clumsy C'Ompiler. The reduplication is in harmony with Biblical usage· nay more. it is in harmony with historiC'al trnth. ' ' ' II, HISTORY IS FULL OF RErETITION. In private life the same conditions recur with start.ling precision; and in public affairs the same emergencies occur again and again, and lead to the same line of action, the same remedies, and even the same blunders. Why should it be thought incredible, or even improbable, that Saul fell back into his former mood of hostility to David? Alas, what is more common than that fools forget admonition, and return to their folly; sinners, after promises of amendment, relapse into their old sins ? The amendment goes against secret inclin- ation, whereas the sin indulges some constitutional propensity or passion. So it is- that a man who has grown too fond of strong drink, after abstaining from it for a time, goes back to his bottle. A libertine, after a short attempt to live purely, goes back to his intrigues. And in like manner Saul, being passionately jealous, forbore- from ~be_ pul'8uit of David o~ly for a seas?n, and then, at the first offer of help from the Z1pb1tes, went back to his cruel pursmt of the son of Jesse. There are cases in which history repeats itself on the favourable side, in a return to goodness ; but such is man, that the more frequent experience is of a return to evil courses, obliterating. the very traces of a short-lived, superficial repentance. III. SUPERFICIAL REPENTANCE MAY BE EXPECTED TO END IN RELAPSE. We mean by superficial repentance a mere emotional effect, while the root of sin lies undis- turbed in the unrenewed will. A man of impulsive constitution can repent in this fashion again and again, with no conscious insincerity, and yet remain at heart the- same; nay, grow worse in the very habit of lamenting without abandoning his beset- ting sin. There is some indication of such a falling off in Saul. On the first occasion, when his life was spared at Engedi, he shed tears over David's magnanimity and his. own folly, and he openly confessed that the man whom he had sought to kill was more righteous than himself, and was destined to fill the throne. On the second occa- sion, at Hachilah, he was ready again t(I confess his fault and to promise abandonment of his unnatural and unjust pursuit of David, but we hear nothing of tears. There is :i ring of -vexation rather than of contrition about his confession: "I have sinned. I l,a ,-e plnyed the fool." Cases of superficial repentance leading to relapse and dete- rioration are not rare. Emotion fades away; and some temptation is sure to come, as tl1e Ziphites came to Saul and induced him to resume what he had renounced. So it happens that converts from among the heathen, who are changed only on the surface, and not in heart, but are baptized and endure well for a while, relapse under temptation into their old customs. Criminals in our own country, who have to all appearance sincerely repented, and have, after undergoing punishment, begun a new course of life, relapse after a while into the old roguery, tired of honest industry. In fact, it is not so difficult to induce men to turn over a new leaf as to keep them, after turning it, from turning back again. IV. ONE MAY MUCH ADMIRE NOBLE CONDUCT AND YET NEVER IMITATE IT. Saul retained enough of his early magnanimity to feel the moral superiority of David's behaviour-his grand forbearance and chivalrous loyalty. He acknowledged the contrast between David's conduct and his own, and yet he never imitated what Le admired. He turned back from the pursuit, as he had done before, but he did not reinstate his son-in-law in the honour to which he was entitled, or relieve him, of the harassing sense of insecurity. So we often sec that it is one thing to recognise and applaud what is good, another thing to do it. How many admire great and generous characters in history, poetry, and romance, and yet themsel~es remain small-minded and ungenerous I How many applaud good men and kmd actions, and yet continue in their own bad habits aud selfish lines of conduct, without any vigorous effort to follow what they praise I After all, a man is him- self, and not another, and as his heart is, so will his action be. Unless the tree be· made good from the root, it is vain to expect good fruit on its branches. \'. A SELF-ACCUSER MAY BE PROUDER THAN ONE WHO PROTESTS HIS INNOCENCE. A careless reader might think better of Sllul confessing his folly so frankly than of David appealing to God for his integrity. But he who appeared so humble was still pond and obstinate, and lie who maintained his rectitude was of a lowly and tender heart. A certain amount of Helf-reproach is quite easy to a pliant nature, whicl~ en. xxrn. 1--12.] 'fl[F, Flll'H' TIOOK OF SA:HUEL. 511
takes emotion quickly on it8 surface, an<l yet is quite unchanged beneath. Snch w,11, Saul's confession, which did not for a moment change his character or delay bis fate. On the other hand, self-vindication against misrepresentation am! unjust treatment may issue from n man who entirely abhorn self-righteousness and self-praise. It is this which we trace in David and the prophets; in the Apostle Paul, and in the greatest and lowliest, the man Christ Jesus. A servant of God breaks no rule of humility when he repels calumny, and asserts his innocence or his integrity. In this view read the seventeenth and eighteenth Pe'llms, the latter of which has a signi- ficant title-" Of David, the servant of God." All the Psalms are for the servants of the Lord. Sometimes, alas, they can chant none but those which are penitential, because sin has prevailed against them and defiled them. Bnt in their experience of the mercies and deliverances of the Lord they can sing praises; and in the con- sciousness of the cleanness of their hands, their innocence and integrity of purpose and action towards their fellow-men, they may even venture to go through the hundred and nineteenth Psalm in all that wonderful strain of devont feeling which combines with cries for Divine pardon and direction, a~sertions of loyal obedience and entira sincerity.-F.
EXPOSITION. D.\VID FINDS A REFUGE AT ZIKLAG (CH. XXVII. ).