The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Chronicles — Section 341

devotion, the source of them is a positive alleviation of our pain of mind. 2. When they arrive as the consequence of forces with which we have nothin<> to do, our mental pain is neither soothed nor aggravated by their source. 3. When° we have to reproach ourselves as the authors of our own miseries, our souls smart with a keen- ness of suffering which makes us feel that " our punishment is greater than we can bear." But our troubles a.re divided into the tolerable and the intolerable (or the less tolerable) when, as suggested by the text, we view them as- III. THOSE WHICH ARE 011' DIVINE AND THOSE WHICH ARE 011' HUMAN INFLICTION, David uttered a sentiment which is common to every pious heart when he said, " Let me fall now into the hand of the Lord; ... but let me not fall into the hand of men." When the evils which are oppressing us, when the sorrows which are saddening us, are embittered by the feeling that they are due to the heedlessness and heartlessness of men, especially when due to the inconsiderateness of those whose relation to ourselves calls for peculiar thoughtfulness and attention-and still more, when they are inflicted on us by the positive malignity of our fellows, who find a cruel and horrible satis- faction in our los.ses and griefs, then our trouble is at its very heaviest, and seems to us quite intolerable. But when, as in unaccountable sickness, or in unavoidable loss, or in inevitable bereavement, we can feel that the hand of God is upon us, that we have " fallen into the hand of the Lord, and not into the hand of man," then we are not tempted to add the bitterness of resentment to the heaviness of disappoint- ment or to tin poignancy of grief. It is well for us to remember: 1. That even those troubles which seem to be wholly of human origin are yet to be borne as evils per- mitted of God. If David had chosen defeat in war, that would have had the Divine as well as the human in its origin and infliction. In our very worst distress, in the most cruel aggravations we can experience, we should "be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live." He allows them to come; he would have us be patient and docile under them ; he will bring us out from under them ; he will overrule them for good in his own time and way. 2. 'fhat we have reason to be thankful when the trouble that comes to us is such as we can readily ascribe to the Father's hand. We must all pass through tribulation on our way to the heavenly kingdom: only by the waters of chastisement can we hope to be cleansed from some sins which beset us. It is well for us when the sorrow through which the Divine Father makes us to pass is of such a kind that we have no difficulty in referring it to his wisdom and love, and when, feeling that we have "fallen into the hands of God," we can (1) breathe freely the spirit of resig- nation, (2) learn readily the lessons of af!liction.-C. Vers. 14-27.-The arrested hand. 'l'he hand of Divine wrath was stretched out, and dire calamity ensued. "The Lord sent pe~tilence upon Israel, and there foll ... seventy thousand men" (ver. 14). And God sent an angel of destruction to Jerusalem: this terrible messenger stood with drawn sword (ver. 16) over the city of David, 1md commenced the dread work of death there (ver. 16). But suddenly the hand of God was arrested, the sword or the angel was sheathed, the ravages of the pestilence ceased, Jerusalem was saved. Whence this salvation? It is clear- I. THAT GoD'B DIRECT DEALINGS WITH !BRA.EL HAD NO SMALL PA.BT IN THE MATTER. The king was vastly more responsible than any other individual in the realm for the coming of the visitation, and he was more concerned in its departure than any other. But the people of Israel were not irresponsible for the one, nor were they without a share in the other. It would have been impossible for us to believe that the multi- tudes of Israel would suffer as they did for this sin of David, absolutely irrespective of their own deservings; that would have been manifestly unjust. And, similarly, we should have found the greatest difficulty in believing that Divine compassion had nuthing to do with the cessation of the plague. But the Scriptures sanction the con- clusion of our judgment, if they do not suggest or even affirm it-that the coming and the going of the pestilence were partly due to the direct relations of God to Israel. Respecting its coming, we.read that~ the anger of the_Lord was kindl_ed a~ainst. Israel, and he moved David agamst them, etc. (2 Sam. :u.1v. 1). Respectmg its gomg, we read that "the Lord beheld, and he repented him of the evil," etc. (ver. 16); i.e. the pity of the Lord was stirr~d, and_he sta:v:ed his hand: We i:nay_learn here t~e less?ns \ha~ God has direct dealmgs with nations, approving their r1ety and their purity,  342 'l'ItE FIMT Mott OF TH:g CRMN1Ctts. Con. xx:r. 1-ao.