The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 400

my deliverance, nnd then the etorm will cee.ee. 'He will requite me.' Mercy will find a way of enriching my poor troubled soul out of the very ills which eo juRtly have come upon me," The true heart in its deepest sorrows never loses faith in God's good- neRs and care, It holds to the posRibility of a turn In the tide. It reRts not on its morits, not on speculations upon what is unknown, but upon the assured character of God as revealed in Christ. It assumes and presumes nothing, but leaves a.II with him, and so finds comfort in the hope that through his free unmerited grace a.II thinas 0 shall be found to work together for good (Rom. viii. 28). GENERAL LESSONS. 1. It is an illustration of the dreadful nature of sic. that it deposits seeds of trouble which may be inactive during a sea.son of prosperity, but which put forth their strength when adversity falls upon us (vers. 5, 6). 2. The children of God may do well to remember that there are watchful foes, human and Satanic, ready to take advantage of any circumstance that may bring reproach on them as servants of the living God (vers. 5, 6). 3. Our faithful attachment to those bearing sorrow because of their shortcomings is a duty, when they bear it in a submissive spirit, even though it cause us to be sharers in their sufferings (vers. 6, 13, 14). 4. In seek- ing to alleviate the sufferings of the oppressed, we should abstain from vindictive passions (ver. 10). 5. The most tender consideration and sympathy should be extended towards those whose hearts are crushed by the ingratitude and cruelty of their own children (ver. 11). 6. The most effective way of ministering to those whose spirits are broken down by providential chastisements is to foster in their hearts simple trust in God's great mercy (ver. 12). We obtain evidence of our being true children of God when, in the time of our calamity and amidst persecutions, we are followers to those who, when" reviled, reviled not again" (ver. 11; cf.1 Pet. ii. 23). Vera. 15-23.-Illustrations of facts and principles. The facts are: 1. Absalom enters Jerusalem with his adherents and Ahithophel. 2. Hushai presents himself before Absalom, with a salutation in ambiguous language. 3. On Absalom expressing sur- prise that he had not gone with David, he, with studied caution, expresses his reaainess to serve whom the Lord and all the men of Israel might choose, and further declares his intention to " serve" in the son's presence as he had in the father's. 4. Absalom, seeking counsel, is adV::sed by Ahithophel to strengthen his position by taking posses- sion of bis father's concubines. 5. Whereupon Absalom, in the view of the people, conforms to the advice. 6. Ahithophel is represented as a man whose reputation as a counsellor was of the highest character. The historian passes from the sorrows of David to the aspirations and first measures of Absalom, and reveals another line of providential events apparently working in another direction, and yet, in the light of Nathan's words (eh. xii. 7_;_12), clearly tending to the realization of one purpose. It is only the religious man that can discern the mind of God in occurrences utterly dissimilar in their bearing. The good are crushed and the vile are exalted, but the crushing and the elevation are but products of free human instrumentality, taken hold of by an unseen Power, to bring about the ends of a righteous administration of justice. In the opening accounts of Absalom'11 entrance on political power we have instructive illustrations of facts and principles. I. DEFERENOE WON DY AGE AND CHARACTER. The rash and reckless Absalom treats the aged Hushai with unwonted respect, even while regarding him as a "friend• o! David (vers. 16, 17). The violence usually accompanying a bold revolt was evide?tly restrained by the will of God acting through the natural influence of years combmed with reputation for moral worth. Occasionally wicked men have been heedless of infancy and age, and the better the men associated with their opponents, the more readily have they cut them off. But as a rule it is not so. History records cases of the kind here narrated. 'fhe reason is plain : sin is ashamed in presence of goodness, and the sinner's arm is weak to smite down what is its own condemnation. Conscience revives and restmins action in the presence of goodness; and the heart mus~ be brutal beyond all relief if hoary hairs do not touch it. They speak of the commg grave, and the voice is not in vaiu. Jntege1· vital scelerisque puru,s, man wields a silent power1 not only over the fabled wolf but over wolf-like men (Horace, I. ode :xxii.). II. T1rn PART OF SAGACIOUS MEN 1~ HUMAN AFFAIRS. Hushai and Ahithophel differed much in moml character, but they were similar in their position as advisers in the  406 THE SECOND 13oo1t. or SAMUEL. CoH. xvi. 1-23,