might and power is passed by, for there is no room in them for God to be glorified. If we are only low enough, only little enough, only nothing before him, he can and will use us; and the reason he has so often to pass by the "vessel" is, that it is too full and not "fit for the Master's use." "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and the weak things of the world to confound the thin"'S that are mighty ; and base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen, Y~, and things which are not ftoo co~te~ptible to be named], to bring to nough~ thmgs that are: that no flesh shov.U glory in his presence" (1 Cor. i. 27-29).-W. Ver. 3.-The horrors of war. All actions, both of nations and of individuals should be judged in the light of the prevailing standards and sentiments of the age in which they are done. This is a most important principle, but it is a difficult one to apply wisely• and it is one that may be easily misrepresented. Right can never be other than right: and wrong can never be other than wrong. But custom and sentiment give a temporary character to many actions which tend to confuse our apprehension of their essential rightness or wrongness. Limited knowledge also leads to the permission of things which advancing civilization shows to be unworthy and even wrong. 'l'hese points may be illustrated from slavery, truthfulness, sense of the value of life, ideas of property and war. Another importa:it consideration, which greatly helps to explain Old Testa: ment narratives, is that national judgments must of necessity take national character. An old divine well says, "God can punish individ'IJ,(],ls both in this life and in the next; but he can only punish natwns in this.• There are distinctly personal and individual sins, and there are as distinctly national sins; wrong done by the rulers in. the name of the people; or a wrong spirit pervading the people ; or times when vice is permitted to run an unrestrained and ruinous course. And such national sin Jehovah ever rei!'.ards, using such agencies as famine, plague, or war, for its due punishment. In this light the Old Testament ever regards war; the aggressive force is always treated as the executioner who carries out the Divine judgments. And it may be urged that this is still the deeper view to take of war, and that it is quite consistent with a clear recognition of the fact that such an aggressive force may act in mere wilfulness, or in furtherance of wicked schemes of self-aggrandizement. God makes the very" wrath of man" praise him. In treating the incidents of this chapter, it may be well to point out the distinction between what usually happens under the excitements of a siege, and the deliberate judgment that may be pronounced upon a. conquered people. As may be painfully illustrated from the conduct of the British solcliers in India and in Spain, when. a city is ta.ken by storm, a scene of wild and awful rioting usually follows. Illustrate also from the Roman siege of Jerusalem. For Rabbah, the city here referred to, see th,> Expository portion of this Commentary, and 2 Sam. xi. 1. I. ANCIENT HORRORS OF w Al!., Illustrate from different kinds of war-wars of races, the young and strong pushing out the old and weak; hardy mountain races occupying the cultured plains of the over-civilized and effeminate; dynastic wars, occasioned by the rivalries of different royal houses; 6acred wars, such as the Crusades, to recover possession of the Lord's tomb; and wars of revenge, undertaken to clear off supposed or real insults. Of this latter kind ,vas the war with Ammon (see eh. xix.). Modern ideas concerning war make it impossible for us to approve of the treatment to which the conquered Ammonites were subjected. Some writers have urged that David merely condemned the captives to severe bodily labours, to hewing and Rawing wood, to burning of bricks, and to working in iron-mines; but probably the more terrible translation of the language must be accepted, in view of the common war-Jaw of that stern age. And, with its best mitigations, war must still be regarded as a. dreadful thing. 'l'he whole world sighs for the day when "the nations shall learn war no more." II. CHRISTIAN MITIGATIONS OF THE HORRORS OF WAR. Illustrate from modern treatment of the dead, the wounded, the prisoner, and the conquered, Show how e. prolonged period of comparative peace has influenced national sentiment concerning war. Explain, illustrate, and impress that the Christian law of the universal human brother- hood seeks to destroy all forms of war; and the day of its full triumph is surely coming.-R. 'l.'.
Ver;. G, 7.-Stron!J in body, and 6lron!J in God. llcrc are intro<l.uce<l. to us "a man of oa. XXI. 1-30.l 'rHE FIRST BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. 327
great stature," and of abnormal development; a striking instance of mere bodily power: and a man who could overcome this giant, by virtue of his loyalty to God and reliance on hii1 strength. It seems to be a fact that hngeness of body is usually associated with dulness of mind. The quick-witted David is always more than a match for the ponderous Goliath. It seems to be the fact-at least under our present human conditions -that the culture of the mind tends to ensure the frailty of the body. It seems to be now verv difficult, if it may not be called impossible, to gain and to keep the mens sana in corpore sano. Yet we should feel that both the 1J<1,Y and the soul _are sacred trusts, and that we are responsible to God for the full and wise and barmomous culture of them both. The "body is to be for the Lord,'' and we are to "prosper even as our souls prosper." There are two principles by which our life should be toned. We should seek to be- I. STRONG IN BODY; that is, in the bodily powers and resources. Applications may be made to health, vigour of frame, due control of passi()11,8, and proper training of mental faculties. But it should be shown that there are limitations to the success which we may reach in these matters-limitations from constitutional peculiarities, from hereditary tendencies, and from disabilities of circumstance. In this each of us can but reach his best possible. II. STRONG IN GoD; that is, in the higher moral capacities and forces. In the culture of these there need be no qualifications or limitations. Due training of these will ensure complete dominion over the bodily powers and relations, so that all the lower faculties take their due place of ministry or service. And this is the high ideal after which we all should strive-the true man, who is like the _Man Christ Jesus, strong in God, and therefore strong in body.-R. T,