The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 51

Pond when itpplird to Cll8es in which their excellence can turn the scale of advantage. then the utmost zeitl may be displayed; but apart from this they may Involve us in great trouble. Jurlgment in the use of smllll gifts will often llChieve better reeulta t.hlln can he Recured by an indiscreet use of greater gifts. Possibly A1111ohel remembered t.he youthful David, skilled with the sling, going forth to fight Goliath; and it may be, al~o, that he was fully oonecioue of bein11: on the side of the Lord's anointed. But the case of DaYid was not pllrallel, Then there was an imminent peril for all Israel, and no other means available for warding it off; while here, whatever peril had existed wu gone. No conviction of being on the side of God is a justification for rashness, The fall of Abner as a foe of David was in wiser hands than those of the fleet-footed youth. We have all to learn the lesson of adaptation. The student of purely physical science renders great service where physical facts and conclusions embodying them are alone concerned ; but, like Asahel, be applies his powers in a dani:i;erous direction when he presumes to be an authority on super-physical questions. Much of the waste of Christian energy arises from individuals attempting to rid the world of evil by working along lines unsuited to their capacities ; and we see daily instances of men and women wasting their mental and physical substance in occupations in which their specialities find no suitable objects. A little wisdom goes a long way in human affairs. III. THE E!IFOBCED SUJIJUOATION OF POWERFUL SENTIMENTS, With all his faults of lurking ambition and infidelity to conscience, Abner was not destitute of chivalrous qualities. Possibly the conviction that his ill-espoused cause was on the wane may have awakened the prudential desire to obviate as far as possible personal offence to Joab, the rising general; but with this there was evident pity for the rash youth, and a chivalrous wish to take no undue advantai:i;e over a noble though impetuous foe. His position was one of extreme difficulty. His own death. or that of his pursuer, seemed to him to be the only alternatives. The thought of surrender, or of simply disabling his foe, appears not to have occurred; and in the choice of death to Asahel there was consequently involved a subjugation of the kindly, generous sentiments, and also of minor expediencies, to the love of self-preservation, Junctures of a similar kind occur in the lives of most men. Contending considerations distress the spirit, Deeds have to be done which any way entail misfortune. Abraham had to part company with his kinsman Lot, or perpetuate painful strifes. Moscow was burnt by the handa of its inhabitants to save themselves from possible subjugation. Commercial men can point to instances in which they have had to subordinate strong impulses to one com- manding call to safety and honour. IV. PUBLIC HOMA.GE TO ILL-FATED RANK. The general honours paid to Asahel were in accordance with the custom of the age, which made persons of superior birth tbe objects of unusual attention. In this case there was conjoined the sentiment of admiration for enthusiasm, rash but real. In so far as man can find a reward for self- sacrifice in the sorrowful attentions to mortal remains of survivors, this young man did not die in vain. The instinct of men which leads them to regard with tender sympathy the death of a young hero in a public cause is very sound; for it means a discernment of noble qualities, a charity toward weaknesses, an unspoken lament over promising gifts prematurely lost to the world., and sympathy with aspirations not realized, The addition of social rank intensifies these feelings, and at the same time infuses over them all the superiority derivable from rank being regarded as the symbol of an ideal life toward which human nature constantly aspires. The hard utilitarianism that would baniBh sentiment as a mystical superstitious nuisance, and the impossible democracy tl:at would annihilate social di.lferences, will ever find human nature too strong for them. It is a fair subject for study-What are the functions in life of the instincts which find e.n outlet in acts of homage? How much does society owe to their binding power? In what degrees do they tend to tone down the asperities of the struggle to live? How may they be made subservient to the cultivation of religious feeling? GENERAL LESSONS. 1. We should endeavour carefully to tmce analogies between the structure of the Word of God and the structure of the other works of his hand. 2. It is important to watch against the temptations arising from the poeseseion of qualities developed in a high degree. 3. The more prominent our gifts are in a particular Jirection, the more need i■ there for the cultivation of a calm judgment, if we would OIi, II, 1-32,] THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. 40