The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 133

Vera. 22, 23 (1 Chron. xiv.13, 14).--{THE VALLEY OF REPH.A.IM..) Renewed conflict. 1. The life of a. gqdly man on earth is a wa.rfa.re which is perpetually renewed. Hardly has one conflict been pa.seed through before another awaits him with old or new and more formidable foes : the world, the flesh, the devil ; ignorance, idolatries, oppressions, sin e.nd misery of a.11 kinds (1 Sam. xvii. 1-11). Yea, each day the "good warfare" begins afresh. "The approach of duty is as a battle-field" (Essenia.n maxim). " On awaking in the morning, the first thing to be observed by thine inward sight is the listed field in which thou art enclosed; the law of the combat being that he who fights not must there lie dead for ever" (Scupoli). 2. Signal success in one conflict does not ensure the like in the next; and it ought, therefore, to be always associated with humility, watchfulness, and prayer; from lack of which many a victory has beea turned into s defeat. It was a motto of King· Alfred (" Si modo victor eras," etc.}-- "If to-de.y thou be conqueror, beware of the fight of to-morrow; If to-day thou be conquered, prepare for the fight of to-morrow.n 3. One victory affords ground for the confident expectation of another, when the latter is looked for in the same spirit a.3 the former, with dependence on the strength of God, submission to his will, devotion to his glory and the good of his people. "David inquired of the Lord again." 4. The special means to be employed in every new con- flict must be adapted to the special circumstances of the case; and both the wisdom to perceive them and the might to make them effectual are from the Lord. "Thou shalt not go up" (directly, in front of them, as in the former conflict, and as he was about to do age.in); "go round a.bout them to their rear, and come upon them opposite the mul- berry trees" (a spot, probably well known to David a.nd his men, where a cluster or grove of baca trees would favour their attack), etc. "The words teach us that in our own strength, and merely with the human weapons of reason and science, we are not to make war against the adversary. Success ce.n only be calculated upon when the conflict is undertaken under the influence of the Holy Spirit of God breathed forth, and in the immediate blessed experience of the gracious presence of the Lord and of the truth of his Word" (Krummacher).-D. Vera. 24:, 26 ~1 Chron. xiv. 15-17).-(THE VALLEY OF REPHAIM.) Signs. "The sound of a going '(e.s of footsteps, Judg. v. 4; eh. vi. 13) "in the beginnings" (on the tops or a.t the entrance of the grove) "of the baca trees," which David heard, was a sign appointed by God, occurring, either by his extraordinary e.nd miraculous operation for e. specinl purpose; or by his ordinary operation in nature and providence (the rust- ling of the leaves in a still season by a fresh breeze, such a.s, in the East, usually springs  136 'l'HE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. [on. v. 1-20.