The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 16

embodied in the conduct of the Amalekite in its contrast with that of David; and this cl\n perhaps be best expressed by setting forth a contra.at of states of mind. Hence notice- Secularity and spirituality of mind in contrast. The conduct of the Amalekite was very nl\tural, as we find men in general. So far a.s he had e. policy, it would have com- mended itself to multitudes. Observant, shrewd, and on the alert for an advantage, be pi<lently was well awe.re of the feud between Sa.ul and David; and knowing bow of late David had smitten hie own countrymen, be judged it more prudent to conciliate him by performing an act conducive to his elevation to a. thron~, than by simply !!urloining jewel~ on a battle-field. The story concocted a.bout his actually slaymg Saul was told with the utmost self-complacence, as though no one could doubt th" mercifulness and the utility of the act; and no one could have been more amazed than himself when David represented the act as most shocking, and condemned him to die for such wicked temerity. On the other hand, David's conduct is the reverse of wha.t would have been generally pursued. For Saul bad been a most bitter and unrelenting enemy ; had charged him with crimes most heinous ; had driven him into a painful exile; had returned generosity by increased hatred ; and wa.s, as David knew, the only livinu obstacle to his return to Israel and elevation to the throne. And yet, not only had David been unwilling to do a single deed that might be construed as tending to weaken Saul's legitimate authority, but he now even deplores the reported action of this his would-be foreign helper, and charges him with having committed, on his own showing, a most shocking crime. Now, the contrast of the conduct and views of the two men is to be found in the utter dissimilarity of their respective habitual states of mind. 'l'he one was intensely secular, and the other intensely spiritual. Consider- !. IN WHAT BECULARl'l'Y AND SPIRITUALITY OF ML.'-D RESPECTIVELY CONSIST, AND HOW THEY EXPRESS THEMSELVES, 1. The one consists mainly in the tendency to look it thint1s out of their spiritual relations, and the other to look at them in those relations. As e. matter of fact, we know that, consequent on the existence of a. supreme Being and a moral government which he exercises over spiritual beings, the whole universe is comprised of, tw~ distinct yet inter-related spheres-the material and perishable on the one hand, and the spiritual and imperishable on the other. As men necessitated to work out the first lines of our· destiny under material conditions, and therefore in incessant contact with the perishable, we are, through the bluntness of our superior perceptions, superinduced by sin, prone to regard all events as pertaining to our fleet- ing earthly experience. This is secularity of mind-the mind that sees only the lower side of man's life, and takes no note of the higher destiny of which he is capable. On the other hand, spirituality of mind, while recognizing the value and Divine source of our common lot as creatures of struggle under material conditions, perceives the reality of the higher invisible. sphere, and estimates all things in the lower according to its relation to the great facts and dominating laws of the higher. The Amalekite looked on Saul lie simply a man belonging to a. mundane order of things, in which other men were striving for the mastery with him. David saw the existence, alongside the mun- dane order, of an invisible kingdom, and he recognized in Saul an embodiment of a. Divine principle-an institii.tion of Divine authorization. For was he not the Lord's anointed? Was there not more in his existence than was comprised in range of Amalekite vision? Here lies the dividing line between the two great classes of men. The one sees a passing age, with its w11nts and struggles appropriate to that age; th6 other sees an inviRible and enduring spiritual order, and that man is io be viewed in relation to that order. The one, therefore, is carnal, restricted in range, utilitarian, and in league with practices that "pay;" the other is religious, wide as infinity in range, pervaded by conscious supre_macy of holy principles, and in alliance with only what is pure and pleasing before God. 2. In accordance with their essential nature, they will respectively·manifest themselves at times, the one in a use of sacred tMr.gsfor personal gain, and the other in self-abnegation out of reverence for what ·is D-iui.ne. It was the purely secular mind of the Amalekite that led to his endeavour to make gain out of the death of the Lord's anointed, and that, too, without supposing that he was doing anything remarkable. It was David's high-toned spirituality that led him to ignore all tho wrongs ho had exporioncod at the hand of Saul, and to pass by the faults and 12 T'IIE SECONI) BOOX. or SAMUEL. tctt. r. 1--2,.