PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Life of David: As Reflected in His Psalms
Alexander Maclaren, 1826-1910 · 53,778 words · 71 reading sections
I.--Introduction.
Produced by Colin Bell, Thomas Strong and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net {Transcriber's Note: Obvious typos, printing errors and mis-spellings have been corrected, but spellings have not been modernized. Footnotes follow immediately the paragraph in which they are noted. In Chapter …
717 wordsSECTION 2I.--Introduction.
And while the life is singularly varied, the character is also singularly full and versatile. In this respect, too, he is most unlike the other leading figures of Old Testament history. Contrast him, for example, with the stern majesty of Moses, austere and simple as the tables of stone; or with the unvarying tone in t…
661 wordsSECTION 3I.--Introduction.
Thus endowed, he moved among men with that irresistible fascination which only the greatest exercise. From the day when he stole like a sunbeam into the darkened chamber where Saul wrestled with the evil spirit, he bows all hearts that come under his spell. The women of Israel chant his name with song and timbrel, the …
692 wordsSECTION 4I.--Introduction.
[A] Delitzsch, Kommentar, u. d. Psalter II. 376. It will be necessary to prefix a few further remarks on the Davidic psalms in general. Can we tell which are David's? The Psalter, as is generally known, is divided into five books or parts, probably from some idea that it corresponded with the Pentateuch. These five bo…
653 wordsSECTION 5Ii.--Early Days
The life of David is naturally divided into epochs, of which we may avail ourselves for the more ready arrangement of our material. These are--his early years up to his escape from the court of Saul, his exile, the prosperous beginning of his reign, his sin and penitence, his flight before Absalom's rebellion, and the …
707 wordsSECTION 6Ii.--Early Days
Whatever others he had, no doubt those which are emphasized in the Bible story were the chief, namely, his occupation and the many gifts which it brought to him. The limbs, "like hinds' feet," the sinewy arms which "broke a bow of steel," the precision with which he used the sling, the agility which "leaped over a ramp…
681 wordsSECTION 7Ii.--Early Days
That first visit to the court was but an episode in his life, however helpful to his growth it may have been. It would give him the knowledge of new scenes, widen his experience, and prepare him for the future. But it cannot have been of very long duration. Possibly his harp lost its power over Saul's gloomy spirit, wh…
758 wordsSECTION 8Ii.--Early Days
The nineteenth Psalm paints for us the glory of the heavens by day, as the eighth by night. The former gathers up the impressions of many a fresh morning when the solitary shepherd-boy watched the sun rising over the mountains of Moab, which close the eastern view from the hills above Bethlehem. The sacred silence of d…
756 wordsSECTION 9Ii.--Early Days
[D] The form of the word would make "reckless men" a more natural translation; but probably the context requires a third, more aggravated sort of sin. The eighth psalm is a companion picture, a night-piece, which, like the former, speaks of many an hour of lonely brooding below the heavens, whether its composition fal…
484 wordsSECTION 10Iii.--Early Days--_Continued_.
In addition to the psalms already considered, which are devoted to the devout contemplation of nature, and stand in close connection with David's early days, there still remains one universally admitted to be his. The twenty-ninth psalm, like both the preceding, has to do with the glory of God as revealed in the heaven…
688 wordsSECTION 11Iii.--Early Days--_Continued_.
[E] Delitzsch would render "whirls in circles"--a picturesque allusion to the sand pillars which accompany storms in the desert. The psalm closes with lofty words of confidence, built on the story of the past, as well as on the contemplation of the present. "Jehovah sat throned for (_i.e._, to send on earth) the flood…
1,286 wordsSECTION 12Iii.--Early Days--_Continued_.
The psalm, too, breathes the very spirit of sunny confidence and of perfect rest in God. We have referred to the absence of traces of sorrow, and to the predominant tone of hopefulness, as possibly favouring the supposition of an early origin. But it matters little whether they were young eyes which looked so courageou…
732 wordsSECTION 13Iii.--Early Days--_Continued_.
It does not fall within our province to follow the course of the familiar narrative through the picturesque events that led him to fame and position at court. The double character of minstrel and warrior, to which we have already referred, is remarkably brought out in his double introduction to Saul, once as soothing t…
732 wordsSECTION 14Iv.--The Exile.
"This is the autograph psalm of David, and beyond the number (_i.e._, of the psalms in the Psalter), when he fought the single fight with Goliath:-- "(1.) I was little among my brethren, and the youngest in the house of my father: I kept the flock of my father. (2.) My hands made a pipe, my fingers tuned a psaltery. (…
967 wordsSECTION 15Iv.--The Exile.
Glancing over this narrative, one or two points come prominently forth. The worth of these events to David must have lain chiefly in the abundant additions made to his experience of life, which ripened his nature, and developed new powers. The meditative life of the sheepfold is followed by the crowded court and camp. …
902 wordsSECTION 16Iv.--The Exile.
David's flight begins a period to which a large number of his psalms are referred. We may call them "The Songs of the Outlaw." The titles in the psalter connect several with specific events during his persecution by Saul, and besides these, there are others which have marked characteristics in common, and may therefore…
696 wordsSECTION 17Iv.--The Exile.
These general characteristics accurately correspond with the circumstances of David during the years of his wanderings. The scenery and life of the desert colours the metaphors which describe his enemies as wild beasts; himself as a poor hunted creature amongst pits and snares; or as a timid bird flying to the safe cra…
698 wordsSECTION 18Iv.--The Exile.
The psalm begins abruptly with a passionate cry for help, which is repeated four times, thus bringing most vividly before us the extremity of the danger and the persistency of the suppliant's trust. The peculiar tenderness and closeness of his relation to his heavenly Friend, which is so characteristic of David's psalm…
663 wordsSECTION 19Iv.--The Exile.
"My strength! upon Thee will I wait, For God is my fortress!" The second portion is an intensification of the first; pouring out a terrible prayer for exemplary retribution on his enemies; asking that no speedy destruction may befall them, but that God would first of all "make them reel" by the blow of His might; wou…
415 wordsSECTION 20V.--The Exile--_Continued_.
"So David fled, and escaped and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done unto him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth" (1 Sam. xix. 18)--or, as the word probably means, in the collection of students' dwellings, inhabited by the sons of the prophets, where possibly there may have been some ki…
700 wordsSECTION 21V.--The Exile--_Continued_.
"Destructions doth thy tongue devise, Like a razor whetted--O thou worker of deceit." * * * * * "Thou lovest all words that devour:[F] O thou deceitful tongue!" [F] Literally, "words of swallowing up." He prophesies the destruction of the cruel liar, and the exultation of the righteous when he falls, in words whic…
762 wordsSECTION 22V.--The Exile--_Continued_.
[H] The Septuagint appears to have followed a different reading here from that of our present Hebrew text, and the change adds a very picturesque clause to the description. A madman would be more likely to hammer than to "scrabble" on the great double-leaved gate. The fifty-sixth psalm, which is referred by its title …
974 wordsSECTION 23V.--The Exile--_Continued_.
"In God I praise the Word; In JEHOVAH I praise the Word: In God I trust, I do not fear:-- What shall man do to me?" And from this mood of trustful expectation he does not again decline. Prayer has brought its chiefest blessing--the peace that passeth understanding. The foe is lost to sight, the fear conquered concl…
700 wordsSECTION 24Vi.--The Exile--_Continued_.
We have one psalm which the title connects with the beginning of David's stay at Adullam,--the thirty-fourth. The supposition that it dates from that period throws great force into many parts of it, and gives a unity to what is else apparently fragmentary and disconnected. Unlike those already considered, which were pu…
934 wordsSECTION 25Vi.--The Exile--_Continued_.
