The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 573

Leader (I Sam. xvii. 60); that he eees us, is ready to help us, and will greatly honour "him that overcometb" (vere. 22, 23; Rev. ii. 26). " Though the f!Ona of night blBBpheme, More there are with us th&n them; Hell is nigh, but Christ ie nigher, Circling ue with hoete of fire." 7. We should be encouraged by the remembrance of past successes, achieved by ourselves and others. These a.re e. sure earnest of the final victory of the kingdom of light over t-he kingdom of darkness. •• Greater is he that is in you," etc. (1 John iv. 4).-D. ,ors. 1-7.-The righteous R'liler. David, in his l&St days, like Jacob and Moses QliCeived the spirit of prophecy, and wa.s thus enabled to predict the coming of th~ J"lll'fect King, sprung from himself; the blessings of bis reign, and his triumph over his enemies. These "last words" of his are, indeed, regarded by some as primarily e. description of what e. ruler of men should be, and as only secondarily, if at all, relating to the Christ. Our Authorized Version favours this interpretation by introducina- in ver. 3 the words, "must be.'' But the obvious truth that rulers ought to be just w~uld hardly have been prefaced by so solemn an introduction, asserting in such varied words and phrases that the declaration was owing to the special inspiration of God. Nor would the reference to the "everlasting covenant" be so appropriate. I. THE HUMAN SPEAKER. The terms used indicate: I. Bis origin. "David the son or Jesse." The royal son was not ashamed of his father. 2. His exaltation. "Raised up on high" (comp.eh. vii 8, 9). 3. His Divine appointment as king. "The anointed of the God of Jacob." 4. His gifts and works as a sacred poet. "The sweet psalmist of Israel" (Hebrew," pleasant in the psalms of Israel"). "As David, on the one hand, had firmly established the kingdom of God in an earthly and political respect as the anointed of Jehovah, i.e. as king; so had he, on the other, as the composer of Israel's songs of praise, promoted the spiritual edification of that kingdom" (Keil and Delitzsch). II. THE DIVT!\"E SPEAKER. This is intimated by the word used twice in ver. 1 and translated "said." It is the word commonly used of the utterances of God by his prophets, and, without any addition, indicates that the saying is a Divine oracle. Further, that what is said here is from God is distinctly declared by the assertion, • •• The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his Word was in my tongue; the God of • Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me" (vers. 2, 3). Sacha preamble prepares us fur an utterance of great weight and importance, and is adapted to excite the utmost confidence in it as one of "the true sayings of God" (Rev. :xix. 9). IIL THE woRDs SPOKEN. David was himself a divinely appointed king over God's nation. He had ruled on the whole justly, and had, with bis people, enjoyed much of the benefit which righteous rule secures. He was, however, conscious of not having realized his ideal, pe.rtly through bis own weakness and sinfulness, partly through the opposition he had encountered and the impracticableness of the materials which he had had to mould. But before he leaves the world he has a Divine assurance that One should arise out of his own house, who should be, as a Ruler, all, and more than all, that he had himself aimed to be-tlhould diffuse amongst his subjects the greatest blessing~, and thoroughly master and destroy all that should oppose his designs. Note: I. His descent. The reference to the" everlasting covenant'' in ver. 5, com- pared with the covenant itself in the promise of God through Nathan (eh. vii. 16), sufficiently indicates that David discerned that the King of whom he was prophesyin11: would spring from himself. He was to be "of the seed of David accortling to the flesh" (Rom. i. 3). 2. His character. "'Just, ruling in the fear of God." (I) The fear of God (equivalent to "godliness, piety") would be at the foundatiou of his character. He would rule with constant regard to the will and the glory of God (comp; Isa. :xi. 2, "tbe spirit of . . . the fear of the Lord n). How much this feature was found in the character of our Lord Jesus the Gospels everywhere testify. (2) He would be eminently "just." '!'his che.racteristic of the coming King of men appears frequently in the pronhPcies respecting him (see P8. xiv. 6, 7; lxxii. 2; Isa. ix. 7; xi. 3-5; Jer. :u:iii. 5; Zech. ix. 9). It was a welcome thought in a world filled with inj~stice1 which w= uuredressed by its rulers, yea, often perpetrated by them-a world in which the OH, X.XIII, 1-39.] THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. 589