The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 269

trembled not before Golintb, now spends hours in thinking how he may e.~capn thA consequences of his own peoplo knowing wha.t be bas done in private. Is it simply fcnr of civil nnd social loHs? Is it merely dread of physical pain? No; even the guilty tesUfy that sin is abominable; that sin i~ deepest personal disgrace; that sin is too black and ugly to bear even the gaze of imperfect men. No doubt David saw that .be would suffer loss of respect among the best of the land; that the force of law would be weakened; that turbulence might arise in his kingdom by reason of others following his example; and that be would no longer be able to figure before the nc,,tion as the _illustrious reformer of religion. The thousands who daily live in dread of, and consider how they me.y escape, human exposure I What restless nights! what deep- laid plans I what feverish concern !-all to cover up sin from feeble man! And yet God knows all, and will bring to judgment. Truly sin renders the operation of the mind very perverso. God knows all and judges all, and yet all effort is to keep man from knowing I Nothing is done God ward, except to harden the heart against him, and go on in sullen desperation. '!'bis is sin !-this the accursed evil of the universe! IV. lN SEEKING TO" ESCAPE HUMAN EXPOSURE, THE FIRST CONTRIVANCE IS TO snru- LATE THE ORDER OF PROVIDENCE; i.e. to create, by innocent natural means, an order of events that shall have in them and their results an appearance of providential succes- sion. David does not commit another positive sin to cover up the first. The sin- stained soul again, notwithstanding its degradation, pays homage to righteousness, in its deliberate effort to hide its past deed by deeds that a.re within the province of right; for David had a right to send for any officer to give him imforrua.tion as to the progress of the war (vers. 6, 7), and it was only generous to allow him to go and rest at home (ver. 8). Lord Bacon has taught us that, by carefully studying the processes of Nature to see how she works, we, on submitting to her ways, become her conquerors, by being able to set her at work in circumstances of our own creation. The scheme of an impenitent sinner, when wishing to hide his sin from the knowledge of man, is very much of that kind. ·He knows the order of providential events, and he tries to create circumstances by which, in the judgment of men, Providence shall be credited with the deed he himself has done. Uriah, not David, shall be made to appear as the father of the child. How this perverse ingenuity works still is familiar to all who know only a. little of mankind. The cleverness with which trains of events are set in motion so as to assuredly direct attention from the doer of evil, is amazing. The devil was always a great schemer, and his dupes catch his spirit. V. THE FAILURE OF SCHEMES INVOLVING NO POSITIVE SIN IN THE DETAILS IS SOON FOLLOWED BY DEEDS DISTINCTLY EVIL. If Providence cannot be simulated, because of the uncontrollable nature of its a.gents (vers. 9-11), then homage to righteousness must cease, and positive evil must be done (vers. 13-15). The one desired end-escape from human exposure--must, by good or evil means, be secured. The knowledge that God knows aud is angry counts for nothing. The despair of escaping God, combined with a mad identific11tion of one's interests with the evil committed and still cherished in the heart, seems to operate on the mind in such a we.y as practically to banish him from thought or care. All thought is on man, and at e.ny cost man must be kept in ignorance. It is against even the conscience, stained and hardened as it is, to do definite evil, if possible-so mighty is the moral law in the worst of men-but preservation of eelf from exposure is now the first law, to which right, generosity, every true and holy sentiment e.nd 0 obligation, must bow. VI. IN HAVING RECOURSE TO DESPERATE MEASURES OF EVIL, THERE 18 SOME REGARD TO APPEARANCES. It is only the very uttermost moral degradation-that, perhaps, of fiends in hell-that can perpetrate fresh evils with utter freedom, and without any reserve of decenoy or tacit recognition of the majesty of law. Every hour spent by David in elaborating his scheme brought him more within the coH of iniquity, and gradually reduced his moral sensibilities towards zero; but even when in his desrair he meditated the death of the man whose life might load to exposure of his sin, he conld. not slay him with his own hand, be could not say even to Joab, "Slay him." Appear- ances must be saved, and some homage paid, by the lingering sense of right, to the Law of God, by a contest being created in the interests of the kingdom, so that in fighting for hie country the doomed man might die by the hand of the ene.my. Of course, David did not kill him I Of course, it was au incident in the natural order of warlike even ls I U, BA?dUEI,, T  274 THE SECO~D BOOK OF SAMUEL. [ctt. x1. l-2i,