The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 434

s11ppre11eed the pain of me.kinp: wa.r on his aon bece.use it was right 110 to do, but that did not imply the uprooting from his heart of those feelings of tenderness' e.nd com- pa•sion and yearning sorrow which are proper to a fe.ther, even for a prodigal son. He did not waver in his kingly design to subdue rebellion, nor did he show a wicked le~i~ncy towards an evil life in the son, when he, in the presence of the whole army, eo.iome,i oo Joe.b to" deal gently with the young man Absalom." The rebel was his o,..-n child, and a pious heart could not but wish to have opportunity once more to pour upon that child the full force of its sorrowful love, in hopes of winning him over to a ~<'nse of his guilt. No feeling so natural as the wish that a prodigal may not be out off by unpitying hands in the midst of his sins. The legal question as to whnt would have to be done with a captured rebel was not yet for decision. Sanctified human nature simply yearned to save the sinner from men as cruel as the grave. Knowing the ch1nacter of Joab, and being a stranger to mere personal revenge, David urged upon him, as & strong restraint, oonsideratioo for himself as king and father. There are ·many Christian parents to-day who feel for their erring ones just as David did for his, although, like him, they are obliged, out of regard to their families and themselves, to pursue a line of rigid duty. Hope of salvation never dies from a parent's heart. Beautifully does this adumbrate the compassion of God towards his prodigals I "Deal gently with him" .seems to be the message sent forth to the forces which work out the, king's purposes in the discipline of lifo. " Do not crush him " is the spirit of God's, government. How much we each owe ,to that I V. 'l'HEBE ABE PBOVIDE:!o."TIAL ENOOUBAGEJIIENTS TO THE SUDORDINATION OF PERSONAL• CONSIDERATIONS TO A SENSE OF DUTY, David was helped in his mental conflict by, refiection on the past and present. He was so far spared by God. Sympathetic friends. had brought him a.id when in great distress. His own followers were intelligently· loyal (ver. 3), and were obviously strong in their confidence in the justice of his cause.• 'l'bis kind of external support is of great service when a man is passing through a struggle as to whether he can perform a painful duty. Generally when God assigns· duties involving pain in the performance, provision is made for encouragement. When our Saviour required his apostles to renounce all and to look on to persecution like that which he was suffering from, he cheered them by the promise of. the Comforter, 1rnd a peace which the world could not give. The Resurrection made them strong to endure the loss of all things, and to subordinate love of home,. friends, and country to the obligation of fighting against evil in the world. GENERAL LESSONS. 1. In the time of disaster it behoves us, when occasion arises. for reflection on the situation, t.o avail ourselves with vigour of the resources for recovering our position which God places around us. 2. One of the best preserv:i,tiv~s from utter despondency is a remembrance that God has a work for us to accomplish m life, and hence, the more clearly this is kept in view, the more readily shall we be able, to face disagreeable duties. 3. It is the duty of citizens to take precautions for .the safety of those in high positions, since the welfare of the state is inv?lved in_ their lives. 4. One of the elements of a perfect moral character to be attamed to 18 the balance between the most rigid justice and the cherishing of feelings free from the. taint of personal revenge. 5. As in the state we ought to do things for the "king's sake" which do not involve a breach of morality, oo in the Church there are things we i;hou.ld do for Chru.t's sake, which would not be done did we simply follow out the bare tendencies of our imperfect nature and conform to the usages of society• .A revilation of sin and its issue. The remarkable space given in the sacred history to the life and conduct of Absalom in their relation to David may arouse the question 116 to the reason. It is not easy to assign all the reasons that may have operated in: the mind of the inspired collector o_f the annals of_ Israel to giv; _such _prominence to. these detailB,; but we may be safe m sayrng that it was the D1vrne will to set forth,. for the in~-truction of all ages, the discipline of _the "ma~ 8:ftcr God'~ ?wn he~rt," and also, for the i;ame object, the development and issue of Sill ID a co':ISPl?uous 1Dstance. Men learn a lesson written out in large hold characters; and herem hes most of the tt:acbing value of the Old Testament histories. W c may, then, trace he~e, in a_ concrete in,;Ui.IJct and striking form, illustrations of what all sill more or less 1s and rnvolvcs, thuugL the particular forms it asi;u.mes may vary. (lll, XVJlI. 1-33,] THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. 443