The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 279

Vere. 22-27.-(JERUSALEM, RABBAH,) Ormcealment of •in. Ordf!T' of event8: 1. Report of Urie.h'e dee.eh (vere. 22-26). 2. Batheheba mourns (seven de.ye, 1 Sam. xxxi. 13) for her huebe.nd (ver. 26), being probably unacquainted with the manner in which it we.e broutp;ht about. 3. De.vid makes her hie wife, 4. Joe.b takes Rabbah, M:cept the oitadel (eh. xii. 26). 5. David, on receiving Joab'a message, goes to Rabbah e.nd conquers the city (eh. xii, 27-31). 6. David and all the people return to Jernsalem, 7. Bathshebe. bee.re a non (ver. 27). "When I kept silence my bones we.xed old Whilst I continue.Uy groe.ned; For de.y and night thy he.nd we.a hee.vy upon me: My moisture was turned into the drought of summer:" (Ps. uxii. 3, 4.) The life ·or David hae an outward and an inward aspect: the one described in the history, the other by himself in his psalms; each the neceesary complement of the other. '!'hey are, in genera.I, closely connected and correspond, the outward being the expression of _the inward, and explained by it. But sometimes they appear at variance, and in some respects present a melancholy contrast; as in the period that followed his transgression. He had succeeded in hiding it from public view; but he could not hide it altogether from himself. Consider concealment of sin in relation ter- I. THE OUTWARD LIFE, Many o. man carries in his breast a. guilty secret, unsus- pected b.v _9there. He may be the object of their admiration and envy, and distin- guished (as David was) by: 1 . .Apparent sincerity in public and in private life. He judges offenders in the gate, or receives news (from ihe battle-field) with words of resignation or encouragement (ver. 25). "Alas 1 how often do men hide baseness and satisfaction at successful plotting under the commonplace of resignation to the inevitable, of submission to the conditions of existence!" He goes to the house of God ( eh. vii. 8), "returns to bless his household" ( eh. vi 20), and maintains the form of private devotion. Yet he is inwardly "like the troubled sea. when it cannot rest," etc. (Isa. JviL 20). 2. Restless activity (eh. xii. 29), which, thuugh it appear to be a dis- play of admirable energy, is really pursued as a welcome diversion from disquieting thoughts. "The enterprise promised an opportunity of escaping from himself; and he probably went thither in the maddest of all attempts, that, namely, of outrunning n. guilty conscience" (W. M. Taylor). 3. Earthly prospflT'ity. "And he took the king'ij crown," etc. (eh. xii. 30). In this there was, probably, something of vain-glory (1. John ii. 16). I t we.s the culmination of his victories over the heathen. But the honour of wearing the crown of " their king " ( or Milcom, Mo loch) was a poor compen- sation for the dishonour he had done to his own, and the loss of uprightness of heart; his triumph over idolatry a miserable set-off against his overthrow by S:1tan. 4. Unusual severity. (Ch. xii. 31.) The effect of sin is to harden the heart. i, I waive the 'quo.nfom 6' the sin, • The .he.zard of concealing; But och t· it' ho.rdens a' _within, And petrifies the feeling ! " (Burns.) I t also perverts the judgment. He who is wanting in o. due sense of his own sinfulness is apt to be a severe judge of others (eh. xii. 6; Matt. xvili. 28_; :n.i. 41; Rom. ii. 21). A conscience ill at ease makes the temper sullen and irritable; and a repressed feeling of justice in relation to a man himself sometimes finds relief in the infliction of cruel vengeance on other men. "An evil conscience is the concealed root of bitterness from which spring a thousand poisonous plants, to shed their baleful influence upon the possessor and upon society at large " (McCosh). II. Tm: INWARD LIFE. The experience of David was marked by: 1. Obstinatll 1ilence. (Pa. xxxii. 3.) He not only souO'ht to conceal his transgression from men, but also sullenly refused to admit" the iniquity of his sin" to himself, or acknowledge it before God, 'l'he impulse to confession in such a man must have been strong; but he ~truggled a~ainst it with all his might (Ps. nxii. 9), as ?the:5 ~ave d~ne. 2. Self- decei,ving guile. "Th11 deceit of the impenitent heart consists m its seeking to excuse  284 TltE SECOND BOOK or SAhWEt,. [dlt, !.I. 1-21