The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 294

nature were broup:ht about by God ; they were the outcome of his wi11 1 as enrely as would be the death of this child RCCOrding to the ,vorrl of the prophet. Divine ordinu.- tioos were silent and epoken. Yet the silent ordinations In d1\lly providence were modified by_ rrayer e.nd to meet new conditlone; and why, then, might not this epoken on~ ~ mod1tie~ ~ the entreaty of &ll agonized pare!1t? As. & father, he could not help thmkmg of t.his infant as a severe eufferer in being depnved of the blesl!il'la of life through no fa,,lt of its own. If spared, the child might be a perpetual me~oria.l of befitt.in!( sorrow and shame, and so would help to keep him lowly and penitent, Nor could he but feel for the poor woman cruelly sinned against, and whose grief would be consequent on her husband's sin. Moreover, precedents were not wanting in the case of Abraham (Gen. xviii. 20-33) and of Moses (Exod. xxxii. 30-86), in which men pleaded against what seemed to be inevitable. Subsequent to David's time, we know that men were permitted to pray ~"II.inst the apparently inevitable (Joel ii. 12-14). Our Saviour gave utterance to human sensibility when he prayed that, if possible, the cup might pass from him. God ha.s never expressed displeasure at the utterance of the sorrows which spring from natural affection, for feelings often struggle thus with the course of providence. Stoicism has no place in Christianity.· The physical order is subordinate to the moral. IJ. INTE!,'SE FEELING IS REASONABLE WHERE OUB BINS HAVE TO DO WITH THJ!I A?-.'TICIPATED DISAS"n!:R. The intensity of David's anguish arose, not from the fact that he was a f~ther: but from the know:ledg~ he had_that the providence that was bringing death to his child was connected wtth his own sm. That another should suffer for his sin, and this other a little child, was indeed a hitter reason for pleading with God; Although the course of providence, which connects the suffering of offspring with the sins of parent.c;, is in the widest moral bearings of the fact, both just and ·merciful,' yet it is not always seen to be so. Nevertheless, the great anguish of the evil-doer on that account is not a protest so much as a lament over his own sin, and a prayer that; if poesible, this organic issue of sin may, by some intervention, be prevented or modified,' The educational value of that feeling on the life of a repentant sinner is of great worth in itself, and rea.lly leads to the formation of a character that shall, in the order of providence, do much to lessen the evils that otherwise would arise. • JIL THE BESOBT OF NATURAL AFFECTION WHEN STRUGGLING AGAINST THE ORDER' OF PROVIDENCE IB TO Goo. A great change had recently come over ·David. The alienation of the backsliding heart was gone. As of old, so he now brings his sorrows and troubles to bis God. 'l'he overwhelmed heart flies to the Rock that is high. He sits not with the scornful, mocking at the ways of Providence, and seeing evil wher~ only there is mysterious judgment. The best and tenderest feelings of human nature~ where sanctified by the spirit of piety, turn instinctively to God for help, and they find prayer as the form in which their yearnings are expressed. Some men fancy that they only see and feel the apparent severities of the providential order, and that sullen vexation and displeasure are the only appropriate conditions of mind in relation to it, Christians see and feel quite 88 much, but their bruised spirit :finds refuge in him' who ordains all in justice and mercy, and implores him, so far as may be wise and good, to let the penitent, entreating heart count for something among the elements which determine the ultimate issues. • IV, ~THEN THE OOURSE OF PROVIDENCE 18 FOUND TO BE UNALTERABLE, NATURAL AFFECTION IS SUIIOBDINATED TO THE HIGHER PRINCIPLE OF ACQUIESCENCE IN THE WILL OF Goo. David was right in feeling as he did, in expressing his feeling iri earnest prayer, in waiting as long as there was hope of reversal of the sentence. He. actt:d as a father, as a husband, as a penitent. But when once the human desire and human view of wisdom and kindness were proved, by accomplished fact, not to be in accord with Divine wisdom, then, as became a trustful, restored child of God; David ceased to plead and to be in anguish. "Not my will, but thine be done I" was the spirit of his action. It was his duty and privilege now to rest in the Lord, and believe that he will briog to pass the kindest and wisest issue. 'l'he death of the child ia accepted as the best thing, and the evils once supposed to issue from the event are now believed to be qualified by a love which maketh all things work together. for good, It is tl.c sign of an enlightened mind when a roan can thus rise from his ,i:riefs, and con- iunn hi.I! mental and moral and social life to the unalterable will of God. It takes OH, :ur, 1-31,] THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. 299