The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Chronicles — Section 426

his ways. David goes into particulars as to how this is to be done. " Keep and seek for all the commandments of the Lord your God." The soul must hold fast to the truth, must treasure it up within the inmost recesses of its being. This is to ke,ep the truth, And it must "seek for" it---looking out for it in everything as for special treasure, setting the heart on it and gathering it up for use, 'l'he degree and earnest- ness with which we see!, for it will depend upon the way in which we" keep" what we have gathered. "To him that bath shall more be given," is God's universal law in nature and in grace. Keeping is digestion, by which the appetite is stimulated to "seek." Mark, also, it is not seeking some truths or some favourite truths; it is "all the commandments.'' It is whole-heartedness to the whole truth. Pet doctrines and pet passages make us half-Christians-narrow, one-sided, harsh, and sectarian. It is the heart's preparedness for every message from God that makes a whole Christian-such a one as God would have us all to be. Mark the two results. "That ye may possess this good land." It was one thing for an Israelite to be in the land; it was quite another to possess it. It is one thing to be in Christ; it is quite another to possess so as to make our very own all the treasures of grace and truth that are in Christ. Some Christians, like some Israelites, are all their Jives in the land with- out possessing a foot. Have you life in Christ? '' Lay hold on eternal life." .Are you one of God's elect? "Make your calling and election sure." Have you that Divine faith that will carry you into the kingdom? ".Add to your faith," so that you may have an" abundant entrance into the kingdom." This is to" possess the land." It was Joshua's continued exhortation to Israel; it has need to be ours too. Look at the second result: ".And leave it for nn inheritance for your children after you for ever." Mark, it- is only those who possess the good land who shall "leave iL for an inheritance." It is your half-Christians, your narrow-souled, crooked, unwise Christians, who leave no spiritual influences behind. Their children get soured by the caricature of religion they see in their parents, When parental restraint is over, there are no deep spiritual prin- ciples laid in the soul in early life, and they cast off what they feel bas been a yoke . .As a rule, most parents have to blame themselves for what they mourn over in their children.-W. Vers. 9, 10, 20, 21.-David's charge to Solomon. From the princes of the congrega- tion David turns to Solomon his son. Every line is full of instruction. "Know thou the God of thy father." We may conclude Solomon already knew something, antl perhaps much, of God. But this refers to a further and deeper knowledge of him, as his father David had experienced. It is this deeper knowledge of God that is spoken of in the New Testament. St. Paul, though he knew Christ well, still says," That I may know him." However much we know there is always more to be known. It is this knowledge of him that our Lord refers to when he says (John vii. 17), "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine." There is a knowledge of Christ as the Saviour from sin; there is a still further knowledge which springs from obedience in all things to his will. But David continues, ".And serve him with a perfect heart and a willing mind." Mark here, service and the character of it depend on the knowledge of God, and this knowledge a deepening one. This is ever the Divine order. .All the graces of the Christian character e.ct and react on each other. True knowledge ever begets service, and faithful service deepens real knowledge. But there are always two conditions attached to real knowledge and true service, viz. ".A perfect heart and a willing mind." .A perfect, or as the word means, an "undivided" heart, is one that is whole-hearted. Not" a bee.rt within a heart" which God hates. Not a heart that will follow and serve the Lord when it is convenient but not when it is inconvenient. Not" in season" only but also "out of season." Next to this is a" willing mind," or a mind that desir~s only that which will please God. A mind that will say always and in everything, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? n A heart devoted and a will given uir-this is what David means, and this is what God asks for. David enforces this by the state- ment of God's omniscience. Solomon might deceive men by having the outer life fair, while inwardly the other might be lacking, but he could not deceive God; and to him Solomon and every man will have eventually to render account. David further enforces these words by a solemn warning : " If thou seek him, he will be found of thee ; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for evv. Take heed now." It reminds us of  {30 THE F'TRST BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. [ou. xx.vm. 1-21-