The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 375

"revealing the thoughts of many hearts "-Bheds a clear light upon the condition of lerael. "We seem to know all the people; the natural manners and vivid outbursts of fcelin~ make the scene 11tand out with a kind of homely poetry." In it we discern the presence and influence of: 1. Divine chastisement, announced by the prophet (eh. xii. 10), "The sword shall never depart from thine hoµee," etc. Forgiveness of sin does not annul its natural consequences. Such consequences are sure, however they ru11y 11ppear to be delayed; and, though inflicted by the hand of man, they do not less really proceed from the hand of God. Already David had experienced the effects of his transgression in his family; he must now experience them, on a larger scale, in his kingdom. 2. Defective administration of judgment by the king (ver. 3); due, not eo much to advancing age (over sixty), as to timidity, irresolution, and want of energy, conBl'quent on what had taken place; and "a tendency to shrink into private life, with a preference for such duties as preparing materials for the future temple rat-her than those of active government;" perhaps also to serious illness, brought on by trouble of heart, and partially incapacitating him from performing the increasing duties of his office (Ps. xxi.viii., xxxix., xii., lv.). 3. Prevaknt dissatisfaction among the people. His sin "broke the powerful spell which had hitherto bound the whole nation to the name of David" (Ewald). "The imperfections and defects of his internal administra- tion of the kingdom, when the time of his brilliant victories was past, became more and more perceptible to the people, and furnished occasion for dissatisfaction with his government" (Keil). "His pious actions, his attention to the public ordinances of worship, perhaps even his psalms, had for the time lost their credit and their sacredness. Not every one was capable of estimating aright the repentance of the fallen man, and his humiliation before the Almighty. It was almost forgotten that he was king by the grace of God" (Krummacher). "The infirm condition of the king, his eminent godlrness and opposition to popular feelings, and the distance of age that now separated him from the sympathies of the younger portion of the people" (Blaikie); some dis- content in his own tribe of Judah (ver. 10); "the still lingering hopes of the house or Saul and of the tribe of Benjamin (eh. xvi. 3, 8); and the deep-rooted feeling of Ephraim and the northern tribes (eh. xix. 41) against Judah" (Stanley);-allcombined to make the people ripe for insurrection. 4. Private animosity .on the part of its leaders~ Abselom, on account of his long banishment in Geshur and exclusion from court; Ahithophel., the grandfather of Bathsheba (ver. 12; eh. xi. 3), on account of the dishonour done to his house; Amasa, son of Abigal, David's half-sister (eh. xvii. 25), possibly on a!lcount of some neglect or discourtesy shown toward him. "These four years (ver. 7) were for David a time of increasing care and anxiety, for that "'.hich was planned cannot have remained altogether concealed from him; but he had neither the courage nor the strength. to smother the evil undertaking in the germ " (Delitzsch, in Ps. xli.). The course of Abselom (now twenty-seven years of age) was marked by- L AllBITI0N CBnUNALLY INDULGED. Sinful perversion of the natural desire of pre- eminence; unhallowed love of power and glory (as in the case of Adonijah,_his broth?r, 1 Kings i 5), the bait by which Satan seeks to allure men to a false worship (Matt, 1v. 9; 1 Sam. xv. 1-9). "He showed him in a jewell'd wreath All crowns the earth bestows ; But not the rankling thorns beneath, That pierce the wearer's brows." Absalom's ambition was peculiarly culpable; because of his: 1. Self-conceit; his selfish, proud. and false estimate of his own worth. He was " the represent~~ive of vain-glory and self-conceit" (Wordsworth). "Those are commonly most amb1t1ous of JJreferment that d!"e least fit for it" (Matthe'Y Henry). 2. ,C~vet?lll!ness \ the o_bject of his desire belonging to another, and unattamable save by ID;JIISt1ce: It 1s not likely that he wished simply to share the sovereignty of Israel. 3. D1s~ffect1on and unnatural envy toward his father. 4. Disloyalty toward the king. 6. Rebellion against God, the supreme King of Israel, by whose ordinance David had been appointed. He had, 11pparently, "no spark of religious principle in his bre~st.". 6. Self-w!ll; indispos!tion to submit to the will of Jehovah, to defer to the nomrnat10n of the krng, or to wait for Lis iiecew.e. He resolved to anticipate all, and have his own way. "He that destroys OIT, XV, 1-37,] THE SEUOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. .381