shall never dep1nt from thine house" (eh, hllth given sentence for thee, and pro- xii. 10). The ~word had devoured one !!OD; nounced thy acquittal. The same phrnse W8.8 it now to claim another? And then P occurs in ver. 19. and then ? Where would it stop? And Ver. 32.-18 the YO'IIJl8' man, eto.? Alarm Ahimao.z RBW the king's distress, and gave for Absalom is the dominant feeling in an evRsive 11uswer. He undel'1!tood now David's mind; and as Cushi had been sent Joab's unwillingness to let him carry such for the very purpose, he at once oommunioates painful tidings, and W8.I! glad that this part the news to him in words that leave no of the news bed been entrusted to the doubt of hie meaning. Cushite. When .Toab aent the king's ser- Ver. 88.-The king was muoh moved. The vant, and (me) thy servant. This distinction Hebrew word properly refers to agitation of is strange, A.nd probably one of these phrases body. A violent trembling seized the king, has crept in from the margin. Bat if the and, rising, he went up to the gua.rd-ch!Lm• Ethiopian we.& technica.lly "the king's ber over the two gates, that he might give slave," and AhimMz "thy slave" (by cour- free oouree to his lamentation. The whole is tesy), we might imagine that negro attend- told eo vividly that we oe.n ecELroely doubt ants already formed part of the state of that we ha.ve here the words of one who w&B kings. It was long aft&warde that Ebed- present a.t this pathetic scene, who saw the melech was a Cushite in the service of Zede- tremor which shook DELvid'e body, a.nd kiah (Jer. xxxviii. 7). watched him as he crept slowly up the Ver. 3l.-TiQI18'11, etc. The literal mean- stairs, uttering words of intense sorrow. ing is more fit for the mouth of a slave. And it we.& ooneoience which emote him; "Let my lord the J..·ing learn the tidings for his own " sin had found him out." ln that Jehovah bath judged (a.nd delivered) Pe. xxxviii. and xl. he has made the confes- thee this day from the hand," etc., that ie, sion that it was his own iniquity which wa.s God, sitting as Judge at the a.seize of battle; now surging over his head.
HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-18.-The facts are: 1. David. refreshed by the aid sent him, sets himself to the work of organizing his followers, and divides them into three corps, under J oab, A bishai, and I ttai respectively. 2. On his proposing to head the force, the people urge, him to desist from doing so, pointing out that, in case of a. conflict, the enemy would ba sure to make an endeavour to kill him rather than to fight a regular battle. 3. The king yields to their persuasions, and, as they suggest, a.bides by the city to render succour if required. 4. Having seen his men march out, he lays strict injunction on his captains, in the hearing of their forces, to deal gently with Absalom for his sake. 5. A severe battle takes place, in which the followers of Absalom are defeated with great slaughter. 6. Absalom, in riding through a wood, is entangled in the branches by his head, and, while hanging there, is seen by a man who reports the fact to Joab. 7. On being reproached for not slaying Absalom, the man reminds Joab of the solemn injunction of the king, and that be was restrained by that, as also by the fear of being discovered should he attempt the deed in secrecy. 8. Joab in a rage takes three darts, e.nd thrustR them through the heart of Absalom, and his armour-bearers also join in the infliction of wounds on his body. 9. Joab thereupon recalls the people from the pursuit, and causes Absa.lom to be buried in a pit and covered by a heap of' stones, the only monument in his memory being the pillar which he himself had erected during his lifetime. 10. On the death and burial of Absalom becoming known, his forces are dispersed, each man fleeing to his tent.
Tli£ discJW,rge of painful obligations. The hasty flight of David from Jerusalem was not the result of cowardice, but of prudence and of spiritual penetration. He thought it possible that a movement which had won over so able a man as Ahithophel, and which bad developed eo secretly, might issue in a sudden rising which would involve the city in bloodshed. Moreover, with the keen spiritual insight which ever character- ized him, he could not but see in this rebellion the chastising hand before which it became him in his lifelong penitence, mingled with sincere trust, to bow. But now that Jerusalem was safe from bloodshed, and the sanctuary of God was undefiled, and his faithful adherents were refreshed and in personal safety, the time had come to wusider his position and del'ise such measures as Providence might render :possible; and oit. xvtu. 1-33,] THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL, 441
he thus a.t once found himself face to face with the unwelcome necessity of wa.g:ng war ngn_inst his own son. We ma.y, then, take this as illustrating the obligations under which good men sometimes find themselves to pursue a course most distressinu to ~~~ 0