[J] "The fourth verse in its present form _must_ have been written after the temple was built."--"The Psalms chronologically arranged," p. 68--following Ewald, in whose imperious criticism that same naked "must have been," works wonders. If, then, we are not obliged by the words in question to adopt the later date, th…
832 wordsSECTION 26Vi.--The Exile--_Continued_.
"If I had not believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!" Then rejoicing to remember how even by his feeble trust he has been saved, he stirs up himself to a firmer faith, in words which are themselves an exercise of faith, as well as an incitement to it: "Wait on Jehovah! Courage! and let …
1,171 wordsSECTION 27Vi.--The Exile--_Continued_.
At some period in this lowest ebb of David's fortunes, we have one short psalm, very simple and sad (liv.) It bears the title, "When the Ziphims came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us?" and may probably be referred to the former of the two betrayals by the men of Ziph. The very extremity of peril ha…
741 wordsSECTION 28Vi.--The Exile--_Continued_.
(6) With willinghood will I sacrifice unto Thee. I will praise Thy name for it is good. (7) For from all distress it has delivered me. And on my enemies will mine eye see (my desire) The name--the revealed character of God--was the storehouse of all the saving energies to which he appealed in verse 1. It is the the…
1,028 wordsSECTION 29Vii.--The Exile--_Continued_.
The unhappy Saul again breaks into a passion of tears. With that sudden flashing out into vehement emotion so characteristic of him, and so significant of his enfeebled self-control, he recognises David's generous forbearance and its contrast to his own conduct. For a moment, at all events, he sees, as by a lightning f…
808 wordsSECTION 30Vii.--The Exile--_Continued_.
Then follows, with another abrupt turn, a vehement cry to God to judge his cause; his own individual case melts into the thought of a world-wide judgment, which is painted with grand power with three or four broad rapid strokes. (6) Awake for me--Thou hast commanded judgment. (7) Let the assembly of the nations stand…
656 wordsSECTION 31Vii.--The Exile--_Continued_.
(12) If he (_i.e._, the evil-doer) turn not, He whets His sword, His bow He has bent, and made it ready. (13) And for him He has prepared weapons of death, His arrows He has made blazing darts. Surely there is nothing grander in any poetry than this tremendous image, smitten out with so few strokes of the chisel, a…
873 wordsSECTION 32Vii.--The Exile--_Continued_.
Characteristic of these early psalms is the occurrence of a refrain (compare lvi. and lix.) which in the present instance closes both of the portions of which the hymn consists. The former of these (1-5) breathes prayerful trust, from which it passes to describe the encompassing dangers; the second reverses this order,…
834 wordsSECTION 33Vii.--The Exile--_Continued_.
(4) (With) my soul--among lions will I lie down. Devourers are the sons of men; Their teeth a spear and arrows, And their tongue a sharp sword The psalmist seems to have broken off the construction, and instead of finishing the sentence as he began it, to have substituted the first person for the third, which ought…
712 wordsSECTION 34Viii.--The Exile--_Continued_.
The cxlii. is also, according to the title, one of the cave-psalms. But considerable doubt attaches to the whole group of so-called Davidic compositions in the last book of the psalter (p. 138-144), from their place, and from the fact that there are just seven of them, as well as in some cases from their style and char…
681 wordsSECTION 35Viii.--The Exile--_Continued_.
To this period of comparative security one psalm has been supposed to belong--the xxxi., which, in tone and in certain expressions, corresponds very well with the circumstances. There are many similarities in it with the others of the same period which we have already considered--such, for instance, as the figure of Go…
660 wordsSECTION 36Viii.--The Exile--_Continued_.
(24) Courage! and let your heart be strong, All ye that wait for Jehovah! [M] Confusion (Perowne), distrust (Delitzsch), anguish (Ewald), trepidation (Calvin). The word literally means to sway backwards and forwards, and hence to be agitated by any emotion, principally by fear; and then, perhaps, to flee in terror. …
893 wordsSECTION 37Viii.--The Exile--_Continued_.
