2 Sam. vi. 22. / tvill yet he more vile than thus, and will he hase in mine oivn sight.
A MEASURE of firmness is necessary in the whole of our intercourse with mankind, to prevent us from being drawn aside from the path of wisdom into a compliance with the prejudices and passions of those around us. But in all that pertains to reli- gion it is more especially necessary ; because in opposition to true piety the current is exceeding strong; and we must inevitably be borne away by it, if we do not cleave unto our God with full purpose of heart. The great and powerful may be supposed to be more free than others from the influence of public opinion : but their very elevation exposes them to storms and tempests more than others ; and they have therefore the more need of firmness, to bear up against the taunts with which they will be assailed, in proportion as their zeal for God is ardent and conspicuous. David was a mighty monarch : yet not even he could serve God according to his conscience without exciting the contempt and in- dignation of one most nearly related to him. But
from the words which we have just read, we see how manfully he withstood the temptation. Let us notice,
I. The trial he met with —
This was very severe —
[He was bringing up the ark to Mount Zion ; and had good reason to beheve, that the service he was performing was pleasing and acceptable in the sight of God. Hence his soul overflowed with joy; and in the fulness of his heart " he danced before the Lord with all his might ''^." " As the ark came into the city, Michal, Saul's daughter, looking through a window, saw him leaping and dancing before the Lord, and despised him in her heart ^." Unconscious of the impression he had made on her mind, he went home to bless both her and all his house : but instead of finding the reception which he had expected as suited to the occasion, he was greeted with re- proaches more keen and scandalous than one should have supposed it possible for the most ingenious malice to invent : " How glorious was the king of Israel to-day, who uncovered himself to-day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself'' !" How must he be thunder-struck, if 1 may so say, with such a salutation as this ! To hear such a construction put upon his conduct ! to be accused of an act which no one that was not lost to all sense of decency would commit even in private, and much less in. the presence of thousands ! to be accused of com- mitting this too under the guise of religious zeal ! and to hear this accusation from the lips of his own wife, and in language too as acrimonious and insulting as hell itself could insj^ire ! and all this at a moment when his soul, inflamed only with love to God, was rapt into the third heavens ! how inconceivably painful must this have been ! Methinks, the cursings of Shimei were nothing in comparison of this.]
Yet do we see in this what all who are zealous for their God must expect —
[Religious zeal is hated by the world, who will never fail to misconstrue it as proceeding from some hateful principle, and as forming a cloak for some hidden abomination. Pride, conceit, fanaticism, and hypocrisy, are usually considered as the springs of action to those who profess godliness, especially if they bear any conspicuous part in the service of their God : their very activity is made the ground of accusation against them. Thus it has been in every age. David " wept and
a ver. 14. b ver. 16. <= ver, 20.