The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 127

'<!3-40). "All these men of war that could keep rank came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make DBvid king over all Israel; and all the res~ also of Israel were of one heart to mrdco DBvid king." 1. Voluntary subm,isBiO'YI,, "Thy people shall be willin~ in the day of thy powerJ' (Pa. c1. 3). 2. Nati(JITlal UMnimity; such a.s is celebrated in Ps. cxxxiii. (written subsequently), 'Brotherly love'- " Behold I how good and lovely it is That (those who are) brethren should also dwell together!" 3. Enthusiastic devotion. "And there they were with David three days, eatin" and drinking; for their brethren _had prepared for them," etc. 4. .Abounding joy. 7, For there was joy in Israel." This ".gathering of the people" (Gen. xlix. 10) we.s a most memorable one (vers. 4, 5). In it the good hidden in their reprehensible desire for a king (1 Sam. viii. 4-22) becomes apparent; we see the fruit of past labour, conflict chastisement, and the seeds of future enterprise, success, advancement. "Th; kingship, as administered by David, appears neither as a. necessary evil nor an improved constitution, but as a new ethic potency" (Oehler, 'Theology of the Old 'l'estament,' sec. 165). "His career constitutes the culmination of that general advancement towards which the people of Israel had been aspiring with increasing energy for more tha.n a centuryn (Ewald).-D. Vers. 2, 10, 12 (1 Chron. xi. 2, 9; xiv. 2).--{HEBRON.) The shepherd-king. This is the first occasion on which we find the occupation of e. shepherd made use of to describe the office of a king. Jacob, who had "fed Laban's flocks,'' spoke of "the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel" (Gen. xlix. 24; xl viii. 15); Moses, who had "kept the flock of Jethro," prayed that Jehovah would "set a man over the con~egation" a.s his successor, so that they might not be" as sheep having no shepherd" (Numb. xxvii. 7); here the elders declare that Jehovah said (through Samuel) to David, who "fed his father's sheep at Bethlehem," concerning his royal destination, "Thou shalt feed [raah, equivalent to 'tend,' ' act as shepherd towards '.l my people Israel " (eh. vii. 7; Ps. lxxviii. 70-72; Isa. xliv. 28; Jer. xxili.; l. 5; Ezek. xxxiv. 1, 23; Micah v. 4; Zech. xiii. 7, etc.). "The business of a shepherd is a preparation for the office of a king to aqy one who is destined to preside over that most manageable of all flocks, man- kind; for which reason kings are called shepherds of their people, not by way of reproach, but as a most especial and pre-eminent honour" (Philo,' Life of Moses'). " Shepherds are not owners of the sheep ; but their office is to feed and govern : no more are kings proprietaries o.r owners of the people. 'The nations,' as the Scriptures saith, are ' his inheritance;' but the office of kings is to govern, maintain, and protect people. And that is not without a mystery that the first king that was instituted by God, David (for Saul was but an untimely fruit), was translated from a shepherd" (Bacon). What was said to David applies to every king, ruler, magistrate, master, in the sphere over which he has legitimate authority. Consider- !. THE DIVINE IDEA OF ms OFFIOE. It is an office in which authority and power: 1. Are entrusted by the ordination of God, the Proprietor, Ruler, Chief Shepherd of the people; not ~elf-derived nor unlimited; yet investing every under-shepherd with dignity. 2. Should be exercised according to the will of God (Ps. ci.), in affectionate interest in the peoplo; intimate acquaintance with them, guiding them, providing for them, defending them, restoring them, and, generally, seeking their welfare with diligence, considerateness, tenderness, patience, self-denial, and self-sacrifice. " Chrysos- tom writeth that the shepherds in Cappe.docia have such love unto their flock, that sometimes for three days together, in following them, they are overwhelmed with snow, and yet they endure it; and in Lydia, how far they travel with the sheep for a month together in the waste deserts and parching heat of the sun ; who herein do teach such as are shepherds of men that they should even not sparo their own lives for the common good" (Willet). 3. Must be accounted for, as to their use, bef()T'e the presence of God. •• These sheep, what have they done?" (eh. xxiv. 17). "A king is a mortal god on earth, unto whom the living God bath lent his own name as a great honour; hut withal told him he should die like e. rnan, lest he should be proud and flatter himself that God hr.th with his name imparted unto him his nature also" (Bacon). II. THE DIVINE SOURCE OF HIS PROSPERITY. "Aud DRvid went on going and II. SAMUEL. K  130 THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. [cR. V, 1-25,