-clearncs\ of her jndgment, and '.he strength of her ~aith in not fearing the displea-· sure of N aha! or the wrath of Kmg Saul, but declanng her confident belief that the. Lord "·ould raise David to be ruler over Israel. On this ground she entreated him nol to burden his conscience or sully his name with a hastv deed of blood. Whnt a power of figurative expression those Eastern believers ·h,td; and not least those· deYout women whose spirits were stirred by urgent occasions to ardent utterance. -Deborah in her triumph, Hannah in her song, Abigail in her appeal I I. THE FIGURE OF SAFETY. A soul bound up in the bundle of life with Jehovah .. "'hat c?uld a Nabal's churli~hness, or even a Saul's p11rsuit, avail against a man ~,·hose li!e God guarded _by n!ght and day? If we use Abigail's phrase we extend: its meanmg. The quest10n with her was of David's preservation to fill the throne of Israel ; but it is not for us under the New Testament to set our hearts on earthly rank. Our treasure is in heaven. Our inheritance is reserved for us till our Lord's return_. Ou: da)'s are few and uncertain .. But we have an eternal life, freely given to us m Chnst Jesus; and the bundle of hfe means for us the unity of all the living· ones in Christ, the !otality of the life which "is hid with Christ in God." They who are bound up therem have been taken out of the bundles of sin and death extricated. from what is evil a_n? therefore _doomed to destruction, and have been b): the power of the Holy Ghost JOmed to Christ and the Church. Happy day that sees this done I' Strong security that follows I Who is he that can harm us if we are Christ's, bound up in the bundle of life with God our Saviour? II. THE FIGURE OF REJECTION. Abigail made no further reference to Nabal. He wos her husband, and in no case could he be formidable to David. All she asked. was that the son of Jesse would magnanimously overlook his churlishness. But the whole country rang with reports of the angry pursuit of David- by the king, a11C[ Abigail predided that his enemies would have discomfiture and rejection from the Lord his God. With rare felicity of allusion she spoke of their souls as flung away, as a stone is cast "out of the middle of a sling." The very mention of the weapon• "·ith which David had gained his first great Sl!Ccess must have stirred his faith a11d courage. The figure, as the history shows, was remarke.bly appropriate to the career of David's chief enemy, Saul. "As he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so is he that giveth honour to a fool" (Prov. x.xvi. 8). Now honour had been given to Saul. He was anointed and exalted to the throne, and yet was at hertrt unwise and disobedient. So was the stone hid in the pan of a sling. After a while we· see the stone whirled round in the sling, i. e. we see Saul troubled and tossed-wayward, disturbed, passionate, insanely jealous. The end was now drawing near, and the- stone was about to be cast out of the sling in despair and death on Mount Gilboa. On vers. 32, 33 Dr. South has left us a sermon entitled, 'Prevention of sin an invaluable blessing.' In the " application" of it the preacher shows that a m~1ch. higher satisfaction ie to be fo•md from a conquered than from a conquering passion. "Revenge is certainly the most luxurious morsel that the devil can put into a sinner's mouth. But do we, think that David could have found half the pleasure in the execution of his revenge that he expresses here upon the disappointment of it? Possibly it migbt have pleased him in the present heat and hurry of his rage, but must have displeased him infinitely more in the cool, sed~te refl~ctions of h!s mind.'.' Another point which South enforces is that the temper with wh~ch we re~e~ve provi- dential prevention of sin is a criterion of the gracious or ungrac10us condltlon of our hearts. "Whosoever has anything of David's piety will be perpetually plyii:ig the throne of grace with such like acknowledgments as-B!e?sed be th_at Providence which delivered me from such a lewd company or such a v1c1ous acquamtance I And blessed be that God who cast stops and hindrances in my way when I was attempt- ing the commission of such and such a sin; who took me out of such a course of life, such a place, or such an employment, which was a conti~u~l snare and tempta- tion to me I And blessed be such a preacher and such a friend whom God made use of to speak a word in season to my wicked heart, and so turned me out ?£ the paths of death and destruction, and saved me in spite of the world, the devil, and my11elf 1"-F. CJJ. XX\'I. 1-25.] 'fl-IE .IrlRST BOOK OJ<' SAMUEL. 497
EXPOSITION. DAVID A SECOND TIME SPARES SAUL'S LIFE (CH. xxv1.).