the different periods of his life. The fact that most of them were composed in days of tribulation, during the time of his residence at the court of Saul, the time of his flight before Saul and Absalom,10 should not surprise us, since the harp was just in seasons of that kind the comfort of the pious minstrel. 8 A great number of our own hymns were composed in the gloomy days of the thirty years' war. The use of David's plaintive songs at worship caused (1) 2 Sam. ii. 5. 6. (2) 2 Sam. iv. 5-12, and ix. 3, etc. (3) 2 Sam. xxi. (4) 2 Sam. viii. 9; v. 11. (5) 2 Sam. vii. 13. (6) Vide ad. Psalms iii. lv. lxiii. (7) Vide ad. Ps. lxxviii. (8) Psalms v. xli. lix. lxix. cxl. (9) Psalms iii. iv. vi. vii. xi. xiii. xxii. xxxiv. lii. lvi. lvii. cxlii. (10) Psalms iii. xxvii. lv. lxiii. * Cf. the data of the census, 2 Sam. xxiv. 9, from which, however, the Chronicles and Josephus deviate a little. The number of the tribe of Judah is, indeed, disproportionately great, especially as we find (1 Kings xii. 21) the army of the kingdom of Judah and Benjamin limited to one hundred and eighty thousand men. According to Num. i. 27, the tribe of Judah was stronger than all the rest. him constantly to renew and multiply the praises of God for his aid and deliverance, an exercise from which he doubtless derived much benefit. As to the remainder of his psalms, some were composed for special use at certain public festivals; others were occasioned by incidents of war; some are didactic, others psalms of nature; some psalms of praise, others penitential; 6 Psalms ii. and x. are Messianic. "11 1 4 5 2 Glancing at the religious - moral character of David, and then at the character of his Psalms, we recognize courage and warmth of heart as its most prominent features. The boy who slew a lion and a bear, slung the stone with so much assurance at the face of gigantic Goliah, that he fell to the earth. But the tender youth-ruddy and of a fair countenance-shows himself equally susceptible to tender emotions. His heart lacked no susceptibility for any kind of love; his union to Michal was, as has been already noticed, not the result of convenience, but of genuine affection.8 Jonathan, his friend, loved him "as his own soul." Filial piety was so sacred to him, that in his greatest troubles, he never forgot a child's duties, but cared for his father and mother." His paternal tenderness towards his children almost knew no limits.10 We have already noticed his loyalty to his king in spite of all persecution. How soon his royal indignation could kindle when it regarded the administration of justice towards his subjects appears from 2 Sam. xii. 5. The tender relations subsisting between him and the people of Jerusalem reveals touchingly the scene of his flight before Absalom. "And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over. The noble general is seen in 2 Sam. xxiii. 17. His faithfulness of promise was infallible; the words in which he mourned the violent death of honest Abner breathe simultaneously love and indignation.12 His anger for the murder of Ishbosheth, committed against his promise to the contrary, could hardly be kept within bounds.15 He was soon angry, but gave grateful hearing to calming speech.14 But the root of all his virtues was the fear of God." In every situation of life, he looked up to the Lord (with this correspond the words which history furnishes concerning him). The boy who with his sling faced the Philistine expected the power of victory from the Lord.15 He thanked the Lord, when his persecutor was delivered into his hand, and to the Lord he prays for strength, that he might not sin against Him.16 He deemed it as a mercy of the Lord that Abigail's admonition preserved him from sinning; 17 he besought the Lord for counsel in his martial enterprises;18 he humbly acknowledged the will of the Lord when he lost the throne, and had to bear the contempt of rebellious subjects;19 he praised the Lord with deep gratitude and humility when he received the glorious promises of the future of his race;20 when the exultation in which he burst forth, singing and dancing before the ark of the Lord, was met with derision, he said to Michal, "It was before the Lord, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel: therefore will I play before the Lord. And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight." The loftiness of such expressions of his piety in word and deed, would seem to render the offence of his adultery with Bathshebah, and his sin against Uriah 66 (3) Ps. xxxvii. (6) Psalms (10) 2 Sam. (1) Psalms xv. xxiv. xx. xxi. lxviii. cxxii. (2) Psalms ix. x. lx. (4) Psalms viii. xix. xxix. (5) Psalms xvi. xviii. xxiii. xxx. cxxxviii. xxxii. li. (7) 1 Sam. xvii. 42. (8) 1 Sam. xviii. 20. (9) 1 Sam. xxii. 3. xviii. 33; xii. 18. (11) 2 Sam. xv. 23. (12) Cf. ad. Psalm lviii. (13) 2 Sam. iv. 12. (14) 1 Sam. xxv. 25-35. (15) 1 Sam. xvii. 45. (16) 1 Sam. xxiv. 7. (17) 1 Sam. XXV. 32. 33. (18) 1 Sam. xxiii. 2; 2 Sam. v. 19. 23. (19) 2 Sam. xv. 25; xvi. 11. 12. (20) 2 Sam. vii. 18, etc. (21) 2 Sam. vi. 21. 22. |