The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 503

HOMILETICS. Vere. 1-14.-.A story of deferred retribution. The facts are: 1. A famine con- tinui1;1g for t_hree years, and inquiry b~in~ made_ of the L~rd bf David, he is informed that 1t was m consequence of Saul's sm m slaying the G1beonites. 2. David, askin"' of the Gibeonites whe.t he shall do for them by way of atonement for the.- wrong don:, is informed that they seek not gold or the life of any man of Israel, but require that seven of Saul's family should be put to death, and bung up in Gibeab of Saul. 3. David at once yields to the demand, but spares Mephiboshetb in consequence of the special bond between himself and J onatban. 4. Un the seven men being put to death, Rizpab spreads out sackcloth on a rock. and keeps watch by the corpses against beasts and birds of prey till the rain falls. 5. David is told of the ~eed of Rizpab, and h<l soon after obtains the bones of Saul and Jonathan from Jabesh-Gilead, and causes the remains of the seven sons to be collected, and has the bones of Saul and Jonathan interred in the family burying-place in Zelah of Benjamin. We assume that the record in this chapter refers to an earlier period in the life of David than does the narrative in the few preceding chapters, which evidently are designed to set forth the connection of David's great sin with its punishment. The story relates the incidents connected with an otherwise unrecorded sin of Saul's, and the retribution which ea.rue in due course upon his house. The varied questions and topics of interest and difficulty suggested by the narrative may be best seen and considered by taking them in their nature.I order. I. PROVIDENTIAL CALLS TO THE CONSIDERATION OF FORGOTTEN SINS. Whatever physical account may be possible of the famine referred to, looked at in its relation to God's education and discipline of his ancient people, it is here to be viewed as a providential call to the nation to reflect on sins committed during the reign of Saul. 'l'he conduct of Saul was a most scandalous sin (Josh. ix. 8-17). When the sin was committed we know not ; probably in the latter part of his rtign, when all was in confusion. His family were, it would seem from vers. 1, 4--6, implicated in the deed. It is obvious that the nation bad condoned the action of Saul, and for some yee.rs subsequent to his death there was no conscience in the people with respect to this great sin. It was for the purpose of arousing the public conscience and giving occasion for bringing this sin to mind that the famine was permitted to arise. Even though the famine was by natural causes, yet it was used by God for this special moral end. There is a tendency in nations especially to be unmindful of their sius, and individuals also are liable to the same danger. The eager rush of affairs and absorption of energy in new lines divert attention from the moral character of acts. The forgotten sins of men are countless. But God does not forget, and now and then events arise-calamities, personal troubles, and <li~agreeable consequences of former deeds- which are prnctically God's calls to us to remember our transgressions. 'l'he prophet no longer proclaims, but God reaches the conscience in manifold ways, and to many an ee.sy-going soul the words will corue some day," Soo, remember." II. THE CONNECTION BETWEEN MORAL A:l/D PHYSICAL EVIL. The mention of famine in the land, and the public siu of the late king as being related the one to the other, establishes in this instance, on the authority of God, the close connection of m<>rnl □ nd physical evil. Whether f~mines do not ari_se whe~e there is no s~ecial moral evil of which they a.re the chastisements or rennndcrs, Ill not the quest10n, and makes no difference to the fact in this ea.so. God would have his people know thr.t their past sins were now bearin~ frt1it in physic11l form. Nor is there anythi11g really wonJerful pr e:1:ccptionnl _in tb.e trutb. b.cr0 ostnblished. To man, physicill evil is, as :J. whole, tb.e  516 THE SECO'ND BOOK OF SAMUEL. [en. xxr. 1-22.