The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Chronicles — Section 278

the worship of practical piety. I, who have received all, and am but what God has given and God made me, dwell in a house of cedar, while the ark of hie covenant remaineth under curtains I LESSONS. 1. There is doubtless no position in human life but has sufficient cause of tha~ulness to stir up men of grateful heart to the exercise of compassion toward theu- fellow-creatures, and to the service and devotion of God. 2. But there is a law going further. It should be observed that for all increase of worldly good, strength, comfort, wealth, splendour, more sympathy with others, more compassion and charity toward them, should be yielded by the heart, and likewise more service and devotedness to God. 8. 'fhe highest and the surest forms of sympathy are those that obtain between man, and the Invisible, Spiritual, EternaL Vera. 2-5.-God's obstructions of the good purposes of men, and the mes of such obstructions. The greatest trials of man's faith lie in the working of the sovereignty of God. Yet there is not an individual attribute of the Creator to be yielded to him more unreservedly than this same sovereignty, which may be said to include in it the rights of many an attribute. The Divine frustration of our purposes, disappointment of our hopes, and summary determination of many a life that we thought made for the highest service, often enough elude all the acumen of our reason, and bring to nought in one moment the pride of creature-wisdom. But so soon as ever we are recovered from the first severity of the blow and from the deep prostration which it has inferred, it is always left to us to search for, gather, and compare the relative uses that may attend cases of this description of suffering. We may vainly seek the reason, as vainly as try to search the immortal mind itself; but far from vainly shall we attempt to observe attendant uses and lessons. Human wisdom is, indee\i, never in so fair a way for increase and improvement as when thus engaged. The present narrative contains little or nothing of difficulty, however, either in respect of finding the reasons of God's prohi- bition, in the instance before us;· or in respect of gathering the lessons and uaes suggested by that prohibition. Let us notice- I. THE REASONS, BO FAR AS HERE GIVEN, OF Gon's DENIAL OF DAVID IN THE GOOD PURPOSE OF ms HEART. It is remarkable that neither this passage nor the parallel to it states the one of these reasons on which the real stress would have been supposed to fall. We will notice this, therefore, in its place (eh. xxii. 8), inasmuch os the silenc-e about it here is entire. "\Ve must not pass unnoticed, however, one and perhaps the on1y sign of an explanation of this silence which we can find. In both this and the parollcl place the historian speaks. In eh. xxii. 8, xxviii. 8, where all the focts are boldly stated, it is the noble-hearted David himself who speaks; and in 1 Kings v. 3, where wo hove what may be called an intermediate account as regards fulness, the son Solomon speaks. Equolly honourable to the historian and to David himself are these circum- stances, to whatever further use they lend themselves. .And no distont 11n11logies will the New Testoment yield, as e.g. when it is not the Evangelist John who will record some shortcoming of Peter, where Peter himself would have made clean breost of it all, with noble spirit of confession and self-surrender (comp. John xiii. 36-38, with Mark xiv. 29-31). Confining ourselves, then, to the reasons recorded in our present passngc, they must stand confessed as of the most condescending and touching description. "\Ve must notice, first, that the reasons assigned for the refusal of permission to Dovid to build do not carry the slightest reflection on him or bis character, or the character of his foregoing life-the matter is viewed now not from the "standpoint" of David nt all, but, if that may be reverently said by human lip which is so graciously done by Divine act, from the "standpoint" of the Divine Personage himself; and secondly, that those reasons do not exclude from consideration the fulfilment of the purpose of David's heart, but only bis own fulfilment of that purpose. " Pro.ying breath," sings one, "is never spent in vain." .And holy purpose and noble religious ambition are not born and nourished in vain. 'l'hey often fulfil more purpose in the subject of them, thon their realization by himself would fulfil for the object of them, or for others generally. Personal disappointment, times without number, shall signify personol improvement, and not signify any loss to the general community, nor to the course of tho world. 'l'bose reasons aro delicately put, bnt will bavo been folly appreciated by David; am! they are full of tenderest suggestion. They are: 1. That the Di vino Friend, Loader, 27G THE .FlHST IlOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. [err. xvn. 1-2i,