The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 433

I. As A MATTER OF FAOT, OBLIGATIONS INVOLVmG MOOH PAIN IN THEIR DISCHARGE DO ARISE SOME TIME OR OTHER IN THE COURSE OF A GOOD MAN'S LIFE. Our entire life is a. continuous duty. Obligations attend us every day. Right action means fulfilment of/urposes, obeying laws, harmony with moral necessity. The pre8sure is incessant, an ordina.1ily is, for the Christian, a. not-unwelcome yoke. But now and then duty is in forms requiring a.ll the resources of a strong will, a.nd in a. direction against some of the most cherished feelings of the heart. David wa.s bound to ea.re for the kingdom over which be had been appointed by God. The validity of his anointing was still unrevoked by him who ordained it. It was, therefore, due to himself, his kingdom, a.nd his God that he should take means to put down the usurpation of his own son. Paternal feeling might be pained, but the obligation was imperative. The Church furnishes many such instances. The most tender of ties have been severed in order to be true to Christ's commands. The doing of his work in the world often costs much pain because of its apparent antagonism to those best loved. Peter did not exercise discipline in the early Church without anguish of spirit (Acts v. 1-5). The reproofa of the Apostle Paul were with much sorrow of heart. Letters a.re daily written with tears. Parents daily ha.vE> to resist the self-will of sons a.nd daughters, and they moum the sad necessity. Fidelity to right is, in many instances, a secret martyrdom. II. lN THE MENTAL CONFLIO'l' INCIDENT TO THE DISCHARGE OF DUTY, THE SENSE OF RIGHT RISES ABOVE PERSONAL CONSIDERATIONS. The whole history of David proves that when, at Maha.na.im, he began to collect his thoughts and consider the path of wisdom, a most painful conflict must have arisen in his mind as to the course to be taken. The clearer the conviction that, as God's anointed, he was bound to put down the force that was driving him from the throne, the sharper the pang awakened by the thought of raising the sword against his own child. The battle had to be fought out within his own nature before it wa.s transferred to the open field. The human spirit is the arena. of great struggles and victories, before men see visible triumphs. The dreadful disaster had for a. time taken a.way David's strength; the pains of hell got hold of him: he was poor, weak, a.nd forlorn. But now the recollection of duty to God and ma.n brought back his old courage and resolution; and the calm and sober way in which he began to marshal his forces showed that help had come from God to subordinate the anguish of his heart to the sense of duty. Providence seems to w0rk a.long these lines in the training of the best men. Character is strengthened by the triumph of conscientious regard for the will of God over the strivings of personal con- siderations. If to fight against a son, to face the possibility of much slaughter, and to see a prosperous reign darkened by civil war, were evils endured by David in order to carry out the kingly purposes of his anointing, how does it become Christians, in carrying out the purposes of their special anointing, to bring every thought, desire, and preference into subjection? Christ has left us the noblest example of this. Ill. A RESOLVE TO SUBORDINATE PERSONAL CONSIDERATIONS TO A SENSE OF DUTY BEING TAKEN, A GOOD MAN WILL DEVISE MEANS OF MEETl~G DIFFICULTIES AND SECURING THE END IN VIEW. The season of mental conflict being passed, and stern duty being accepted, David proves his courac;e a.nd saga.city by his calm determination, his collection of resources, his estimate of his numerical strength, his dispositions for meeting difficulties and accomplishing the end in view, his preparedness to incur personal risks, his acceptance of good and generous counsel, a.nd his precautions against disaster at the outset (vers. 1-5). The king's soul was evidently sustained by the assurance often expressed in the Psalms that the Lord was his Salvation; and this, instead of encouraging neglect and carelessness, stimulated, as it always does, energy to work a.long the lines of the Divine purpose. The emotions of the father a.re kept under by prompt and energet-ic application of all the powers of body and mind to the performance of kingly duty. Our faith in God a.nd in the realization of his purpose will nppear in the zeal with which we work to bring that purpose to pass. IV. JN BURORDINATING PERSONAL CONSIDERATIONS 'l'O A SENSE OF DUTY, A GOOD MAN WILL NEVERTHELESS CHE!llSII SENTIMENTS NATURAL TO HIS RELATIONSHIPS. David  442 THE SECOND BOOK or SAMUEL. toB. xvln. 1-:!3.