And as for me--in their sickness my clothing was sackcloth, With fasting I humbled my soul, And my prayer into my own bosom returned. So truly did he feel for him who is now his foe. The outward marks of mourning became the natural expression of his feelings. Such is plainly the meaning of the two former clauses, as…
707 wordsSECTION 38Ix.--The King.
We have now to turn and see the sudden change of fortune which lifted the exile to a throne. The heavy cloud which had brooded so long over the doomed king broke in lightning crash on the disastrous field of Gilboa. Where is there a sadder and more solemn story of the fate of a soul which makes shipwreck "of faith and …
835 wordsSECTION 39Ix.--The King.
The limits of his territory are substantially those of the kingdom over which his descendants ruled after Jeroboam's revolt, thus indicating the existence of a natural "line of cleavage" between north and south. The geographical position of Benjamin finally attached it to the latter monarchy; but for the present, the w…
685 wordsSECTION 40Ix.--The King.
The only other incident recorded of his reign in Hebron is his execution of summary justice upon the murderers of the poor puppet-king Ishbosheth, upon whose death, following so closely that of Abner, the whole resistance to David's power collapses. There had never been any real popular opposition. His enemies are emph…
779 wordsSECTION 41Ix.--The King.
It is one long outpouring of rapturous thankfulness and triumphant adoration, which streams from a full heart in buoyant waves of song. Nowhere else, even in the psalms--and if not there, certainly nowhere else--is there such a continuous tide of unmingled praise, such magnificence of imagery, such passion of love to t…
280 wordsSECTION 42X.--The King--_Continued_.
In our last chapter we have seen that the key-note of "The Songs of the King" may be said to be struck in Psalm xviii. Its complete analysis would carry us far beyond our limits. We can but glance at some of the more prominent points of the psalm. The first clause strikes the key-note. "I love Thee, O Jehovah, my stre…
1,019 wordsSECTION 43X.--The King--_Continued_.
The Divine deliverance is set forth under the familiar image of the coming of God in a tempest. Before it bursts, and simultaneous with the prayer, the "earth rocks and quivers," the sunless "pillars of the hills reel and rock to and fro," as if conscious of the gathering wrath which begins to flame far off in the high…
766 wordsSECTION 44X.--The King--_Continued_.
A calmer tone follows, as the psalmist recounts without metaphor his deliverance, and reiterates the same assertion of his innocence which we have already found so frequently in the previous psalms (vers. 17-24). Rising from his personal experience to the broad and lofty thoughts of God which that experience had taught…
650 wordsSECTION 45X.--The King--_Continued_.
God's strength, God's buckler, God's supporting hand, God's condescension, by which He bows down to look upon and help the feeble, with the humble showing Himself humble--these have been his weapons, and from these has come his victory. And because of these, he looks forward to a future like the past, but more gloriou…
919 wordsSECTION 46Xi.--The King--_Continued_.
The years thus well begun are, in the historical books, characterized mainly by three events, namely, the bringing up of the ark to the newly won city of David, Nathan's prophecy of the perpetual dominion of his house, and his victories over the surrounding nations. These three hinges of the narrative are all abundantl…
696 wordsSECTION 47Xi.--The King--_Continued_.
The gladness and triumph, the awe, and the memories of victory which clustered round the dread symbol of the presence of the Lord of Hosts, are wonderfully expressed in the choral twenty-fourth psalm. It is divided into two portions, which Ewald regards as being originally two independent compositions. They are, howeve…
1,007 wordsSECTION 48Xi.--The King--_Continued_.
This is the generation of them that seek Him, That seek Thy face--(this is) Jacob. And so the first question is answered, "Who are the men who dwell with God?"--The pure, who receive righteousness, who seek Him, the true Israel. And now the procession has reached the front of the ancient city on the hill, and stands…
541 wordsSECTION 49Xii.--The King--_Continued_.
