The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Chronicles — Section 381

Vers. 1, 2.-0ur hold upon thsfuture. When" David was old, and full of days" ho contemplated his own death and what should then ensue-who should succeed him on the throne, and wha.t should be the work and history of the nation he had governed. We arc reminded of- I. Ou& DESIRE TO KEEP A ROLD UPON THE FUTURE. .As the king, like all other monarchs, earnestly desired that, after his death, his own son should cit upon his throne; es he took the necessary steps to secure this by summoning all the leaders in the kingdom and giving them charge concerning him (ver. 2), so we desire to retain as much hold on human life as we can, even when our eyes shall be closed to its scenes and our ears be deaf to all its voices. Either in the person of those who are our second selves--the children of our love and our charge-or through our deliberately uttered wishes in documents or dying words, we desire to make ourselves felt, as the pos- sessord of power, by the generation which will remain when we are no longer on the earth. II. OUR POW"EB TO CARBY OUT oua WISHES. "David made Solomon his son king over Israel." He had the constitutional right to nominate his successor, and by solemnly desirnatina him as such in the presence of "all the princes of Israel" he ensured his occ;panc/of the throne. There are ways by which we can make ourselves felt in the days which succeed our own. 1. By indoctrinating our children with our own beliefs and insti!Jina into their minds our own spirit, we may live on in them and in their lives. 2. By bcqu~thing our property in such a way that future generations shall have cause to remember us (e.g. the founding of parks, hospitals, homes, etc.). 3. By documents which are valid in law by which we decide the way in which our property shall be used or our relatives be circumstanced. III. THE LIMITATIONS OF THIB POWEB. David could only make Solomon king by calling all his counsellors together and getting them to ratify his own decision; and then be had to leave the issue to Solomon's own discretion. Had he (Solomon) acted as foolishly as bis son afterwards acted, the throne would soon have passed away from Lim, and his father's eager anticipations would have been defeated. Do what we may to retain a hold on the future throuah those who should be the inheritors of our prin- ciples and the executors of our will, we cannot really ensure anything we may devise. 'l'Lose on whom we rest our strongest hopes may disappoint all our expectations and overthrow all our plans. Th11 stateHman's great measure is repealed, the warrior's proud conquest_ is undone, the millionaire's splendid fortune is dissipated, thci nobleman's "house" is extinguished, the discoverer's invention is superseded, the writer's chief work is shelved, the teacher's famous doctrine is exploded; the world moves on and on. xxm. 1-32.] THE FIRST BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES.