The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 465

the high priests to the mon of ,Judah, and the reason of the promotion of Ama,a. (together with hie reasonu.blo desire to express his sense of Joab's dangerous liberty in dieobeying o. positive public command). The noble-hearted king felt the importance of the restoration of peace and unity so deeply, and was so sensible of the mercy of God in answering his desire when in a.nguish (eh. xv. 25, 26), that, on this occasion of joy, sobered though it was by thoughts of chastisement just past, he cannot but grant an amnesty to all his foes. In the exercise of this royal clemency we see set forth the following truths. I. THIii INFLUENCE ON MEN OF ALL OONDITIONB OF A TIDE OF SUCCERS. The turn of the tide had come for David, and with it men good and bad, great and small, through- out the land began to consider how they had better comport themselves under the new circumstances. Israel hastened to indicate readiness (ver. 11). Judah was waiting for some encouragement to yield (vers.12-14), and receiving it, hasted to be first at Jordan (vers. 15, 41). .And such representative men as Shimei and Ziba show ea!erness to find favour with the victorious monarch. Probably only an active section of the less thoughtful people had really rejected David ; the great mass were won over to the winning side because it was the winning side, and, now that David was returning to power, they, and also the real leaders of the rebellion, move on with the tide. Success has a great charm for some minds. The day of prosperity draws out many friends. In national and religious affairs multitudes are influenced, not by a calm and inde- pendent consideration of the merits of the question or system, but by the fact that tbere is a semblance of prosperity. Men are not without reason spoken of as a "flock; "they are disposed to go in with the rest. This is not the highest type of humanity. II. DOUBTFUL LOYALTY IN THE RELATIONSHIPS OF LIFE. The real friends of .Absa- lom and such men as Shimei fell in with the change in public opinion, and professerl, the latter most eagerly and humbly, to welcome the king back. Allegiance is a matter of degrees, and springs from mixed motives. David had to feel for the rest of his days that policy governed the loyalty of some of his people. In national life there are many causes of unsteadiness of loyal attachment to the head of the state-some lying in the seat of authority, and some in ignorance, prejudice, or occasionally the convictions of the people. Every bond of union between moral beings implies a loyalty more or less defined to persons and interests. Master e.nd servant, husband and wife, partners in business and government, teachers and pupils, create, by the relation formed, a demand for loyalty thll one to the other and to the common interests professedly sought by the union. 'l'he fellowship of the saints in.Church life especially creates scope for mutual loyalty and co=on loyalty to Christ; We may see many things in one, for all truth is related; and therefore, in the doubtful loyalty of men in David's time, with its necessary weakness to the national life, and injury to the highest interests of the king- dom, we see the evil brought on the world by defective loyalty in the various relation- ships men enter into; and especially do we see the pernicious effect of defective loyalty of professing Christians to the Church and to Christ. The practical bearings of this are very many and very wide. III. INDICATIONS OF AN UNEASY OONBCIENOE. The moral value of actions is not to be seen by looking at them simply as actions ; their form may be perfect, their real value is seen in their connections. It was a beautiful action to hasten over Jordan and be first to bid the king welcome ; the most devoted of his friends could not do more; but for Shimei to do it, after his conduct towards David, took away from the deed the flow of its natural beauty. The act was evidence of an uneasy conscience conjoined with a cowardly, time-serving policy. 'l'hat he was truly penitent is not admissible from the tenor of his words-they sound hollow. It is not the custom of the true J)enitent to rarer to his good deeds in proof of penitence (ver. 20). Nor, perhaps, _was Ziba without a restless conscience in thus seeking early to court the favour of the kmg, who would soon learn the facts concerning his former deception (eh. xvi. 1-4). \Ve here see that conscience is alive, even in very base men; that it is quiescent anu seemingly at ease when either possibility of exposure or punishment is far off; that it is ~everthe- less sensitive to· any change in events which tend to hasten exposure or punishment; that its greatest dread is falling into the hands of a supreme powe~; and that, in,tead of elevating the man, and prompting to renovation, it rather drags him down to the low aud plausible means of avoiding what it knows is deserved. Let the religious te>\chcr  oli6 Tll:E SEOOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. [ CU. XIX. 1-43,