De.vid is doing. He" reigns over all Israel,'' and thus reigning he" executes judcrment and j11Btict among e.11 his people." He does not forget his responsibilities in the time of 111nk, dignity, luxury, nor surrender himself to indulgence. It is evident he holds himself, still the servant of God, the willing, conscious, intelligent instrument for bis use. In undoubted" authority," his conduct is not that, his bearing is not that., that ever exposes him to the finger of just so.tire or ridicule-as one who is dressed in a "little brief authority," and for reality and true dignity satisfies himself with display. The reaction from poverty, persecution, subordination, and grief is not what many bear well. Thus far David has come through the trial well. He bears the burden nobly, even as bravely he lifted it to his shoulders; and if God has not forgotten his servant, neither does David show any sign of forgetting that he is God's servant. IV, THE TTNDIMINISHED IllTEREST OF A GREAT RELIGIOUS DEVOTION STILL POSSESS- ING THE THOUGHT AND HEART OF DAVID. '.!.'here were no doubt considerations which we may suppose to nave oeen present to the mind of David, in the destined promotion and dignity of Solomon, ancillary to his own continued deep interest in the projected temple. Yet we should not be j11Btified in puttiLg all his sustained devotion down to this source. The project had been a native of rus own heart. And he does not mean to disown" the better part" of faith because ne is disappointed in sight. David was now one of the honoured rank of those "kings and prophets who desired to see" a certain sight, but died without seeing it. The Pisgah-glimpse possible to him is that which could come of faith indeed, but of faith only. Yet his disappointment has not soured him, his refusal has not turned him sulky. He loves to think of that" habitation of God's house" still. He can't envy his own son; and to console nevertheless his disap- pointment that he shall not see the glorious stones laid one upon another, towering aloft, and the picked cedars, and the gold flashing again in the sun, his thoughts fill the time with collecting, and getting, and giving, and dedicating for these ends. It was always now in David's thought. The shields of gold and the brass and the silver are all sacred at once in his thought to one purpose. This is some of the noblest of the Divine working in the heart and life that are but human after all. The eye of David shall not see the reared temple, but his thought and purpose and love are laid with its foundations, and reach to its highest pinnacle. And the most magnificent block of its stone, the finest timber of all its cedar, the gold that reflected most brilliantly the light, of all that was in it, may have been those which the eye and the hand too of David did surely and literally touch. Such confidence mo.y all the servants of God entertain.
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver. 6.-Preservation. The contrast between the God of the Bible and the gods of the heathen, in respect to moral character, is of the most thorough and strikiug kind. Amongst other noticeable points of contrast, observe this : the imaginary deities of the superstitious idolaters are usually famed and feared for their destructive qualities, whilst the Lord is ever represented as e. God of salvation, delighting to preserve his people. The bloodthirsty Shiva, one of the most widely worshipped gods of tlio Hindus, is the destroyer. Jehovah, it is recorded, "preserved De.vid whithersoever he went." I. THE DANGERS of ordinary human life are many. It is not only kings and warriors who e.re exposed to peril, though the position of monarchs exposes them to the violenco of the assassin, and the occupation of the soldier is in itself n challenge to the dart of death; but in every position of life, at every age and in every clime, we walk encom- passed by dangers seen and unseen. II. DIVINE PROTECTION is a truth supported by revelation. Not by reason of favouritism and caprice, not in response to any superstitious observances or entreaties, but in virtue of his own attributes, God is a Protector. He is not satisfied to create, and then to abandon what he has made. His universal providence, general and particular, is the joy and comfort of his people. It is equo.lly shown in their prosperity and their adversity. III. Hence THE PRE81!:RVATION OF Goo's PEOPLE FROM HARM. He is their Shielcl, and lluckler, their Defence, and Fortress. He delivers their eyes fr0m tears, their souls 302 THE FIRST BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. [oH, xvm.1-17,
from death, their feet from falling. The confidence of the psalmist was signal and most instructive (see Ps. xci.). It is a source of security and consolation to know that. our times are in God's hands. " An earthquake may be bid to spa.re The man that's strangled with a hair." And when Christians fall victims to the hate and hostility of sinners, or are slain by the operation of natural laws, they still have the assurance that no real evil can befall them. • Angel-guards from thee surround us: We are safe, for thou o.rt nigh." Well may the friend of Jesus exclaim," I will trust and not be afraid." IV. The obligation is plain, GRATEFULLY TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE PRESERVING MERCY oF GoD. The royal psalmist was not backward in recording with adoring gratitude the deiivering and upholding mercy of a faithful God. Never should we forget that he that is our God is the God of salvation.-T.