The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 20

I. As thoro is a disposition on the part of iiTeligious men to find delight in the sins and frailtios of Christians, and also to find therein excuse for their own impiety, it DEHOVEB ALL wno HA.VE THE NAME ANO OJ.USE 011' CHRIST AT HJl]A.RT TO BE VERY GUAttOED IN 'J'HEIR REJJ'ERENOES TO THE SINS AND MISERIES OF BACKBLIDERB AND THE ERRING. 'fhe sins of professors are to be the subject of silent sorrow, and, when possible, of Church discipline; not to be paraded before the world, as though such free publicity were a due chastisement for their unfaithfulness. The spirit that can rearlily go and "tell it in Gath" is not the spirit of Christ. The evident pleas11re which some feel in m11king known the shortcomings of professedly religious men, can only spring from a desire to excuse their own indifference, or from a wicked Phariseeism, or from a defective sense of the sacredness of the Name of Christ. Where there is 3incere sorrow there .will be tenderness,' and the family instinct will avoid the publicity of family misfortunes. Christians! weep and pray, but "tell it not in Gath" (Jer. ix. 1-3, 17-19). II. THE msTORY 011' THE CHURCH REVEALS WHAT 811:RIOUS INJURY BAB BEEN CAUSED TO RELIGION BY THE IMPERFECT LIVES OF ITS PROFESSED FRIENDS. The "uncircum- cised" did know of Saul's disaster, and it ·made them strong in hostility to the chosen race, and at the same time weakened the hearts of the men of Israel. Saul damaged the cause of righteousness a.nd mercy as well as his owo personal reputation. 'l'oo often has Christ been wounded in the house of his friends (Zech. xiii. 6). Considering th.e many_ miscarriages c;,f those who were professedly engaged in the furtherance of the kingdom ofGod on earth, it is a marvel that the progress of Christianity has been what it has. 'l'hey little think how much they retard the final supremacy of Christ who,·by a Saul-like unfaithfulness and degeneracy, encourage antagonism among hie foes, and·produce paralysis among his friends. III. MOMENTOUS EVENTS BRING OUT THE FACT THAT CULTURE IS OF SECONDARY IMPORTANCE· TO_ REL!GION. David, as is seen from his varied compositions in the Psalms, and also from this elegy, was a man of fine iesthetic taste. He rejoiced in the exquisite beauties of nature. The dewy slopes of Gilboa, and the fat pastures of its valleys, teemed with objects of delight to his cultured taste ; but now that his spiritual yearnings were unsatisfied, now that the holy Name of God was being dishonoured, all considerations of beauty in nature, and joy in the higher culture of life, must be utterly set aside. Let Gilboa become a waste, let the joy of local associations perish, since the religious side of life is languishing! '!'he scenes amidst which our loved ones die are often cherished in the _memory with mournful_ pleasure, and we seem to invest them with a more tender loneliness because there the joy of our life fell asleep. But when the smitten heart. bleeds over a shipwrecked character-a life failing in its noblest purpose-the11 the local associations have no charm ; blight and desolation are felt to be the most appropriate ac99.mpaniment~ .of an unrelieved sorrow. So truly do great tragic events in life bring out the fact that our religious nature will assert itself as above all mere culture and iesthetic refinement. IV. A WISE AlID TEl\'DEB. HEART CAN, while overwhelmed with sorrow because of spiritual disaster, A.PPRECIATE THE VALUE OF HUMANLY RELATED VIRTUES. We have made a distinction between virtues that have simply a human aspect, and those qualities which enter into the essence of religion and are Godward in aspect, David's great grief was that, so far as his religious life and work were concerned, Saul was degenerate and practico.lly ruined. But, a.s a relief to his anguish on this account, he turns toward the manly virtues of the deceased king, and with exquisite tenderness dwells on them. His courage, his love for Jonathan, and his benefactions to his subjects (vers. 22-24), afford some solace for a heart that can find none in contem- plating the spiritual mission of the king. Nil mortuis nisi bonum. He could not, from very sorrow and reverence for the most sacred things, speak. of the sad miscarriage of his life's work; and this reference to the good of his life was really an expression of ileep _affection, and at the same time an indication of n sorrow secret and unutterable. 0hristin.ns who, with the light that Christ gives, see spiritual ruin where others see only, and rejoice in, humanly related virtues, are not blind to the manifest virtues of men; and often, iu their silent sorrow for the absence of spiritual saving qualities, they can speak with subdued emotion of the charms and attractions of personal character. V. THERE IBA WONDERFUL CHA.RM IN FILIAL PIETY MAINTAINED Uh"DEB MOST ADVERSE: 16 THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. [en. 1, l-2i,