The second event recorded as important in the bright early years is the great promise of the perpetuity of the kingdom in David's house. As soon as the king was firmly established and free from war, he remembered the ancient word which said, "When He giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell i…
898 wordsSECTION 50Xii.--The King--_Continued_.
Perhaps the clearest instance of distinct prophecy of the victorious dominion of the personal Messiah is the 110th psalm. In it we do see, no doubt, the influence of the psalmist's own history, shaping the image which rises before his soul. But the attributes of that king whom he beholds are not his attributes, nor tho…
1,269 wordsSECTION 51Xii.--The King--_Continued_.
[U] The word translated "power" in our version, has the same double meaning as that has in old English, or as "force" has now, sometimes signifying "strength" and sometimes an "army." The latter is the more appropriate here. "The day of Thine army" will then be equivalent to the day of mustering the troops. Another so…
856 wordsSECTION 52Xii.--The King--_Continued_.
The third characteristic of the first seventeen years of David's reign is his successful wars with surrounding nations. The gloomy days of defeat and subjugation which had darkened the closing years of Saul are over now, and blow after blow falls with stunning rapidity on the amazed enemies. The narrative almost pants …
798 wordsSECTION 53Xii.--The King--_Continued_.
The twentieth psalm, another of these stirring war-songs, is in that choral manner which we have already seen in psalm xxiv., and the adoption of which was probably connected with David's careful organization of "the service of song." It is all ablaze with the light of battle and the glow of loyal love. The army, read…
381 wordsSECTION 54Xiii.--The Tears Of The Penitent.
Adversity had taught David self-restraint, had braced his soul, had driven him to grasp firmly the hand of God. And prosperity had seemed for nearly twenty years but to perfect the lessons. Gratitude had followed deliverance, and the sunshine after the rain had brought out the fragrance of devotion and the blossoms of …
666 wordsSECTION 55Xiii.--The Tears Of The Penitent.
This saint of nearly fifty years of age, bound to God by ties which he rapturously felt and acknowledged, whose words have been the very breath of devotion for every devout heart, forgets his longings after righteousness, flings away the joys of Divine communion, darkens his soul, ends his prosperity, brings down upon …
1,133 wordsSECTION 56Xiii.--The Tears Of The Penitent.
Into this dreary life Nathan's message comes with merciful rebuke. The prompt severity of David's judgment against the selfish sinner of the inimitable apologue may be a subtle indication of his troubled conscience, which fancies some atonement for his own sin in stern repression of that of others; for consciousness of…
655 wordsSECTION 57Xiii.--The Tears Of The Penitent.
Although the psalm is one long cry for pardon and restoration, one can discern an order and progress in its petitions--the order, not of an artificial reproduction of a past mood of mind, but the instinctive order in which the emotion of contrite desire will ever pour itself forth. In the psalm all begins, as all begin…
742 wordsSECTION 58Xiii.--The Tears Of The Penitent.
The same intensity of feeling expressed by the use of so many words for sin is revealed also in the reiterated synonyms for pardon. The prayer comes from his lips over and over again, not because he thinks that he shall be heard for his much speaking, but because of the earnestness of his longing. Such repetitions are …
864 wordsSECTION 59Xiii.--The Tears Of The Penitent.
The lowly prayer which we have been tracing rises ere its close to a vow of renewed praise. It is very beautiful to note how the poet nature, as well as the consciousness of a Divine function, unite in the resolve that crowns the psalm. To David no tribute that he could bring to God seemed so little unworthy--none to h…
688 wordsSECTION 60Xiii.--The Tears Of The Penitent.
The other psalm of the penitent (xxxii.) has been already referred to in connection with the autobiographical materials which it contains. It is evidently of a later period than the fifty-first. There is no struggle in it; the prayer has been heard, and this is the beginning of the fulfilment of the vow to show forth G…
753 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.