make of blasphemy I But Shlmei had to pay for it with his life. 8. The sin o/ pe1-jmy. It was thls in the strict sense of the word. He broke through his oath. Though he said, "the Lord liveth,'' he swore falsely. He thus profaned the awful incommunicable name, and incurred the Divine clll'Se (Zech. v. 4). Perjuries are plentiful in our days, our police courts being witness. (Some kiss the thumb, and not the book.) "The Lord will not hold him guiltless," &c. 4. The sin of disobe- dience. The king had adjw·ed him, had " protested," had said "know for certain," &c. ; o,nd even if the Kidron were mentioned arbitrarily, still it served to test his obedience. The prohibition, therefore, could not have been plainer. He disre- garded it, and died. "Fool," does any one say? Stay ! The great King has said, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." He has solemnly testified what will be the doom of disobedience, and yet how often have we crossed ow· Kidron-the bound of His law-have gone after our own lusts and pleasures, and it is only because He is God and not man, only because "the he a.rt of the Eternal Is most wonderfully kind," that we have not died. 5. The sin and folly of presumption. Whatever may ha,e led Shlmei to go after hls slaves, it was certainly presumption brought him back. He would hardly have returned had he not counted on forgiveness. No doubt he had persuaded himself either that Solomon would never know, or that, if he did, he would be magnanimous. " Allowance will be made for me," he had said; "my return will disarm suspicion and ensure clemency." But the sword of Benaiah soon undeceived him. And such will be the end-death, shame, ever- lasting contempt-of those who presume on the mercy of God. How many say, " God is so good, He will never be hard upon us," &c. But is God true J Can He deny Himself? Even Solomon could not go back from his word; and can the Holy One ? Alas, if despair has slain its thousands, presumption has slain its ten thousands. It is a significant fact that since the invention of the safety lamp there ha,e been more accidents in mines than there were before. II. As to the BETRIBUTION, we are reminded, 1. That curses commonly come home to roost. The "grievous cw·se" of Shimei did not hurt David. But it was his own destruction. The poisoned arrow missed its mark, but it recoiled on the archer. The engineer is hoist by his own petard. A curse rests on those who curse the king (cf. Eccles. x. 20). 2. That respite does not mean release. When David "sware " to him, Shimei thought himself safe. Surely the bitterness of death was past. He would die in his nest. We often mistake God's forbearance for forgetfulness. He is long-suffering, and men ask, " Where is the promise of His coming? " Because " He does not" settle His accounts once a week" (Goethe) the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. But the day of retri- bution comes as a thief, as the flood, as the sword, as the snare. 8. That if we die, it is our own fault. Shimei had his life in his own hands. It rested with him a.lone whether he lived or died. He should live, if he would but live at Jerusalem. But he chose death. Men cause their own destruction. God has no pleasure in their death. "Thou hast destroyed thyself." 4. That warnings are commonly lost on the wicked. " How could Shlmei be so infatuated ? " we ask. What, have we not seen his infatuation paralleled? Have we never seen repeated warnings repeatedly neglected? Yes, souls, sins, warnings, results, are the same in all ages. 5. That when God reckons, He reckons for all. The sword avenged the sin of eight years before. And in the Great Assize, everything-both cup of cold water and idle word-will receive its just recompense of reward.
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 41-46.-Retributions. This is one example of the way in which Solomon carried out David's dying command, as given in verses 5-9. Shimei's violation of his promise in reference to not leaving Jerusalem, though the immediate occasion, was thus not the real reason of his punishment. He had bean all along a doomed OR, II, 86-46.] THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS.
ma.n. A grea.t deal in David's command in reference to these men that we cannot regard with complacency; so far as there was anything of personal vindictiveness in it, our moral sense condemns it. Would it not have been more magnanimous if with his dying breath he had freely forgiven these old offenders? Solomon's con- duct, however, wears a different aspect. A father's word would be to him an imperious authority; to vindicate a father's honour the instinctive impulse of filial affection; to a,venge the innocent blood a sacred obligation. Moreover, these men deserved their fate. J oab had been a traitor and murderer; Abiatha.r had abused the sanctity of his priestly office by helping the cause of the usurper; Shimei had "cursed the Lord's anointed." This incident suggests- _ I. THE ETERNAL LAW THAT WRONG-DOING MUST BE FOLLOWED BY ITS DUE RECOM• PENSE. Recognise the Divine element in this act of human retribution. There is a Nemesis that tracks the steps of the transgressor, and sooner or later overtakes him; not a natural law merely, but an intelligent Divine will and power. The superstition of the Melitans had a deep and solemn truth in it (Acts xxviii. 4). Striking correspondence often between the sin and the penalty. Men suffer in forms resembling the injury they inflict. "Whoso sheddeth man's blood," &c. "All they that take the sword,'' &c. The weapon used wrongfully recoils upon the head of him who wielded it. "CUI"Bes, like birds, come home to roost." In the teaching of Christ and His apostles, however, the law of retribution appears, not in its old bare, crude form, but in a more vital and spiritual form. New Testament idea.--sin bears within itself the germ of its own -punishment. The penalty is a development rather than an o.rbitrary infliction. "Sin, when it is fuiished, bringeth forth death.'' Sin may be divinely forgiven, and yet go on to produce in this world all sorts of bitter fruits. "May one be pardoned and retain the offence?" No; but the pardoned man may retain in himself the evil effects of what he has done, o.nd see, with infinite remorse, the evil effects in others. The sin, as a " finished" fact, to.kes its place in the general procession of cause and effect, independently of God's mercy to the transgressor. On the other hand, the worst retribution is in the moral nature of the sinner himself. " There is no future pang Ce.n deeJ. that justice on the self-condemn'd He dee.ls on his own soul." (Manfred.) (E.g., SllAXEsPEil\E'B Macbeth; Mn.TON'S Satan.)