THE FIRST K.lNG OF THE LINE OF JUDAH. DAVID. We once more have to admire the infinite variety of Scripture. It has been noticed as one of the various ways in which " the Spirit bloweth where it listeth," that we have this wonderful variety in the Bible. Had the Bible (which, be it remembered, is an inspired library rather than an inspired book)_been put togethe,. by men, no matter how learned and holy, this variety would have been wanting. ·we should ha-,.e had a more or less useful and edifying, but probably more rather than less insipid, volume, suited at best to the needs of the generation in which its compilers lived, and probably of only a limited portion of that. Instead of this, we have, both in form and in matter, a many-sidedness and variety of which the world has never wearied, and in which every person can find something to delight his taste, and every soul something to satisfy its needs. Side by side with the stormy and blood-stained pictures of the Book of Judges we have had the bright oasis of the Book of Ruth ; the vile conduct of the sons of Eli is narrated iu the same chapter with the sweet innocence of the child Samuel; and here, as the reign of Saul darkeil.'s through his withdrawing more and more from God, and God at last withdrawing His Spirit from him, we have bright lights constantly breaking in from the life .of the young son of Jesse. His guileless youth, the gloomy king's ~ove for him, nevw quite quenched even in Saul's darkest days (1 Sam. xxvi. 25) the touching friend- ship with his persecutor's son, the exquisite lament •over Saul and Jonathan,. all these things a.re a relief and a refre&l;unent in .the midat of &uch scenes as Saul:«i .lOSHUA TO NEltEMIAlt. xxvii
Lloodthirsty hunt after David (madness, as often, turning love into hate), the massacre of the priests, the night visit to Endor, the suicide on Mount Gilboa. In treating of David in o. summary of the present kind, the difficulty is to keep within bounds, so rich are our materials. The o.ge of David seems to have been recognised almost at once by the Jews themselves as the grandest epoch that the nation has as yet known ; as we can now see that it has never since been Rurpassed. Hence the record of it has been preserved 'with a fulness of detail found nowhere else in the historical books of the Bible. The narrators pour forth their knowledge with a buoyant exuberance that is never weary and bas no fear of wearying others. Everything is of interest that belongs to that glorious time ; every one is of import- ance whose fortunes are entwined with the career of that glorious kiog. Hence we have a full account, not merely (as in the case of Saul) of the opening and close of his reign, but of the whole of it. Hence also we have (what is wholly wanting in the history of Saul) a very vivid account of a great deal of David's life previous to his ascending the throne. And it is probably owing to the fact that the earlier portion of David's life is so much bound up with the latter days of Saul, that we know as much as we do about those gloomy days. They derive their importance not from the reigning, but from the future king. And it iij not only that our materials.respect- ing this period as. a whole are specially full; our means of knowing the central figure of it are in the Old Testament unique. As in the case of St. Paul, and to a much more limited extent of St. Peter and St. John," we have the advantage of comparing a detailed narrative of his life with undoubted works of his own com- position; and the combined .result is a knowledge of his personal character, such a~ we probably possess of no historical personage before the Christian era, with the exception of Cicero, and perhaps of Ciesar" (Stanley). Plato and Aristotle, like St. John, we know more from. their own writing!! than from what others have written about them; and, if the choice had to be made in the case of David, it is the Psalms that we should keep while we let the_ history go. In them we have the outpourings of his spirit and the ·secret workings of his soul, the key not only to that age and that reign, but to the human heart throughout all ages. BU:t God's providence has preserved both for us ; and we have the rare privilege of comparing the picture unconsciously clrawn by himself in his songs with that which the native historians give us of him. Thus we are able to peneti·ate to the springs of the notions which they record, and also to judge how the events in which he shared told on that noble and tender spirit. As in the case of Saul, the anointing of the future king is preceded by a sacri, ficial feast. And here we once more have an opportunity of observing how, in spite of their frequent aberrations into idolatry, e.nd their constant neglect or ignorance of God and His law, the Israelites ever remained a religious people at hem·t. In tbeii- hour of darkest need they ever " mied unto the Lord," and in their victories they thanked Him. Trouble ancl blessing alike are recognised as coming from His hand. A summons to 11 great sacrifice is never made in vain; antl although the sanctuary e.t Shiloh is in ruins, and the e.rk has no proper home, yet the wo1·sbip of God continues at local centres and in the family circle. It is in the complete family circle e.t Bethlehem, gathered together for an act of solemn worship, rendered specially solemn by the unexpected presence of the prophet, that we are first introduced to the future king. His name (David=beloved) me.y perhaps indicate that, like Joseph, he was his father's de.rling. Certainly, like Joseph, he seems to have bee~ est):e.nge4 frow, _hi~. b_r~tlu-eu. (1 SI\W. xvii. 28) ; and in the :r:niii INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORICAL BOOI{S: