The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 398

in eight of tho thousands of Israel, poor anil powerless; it was a greater wave to havo to listen to the roproaches and cursings of the wicked; but the grog.test billow of all was the knowledge that his now eldest son, his former pride and delie1ht was in rebellion 11g11inat him, and was seeking his life (ver. 11). Fathers, kind ~nd loving, only can estimate the greatness of this swelling billow. Compared with this all else in form of lose of property e.nd home and friends, must be expressed by the' inferior term "waves." And, as we shall see, the magnitude of this is the greater still because perceived to be in some sort the consequent of the former errors of the sufferer'. There are many tribulations for the righteous, in many instances arising out of their own conduct, a.nd it may seem II trnism to say that some are greater than others; but the fa.et deserves noting, inasmuch a8 material and social troubles, which to an observer seem to press most heavily, a.re often slight compared with others that enter more into the depths of the soul. II. THE REAL GRADATION OF TROUBLE IS OFTEN NOT DISCERNIBLE BY A)s'Y BUT THE BUFFERER. To Joab and men of his character it would seem to be the climax of all calamity that a "dead dog" should curse and throw stones at a king. It was a climax in the sense of coming upon other calamities, but only David could perceive its relative weight in the storm then passing over him. His fatherly heart alone could feel the full crushing force of the son's ingratitude and crnelty. He alone could discern with agonizing feeling the relation between hill own sin and this dire evil. He only knew the rebound in this dreadful form of the recent alienation of his own heart from purity and God. We often spend our pity on suffering men and women when visible disasters fall, and perhaps fix on some loss of property, or health, or children, or some terrible blasting of a life's hopes, as the item most oppressive to the smitten one. Possibly, in the unrevealed record of their own personal experience in relation to God, there is a fact which does more to bow down the spirit than a.II else beside. The heart of each man knoweth its own bitterness. There are secrets never to be unravelled here below, or, if made known in words, fully realized in their sorrow-ea.using power only by those whose past experience is bound up with their existence. III. THEY ARE ASSOOIATED Ill THE MIND OF THE SUFFERER WITH A SENSE OF PERSONAL DEMERIT. The connection of the events of this period of David's life with his past life was not simply discerned to be organic, but in that discernment there was a distinct recognition of his own unworthiness in the sight of God, yea, of his richly deserving these troubles of varying gravity. Probably not one man in that strange procession, except Nathan,divined the real thoughts and feelings of David. The curses of Shimei were as the echo of his own conscience on that dark and dreadful day when love to God yielded to unchastity and design to slay. The horrible sin came forth, and, though truly forgiven, was now" ever before" him (Ps. li. 3). No curses of the wicked were too bad for him ! No rebellion of cherished son was too severe a chastise- ment for him I The "waves and billows" rolled on. ·were they not fitly framed to swallow up one so self-condemned, so unworthy of pity? Yes; here lies the meaning of those bared feet, that bowed head, that silence under the curse, that moral inability to raise a finger to stay the swelling flood of troubles. Nor are we to wonder that this should be so in the case of a forgiven and restored soul (eh. xii. 13); for the more pure the heart of the restored one, the more blessed the sense of actual forgiveness, the keener will be the feeing of demerit when the old sin is brought to the memory by calamitous events which it set in train. It takes a very holy nature to appreciate properly what sin really is. In the instance of all who experience the "waves and billows" of God, there is, with a clearness more or less full, a.n association of the trouble with their own past demerit. Whether they can, as David did, actually trace the lines, they know that all trouble is in some way connected with the presence of sin in the world, and that their own past relntion to God was at one time such that no earthly disaster could be too great as a chastisement. Irreligious men don't know what this is; but it is a real fact in Christian life. " I am not worthy of the least of thy mercies;" " It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed" (Gen. xxxil. 10; Lam. iii. 22). IV. THERE IS A DISTINCT RECOGNITION OF THE WILL OF GoD IN THEM. There is an instructive difference in the conduct of Abishai and David. The man of the world saw the passion and heard the voice of Shimei, a.nd his anger was roused accordingly; the sorrowing man of God saw only the will of God. He seemed deaf to the torrent 404 THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. [cu. XVI. 1-23.