Ill. That THE DEFECTIVE MORAL CONDITION OF WF.AK MINDS LAYS THF.lf OPB:N TO THE PEilNJCIOUS CONTfiOL OF P.Asr,; MEN OF STRONGER MIND. David hit the mark when he said, "If they be the children of men." The strong-willed men at the romt of Saul, and referred to in the Psalms, had obtained influence over him, and hy lies and slanders had embittered his spirit against David. But it was the decayed piety and persistently impenitent spirit in Saul which exposed him to this danger; for even a weaker intellect will resist the stronger in matters of moral conduct when the heart is sound in its spiritual tendencies. A man's moral condition has more to do with his superiority to the devices and urgencies of the strong and crafty than his knowledge or force of intellect. Moral affinities are powerful for good or evil, and moral repul- sions are life's safeguards for the good. Hence the supreme importanc<> of a new heart and a right spirit. Hence, also, the profound wisdom of the New Testament teaching and the mercy of the provision for our renewal. The bearing of this on our education of youth, on personal resistance of temptation, and on the means for counteracting the influence of powerful but unholy men, is obvious. IV. That a RECOGNITION OF RIGHT AND WRONG IN CONDUCT MAY BE PERFECTLY SINCERE, BUT DESTITUTE OF GOVERNING POWER OVER THE T.IJIE. Under the appeal to conscience and reason Saul admitted his wrong and folly, and David's right and wisdom. Being just then keenly alive to the value of deliverance from death, he was prompted to let right and reason exercise a legitimate sway over his thoughts, and thus was honest in his declaration. Yet the recognition was, so to speak, intel- fectual, and not moral. It was admission of truth, not response to its power over the life. Men are not governed in conduct by thoughts, er propositions, or formal con- fessions of right and propriety, but by positive tendencies of their moral nature. And as Saul's tendencies were not altered by the interview with David, his recogni- tion of right failed to become a power over his conduct in days hence. '\Ve often see how men delude themselves by regarding a recognition of right as tantamount to a healthy moral condition for the time being. Here again we come upon the fundamental truth that a radical change of nature is the only hope of salvation and safeguard of daily lift:. V. That THE PAIN OF SEPARATION FROM THE PRIVILEGES OF WORSHIP IS O.N E OF THE SEVEREST TRIALS OF GODLY MEN. Of hunger and thirst David said nothing, nor of loss of social position ; but he dwelt with emphatic language on the grievous wrong of driving him from "the inheritance of the Lord," virtually saying, "Go, serve other gods." As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so did his soul pant after God (Ps. xii. 1-4). As the patriot feels the anguish of exile, so more keenly does n servant of God feel banishment by man from the fellowship and hallowed joys of the sanctuary. Those in authority should be very careful lest by harsh con- duct, they drive away into godless regions of thought and association men of noble, reverent spirit. Origen, Luther, and others have shared the bitterness of Davin ; and even our Lord was cast out from the Jewish Church, and was taunted with the suggestion of going to "teach the Gentiles" (John vii. 35). Our love to the house of the Lord and for the communion of saints is a test of the reality of our piety. VI. That INTEGRITY OF CONDUCT IS A CONDITION o~· RECEIVING Goo's BLESSING, AND MAY WITH ALL HUMILITY DE ASSERTED. David was most deeply conscious of being a loynl, loving subject, free from ambition or desire to do other than good to his king. He referred to his sparing Saul in evidence of this, and now, as in the presence of God, affirms that, so far as his conduct toward Saul was concerned, he was quite prepared to abide by the Divine rule of rendering to every man "his righteousness and his faithfulness." So far as his own persona.I deliverance from tribulation was to be measured to him according to his treatment of Saul, he wa,· quite satisfied that it would be complete. Here is no trusting to personal goodnes:- for pardon and eternal life, no glorying in his own virtues; but a strong nsse1tion of his integrity of conduct in one particular, and a belief that, so far as integrity in this case was a condition of being blessed, he would not come short of the blessing. The Old Testament is one with the New in the conditions of pardon and eternal )ife, and nlso in the condition of godly men being prospered in their way. '\Vhen challenged with reference to a particular <leel1 1 it is legitimate to affirm our righteous- 504 THE FlHST BOOK OF SAMUEL. [CH. XX\'I. 1-25.
ness with all solemnity, and with a deep sense of our general unworthiness before God. VII. That MEN WHOSE LIVES ARE CONSCIOUSLY WRONG AND UNSATISFACTORY IN- WARDLY_ RECOGKISE THE SUPERIORIT_Y OF THOSE THEY OPPOSF., and discern the signs of commg success. Saul felt David to be the nobler man, and under the transitory influence of truth he openly avowed what was all\'ays felt (ver. 25). Much of the resentment cherished against him had arisen from the conviction, so unwelcome to the envious, of l_iis being endowed with qualities that would justify the anointing by Samuel. The silent homage to goodness is universal. Instances have occurred in biographies testifying that while in former antagonism to Christian truth and Christian ~e'.1 the writer ,qs sensible of_ the beauty and power of Christian character, and saw m I! elemen_ts of future happmess not in his own. The tone of the opposition to ~hnst an? Ins apostles reveals the same fact. The character built up by a true piety is a creat10n of God, and is among his noblest works, as it is also most permanent. Tl~e more we can present such a character before men, the more shall we multiply the eVJdences of Christianity, and reveal to mankind in what lies the germ of permanent success.