The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Samuel — Section 430

(1) Recogniti?n of a kigh v~cation in life, associa~ed with G~d 's merciful purpodes tu1Vard mankmd. No man 1s great whose energies do not rn their results nim &t ~orneth_ing_ beyond l~im~elf; ~or is that a h!gh style of character whieh is governed by asp1rat10ns termmatmg with the matenal and temporal wants of mankind. As DaYid was conscious of a vocation in life which linked his whole existence with the advancement of the highest spiritual interests of the world, and with the highest material as naturally included in the spiritual, so every trnly religims man believes and rejoices to know that his business in life lies outside his fleeting earthly occupa- tion and possessions, and in fact coincides with that for which Christ came into the worl,I. ,vhat tone and power the Church would have in the world if all her mem- bers duly realised for what end Christians exist I A lofty ideal always gives power und elevation to actual life; and no higher ideal can be set before us than that which r, the normal vocation of every one of Christ's disciples. (2) Submi-ssion to God's ways and times. The realisation of the ideal before David was by a process which 1eemed to run counter to the dictates of human wisdom. The great scope of a religious ideal, while it expands the intellect and fills the imagination with the glow- mg colours of future good, also makes a present demand on the more sober and less orilliant qualities of the son 1. The course of nature and the progress of spiritual forces are determined by primary principles of government and a combination of incidental and final issues which in their entirety are comprehensible a.lone to God, as, indeed, they received their co-ordination from him. A mind that forms a just estimate of itself, and regards the outworking of the powers of the kingdom of God as the visible index of an infinite secret, will bow in loving submission to all the methods and seasons appointed by God in bringing on the seUing of his King on the holy hill of Zion. (3) Confidence in God in spite of adverse events. The key tr David's life when fleeing from cave to cave, and through all the lowly submission to years of waiting, was, as so often expressed in the Psalms, trust in the Lord. 'fhe trusting power of our nature is large, but unfortunately has been injured in ite. development by the suspicions created in our intercourse with untruthful, selfish men. There is a danger of importing this impairer! confidence from the seculnr to the spiritual sphere, and practically treating God as though he were one of us (Jer. x,. 18). There is a. spiritual heroism in believing in Gotl against hope (Rom. iv. 17-21; Heh. :ri.). The religious trust is not founded on knowledge of things, either as to their intrinsic nature or their correlation, but on the fact that God is over all and is true to his word. What some would call unreasoning fanaticism is the soul's rational, loving homage to the wisdom that never errs, the goodness that ever blesses, and the power that works all things to its own ends. History justifies the faith of God's people. "They are dead which sought the young child's life" (Matt. ii. 20). "He shall live," and "upon himself shall his crown flourish," was predicted of the most despised and reviled (Ps. lxxii. 15; cxxxii.18; Isa. liii. 3); and, ;n a modified sense, it will hold true of all who endure and are faithful to the end (Rev. iii. 21). ( 4) Kindliness towards the weak and the oppressed. The kindly fee~ ing which prompted an effort to save E;eilah, altho!lgh not personally i_nter~sted, and which sought support for the weak faith of doubtmg men by a second mqmry ol the Lord (vers. 2-4), is but an illustration of the humane spirit of true religion wbPn properly developed. The virtues of submission and confidence, which find exercise toward God as their object, are supplemented by those which bear on the sorrows of men. The loftiest spiritual aspirations-of the severest purity, of the wideRt range of vision, and of intensest gaze on the realisation of a spiritual salva- tion for man-were combined in Christ with the tenderest and the most considerate regard for the weaknesses and woes of men, and did, directly or indirectly, during a brief sojourn on earth, more than anything else to alleviate temporal suffer- ings and finally break the bonds of social and political oppression (Luke iv. 18). 3. T!.e attainm,ent of this well-developed personal religion is within reach of all. Tlie cl,aracter of David was not supernatural, bu~ the outgrowth of a. ~ental ~n!1 moral constitution, under the carefully-cherished mfluences of such religious privi- leges as fell to hie lot. The position of each one of us is in the ma.in that of David.: we have our natural temperament, which may determine the prominence of this over that virtue; we, as Christiar:s. have received our solemn call by One greater than OH XXIII. 1-13] THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL.