,,expositions ,,of ,,holy ,,scripture ,,alexander ,,maclaren1 ,d4 ,d41 ,litt4 ,d4 ,,deuteronomy1 ,,joshua1 ,,judges1 ,,ruth1 ,,and ,,first ,,book ,,of ,,samuel ,,second ,,samuel1 ,,first ,,kings1 ,,and ,,second ,,kings ,,chapters ,i to ,,vii ,,contents ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,deuteronomy ,,god',s ,,faithfulness 7,deut4 vii4 #i7 ,,the ,,lesson ,,of ,,memory 7,deut4 viii4 #b7 ,,the ,,eating ,,of ,,the ,,peace-,,offering 7,deut4 xii4 #ah7 ,,prophets ,,and ,,the ,,prophet 7,deut4 xviii4 #i-bb7 ,a ,,choice ,,of ,,masters 7,deut4 xxviii4 #dg1 #dh7 ,,the ,,spirit ,,of ,,the ,,law 7,deut4 xxx4 #aa-bj7 ,,god',s ,,true ,,treasure ,,in ,,man 7,deut4 xxxii4 #i2 ,,titus ii4 #ad7 ,,the ,,eagle ,,and ,,its ,,brood 7,deut4 xxxii4 #aa7 ,,their ,,rock ,,and ,,our ,,rock 7,deut4 xxxii4 #ca7 ,,god ,,and ,,his ,,saints 7,deut4 xxxiii4 #c7 ,,israel ,,the ,,beloved 7,deut4 xxxiii4 #ab7 ',,at ,,the ,,bush' 7,deut4 xxxiii4 #af7 ,,shod ,,for ,,the ,,road 7,deut4 xxxiii4 #be7 ,a ,,death ,,in ,,the ,,desert 7,deut4 xxxiv4 #e1 #f7 ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,joshua ,,the ,,new ,,leader',s ,,commission 7,joshua i4 #a-aa7 ,,the ,,charge ,,to ,,the ,,soldier ,,of ,,the ,,lord 7,joshua i4 #g1 #h7 ,,the ,,untrodden ,,path ,,and ,,the ,,guiding ,,ark 7,joshua iii4 #d7 ',,the ,,waters ,,saw ,,thee2 ,,they ,,were ,,afraid' 7,joshua iii4 #e-ag7 ,,stones ,,crying ,,out 7,joshua iv4 #aj-bd7 ,,the ,,captain ,,of ,,the ,,lord',s ,,host 7,joshua v4 #ad7 ,,the ,,siege ,,of ,,jericho 7,joshua vi4 #aj1 #aa7 ,,rahab 7,joshua vi4 #be7 ,,achan',s ,,sin1 ,,israel',s ,,defeat 7,joshua vii4 #a-ab7 ,,the ,,sun ,,stayed 7,joshua x4 #ab7 ,,unwon ,,but ,,claimed 7,joshua xiii4 #a-f7 ,,caleb-,a ,,green ,,old ,,age 7,joshua xiv4 #f7 ,,the ,,cities ,,of ,,refuge 7,joshua xx4 #a-i7 ,,the ,,end ,,of ,,the ,,war 7,joshua xxi4 #dc-de2 xxii4 #a-i7 ,,the ,,national ,,oath ,,at ,,shechem 7,joshua xxiv4 #ai-bh7 ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,judges ,a ,,summary ,,of ,,israel',s ,,faithlessness ,,and ,,god',s ,,patience 7,judges ii4 #a-aj7 ,,israel',s ,,obstinacy ,,and ,,god',s ,,patience 7,judges ii4 #aa-bc7 ,,recreant ,,reuben 7,judges v4 #af1 ,r4,v47 ',,all ,,things ,,are ,,yours' 7,judges v4 #bj2 ,job v4 #bc7 ,,love ,,makes ,,suns 7,judges v4 #ca7 ,,gideon',s ,,altar 7,judges vi4 #bd7 ,,gideon',s ,,fleece 7,judges vi4 #cg7 ',,fit1 ,,though ,,few'7,judges vii4 #a-h7 ,a ,,battle ,,without ,a ,,sword 7,judges vii4 #ac-bc7 ,,strength ,,profaned ,,and ,,lost 7,judges xvi4 #ba-ca7 ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,ruth ,,gentle ,,heroine1 ,a ,,gentile ,,convert 7,ruth i4 #af-bb7 ,,the ,,first ,,book ,,of ,,samuel ,,the ,,child ,,prophet 7#a ,samuel iii4 #a-ad7 ,,faithlessness ,,and ,,defeat 7#a ,samuel iv4 #a-ah7 ,,repentance ,,and ,,victory 7#a ,samuel vii1 #a-ab7 ',,make ,,us ,a ,,king' 7#a ,samuel viii4 #d-bj7 ,,the ,,old ,,judge ,,and ,,the ,,young ,,king 7#a ,samuel ix4 #af-bg7 ,,the ,,king ,,after ,,man',s ,,heart 7#a ,samuel x4 #ag-bg7 ,,samuel',s ,,challenge ,,and ,,charge 7#a ,samuel xii4 #a-ae7 ,,old ,,truth ,,for ,a ,,new ,,epoch 7#a ,samuel xii4 #ac-be7 ,,saul ,,rejected 7#a ,samuel xv4 #aj-bc7 ,,the ,,shepherd-,,king 7#a ,samuel xvi4 #a-ac7 ,,the ,,victory ,,of ,,unarmed ,,faith 7#a ,samuel xvii4 #cb-ea7 ,a ,,soul',s ,,tragedy 7#a ,samuel xviii4 #e-af7 ,,jonathan1 ,,the ,,pattern ,,of ,,friendship 7#a ,samuel xx4#a-ac7 ,,love ,,for ,,hate1 ,,the ,,true ,,quid ,,pro ,,quo 7#a ,samuel xxiv4#d-ag7 ,,love ,,and ,,remorse 7#a ,samuel xxvi4 #e-ab2 #ba-be7 ,,saul 7#a ,samuel xxviii4 #ae7 ',,what ,,doest ,,thou ,,here8' 7#a ,samuel xxix4 #c2 ,i ,kings xix4 #i7 ,,the ,,secret ,,of ,,courage 7#a ,samuel xxx4 #f7 ,,at ,,the ,,front ,,or ,,the ,,base 7#a ,samuel xxx4 #bd7 ,,the ,,end ,,of ,,self-,,will 7#a ,samuel xxxi4 #a-ac7 ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,deuteronomy ,,god',s ,,faithfulness ',know therefore that the ,lord thy ,god1 ,he is ,god1 the faithful ,god1 which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love ,him4'--,,deut4 vii4 #i4 ',faithful1' like most ,hebrew words1 has a picture in it4 ,it means something that can be 7#a7 leant on1 or 7#b7 builded on4 ,this leads to a double signification--7#a7 trustworthy1 and that because 7#b7 rigidly observant of obligations4 ,so the word applies to a steward1 a friend1 or a witness4 ,its most wonderful and sublime application is to ,god4 ,it presents to our adoring love-- ,i4 ,god as coming under obligations to us4 ,a marvellous and blessed idea4 ,he limits ,his action1 regards ,himself as bound to a certain line of conduct4 #a4 ,obligations from ,his act of creation4 ',a faithful ,creator1' bound to take care of those whom ,he has made4 ,to supply their necessities4 ,to satisfy their desires4 ,to give to each the possibility of discharging its ideal4 #b4 ,obligations from ,his past self4 ',god is faithful by whom ye were called1' therefore ,he will do all that is imposed on ,him by ,his act of calling4 ,he cannot begin without completing4 ,there are no abandoned mines4 ,there are no half-hewn stones in ,his quarries1 like the block at ,baalbec4 ,and this because the divine nature is inexhaustible in power and unchangeable in purpose4 #c4 ,obligations from ,his own word4 ,a revelation is presupposed by the notion of faithfulness4 ,it is not possible in heathenism4 ',dumb idols1' which have given their worshippers no promises1 cannot be thought of as faithful4 ,by its grand conception of ,jehovah as entering into a covenant with ,israel1 the ,old ,testament presents ,him to our trust as having bound ,himself to a known line of action4 ,thereby ,he becomes1 if we may so phrase it1 a constitutional monarch4 ,that conception of a ,covenant is the negation of caprice1 of arbitrary sovereignty1 of mystery4 ,we know the principles of ,his government4 ,his majestic ',i wills' cover the whole ground of human life and needs for the present and the future4 ,we can go into no region of life but we find that ,god has defined ,his conduct to us there by some word spoken to our heart and binding ,him4 #d4 ,obligations from ,his new ,covenant and highest word in ,jesus ,christ4 ',he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins4' ,,ii4 ,god as recognising and discharging these obligations4 ,that ,he will do so comes from ,his very nature4 ,with ,him there is no change of disposition1 no emergence of unseen circumstances1 no failure or exhaustion of power4 ,that ,he does so is matter of fact4 ,moses in the preceding context had pointed to facts of history1 on which he built the 'know therefore' of the text4 ,on the broad scale the whole world's history is full of illustrations of ,god's faithfulness to ,his promises and ,his threats4 ,the history of ,judaism1 the sorrows of nations1 and the complications of national events1 all illustrate this fact4 ,the personal history of each of us4 ,the experience of all ,christian souls4 ,no man ever trusted in ,him and was ashamed4 ,he wills that we should put ,him to the proof4 ,,iii4 ,god as claiming our trust4 ,he is faithful1 worthy to be trusted1 as ,his deeds show4 ,faith is our attitude corresponding to ,his faithfulness4 ,faith is the germ of all that ,he requires from us4 ,how much we need it6 ,how firm it might be6 ,how blessed it would make us6 ,the thought of ,god as 'faithful' is1 like a precious stone1 turned in many directions in ,scripture1 and wherever turned it flashes light4 ,sometimes it is laid as the foundation for the confidence that even our weakness will be upheld to the end1 as when ,paul tells the ,corinthians that they will be confirmed to the end1 because ',god is faithful1 through whom ye were called into the fellowship of ,his ,son' 7#a ,cor4 i4 #i74 ,sometimes there is built on it the assurance of complete sanctification1 as when he prays for the ,thessalonians that their 'whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our ,lord' and finds it in his heart to pray thus because ',faithful is ,he that calleth you1 who will also do it' 7#a ,thess4 v4 #bd74 ,sometimes it is presented as the steadfast stay grasping which faith can expect apparent impossibilities1 as when ,sara 'judged ,him faithful who had promised' 7,heb4 xi4 #aa74 ,sometimes it is adduced as bringing strong consolation to souls conscious of their own feeble and fluctuating faith1 as when ,paul tells ,timothy that ',if we are faithless1 ,he abideth faithful2 for ,he cannot deny ,himself' 7#b ,tim4 ii4 #ac74 ,sometimes it is presented as an anodyne to souls disturbed by experience of men's unreliableness1 as when the apostle heartens the ,thessalonians and himself to bear human untrustworthiness by the thought that though men are faithless1 ,god 'is faithful1 who shall establish you and keep you from evil' 7#b ,thess4 in4 #b1 #c74 ,sometimes it is put forward to breathe patience into tempted spirits1 as when the ,corinthians are comforted by the assurance that ',god is faithful1 who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able' 7#a ,cor4 x4 #ac74 ,sometimes it is laid as the firm foundation for our assurance of pardon1 as when ,john tells us that ',if we confess our sins1 ,he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins' 7#a ,john i4 #i74 ,and sometimes that great attribute of the divine nature is proposed as holding forth a pattern for us to follow1 and the faith in it as tending to make us in a measure steadfast like ,himself1 as when ,paul indignantly rebuts his enemies' charge of levity of purpose and vacillation1 and avers that 'as ,god is faithful1 our word toward you is not yea and nay' 7#b ,cor4 ,l #ah74 ,,the ,,lesson ,,of ,,memory ',thou shalt remember all the way which the ,lord thy ,god led thee these lofty years in the wilderness1 to humble thee1 and to prove thee1 to know what was in thine heart1 whether thou wouldest keep ,his commandments1 or no4'--,,deut4 viii4#b4 ,the strand of our lives usually slips away smoothly enough1 but days such as this1 the last ,sunday in a year1 are like the knots on a sailor's log1 which1 as they pass through his fingers1 tell him how fast it is being paid out from the reel1 and how far it has run off4 ,they suggest a momentary consciousness of the swift passage of life1 and naturally lead us to a glance backwards and forwards1 both of which occupations ought to be very good for us4 ,the dead flat upon which some of us live may be taken as an emblem of the low present in which most of us are content to pass our lives1 affording nowhere a distant view1 and never enabling us to see more than a street's length ahead of us4 ,it is a good thing to get up upon some little elevation and take a wider view1 backwards and forwards4 ,and so now ,i venture to let the season preach to us1 and to confine myself simply to suggesting for you one or two very plain and obvious thoughts which may help to make our retrospect wise and useful4 ,and there are two main considerations which ,i wish to submit4 ,the first is--what we ought to be chiefly occupied with as we look back2 and secondly1 what the issue of such a retrospect ought to be4 ,i4 ,with what we should be mainly occupied as we look back4 ,memory1 like all other faculties1 may either help us or hinder us4 ,as is the man1 so will be his remembrance4 ,the tastes which rule his present will determine the things that he likes best to think about in the past4 ,there are many ways of going wrong in our retrospects4 ,some of us1 for instance1 prefer to think with pleasure about things that ought never to have been done1 and to give a wicked immortality to thoughts that ought never to have had a being4 ,some men's tastes and inclinations are so vitiated and corrupted that they find a joy in living their badnesses over again4 ,some of us1 looking back on the days that are gone1 select by instinctive preference for remembrance1 the vanities and frivolities and trifles which were the main things in them whilst they lasted4 ,such a use of the great faculty of memory is like the folly of the ,egyptians who embalmed cats and vermin4 ,do not let us be of those1 who have in their memories nothing but rubbish1 or something worse1 who let down the drag-net into the depths of the past and bring it up full only of mud and foulnesses1 and of ugly monsters that never ought to have been dragged into the daylight4 ,then there are some of us who abuse memory just as much by picking out1 with perverse ingenuity1 every black bit that lies in the distance behind us1 all the disappointments1 all the losses1 all the pains1 all the sorrows4 ,some men look back and say1 with ,jacob in one of his moods1 ',few and evil have been the days of the years of my life6' ,yes6 and the same man1 when he was in a better spirit1 said1 and a great deal more truly1 ',the ,god that fed me all my life long1 the ,angel which redeemed me from all evil4' ,do not paint like ,rembrandt1 even if you do not paint like ,turner4 ,do not dip your brush only in the blackness1 even if you cannot always dip it in molten sunshine4 ,and there are some of us who1 in like manner1 spoil all the good that we could get out of a wise retrospect1 by only looking back in such a fashion as to feed a sentimental melancholy1 which is1 perhaps1 the most profitless of all the ways of looking backwards4 ,now here are the two points1 in this verse of my text1 which would put all these blunders and all others right1 telling us what we should chiefly think about when we look back1 and from what point of view the retrospect of the past must be taken in order that it should be salutary4 ',thou shalt remember all the way by which the ,lord thy ,god hath led thee4' ,let memory work under the distinct recognition of divine guidance in every part of the past4 ,that is the first condition of making the retrospect blessed4 ',to humble thee and to prove thee1 and to know what was in thine heart1 whether thou wouldest keep ,his commandments1 or no'2 let us look back with a clear recognition of the fact that the use of life is to test1 and reveal1 and to make1 character4 ,this world1 and all its outward engagements1 duties1 and occupations1 is but a scaffolding1 on which the builders may stand to rear the true temple1 and when the building is reared you may do what you like with the scaffolding4 ,so we have to look back on life from this point of view1 that its joys and sorrows1 its ups and downs1 its work and repose1 the vicissitudes and sometimes contrariety of its circumstances and conditions1 are all for the purpose of making us1 and of making plain to ourselves1 what we are4 ',to humble thee1' that is1 to knock the self-confidence out of us1 and to bring us to say3 ',i am nothing and ,thou art everything2 ,i myself am a poor weak rag of a creature that needs ,thy hand to stiffen me1 or ,i shall not be able to resist or to do4' ,that is one main lesson that life is meant to teach us4 ,whoever has learnt to say by reason of the battering and shocks of time1 by reason of sorrows and failures1 by reason of joys1 too1 and fruition1--',lord1 ,i come to ,thee as depending upon ,thee for everything1' has wrung its supreme good out of life1 and has fulfilled the purpose of the ,father1 who has led us all these years1 to humble us into the wholesome diffidence that says3 ',not in myself1 but in ,thee are all my strength and my hope4' ,i need not do more than remind you of the other cognate purposes which are suggested here4 ,life is meant1 not only to bring us to humble self-distrust1 as a step towards devout dependence on ,god1 but also to reveal us to ourselves2 for we only know what we are by reflecting on what we have done1 and the only path by which self-knowledge can be attained is the path of observant recollection of our conduct in daily life4 ,another purpose for which the whole panorama of life is made to pass before us1 and for which all the gymnastic of life exercises us1 is that we may be made submissive to the great ,will1 and may keep ,his commandments4 ,these thoughts should be with us in our retrospect1 and then our retrospect will be blessed3 ,first1 we are to look back and see ,god's guidance everywhere1 and second1 we are to judge of the things that we remember by their tendency to make character1 to make us humble1 to reveal us to ourselves1 and to knit us in glad obedience to our ,father ,god4 ,,ii4 ,and now turn to the other consideration which may help to make remembrance a good1 viz41 the issues to which our retrospect must tend1 if it is to be anything more than sentimental recollection4 ,first1 let me say3 ,remember and be thankful4 ,if what ,i have been saying as to the standard by which events are to be tried be true2 if it be the case that the main fact about things is their power to mould persons and to make character1 then there follows1 very plainly and clearly1 that all things that come within the sweep of our memory may equally contribute to our highest good4 ,good does not mean pleasure4 ,bright-being may not always be well-being1 and the highest good has a very much nobler meaning than comfort and satisfaction4 ,and so1 realising the fact that the best of things is that they shall make us like ,god1 then we can turn to the past and judge it wisely1 because then we shall see that all the diversity1 and even the opposition1 of circumstances and events1 may co-operate towards the same end4 ,suppose two wheels in a great machine1 one turns from right to left and the other from left to right1 but they fit into one another1 and they both produce one final result of motion4 ,so the moments in my life which ,i call blessings and gladness1 and the moments in my life which ,i call sorrows and tortures1 may work into each other1 and they will do so if ,i take hold of them rightly1 and use them as they ought to be used4 ,they will tend to the highest good whether they be light or dark2 even as night with its darkness and its dews has its ministration and mission of mercy for the wearied eye no less than day with its brilliancy and sunshine2 even as the summer and the winter are equally needful1 and equally good for the crop4 ,so in our lives it is good for us1 sometimes1 that we be brought into the dark places2 it is good for us sometimes that the leaves be stripped from the trees1 and the ground be bound with frost4 ,and so for both kinds of weather1 dear brethren1 we have to remember and be thankful4 ,it is a hard lesson1 ,i know1 for some of us4 ,there may be some listening to me whose memory goes back to this dying year as the year that has held the sorest sorrow of their lives2 to whom it has brought some loss that has made earth dark4 ,and it seems hard to tell quivering lips to be thankful1 and to bid a man be grateful though his eyes fill with tears as he looks back on such a past4 ,but yet it is true that it is good for us to be drawn1 or to be driven1 to ,him2 it is good for us to have to tread even a lonely path if it makes us lean more on the arm of our ,beloved4 ,it is good for us to have places made empty if1 as in the year when ,israel's ,king died1 we shall thereby have our eyes purged to behold the ,lord sitting on the ,royal ,seat4 ',take it on trust a little while1 ,thou soon shalt read the mystery right1 ,in the full sunshine of ,his smile4' ,and for the present let us try to remember that ,he dwelleth in the darkness as in the light1 and that we are to be thankful for the things that help us to be near ,him1 and not only for the things that make us outwardly glad4 ,so ,i venture to say even to those of you who may be struggling with sad remembrances1 remember and be thankful4 ,i have no doubt there are many of us who have to look back1 if not upon a year desolated by some blow that never can be repaired1 yet upon a year in which failing resources and declining business1 or diminished health1 or broken spirits1 or a multitude of minute but most disturbing cares and sorrows1 do make it hard to recognise the loving ,hand in all that comes4 ,yet to such1 too1 ,i would say3 ',all things work together for good1' therefore all things are to be embraced in the thankfulness of our retrospect4 ,the second and simple practical suggestion that ,i make is this3 ,remember1 and let the memory lead to contrition4 ,perhaps ,i am speaking to some men or women for whom this dying year holds the memory of some great lapse from goodness2 some young man who for the first time has been tempted to sensuous sin2 some man who may have been led into slippery places in regard to business integrity4 ,i draw a 'bow at a venture' when ,i speak of such things--perhaps some one is listening to me who would give a great deal if he or she could forget a certain past moment of this dying year1 which makes their cheeks hot yet whilst they think of it4 ,to such ,i say3 ,remember1 go close into the presence of the black thing1 and get the consciousness of it driven into your heart2 for such remembrance is the first step to deliverance from the load1 and to your passing1 emancipated from the bitterness1 into the year that lies before you4 ,but even if there are none of us to whom such remarks would specially apply1 let us summon up to ourselves the memories of these bygone days4 ,in all the three hundred and sixty-five of them1 my friend1 how many moments stand out distinct before you as moments of high communion with ,god8 ,how many times can you remember of devout consecration to ,him8 ,how many1 when--as visitors to the ,riviera reckon the number of days in the season in which1 far across the water1 they have seen ,corsica--you can remember this year to have beheld1 faint and far away1 'the mountains that are round about' the ',jerusalem that is above'8 ,how many moments do you remember of consecration and service1 of devotion to your ,god and your fellows8 ,oh6 what a miserable1 low-lying stretch of ,god-forgetting monotony our lives look when we are looking back at them in the mass4 ,one film of mist is scarcely perceptible1 but when you get a mile of it you can tell what it is--oppressive darkness4 ,one drop of muddy water does not show its pollution1 but when you have a pitcherful of it you can see how thick it is4 ,and so a day or an hour looked back upon may not reveal the true godlessness of the average life1 but if you will take the twelvemonth and think about it1 and ask yourself a question or two about it1 ,i think you will feel that the only attitude for any of us in looking back across a stretch of such brown barren moorland is that of penitent prayer for forgiveness and for cleansing4 ,but ,i dare say that some of you say3 ',oh6 ,i look back and ,i do not feel anything of that kind of regret that you describe2 ,i have done my duty1 and nobody can blame me4 ,i am quite comfortable in my retrospect4 ,of course there have been imperfections2 we are all human1 and these need not trouble a man4' ,let me ask you1 dear brother1 one question3 ,do you believe that the law of a man's life is1 ',thou shalt love the ,lord thy ,god with all thy heart1 and with all thy soul1 and with all thy strength1 and with all thy mind2 and thy neighbour as thyself'8 ,do you believe that that is what you ought to do8 ,have you done it8 ,if you have not1 let me beseech you not to go out of this year1 across the artificial and imaginary boundary that separates you from the next1 with the old guilt upon your back1 but go to ,jesus ,christ1 and ask ,him to forgive you1 and then you may pass into the coming twelvemonth without the intolerable burden of unremembered1 unconfessed1 and therefore unforgiven1 sin4 ,the next point that ,i would suggest is this3 ,let us remember in order that from the retrospect we may gain practical wisdom4 ,it is astonishing what unteachable1 untamable creatures men are4 ,they learn wisdom about all the little matters of daily life by experience1 but they do not seem to do so about the higher4 ,even a sparrow comes to understand a scarecrow after a time or two1 and any rat in a hole will learn the trick of a trap4 ,but you can trick men over and over again with the same inducement1 and1 even whilst the hook is sticking in their jaws1 the same bait will tempt them once more4 ,that is very largely the case because they do not observe and remember what has happened to them in bygone days4 ,there are two things that any man1 who will bring his reason and common-sense to bear upon the honest estimate and retrospect of the facts of his life1 may be fully convinced of4 ,these are1 first1 his own weakness4 ,one main use of a wise retrospect is to teach us where we are weakest4 ,what an absurd thing it would be if the inhabitants of a ,dutch village were to let the sea come in at the same gap in the same dyke a dozen times6 ,what an absurd thing it would be if a city were captured over and over again by assaults at the same point1 and did not strengthen its defences there6 ,but that is exactly what you do2 and all the while1 if you would only think about your own past lives wisely and reasonably1 and like men with brains in your heads1 you might find out where it was that you were most open to attack2 what it was in your character that most needed strengthening1 what it was wherein the devil caught you most quickly1 and might so build yourselves up in the most defenceless points4 ,do not look back for sentimental melancholy2 do not look back with unavailing regrets2 do not look back to torment yourselves with useless self-accusation2 but look back to see how good ,god has been1 and look back to see where you are weak1 and pile the wall1 higher there1 and so learn practical wisdom from retrospect4 ,another phase of the practical wisdom which memory should give is deliverance from the illusions of sense and time4 ,remember how little the world has ever done for you in bygone days4 ,why should you let it befool you once again8 ,if it has proved itself a liar when it has tempted you with gilded offers that came to nothing1 and with beauty that was no more solid than the ',easter-eggs' that you buy in the shops--painted sugar with nothing inside--why should you believe it when it comes to you once more8 ,why not say3 ',ah6 once burnt1 twice shy6 ,you have tried that trick on me before1 and ,i have found it out6' ,let the retrospect teach us how hollow life is without ,god1 and so let it draw us near to ,him4 ,the last thing that ,i would say is3 ',let us remember that we may hope4 ,it is the prerogative of ,christian remembrance1 that it merges into ,christian hope4 ,the forward look and the backward look are really but the exercise of the same faculty in two different directions4 ,memory does not always imply hope1 we remember sometimes because we do not hope1 and try to gather round ourselves the vanished past because we know it never again can be a present or a future4 ,but when we are occupied with an unchanging ,friend1 whose love is inexhaustible1 and whose arm is unwearied1 it is good logic to say3 ',it has been1 therefore it shall be4' ,with regard to this fleeting life1 it is a delusion to say 'to-morrow shall be as this day1 and much more abundant'2 but with regard to the life of the soul that lives in ,god1 that is true1 and true for ever4 ,the past is a specimen of the future4 ,the future for the man who lives in ,christ is but the prolongation1 and the heightening into superlative excellence and beauty1 of all that is good in the past and in the present4 ,as the radiance of some rising sun may cast its bright beams into the opposite sky1 even so the glowing past behind us flings its purples and its golds and its scarlets on to the else dim curtain of the future4 ,remember that you may hope4 ,a paradox1 but a paradox that is a truth in the case of ,christians whose memory is of a ,god that has loved and blessed them whose hope is in a ,god that changes never2 whose memory is charged with 'every good and perfect gift that came down from the ,father of ,lights1' whose hope is in that same ,father1 'with whom is no variableness1 neither shadow of turning4' ,so on every stone of remembrance1 every ,ebenezer on which is graved3 ',hitherto hath the ,lord helped us1' we can mount a telescope--if ,i may so say--that will look into the furthest glories of the heavens1 and be sure that the past will be magnified and perpetuated in the future4 ,our prayer may legitimately be2 ',thou hast been my help1 leave me not1 neither forsake me6' ,and ,his answer will be3 ',i will not leave thee until ,i have done that which ,i have spoken to thee of4' ,remember that you may hope1 and hope because you remember4 ,,the ,,eating ,,of ,,the ,,peace-,,offering ',but thou must eat them before the ,lord thy ,god in the place which the ,lord thy ,god shall choose1 thou1 and thy son1 and thy daughter1 and thy manservant1 and thy maidservant1 and the ,levite that is within thy gates3 and thou shalt rejoice before the ,lord thy ,god in all that thou puttest thine hands unto4'--,,deut4 xii4 #ah4 ,there were three bloody sacrifices1 the sin-offering1 the burnt-offering1 and the peace-offering4 ,in all three expiation was the first idea1 but in the second of them the act of burning symbolised a further thought1 namely1 that of offering to ,god1 while in the third1 the peace-offering1 there was added to both of these the still further thought of the offerer's participation with ,god1 as symbolised by the eating of the sacrifice4 ,so we have great verities of the most spiritual religion adumbrated in this external rite4 ,the rind is hard and forbidding1 the kernel is juicy and sweet4 ,i4 ,communion with ,god based on atonement4 ,,ii4 ,feeding on ,christ4 ,what was sacrifice becomes food4 ,the same ,person and facts1 apprehended by faith1 are1 in regard to their bearing on the divine government1 the ground of pardon1 and in regard to their operation within us1 the source of spiritual sustenance4 ,christ for us is our pardon2 ,christ in us is our life4 ,,iii4 ,the restoration to the offerer of all which he lays on ,god's altar4 ,the sacrifice was transformed and elevated into a sacrament4 ,by being offered the sacrifice was ennobled4 ,the offerer did not lose what he laid on the altar1 but it came back to him1 far more precious than before4 ,it was no longer mere food for the body1 and to eat it became not an ordinary meal1 but a sacrament and means of union with ,god4 ,it was a hundredfold more the offerer's even in this life4 ,all its savour was more savoury1 all its nutritive qualities were more nutritious4 ,it had suffered a fiery change1 and was turned into something more rich and rare4 ,that is blessedly true as to all which we lay on ,god's altar4 ,it is far more ours than it ever was or could be1 while we kept it for ourselves1 and our enjoyment of1 and nourishment from1 our good things1 when offered as sacrifices1 are greater than when we eat our morsel alone4 ,if we make earthly joys and possessions the materials of our sacrifice1 they will not only become more joyful and richer1 but they will become means of closer union with ,him1 instead of parting us from ,him1 as they do when used in selfish disregard of ,him4 ,nor must we forget the wonderful thought1 also mirrored in this piece of ancient ritual1 that ,god delights in men's sacrifices and surrenders and services4 ',if ,i were hungry1 ,i would not tell thee1' said the ,psalmist in ,god's name in regard to outward sacrifices2 ',will ,i eat the flesh of bulls1 or drink the blood of goats8' ,but he does 'eat' the better sacrifices that loving hearts or obedient wills lay on ,his altar4 ,he seeks for these1 and delights when they are offered to ,him4 ',he hungered1 and seeing a fig tree by the wayside1 ,he came to it4' ,he still hungers for the fruit that we can yield to ,him1 and if we will1 ,he will enter in and sup with us1 not disdaining to sit at the poor table which we can spread for ,him1 nor to partake of the humble fare which we can lay upon it1 but mending the banquet by what ,he brings for our nourishment1 and hallowing the hour by ,his presence4 ,,prophets ,,and ,,the ,,prophet ',when thou art come into the land which the ,lord thy ,god giveth thee1 thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations4 #aj4 ,there shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire1 or that useth divination1 or an observer of times1 or an enchanter1 or a witch1 #aa4 ,or a charmer1 or a consulter with familiar spirits1 or a wizard1 or a necromancer4 #ab4 ,for all that do these things are an abomination unto the ,lord3 and because of these abominations the ,lord thy ,god doth drive them out from before thee4 #ac4 ,thou shalt be perfect with the ,lord thy ,god4 #ad4 ,for these nations1 which thou shalt possess1 hearkened unto observers of times1 and unto diviners3 but as for thee1 the ,lord thy ,god hath not suffered thee so to do4 #ae4 ,the ,lord thy ,god will raise up unto thee a ,prophet from the midst of thee1 of thy brethren1 like unto me2 unto ,him ye shall hearken2 #af4 ,according to all that thou desiredst of the ,lord thy ,god in ,horeb in the day of the assembly1 saying1 ,let me not hear again the voice of the ,lord my ,god1 neither let me see this great fire any more1 that ,i die not4 #ag4 ,and the ,lord said unto me1 ,they have well spoken that which they have spoken4 #ah4 ,i will raise them up a ,prophet from among their brethren1 like unto thee1 and will put ,my words in ,his mouth2 and ,he shall speak unto them all that ,i shall command ,him4 #ai4 ,and it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto ,my words which ,he shall speak in ,my name1 ,i will require it of him4 #bj4 ,but the prophet1 which shall presume to speak a word in ,my name1 which ,i have not commanded him to speak1 or that shall speak in the name of other gods1 even that prophet shall die4 #ba4 ,and if thou say in thine heart1 ,how shall we know the word which the ,lord hath not spoken8 #bb4 ,when a prophet speaketh in the name of the ,lord1 if the thing follow not1 nor come to pass1 that is the thing which the ,lord hath not spoken1 but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously3 thou shalt not be afraid of him4'--,,deut4 xviii4 #i-bb4 ,it is evident from the connection in which the promise of 'a prophet like unto ,moses' is here introduced that it does not refer to ,jesus only2 for it is presented as ,israel's continuous defence against the temptation of seeking knowledge of the divine will by the illegitimate methods of divination1 soothsaying1 necromancy1 and the like1 which were rampant among the inhabitants of the land4 ,a distant hope of a prophet in the far-off future could afford no motive to shun these superstitions4 ,we cannot understand this passage unless we recognise that the direct reference is to the institution of the prophetic order as the standing means of imparting the reliable knowledge of ,god's will1 possessing which1 ,israel had no need to turn to them 'that peep and mutter' and bring false oracles from imagined gods4 ,but that primary reference of the words does not exclude1 but rather demands1 their ultimate reference to ,him in whom the divine word is perfectly enshrined1 and who is the bright1 consummate flower of the prophetic order1 which 'spake of ,him1' not only in its individual predictions1 but by its very existence4 ,a glance must be given to the exhaustive list of pretenders to knowledge of the future or to power of shaping it magically1 which occurs in verses #aj1aa1 and suggests a terrible picture of the burdens of superstition which weighed on men in these days of ignorance1 as the like burdens do still1 wherever ,jesus is not known as the one ,revealer of ,god1 and the sole ,lord of all things4 ,of the eight terms employed1 the first three refer to different means of reading the future1 the next two to different means of influencing events1 and the last three to different ways of consulting the dead4 ,the first of these eight properly refers to drawing lots1 but includes other methods2 the second is an obscure word1 which is supposed by some to mean a 'murmurer1' and may refer rather to the low mutterings of the soothsayer than to the method of his working2 the third is probably a general expression for an interpreter of omens1 especially of those given by the play of liquid in a 'cup1' such as ,joseph 'divined' by4 ,two names for magicians follow1 of which the former seems to mean one who worked with charms such as ,african or ,american ,indian 'medicine men' use1 and the latter1 one who binds by incantations1 or one who ties magic knots1 which are supposed to have the power of hindering the designs of the person against whom they are directed4 ,the word employed means 'binding1' and maybe used either literally or metaphorically4 ,the malicious tying of knots in order to work harm is not dead yet in some backward corners of ,britain4 ,then follow three names for traffickers with spirits1--those who raise ghosts as did the witch of ,endor1 those who have a 'familiar spirit1' and those who in any way consult the dead4 ,it is a grim catalogue1 bearing witness to the deep-rooted longing in men to peer into the darkness ahead1 and to get some knowledge of the purposes of the awful unseen ,power who rules there4 ,the longing is here recognised as legitimate1 while the methods are branded as bad1 and ,israel is warned from them1 by being pointed to the merciful divine institution which meets the longing4 ,it is clear1 from this glance at the context1 that the 'prophet' promised to ,israel must mean the order1 not the individual2 and it is interesting to note1 first1 the relation in which that order is presented as standing towards all that rabble of diviners and sorcerers1 with their rubbish of charms and muttered spells4 ,it sweeps them off the field1 because it is truly what they pretend to be4 ,god knows men's longings1 and ,god will meet them so far as meeting them is for men's good4 ,but the characteristics of the prophet are set in strong contrast to those of the diviners and magicians1 and lift the order high above all the filth and folly of these others4 ,first1 the prophet is 'raised up' by ,god2 the individual holder of the office has his 'call' and does not 'prophesy out of his own heart4' ,the man who takes this office on himself without such a call is ipso facto branded as a false prophet4 ,then he is 'from the midst of thee1 of thy brethren1'--springing from the people1 not an alien1 like so many of these wandering soothsayers1 but with the national life throbbing in his veins1 and himself participant of the thoughts and emotions of his brethren4 ,then he is to be 'like unto' ,moses1--not in all points1 but in his receiving direct communications from ,god1 and in his authority as ,god's messenger4 ,the crowning characteristic1 ',i will put ,my words into his mouth1 and he shall speak unto them all that ,i shall command him1' invests his words with divine authority1 calls for obedience to them as the words of ,god ,himself1 widens out his sphere far beyond that of merely foretelling1 brings in the moral and religious element which had no place in the oracles of the soothsayer1 and opens up the prospect of a continuous progressive revelation throughout the ages 7'all that ,i shall command him'74 ,we mutilate the grand idea of the prophet in ,israel if we think of his work as mainly prediction1 and we mutilate it no less if we exclude prediction from it4 ,we mutilate it still more fatally if we try to account for it on naturalistic principles1 and fail to see in the prophet a man directly conscious of a divine call1 or to hear in his words the solemn accents of the voice of ,god4 ,the loftiness and the limitations of 'the goodly fellowship of the prophets' alike point onwards to ,jesus ,christ4 ,in ,him1 and in ,him alone1 the idea of the prophet is fully realised4 ,the imperfect embodiments of it in the past were prophecies as well as prophets4 ,the fact that ,god has 'spoken unto the fathers by the prophets1' leads us to expect that ,he will speak 'to us in a ,son1' and that not by fragments of ,his mighty voice1 but in one full1 eternal1 all-embracing and all-sufficient ,word4 ,every divine idea1 which has been imperfectly manifested in fragmentary and sinful men and in the material creation1 is completely incarnated in ,him4 ,he is the ,king to whom the sins and the saintlinesses of ,israel's kings alike pointed4 ,he is the ,priest1 whom ,aaron and his sons foreshadowed1 who perfectly exercises the sympathy which they could only feel partially1 because they were compassed with infirmity and self-regard1 and who offers the true sacrifice of efficacy higher than 'the blood of bulls and goats4' ,he is the ,prophet1 who makes all other means of knowing the divine will unnecessary1 hearing whom we hear the very voice of ,god speaking in ,his gentle words of love1 in ,his authoritative words of command1 in ,his illuminating words of wisdom1 and speaking yet more loudly and heart-touchingly in the eloquence of deeds no less than divine2 who is 'not ashamed to call us brethren1' and is 'bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh'2 who is like1 but greater than1 the great lawgiver of ,israel1 being the ,son and ,lord of the 'house' in which ,moses was but a servant4 ',to ,him give all the prophets witness1' and the greatest of them was honoured when1 with ,moses1 ,elijah stood on the ,mount of ,transfiguration1 subordinate and attesting1 and then faded away when the voice proclaimed1 ',this is ,my beloved ,son1 hear ,him1'--and they 'saw no one save ,jesus only4' ,a ,,choice ,,of ,,masters ',because thou servedst not the ,lord thy ,god with joyfulness1 and with gladness of heart1 for the abundance of all things2 #dh4 ,therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies 444 in want of all things3 and ,he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck1 until ,he have destroyed thee4'--,,deut4 xxviii4 #dg1 #dh ,the history of ,israel is a picture on the large scale of what befalls every man4 ,a service--we are all born to obedience1 to depend on and follow some person or thing4 ,there is only a choice of services2 and he who boasts himself free is but a more abject slave1 as the choice for a nation is either the rule of settled order and the sanctities of an established law1 or the usurpation of a mob and the intolerable tyranny of unbridled and irresponsible force4 ,i4 ,the service of ,god or the service of our enemies4 ,israel was the servant in turn of ,egypt1 ,philistia1 ,edom1 ,assyria1 ,babylon1 ,syria1 and ,rome4 ,it was every invader's prey4 ,god's invisible arm was its only guard from these1 and an all-sufficient guard as long as it leaned on ,him4 ,when it turned from ,him it fell under their yoke4 ,its lawful ,lord loved it2 its tyrants hated it4 ,so with us4 ,we have to serve ,god or enemies4 ,our lusts1 our passions1 the world1 evil habits--in a word1 our sins ring us round4 ,god is the only defence against them4 ,the contrast between the one and the many--a king or an ochlocracy4 ,the contrast of the loving ,lord and the hostile sins4 ,,ii4 ,a service which is honour or a service which is degradation4 ,god alone is worthy of our absolute submission and service4 ,how low a man sinks when he is ruled by any lesser authority6 ,such obedience is a crime against the dignity of human nature1 and the soul is not without a galling sense of this now and then1 when its chains rattle4 ,,iii4 ,a service which is freedom because it is rendered by love1 or a service which is hard slavery4 ',with joy for the abundance of all things4' ,how sin palls upon us1 and yet we commit it4 ,the will is overborne1 conscience is stifled4 ,,iv4 ,a service which feeds the spirit or a service which starves it4 ,the soul can only in ,god get what it wants4 ,prison fare is what it receives in the other service4 ,the unsatisfying character of all sin2 it cloys1 and yet leaves one hungry4 ,it is 'that which satisfieth not4' ',broken cisterns which hold no water4' ,v4 ,a service which is life or a service which is death4 ,the dark forebodings of the text grow darker as it goes on4 ,the grim slavery which it threatens as the only alternative to joyful service of ,god is declared to be lifelong 'penal servitude1' and not only is there no deliverance from it1 but it directly tends to wear away the life of the hopeless slaves4 ,for the words that follow our text are 'and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck1 until he have destroyed thee4' ,that is dismally true in regard to any and every life that has shaken off the service of ,god which is perfect freedom1 and has persisted in the service of sin4 ,such service is suicidal2 it rivets an iron yoke on our necks1 and there is no locksmith who can undo the shackles and lift it off1 so long as we refuse to take service with ,god4 ,stubbornly rebellious wills forge their own fetters4 ,like many a slave-owner1 our tyrants have a cruel delight in killing their slaves1 and our sins not only lead to death1 but are themselves death4 ,but there is a bright possibility before the most down-trodden vassal of sin4 ',the bond-servant abideth not in the house for ever4' ,he is not a son of the house1 but has been brought into it1 stolen from his home4 ,he may be carried back to his ,father's house1 and there 'have bread enough and to spare1' if a deliverer can be found4 ,and ,he has been found4 ,christ the ,son makes us free1 and if we trust ,him for our emancipation we 'shall be free indeed1' 'that we1 being delivered out of the hand of our enemies1 should serve ,him without fear1 in holiness and righteousness before ,him all our days4' ,,the ,,spirit ,,of ,,the ,,law ',for this commandment which ,i command thee this day1 it is not hidden from thee1 neither is it far off4 #ab4 ,it is not in heaven1 that thou shouldest say1 ,who shall go up for us to heaven1 and bring it unto us1 that we may hear it1 and do it8 #ac4 ,neither is it beyond the sea1 that thou shouldest say1 ,who shall go over the sea for us1 and bring it unto us1 that we may hear it1 and do it8 #ad4 ,but the word is very nigh unto thee1 in thy mouth1 and in thy heart1 that thou mayest do it4 #ae4 ,see1 ,i have set before thee this day life and good1 and death and evil2 #af4 ,in that ,i command thee this day to love the ,lord thy ,god1 to walk in ,his ways1 and to keep ,his commandments and ,his statutes and ,his judgments1 that thou mayest live and multiply2 and the ,lord thy ,god shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it4 #ag4 ,but if thine heart turn away1 so that thou wilt not hear1 but shalt be drawn away1 and worship other gods1 and serve them2 #ah4 ,i denounce unto you this day1 that ye shall surely perish1 and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land1 whither thou passest over ,jordan to go to possess it4 #ai4 ,i call heaven and earth to record this day against you1 that ,i have set before you life and death1 blessing and cursing3 therefore choose life1 that both thou and thy seed may live3 #bj4 ,that thou mayest love the ,lord thy ,god1 and that thou mayest obey ,his voice1 and that thou mayest cleave unto ,him3 for ,he is thy life1 and the length of thy days3 that thou mayest dwell in the land which the ,lord sware unto thy fathers1 to ,abraham1 to ,isaac1 and to ,jacob1 to give them4'--,,deut4 xxx4 #aa-bj4 ,this paragraph closes the legislation of this book1 the succeeding chapters being in the nature of an epilogue or appendix4 ,it sums up the whole law1 makes plain its inmost essence and its tremendous alternatives4 ,as in the closing strains of some great symphony1 the themes which have run through the preceding movements are woven together in the final burst of music4 ,let us try to discover the component threads of the web4 ,the first point to note is the lofty conception of the true essence of the whole law1 which is enshrined here4 ',this commandment which ,i command thee this day' is twice defined in the section 7vs4 #af1 #bj71 and in both instances 'to love ,jehovah thy ,god' is presented as the all-important precept4 ,love is recognised as the great commandment4 ,leviticus may deal with minute regulations for worship1 but these are subordinate1 and the sovereign commandment is love4 ,nor is the motive which should sway to love omitted2 for what a tender drawing by the memories of what ,he had done for ,israel is put forth in the name of ',jehovah1 thy ,god6' ,the ,old ,testament system is a spiritual system1 and it too places the very heart of religion in love to ,god1 drawn out by the contemplation of his self-revelation in his loving dealings with us4 ,we have here clearly recognised that the obedience which pleases ,god is obedience born of love1 and that the love which really sets towards ,god will1 like a powerful stream1 turn all the wheels of life in conformity to ,his will4 ,when ,paul proclaimed that 'love is the fulfilling of the law1' he was only repeating the teaching of this passage1 when it puts 'to walk in ,his ways1' or 'to obey ,his voice1' after 'to love ,jehovah thy ,god4' ,obedience is the result and test of love2 love is the only parent of real obedience4 ,the second point strongly insisted on here is the blessedness of possessing such a knowledge as the law gives4 ,verses #aa-ad present that thought in three ways4 ,the revelation is not that of duties far beyond our capacity3 ',it is not too hard for thee4' ,no doubt1 complete conformity with it is beyond our powers1 and entire1 whole-hearted1 and whole-souled love of ,god is not attained even by those who love ,him most4 ,paul's position that the law gives the knowledge of sin1 just because it presents an impossible elevation in its ideal1 is not opposed to the point of view of this context2 for he is thinking of complete conformity as impossible1 while it is thinking of real1 though imperfect1 obedience as within the reach of all men4 ,no man can love as he ought2 every man can love4 ,it is blessed to have our obligations all gathered into such a commandment4 ,again1 the possession of the law is a blessing1 because its authoritative voice ends the weary quest after some reliable guide to conduct1 and we need neither try to climb to heaven1 nor to traverse the wide world and cross the ocean1 to find certitude and enlightenment enough for our need4 ,they err who think of ,god's commandments as grievous burdens2 they are merciful guide-posts4 ,they do not so much lay weights on our backs as give light to our eyes4 ,still further1 the law has its echo 'in thy heart4' ,it is 'graven on the fleshly tables of the heart1' and we all respond to it when it gathers up all duty into ',thou shalt love the ,lord thy ,god1' and our consciences say to it1 ',thou speakest well4' ,the worst man knows it better than the best man keeps it4 ,blurred and illegible often1 like the half-defaced inscriptions disinterred from the rubbish mounds that once were ,nineveh or ,babylon1 that law remains written on the hearts of all men4 ,a further point to be well laid to heart is the merciful plainness and emphasis with which the issues that are suspended on obedience or disobedience are declared4 ,the solemn alternatives are before every man that hears4 ,life or death1 blessing or cursing1 are held out to him1 and it is for him to elect which shall be realised in his case4 ,of course1 it may be said that the words 'life' and 'death' are here used in their merely physical sense1 and that the context shows 7vs4 #ag1 #ah7 that life here means only 'length of days1 that thou mayest dwell in the land4' ,no doubt that is so1 though we can scarcely refuse to see some glimmer of a deeper conception gleaming through the words1 ',he is thy life1' though it is but a glimmer4 ,we have no space here to enter upon the question of how far it is now true that obedience brings material blessings4 ,it was true for ,israel1 as many a sad experience that it was a bitter as well as an evil thing to forsake ,jehovah was to show in the future4 ,but though the connection between well-doing and material gain is not so clear now1 it is by no means abrogated1 either for nations or for individuals4 ,moral and religious law has social and economic consequences1 and though the perplexed distribution of earthly good and ill often bewilders faith and emboldens scepticism1 there still is visible in human affairs a drift towards recompensing in the world the righteous and the wicked4 ,but to us1 with our ,christian consciousness1 'life' means more than living1 and ',he is our life' in a deeper and more blessed sense than that our physical existence is sustained by ,his continual energy4 ,the love of ,god and consequent union with ,him give us the only true life4 ,jesus is 'our life1' and ,he enters the spirit which opens to ,him by faith1 and communicates to it a spark of ,his own immortal life4 ,he that is joined to ,jesus lives2 he that is separated from ,him 'is dead while he liveth4' ,the last point here is the solemn responsibility for choosing one's part1 which the revelation of the law brings with it4 ',i have set before thee life and death1 the blessing and the curse1 therefore choose life4' ,we each determine for ourselves whether the knowledge of what we ought to be will lead to life or to death1 and by choosing obedience we choose life4 ,every ray of light from ,god is capable of producing a double effect4 ,it either gladdens or pains1 it either gives vision or blindness4 ,the gospel1 which is the perfect revelation of ,god in ,christ1 brings every one of us face to face with the great alternative1 and urgently demands from each his personal act of choice whether he will accept it or neglect or reject it4 ,not to choose to accept is to choose to reject4 ,to do nothing is to choose death4 ,the knowledge of the law was not enough1 and neither is an intellectual reception of the gospel4 ,the one bred ,pharisees1 who were 'whited sepulchres'2 the other breeds orthodox professors1 who have 'a name to live and are dead4' ,the clearer our light1 the heavier our responsibility4 ,if we are to live1 we have to 'choose life'2 and if we do not1 by the vigorous exercise of our will1 turn away from earth and self1 and take ,jesus for our ,saviour and ,lord1 loving and obeying whom we love and obey ,god1 we have effectually chosen a worse death than that of the body1 and flung away a better life than that of earth4 ,,god',s ,,true ,,treasure ,,in ,,man ',the ,lord's portion is ,his people2 ,jacob is the lot of ,his inheritance4'--,,deut1 xxxii4#i4 ',jesus ,christ 7,who7 gave ,himself for us1 that ,he might redeem us from all iniquity1 and purify unto ,himself a peculiar people4'--,,titus ii4 #ad4 ,i choose these two texts because they together present us with the other side of the thought to that which ,i have elsewhere considered1 that man's true treasure is in ,god4 ,that great axiom of the religious consciousness1 which pervades the whole of ,scripture1 is rapturously expressed in many a psalm1 and never more assuredly than in that one which struggles up from the miry clay in which the ,psalmist's 'steps had well-nigh slipped' and soars and sings thus3 ',the ,lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup2 ,thou maintainest my lot1' ',the lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places2 yea1 ,i have a goodly heritage4' ,you observe the correspondence between these words and those of my first text3 ',the ,lord's portion is ,his people2 ,jacob is the lot of ,his inheritance4' ,the correspondence in the original is not quite so marked as it is in our ,authorised ,version1 but still the idea in the two passages is the same4 ,now it is plain that persons can possess persons only by love1 sympathy1 and communion4 ,from that it follows that the possession must be mutual2 or1 in other words1 that only he can say ',thou art mine' who can say ',i am ,thine4' ,and so to possess ,god1 and to be possessed by ,god1 are but two ways of putting the same fact4 ',the ,lord is the portion of ,his people1 and the ,lord's portion is ,his people1' are only two ways of stating the same truth4 ,then my second text clearly quotes the well-known utterance that lies at the foundation of the national life of ,israel3 ',ye shall be unto ,me a peculiar treasure above all people1' and claims that privilege1 like all ,israel's privileges1 for the ,christian ,church4 ,in like manner ,peter 7#a ,pet4 ii4 #i7 quotes the same words1 'a peculiar people1' as properly applying to ,christians4 ,i need scarcely remind you that 'peculiar' here is used in its proper original sense of belonging to1 or1 as the ,revised ,version gives it1 'a people for ,god's own possession' and has no trace of the modern signification of 'singular4' ,similarly we find ,paul in his ,epistle to the ,ephesians giving both sides of the idea of the inheritance in intentional juxtaposition1 when he speaks 7i4 #ad7 of the 'earnest of our inheritance 444 unto the redemption of ,god's own possession4' ,in the words before us we have the same idea2 and this text besides tells us how ,christ1 the ,revealer of ,god1 wins men for ,himself1 and what manner of men they must be whom ,he counts as ,his4 ,therefore there are1 as ,i take it1 three things to be spoken about now4 ,first1 ,god has a special ownership in some people4 ,second1 ,god owns these people because ,he has given ,himself to them4 ,third1 ,god possesses1 and is possessed by1 ,his inheritance1 that ,he may give and receive services of love4 ,or1 in briefer words1 ,i have to speak about this wonderful thought of a special divine ownership1 what it rests upon1 and what it involves4 ,i4 ,god has special ownership in some people4 ',the ,lord's portion is ,his people2 ,jacob is the lot of ,his inheritance4' ,put side by side with those other words of the ,old ,testament3 ',all souls are ,mine1' or the utterance of the #ajjth ,psalm rightly translated3 ',it is ,he that hath made us1 and to ,him we belong4' ,there is a right of absolute and utter ownership and possession inherent in the very relation of ,creator and creature2 so that the being made is wholly and altogether at the disposal1 and is the property1 of ,him that makes him4 ,but is that enough for ,god's heart8 ,is that worth calling ownership at all8 ,an arbitrary tyrant in an unconstitutional kingdom1 or a slave-owner1 may have the most absolute right of property over his subject or his slave2 may have the right of entire disposal of all his industry1 of the profit of all his labour2 may be able to do anything he likes with him1 may have the power of life and death2 but such ownership is only of the husk and case of a man3 the man himself may be free1 and may smile at the claim of possession4 ',they may 'own' the body1 and after that have no more than they can do4' ,that kind of authority and ownership1 absolute and utter1 to the point of death1 may satisfy a tyrant or a slave-driver1 it does not satisfy the loving heart of ,god4 ,it is not real possession at all4 ,in what sense did ,nero own ,paul when he shut him up in prison1 and cut his head off8 ,does the slave-owner own the man whom he whips within an inch of his life1 and who dare not do anything without his permission8 ,does ,god1 in any sense that corresponds with the longing of infinite love1 own the men that reluctantly obey ,him1 and are simply1 as it were1 tools in ,his hands8 ,he covets and longs for a deeper relationship and tenderer ties1 and though all creatures are ,his1 and all men are ,his servants and ,his possession1 yet1 like certain regiments in our own ,british army1 there are some who have the right to bear in a special manner on their uniform and on their banners the emblazonment1 ',the ,king's ,own4' ',the ,lord's portion is ,his people2 ,jacob is the lot of ,his inheritance4' ,well1 then1 the next thought is that the special relationship of possession is constituted by mutual love4 ,i said at the beginning of these remarks that as concerns men's relations1 the only real possession is through love1 sympathy1 and communion1 and that that must necessarily be mutual4 ,we have a perfect right to apply the human analogy here2 in fact1 we are bound to do it if we would rightly understand such words as those of my text2 and it just leads us to this1 that the one thing whereby ,god reckons that ,he possesses a man at all is when ,his love falls upon that man's heart and soaks into it1 and when there springs up in the heart a corresponding emotion and affection4 ,the men who welcome the divine love that goes through the whole world1 seeking such to worship it1 and to trust it1 and to become its own2 and who therefore lovingly yield to the loving divine will1 and take it for their law--these are the men whom ,he regards as ,his 'portion' and 'the lot of ,his inheritance4' ,so that ,god is mine1 and that ',i am ,god's1' are two ends of one truth2 ',i possess ,him1' and ',i am possessed by ,him1' are but the statement of one fact expressed from two points of view4 ,in the one case you look upon it from above1 in the other case you look upon it from beneath4 ,all the sweet commerce of mutual surrender and possession which makes the joy of our hearts1 in friendship and in domestic life1 we have the right to lift up into this loftier region1 and find in it the last teaching of what makes the special bond of mutual possession between ,god and man4 ,and deep words of ,scripture point in that direction4 ,those parables of our ,lord's3 the lost sheep1 the lost coin1 the lost son1 in their infinite beauty1 whilst they contain a great deal besides this1 do contain this in their several ways2 the money1 the animal1 the man belong to the woman of the house1 to the shepherd1 to the father4 ,each is 'lost' in a different fashion1 but the most clear revelation is given in the last parable of the three1 which explains the other two4 ,the son was 'lost' when he did not love the father2 and he was 'found' by the father when he returned the yearning of the father's heart4 ,and so1 dear brethren1 it ever is2 the one thing that knits men to ,god is that the silken cord of love let down from ,heaven should by our own hand be wrapped round our own hearts1 and then we are united to ,him4 ,we are ,his and ,he is ours by the double action of ,his love manifested by ,him1 and ,his love received by us4 ,now there is nothing in all that of favouritism4 ,the declaration that there are people who have a special relationship to the divine heart may be so stated as to have a very ugly look1 and it often has been so stated as to be nothing more than self-complacent ,pharisaism1 which values a privilege principally because its possession is an insult to somebody else that has it not4 ,there has been plenty of ,christianity of that sort in the world1 but there is nothing of it in the thoughts of these texts rightly looked at4 ,there is only this3 it cannot but be that men who yield to ,god and love ,him1 and try to live near ,him and to do righteousness1 are ,his in a manner that those who steel themselves against ,him and turn away from ,him are not4 ,whilst all creatures have a place in ,his heart1 and are flooded with ,his benefits1 and get as much of ,him as they can hold1 the men who recognise the source of their blessing1 and turn to it with grateful hearts1 are nearer ,him than those that do not do so4 ,let us take care1 lest for the sake of seeming to preserve the impartiality of ,his love1 we have destroyed all in ,him that makes ,his love worth having4 ,if to ,him the good and the bad1 the men who fear ,him and the men who fear ,him not1 are equally satisfactory1 and1 in the same manner1 the objects of an equal love1 then ,he is not a ,god that has pleasure in righteousness2 and if ,he is not a ,god that 'has pleasure in righteousness1' ,he is not a ,god for us to trust to4 ,we are not giving countenance to the notion that ,god has any step-children1 any petted members of ,his family1 when we cleave to this--they that have welcomed ,his love into their hearts are nearer to ,him than those that have closed the door against it4 ,and there is one more point here about this matter of ownership on which ,i dwell for a moment1 namely1 that this conception of certain men being in a special sense ,god's possession and inheritance means also that ,he has a special delight in1 and lofty appreciation of1 them4 ,all this material creation exists for the sake of growing good men and women4 ,that is the use of the things that are seen and temporal2 they are like greenhouses built for the great ,gardener's use in striking and furthering the growth of ,his plants2 and when ,he has got the plants ,he has got what ,he wanted1 and you may pull the greenhouse down if you like4 ,and so ,god estimates1 and teaches us to estimate1 the relative value and greatness of the material and the spiritual in this fashion1 that ,he says to us in effect3 ',all these magnificences and magnitudes round you are small and vulgar as compared with this--a heart in which wisdom and divine truth and the love and likeness of ,god have attained to some tolerable measure of maturity and of strength4' ,these are ,his 'jewels1' as the ,roman matron said about her two boys4 ,the great ,father looks upon the men that love ,him as ,his jewels1 and1 having got the jewels1 the rock in which they were embedded and preserved may be crushed when you like4 ',they shall be ,mine1' saith the ,lord1 ',my treasures in that day of judgment which ,i make4' ,and so1 my brother1 all the insignificance of man1 as compared with the magnitude and duration of the universe1 need not stagger our faith that the divinest thing in the universe is a heart that has learnt to love ,god and aspires after ,him1 and should but increase our wonder and our gratitude that ,he has been mindful of man and has visited him1 in order that ,he might give ,himself to men1 and so might win men for ,himself4 ,,ii4 ,that brings me1 and very briefly1 to the other points that ,i desire to deal with now4 ,the second one1 which is suggested to us from my second text in the ,epistle to ,titus1 is that this possession1 by ,god1 of man1 like man's possession of ,god1 comes because ,god has given ,himself to man4 ,the ,apostle puts it very strongly in the ,epistle to ,titus3 ',the glorious appearing of the great ,god and our ,saviour ,jesus ,christ1 who gave ,himself for us that ,he might purify unto ,himself a people for a possession4' ,israel1 according to one metaphor1 was ,god's 'son1' begotten by that great redeeming act of deliverance from the captivity of ,egypt 7,deut4 xxxii4 #f-ai74 ,according to another metaphor1 ,israel was ,god's bride1 wooed and won for ,his own by that same act4 ,both of these figures point to the thought that in order to get man for ,his own ,he has to give ,himself to man4 ,and the very height and sublimity of that truth is found in the ,christian fact which the ,apostle points to here4 ,we need not depart from human analogies here either4 ,christ gave ,himself to us that ,he might acquire us for ,himself4 ,absolute possession of others is only possible at the price of absolute surrender to them4 ,no human heart ever gave itself away unless it was convinced that the heart to which it gave itself had given itself to it4 ,and on the lower levels of gratitude and obligation1 the only thing that binds a man to another in utter submission is the conviction that that other has given himself in absolute sacrifice for him4 ,a doctor goes into the wards of an hospital with his life in his hands1 and because he does1 he wins the full confidence and affection of those whom he treats4 ,you cannot buy a heart with anything less than a heart4 ,in the barter of the world it is not 'skin for skin1' but it is 'self for self'2 and if you want to own me1 you must give yourself altogether to me4 ,and the measure in which teachers and guides and preachers and philanthropists of all sorts make conquests of men is the measure in which they make themselves sacrifices for men4 ,now all that is true1 and is lifted to its superlative truth1 in the great central fact of the ,christian faith4 ,but there is more than human analogy here4 ,christ is not only self-sacrifice in the sense of surrender1 but ,he is sacrifice in the sense of giving ,himself for our redemption and forgiveness4 ,he has not only given ,himself to us1 ,he has given ,himself for us4 ,and there1 and on that1 is builded1 and on that alone has ,he a right to build1 or have we a right to yield to it1 ,his claim to absolute authority and utter command over each of us4 ,he has died for us1 therefore the springs of our life are at ,his disposal2 and the strongest motives which can sway our lives are set in motion by ,his touch4 ,his death1 says this text1 redeems us from iniquity and purifies us4 ,that points to its power in delivering us from the service and practice of sin4 ,he buys us from the despot whose slaves we were1 and makes us ,his own in the hatred of evil and the doing of righteousness4 ,moved by ,his death1 we become capable of heroisms and martyrdoms of devotion to ,him4 ,brethren1 it is only as that self-sacrificing love touches us1 which died for our sins upon the ,cross1 that the diabolical chain of selfishness will be broken from our affections and our wills1 and we shall be led into the large place of glad surrender of ourselves to the sweetness and the gentle authority of ,his omnipotent love4 ,,iii4 ,the last thought that ,i suggest is the issues to which this mutual possession points4 ,god owns men1 and is owned by them1 in order that there may be a giving and receiving of mutual services of love4 ',the ,lord's portion is ,his people4' ,that in the ,old ,testament is always laid as the foundation of certain obligations under which ,he has come1 and which ,he will abundantly discharge4 ,what is a great landlord expected to do to his estate8 ',what ought ,i to have done to my vineyard8' the divine ,proprietor asks through the mouth of ,his servant the prophet4 ,he ought to till it1 ,he ought not to starve it1 ,he ought to fence it1 ,he ought to cast a wall about it1 ,he ought to reap the fruits4 ,and ,he does all that for ,his inheritance4 ,god's honour is concerned in ,his portion not being waste4 ,it is not to be a 'garden of the sluggard1' by which people who pass can see the thorns growing there4 ,so ,he will till it1 ,he will plough it1 ,he will pick out the weeds1 and all the disciplines of life will come to us1 and the ploughshare will be driven deep into the heart1 that 'the peaceable fruit of righteousness' may spring up4 ,he will fence ,his vineyard4 ,round about ,his inheritance ,his hand will be cast1 within ,his people ,his ,spirit will dwell4 ,no harm shall come near thee if thy love is given to ,him2 safe and untouched by evil thou shalt walk if thou walk with ,god4 ',he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of ,mine eye4' ,the soul that trusts ,him ,he takes in charge1 and before any evil can fall to it 'the pillared firmament must be rottenness1 and earth be built on stubble4' ',he is able to keep that which ,i have committed unto ,him against that day4' ',the ,lord's portion is ,his people1' and 'none shall pluck them out of ,his hand4' ,and on the other side1 we belong to ,god in ,christ4 ,what do we owe ,him8 ,what does the vineyard owe the husbandman8 ,fruit4 ,we are ,his1 therefore we are bound to absolute submission4 ',ye are not your own4' ,life1 circumstances1 occupations1 all--we hold them at ,his will4 ,we have no more right of property in anything than a slave in the bad old days had in his cabin and patch of ground4 ,they belonged to the master to whom he belonged4 ,let us recognise our stewardship1 and be glad to know ourselves ,his1 and all events and things which we sometimes think ours1 ,his also4 ,we are ,his1 therefore we owe absolute trust4 ,the slave has at least this blessing in his lot1 that he need have no anxieties2 nor need we4 ,we belong to ,god1 and ,he will take care of us4 ,a rich man's horses and dogs are well cared for1 and our ,owner will not leave us unheeded4 ,our well-being involves ,his good name4 ,leave anxious thought to masterless hearts which have to front the world with nobody at their backs4 ,if you are ,god's you will be looked after4 ,we are ,his1 therefore we are bound to live to ,his praise4 ,that is the conclusion which one ,old ,testament passage draws4 ',this people have ,i formed for ,myself2 they shall show forth ,my praise' 7,isaiah xliii4 #ba74 ,the ,apostle ,peter quotes these words immediately after those from ,exodus1 which describe ,israel as 'a people for ,god's own possession1' when he says 'that ye should show forth the praise of ,him who hath called you4' ,let us1 then1 live to ,his glory1 and remember that the servants of the ,king are bound to stand to their colours amid rebels1 and that they who know the sweetness of possessing ,god1 and the blessedness of yielding to ,his supreme control1 should acknowledge what they have found of ,his goodness1 and 'tell forth the honour of ,his name1 and make ,his praise glorious4' ,let not all the magnificent and wonderful expenditure of divine longing and love be in vain1 nor run off your hearts like water poured upon a rock4 ,surely the sun's flames leaping leagues high1 they tell us1 in tongues of burning gas1 must melt everything that is near them4 ,shall we keep our hearts sullen and cold before such a fire of love8 ,surely that superb and wonderful manifestation of the love of ,god in the ,cross of ,christ should melt into running rivers of gratitude all the ice of our hearts4 ',he gave ,himself for me6' ,let us turn to ,him and say3 ',lo6 ,i give myself to ,thee4 ,thou art mine4 ,make me ,thine by the constraint of ,thy love1 so utterly1 and so saturate my spirit with ,thyself1 that it shall not only be ,thine1 but in a very deep sense it shall be ,thee1 and that it may be no more ,i that live1 but ,christ that liveth in me4' ,,the ,,eagle ,,and ,,its ,,brood ',as an eagle stirreth up her nest1 fluttereth over her young1 spreadeth abroad her wings1 taketh them1 beareth them on her wings4'--,,deut4 xxxii4 #aa4 ,this is an incomplete sentence in the ,authorised ,version1 but really it should be rendered as a complete one2 the description of the eagle's action including only the two first clauses1 and 7the figure being still retained7 the person spoken of in the last clauses being ,god ,himself4 ,that is to say1 it should read thus1 ',as an eagle stirreth up his nest1 fluttereth over his young1 ,he spreads abroad ,his wings1 takes them1 bears them on ,his pinions4' ,that is far grander1 as well as more compact1 than the somewhat dragging comparison which1 according to the ,authorised ,version1 is spread over the whole verse and tardily explained1 in the following1 by a clause introduced by an unwarranted ',so'--'the ,lord alone did lead him1 and there was no strange god with him4' ,now1 of course1 we all know that the original reference of these words is to the deliverance of the ,israelites from ,egypt1 and their training in the desert4 ,in the solemn address by ,jehovah at the giving of the law 7,exodus xix4 #d71 the same metaphor is employed1 and1 no doubt1 that passage was the source of the extended imagery here4 ,there we read1 ',ye know what ,i did to the ,egyptians1 and how ,i bore you on eagles' wings1 and brought you unto ,myself4' ,the meaning of the glowing metaphor1 with its vivid details1 is just that ,jehovah brought ,israel out of its fixed abode in ,goshen1 and trained it for mature national life by its varied desert experiences4 ,as one of the prophets puts the same idea1 ',i taught ,ephraim to go1' where the figure of the parent bird training its callow fledglings for flight is exchanged for that of the nurse teaching a child to walk4 ,while1 then1 the text primarily refers to the experience of the infant nation in the forty years' wanderings1 it carries large truths about us all2 and sets forth the true meaning and importance of life4 ,there seem to me to be three thoughts here1 which ,i desire to touch on briefly3 first1 a great thought about ,god2 then an illuminating thought about the true meaning and aspect of life2 and lastly a calming thought about the variety of the methods by which ,god carries out our training4 ,i4 ,here is a great thought about ,god4 ,now1 it may come as something of a shock if ,i say that the bird that is selected for the comparison is not really the eagle1 but one which1 in our estimation1 is of a very much lower order--viz4 the carnivorous vulture4 ,but a poetical emblem is not the less fitting1 though1 besides the points of resemblance1 the thing which is so used has others less noble4 ,our modern repugnance to the vulture as feeding on carcasses was probably not felt by the singer of this song4 ,what he brings into view are the characteristics common to the eagle and the vulture2 superb strength in beak and claw1 keenness of vision almost incredible1 magnificent sweep of pinion and power of rapid1 unwearied flight4 ,and these characteristics1 we may say1 have their analogues in the divine nature1 and the emblem not unfitly shadows forth one aspect of the ,god of ,israel1 who is 'fearful in praises1' who is strong to destroy as well as to save1 whose all-seeing eye marks every foul thing1 and who often pounces on it swiftly to rend it to pieces1 though the sky seemed empty a moment before4 ,but the action described in the text is not destructive1 terrible1 or fierce4 ,the monarch of the sky busies itself with tender cares for its brood4 ,then1 there is gentleness along with the terribleness4 ,the strong beak and claw1 the gaze that can see so far1 and the mighty spread of wings that can lift it till it is an invisible speck in the blue vault1 go along with the instinct of paternity3 and the fledglings in the nest look up at the fierce beak and bright eyes1 and know no terror4 ,the impression of this blending of power and gentleness is greatly deepened1 as it seems to me1 if we notice that it is the male bird that is spoken about in the text1 which should be rendered3 ',as the eagle stirreth up his nest and fluttereth over his young4' ,so we just come to the thought that we must keep the true balance between these two aspects of that great divine nature--the majesty1 the terror1 the awfulness1 the soaring elevation1 the all-penetrating vision1 the power of the mighty pinion1 one stroke of which could crush a universe into nothing2 and1 on the other side1 the yearning instinct of ,fatherhood1 the love and gentleness1 and all the tender ministries for us1 ,his children1 to which these lead4 ,brethren1 unless we keep hold of both of these in due equipoise and inseparably intertwining1 we damage the one which we retain almost as much as the one which we dismiss4 ,for there is no love like the love that is strong1 and can be fierce1 and there is no condescension like the condescension of ,him who is the ,highest1 in order that ,he may be1 and because ,he is ready to be1 the lowest4 ,modern tendencies1 legitimately recoiling from the one-sidedness of a past generation1 are now turning away far too much from the ,old ,testament conceptions of ,jehovah1 which are concentrated in that metaphor of the vulture in the sky4 ,and thereby we destroy the love1 in the name of which we scout the wrath4 ',infinite mercy1 but1 ,i wis1 ,as infinite a justice too4' ',as the vulture stirreth up his nest1'--that is the ,old ,testament revelation of the terribleness and gentleness of ,jehovah4 ',how often would ,i have gathered thy children together1 even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wing8'--that is the ,new ,testament modification of the image4 ,but you never could have had the ,new unless you first had had the ,old4 ,and you are a foolish man if1 in the name of the sanctity of the ,new1 you cast away the teaching of the ,old4 ,keep both the metaphors1 and they will explain and confirm each other4 ,,ii4 ,here we have an illuminating thought of the meaning of life4 ,what is it all for8 ,to teach us to fly1 to exercise our half-fledged wings in short flights1 that may prepare us for1 and make it possible to take1 longer ones4 ,every event that befalls us has a meaning beyond itself2 and every task that we have to do reacts upon us1 the doers1 and either fits or hinders us for larger work4 ,life as a whole1 and in its minutest detail1 is worthy of ,god to give1 and worthy of us to possess1 only if we recognise the teaching that is put into picturesque form in this text--that the meaning of all which ,god does to us is to train us for something greater yonder4 ,life as a whole is 'full of sound and fury1 signifying nothing1' unless it is an apprenticeship training4 ,what are we here for8 ,to make character4 ,that is the aim and end of all--to make character2 to get experience2 to learn the use of our tools4 ,i declare it seems to me that the world had better be wiped out altogether1 incontinently1 unless there is a world beyond1 where a man shall use the force which here he made his own4 ',thou hast been faithful in a few things2 behold ,i will make thee ruler over many things4' ,no man gets to the heart of the mystery of life or has in his hand the key which will enable him to unlock all the doors and difficulties of human experience1 unless he gets to this--that it is all meant as training4 ,if we could only carry that clear conviction with us day by day into the little things of life1 what different things these1 which we call the monotonous trifles of our daily duties1 would become6 ,the things may be small and unimportant1 but the way in which we do them is not unimportant4 ,the same fidelity may be exercised1 and must be brought to bear1 in order to do the veriest trifle of our daily lives rightly1 as needs to be invoked1 in order to get us safely through the crises and great times of life4 ,there are no great principles for great duties1 and little ones for little duties4 ,we have to regulate all our conduct by the same laws4 ,life is built up of trifles1 as mica-flakes1 if there be enough of them1 make the ,alpine summits towering thousands of feet into the blue4 ,character may be manifested in the great moments1 but it is made in the small ones4 ,so1 life is meant for discipline1 and unless we use it for that1 however much enjoyment we get out of it1 we misuse it4 ,,iii4 ,lastly1 there is here a calming thought as to the variety of ,god's methods with us4 ',as the eagle stirreth up his nest4' ,no doubt the callow brood are much warmer and more comfortable in the nest than when they are turned out of it4 ,the ,israelites were by no means enamoured with the prospect of leaving the flesh-pots and the onions and the farmhouses that they had got for themselves in ,goshen1 to tramp with their cattle through the wilderness4 ,they went after ,moses with considerable disinclination4 ,here we have1 then1 as the first thing needed1 ,god's loving compulsion to effort4 ,to 'stir up the nest' means to make a man uncomfortable where he is2--sometimes by the prickings of his conscience1 which are often the voices of ,god's ,spirit2 sometimes by changes of circumstances1 either for the better or for the worse2 and oftentimes by sorrows4 ,the straw is pulled out of the nest1 and it is not so comfortable to lie in2 or a bit of it develops a sharp point that runs into the half-feathered skin1 and makes the fledgling glad to come forth into the air4 ,we all shrink from change4 ,what should we do if we had it not8 ,we should stiffen into habits that would dwarf and weaken us4 ,we all recoil from storms4 ,what should we do if we had them not8 ,sea and air would stagnate1 and become heavy and putrid and pestilential1 if it were not for the wild west wind and the hurtling storms4 ,so all our changes1 instead of being whimpered over1 and all our sorrows1 instead of being taken reluctantly1 should be recognised as being what they are1 loving summonses to effort4 ,then their pressure would be modified1 and their blessing would be secured when their purpose was served4 ,but the training of the father-eagle is not confined to stirring up the nest4 ,what is to become of the young ones when they get out of it1 and have never been accustomed to bear themselves up in the invisible ether about them8 ,so 'he fluttereth over his young4' ,it is a very beautiful word that is employed here1 which 'flutter' scarcely gives us4 ,it is the same word that is used in the first chapter of ,genesis1 about the ,spirit of ,god 'brooding on the face of the waters'2 and it suggests how near1 how all-protecting with expanded wings1 the divine ,father comes to the child whose restfulness ,he has disturbed4 ,and is not that true8 ,had you ever trouble that you took as from ,him1 which did not bring that hovering presence nearer you1 until you could almost feel the motion of the wing1 and be brushed by it as it passed protectingly above your head8 ,ah1 yes6 ',stirring the nest' is meant to be the precursor of closer approach of the ,father to us2 and if we take our changes and our sorrows as loving summonses from ,him to effort1 be sure that we shall realise ,him as near to us1 in a fashion that we never did before4 ,that is not all4 ,there is sustaining power4 ',he spreadeth abroad his wings2 he taketh them2 beareth them on his wings4' ,on those broad pinions we are lifted1 and by them we are guarded4 ,it matters little whether the belief that the parent bird thus carries the young1 when wearied with their short flights1 is correct or not4 ,the truth which underlies the representation is what concerns us4 ,the beautiful metaphor is a picturesque way of saying1 ',in all their afflictions ,he was afflicted2 and the ,angel of ,his presence saved them4' ,it is a picturesque way of saying1 ',thou canst do all things through ,christ which strengtheneth thee4' ,and we may be very sure that if we let ,him 'stir up our nests' and obey ,his loving summons to effort1 ,he will come very near to strengthen us for our attempts1 and to bear us up when our own weak wings fail4 ,the ,psalmist sang that angels' hands should bear up ,god's servant4 ,that is little compared with this promise of being carried heavenwards on ,jehovah's own pinions4 ,a vile piece of ,greek mythology tells how ,jove once1 in the guise of an eagle1 bore away a boy between his great wings4 ,it is foul where it stands1 but it is blessedly true about ,christian experience4 ,if only we lay ourselves on ,god's wings--and that not in idleness1 but having ourselves tried our poor little flight--,he will see that no harm comes to us4 ,during life this training will go on2 and after life1 what then8 ,then1 in the deepest sense1 the old word will be true1 ',ye know how ,i bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to ,myself'2 and the great promise shall be fulfilled1 when the half-fledged young brood are matured and full grown1 ',they shall mount up with wings as eagles2 they shall run and not be weary2 they shall walk and not faint4' ,,their ,,rock ,,and ,,our ,,rock ',their rock is not as our ,rock1 even our enemies themselves being ,judges4' ,,deut4 xxxii4 #ca4 ,moses is about to leave the people whom he had led so long1 and his last words are words of solemn warning4 ,he exhorts them to cleave to ,god4 ,the words of the text simply mean that the history of the nation had sufficiently proved that ,god1 their ,god1 was 'above all gods4' ,the ,canaanites and all the enemies whom ,israel had fought had been beaten1 and in their awe of this warrior people acknowledged that their idols had found their lord4 ,the great suit of ',jehovah versus ,idols' has long since been decided4 ,every one acknowledges that ,christianity is the only religion possible for twentieth century men4 ,but the words of the text lend themselves to a wider application1 and clothe in a picturesque garb the universal truth that the experience of godless men proves the futility of their objects of trust1 when compared with that of him whose refuge is in ,god4 ,i4 ,god is a ,rock to them that trust ,him4 ,we note the singular frequency of that designation in this song1 in which it occurs six times4 ,it is also found often in the ,psalms4 ,if ,moses were the singer1 we might see in this often-repeated metaphor a trace of influence of the scenery of the ,sinaitic peninsula1 which would be doubly striking to eyes accustomed to the alluvial plains of ,egypt4 ,what are the aspects of the divine nature set forth by this name8 7#a7 ,firm foundation3 the solid eternity of the rock on which we can build4 ,petra3 faithfulness to promises1 unchanging4 7#b7 ,refuge3 'refuge from the storm'2 'my rock and my fortress and my high tower4' 7#c7 ,refreshment3 rock from which water gushed out2 and 7#d7 ,repose3 'shadow of a great rock'2 'shadow from the heat4' ,trace the image through ,scripture1 from this song till ,christ's parable of the man who 'built his house on a rock4' ,,ii4 ,every man's experience shows him that there is no such refuge anywhere else4 ,we do not assert that every man consciously comes to that conclusion4 ,all we say is that he would do so if he rightly pondered the facts4 ,the history of every life is a history of disappointment4 ,take these particulars just stated and ask yourselves3 ,what does experience say as to the possibility of our possessing such blessings apart from ,god8 ,there is no need for us to exaggerate1 for the naked reality is sad enough4 ,if ,god is not our best ,good1 we have no solid good4 ,every other 'rock' crumbles into sand4 ,else why this restless change1 why this disquiet1 why the constant repetition1 generation after generation1 of the old1 old wail1 ',vanity of vanities1 all is vanity'8 ,why does every heart say ,amen to the poet and the dramatist singing of 'the fever and the fret1' the tragic fare of man's life8 ,our appeal is not to men in the flush of excitement1 but to them in their hours of solitary sane reflection4 ,it is from ',philip drunk to ,philip sober4' ,we each have material for judging in our own case1 and in the cases of some others4 ,the experiment of living with other 'rocks' than ,god has been tried for millenniums now4 ,what has been the issue8 ,you know what ,christianity claims that it can do to make a life stable and safe4 ,do you know anything else that can8 ,you know what ,christian men will calmly say that they have found4 ,can you say as much8 ,let us hear some dying testimonies4 ,hearken to ,jacob3 ',the ,god which hath fed me all my life long unto this day1 the ,angel which redeemed me from all evil4' ,hearken to ,moses3 ',the ,rock1 ,his work is perfect1 for all ,his ways are judgment1 a ,god of faithfulness and without iniquity1 just and right is ,he4' ,hearken to ,joshua3 ',not one good thing hath failed of all the good things which the ,lord your ,god spake4' ,hearken to ,david3 ',the ,lord is my shepherd1 ,i shall not want 4444 ,surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life4' ,hearken to ,paul3 ',the ,lord stood by me and strengthened me1 and ,i was delivered 444 the ,lord will deliver me from every evil work and will save me unto ,his heavenly kingdom4' ,what man who has chosen to take refuge or build on men and creatures can look backward and forward in such fashion8 ,,iii4 ,every man's own nature tells him that ,god is his true ,rock4 ,again ,i say that here ,i do not appeal to the surface of our consciousness1 nor to men who have sophisticated themselves1 nor to people who have sinned themselves1 into hardness1 but to the voice of the inner man which speaks in the depths of each man's being4 ,there is the cry of ,want3 the manifest want of the soul for ,god4 ,there is the voice of ,reason4 ,there is the voice of ,conscience4 ,,iv4 ,yet many of us will not take ,god for our ,rock4 ,surely it is a most extraordinary thing that men should be 'judges1' being convinced in their deepest consciousness that ,god is the only ,foundation and ,refuge1 and yet that the conviction should have absolutely no influence on their conduct4 ,the same stark1 staring inconsequence is visible in many other departments of life1 but in this region it works its most tragic results4 ,the message which many of my hearers need most is--follow out your deepest convictions1 and be true to the inward voice which condenses all your experience into the one counsel to take ,god for the 'strength of your hearts and your portion for ever1' for only in ,him will you find what you need for life and strength and riches4 ,if ,he is 'our ,rock1' then we shall have a firm foundation1 a safe refuge1 inexhaustible refreshment and untroubled rest4 ,lives founded on aught beside are built on sand and will be full of tremors and unsettlements1 and at last the despairing builder and his ruined house will be washed away with the dissolving 'sandbank and shoal of time' on which he built4 ,,god ,,and ,,his ,,saints ',he loved the people2 all ,his saints are in ,thy hand3 and they sat down at ,thy feet2 every one shall receive of ,thy words4'--,,deut4 xxxiii4 #c4 ,the great ode of which these words are a part is called 'the blessing wherewith ,moses blessed the children of ,israel before his death4' ,it is mainly an invocation of blessing from ,heaven on the various tribes1 but it begins1 as the national existence of ,israel began1 with the revelation of ,god on ,sinai1 and it lays that as the foundation of everything4 ,it does not matter1 for my purposes1 in the smallest degree1 who was the author of this great song4 ,whoever he was1 he has1 by dint of divine inspiration and of his own sympathy with the inmost spirit of the ,old ,covenant1 anticipated the deepest things of ,christian truth2 and these are here in the words of our text4 ,i4 ,the first thing that ,i would point out is the ,divine ,love which is the foundation of all4 ',he loved the people4' ,that is the beginning of everything4 ,the word that this singer uses is one that only appears in this place1 and if we regard its etymology1 there lies in it a very tender and beautiful expression of the warmth of the divine love1 for it is probably connected with words in an allied language which mean the bosom and a tender embrace1 and so the picture that we have is of that great divine ,lover folding 'the people' to ,his heart1 as a mother might her child1 and cherishing them in ,his bosom4 ,still further1 the word is in a form in the ,hebrew which implies that the act spoken about is neither past1 present1 nor future only1 but continuous and perpetual4 ,thus it suggests to us the thought of timeless1 eternal love1 which has no beginning1 and therefore has no end1 which does not grow1 and therefore will never decline nor decay1 but which runs on upon one lofty level1 with neither ups nor downs1 and with no variation of the impulse which sends it forth2 always the same1 and always holding its objects in the fervent embrace of which the text speaks4 ,further1 mark the place in this great song where this thought comes in4 ,as ,i said1 it is laid as the beginning of everything4 ',we love ,him because ,he first loved us' was the height to which the last of the ,apostles attained in the last of his writings4 ,but this old singer1 with the mists of antiquity around him1 who knew nothing about the ,cross1 nothing about the historical ,christ1 who had only that which modern thinkers tell us is a revelation of a wrathful ,god1 somehow or other rose to the height of the evangelical conception of ,god's love as the foundation of the very existence of a people who are ,his4 ,like an orchid growing on a block of dry wood and putting forth a gorgeous bloom1 this singer1 with so much less to feed his faith than we have1 has yet borne this fair flower of deep and devout insight into the secret of things and the heart of ,god4 ',he loved the people'--therefore ,he formed them for ,himself2 therefore ,he brought them out of bondage2 therefore ,he came down in flashing fire on ,sinai and made known ,his will1 which to know and do is life4 ,all begins from the tender1 timeless love of ,god4 ,and if the question is asked1 ,why does ,god thus love8 the only answer is1 ,because he is ,god4 ',not for your sakes1 ,o house of ,israel 444 but for ,mine own name's sake4' ,the love of ,god is self-originated4 ,in it1 as in all ,his acts1 ,he is ,his own motive1 as ,his name1 ',i am that ,i am1' proclaims4 ,it is inseparable from ,his being1 and flows forth before1 and independent of1 anything in the creature which could draw it out4 ,men's love is attracted by their perception or their imagination of something loveable in its objects4 ,it is like a well1 where there has to be much work of the pump-handle before the gush comes4 ,god's love is like an artesian well1 or a fountain springing up from unknown depths in obedience to its own impulse4 ,all that we can say is1 ',thou art ,god4 ,it is ,thy nature and property to be merciful4' ',god loved the people4' ,the bed-rock is the spontaneous1 unalterable1 inexhaustible1 ever-active1 fervent love of ,god1 like that with which a mother clasps her child to her maternal breast4 ,the fair flower of this great thought was a product of ,judaism4 ,let no man say that the ,god of ,love is unknown to the ,old ,testament4 ,,ii4 ,notice how1 with this for a basis1 we have next the guardian care extended to all those that answer love by love4 ,the singer goes on to say1 mixing up his pronouns1 in the fashion of ,hebrew poetry1 somewhat arbitrarily1 'all ,his saints are in ,thy hand4' ,now1 what is a 'saint'8 ,a man who answers ,god's love by his love4 ,the notion of a saint has been marred and mutilated by the ,church and the world4 ,it has been taken as a special designation of certain selected individuals1 mostly of the ascetic and monastic type1 whereas it belongs to every one of ,god's people4 ,it has been taken by the world to mean sanctimoniousness and not sanctity1 and is a term of contempt rather than of admiration on their lips4 ,and even those of us1 who have got beyond thinking that it is a title of honour belonging only to the aristocracy of ,christ's ,kingdom1 are too apt to mistake what it really does mean4 ,it may be useful to say a word about the ,scriptural use and true meaning of that much-abused term4 ,the root idea of sanctity or holiness is not moral character1 goodness of disposition and of action1 but it is separation from the world and consecration to ,god4 ,as surely as a magnet applied to a heap of miscellaneous filings will pick out every little bit of iron there1 so surely will that love which ,he bears to the people1 when it is responded to1 draw to itself1 and therefore draw out of the heap1 the men that feel its impulse and its preciousness4 ,and so 'saint' means1 secondly1 righteous and pure1 but it means1 first1 knit to ,god1 separated from evil1 and separated by the power of ,his received love4 ,now1 brethren1 here is a question for each of us3 ,do ,i yield to that timeless1 tender clasp of the divine ,father and ,mother in one8 ,do ,i answer it by my love8 ,if ,i do1 then ,i am a 'saint1' because ,i belong to ,him1 and ,he belongs to me1 and in that commerce ,i have broken with the world4 ,if we are true to ourselves1 and true to our ,lord1 and true to the relation between us1 the purity of character1 which is popularly supposed to be the meaning of holiness1 will come4 ,not without effort1 not without set-backs1 not without slow advance1 but it will come2 for he that is consecrated to the ,lord is 'separated' from iniquity4 ,such is the meaning of 'saint4' ',all ,his saints are in ,thy hand4' ,the first metaphor of our text spoke of ,god's bosom1 to which ,he drew the people and folded them there4 ,this one speaks of ,his 'hand4' ,they lie in it4 ,that means two things4 ,it means absolute security1 for will ,he not close ,his fingers over ,his palm to keep the soul that has laid itself there8 ,and 'none shall pluck them out of ,my ,father's hand4' ,no one but yourself can do that4 ,and you can do it1 if you cease to respond to ,his love1 and so cease to be a saint4 ,then you will fall out of ,his hand1 and how far you will fall ,god only knows4 ,being in ,god's hand means also submission4 ,loyola said to his black army1 ',be like a stick in a man's hand4' ,that meant utter submission and abnegation of self1 the willingness to be put anywhere1 and used anyhow1 and done anything with4 ,and if ,i by my reception of1 and response to1 that timeless love1 am a saint belonging to ,god1 then not only shall ,i be secure1 but ,i must be submissive4 ',all ,his saints are in ,thy hand4' ,do not try to get out of it2 be content to let it guide you as the steersman's hand turns the spokes of the wheel and directs the ship4 ,now1 there is a last thought here4 ,i have spoken of the foundation of all as being divine love1 of the security and guardian care of the saints1 and there follows one thought more3-- ,,iii4 ,the docile obedience of those that are thus guarded4 ,as the words stand in our ,bible1 they are as follow3--',they sat down at ,thy feet2 every one shall receive of ,thy words4' ,these two clauses make up one picture1 and one easily understands what it is4 ,it represents a group of docile scholars1 sitting at the ,master's feet4 ,he is teaching them1 and they listen open-mouthed and open-eared to what he says1 and will take his words into their lives1 like ,mary sitting at ,christ's feet1 whilst ,martha was bustling about ,his meal4 ,but1 beautiful as that picture is1 there has been suggested a little variation in the words which gives another one that strikes me as being even more beautiful4 ,there are some difficulties of language with which ,i need not trouble you4 ,but the general result is this1 that perhaps instead of 'sitting down at ,thy feet' we should read 'followed at ,thy feet4' ,that suggests the familiar metaphor of a guide and those led by him who1 without him1 know not their road4 ,as a dog follows his master1 as the sheep their shepherd1 so1 this singer felt1 will saints follow the ,god whom they love4 ,religion is imitation of ,god4 ,that was a deep thought for such a stage of revelation1 and it in part anticipates ,christ's tender words3 ',he goeth before them1 and the sheep follow ,him1 for they know ,his voice4' ,they follow at ,his feet4 ,that is the blessedness and the power of ,christian morality1 that it is keeping close at ,christ's heels1 and that instead of its being said to us1 ',go1' ,he says1 ',come1' and instead of our being bid to hew out for ourselves a path of duty1 ,he says to us1 ',he that followeth ,me shall not walk in darkness1 but shall have the light of life4' ,they follow at ,his feet1 as the dog at his master's1 as the sheep at their shepherd's4 ,they 'receive ,his words4' ,yes1 if you will keep close to ,him1 ,he will turn round and speak to you4 ,if you are near enough to ,him to catch ,his whisper ,he will not leave you without guidance4 ,that is one side of the thought1 that following we receive what ,he says1 whereas the people that are away far behind ,him scarcely know what ,his will is1 and never can catch the low whisper which will come to us by providences1 by movements in our own spirits1 through the exercise of our own faculties of judgment and common-sense1 if only we will keep near to ,him4 ',be ye not as the horse or as the mule1 which have no understanding1 whose mouths must be held in with bit and with bridle1 else they will not come near to thee1' but walk close behind ,him1 and then the promise will be fulfilled3 ',i will guide thee with ,mine eye4' ,a glance tells two people who are in sympathy what each wishes1 and ,jesus ,christ will speak to us1 if we keep close at ,his heels4 ,they that follow ,him will 'receive ,his words' in another sense4 ,they will take them in1 and ,his words will not be wasted4 ,and they will receive them in yet another sense4 ,they will carry them out and do them1 and ,his words will not be in vain4 ,so1 dear brethren1 the peace1 the strength1 the blessedness1 the goodness1 of our lives flow from these three stages1 which this singer so long ago had found to be the essence of everything1 recognition of the timeless tenderness of ,god1 the yielding to and answering that love1 so that it separates us for ,himself1 the calm security and happy submission which follow thereon1 the imitation of ,him in daily life1 and the walking in ,his steps1 which is rewarded and made more perfect by hearing more distinctly the whisper of ,his loving1 commanding voice4 ,,israel ,,the ,,beloved ',the beloved of the ,lord shall dwell in safety by ,him2 and the ,lord shall cover him all the day long1 and he shall dwell between ,his shoulders4'--,,deut4 xxxiii4 #ab4 ,benjamin was his father's favourite child1 and the imagery of this promise is throughout drawn from the relations between such a child and its father4 ,so far as the future history of the tribes is shadowed in these 'blessings' of this great ode1 the reference of the text may be to the tribe of ,benjamin1 as specially distinguished by ,saul having been a member of it1 and by the ,temple having been built on its soil4 ,but we find that each of the promises of the text is repeated elsewhere1 with distinct reference to the whole nation4 ,for example1 the first one1 of safe dwelling1 reappears in verse #bh in reference to ,israel2 the second one1 of ,god's protecting covering1 is extended to the nation in many places2 and the third1 of dwelling between ,his shoulders1 is in substance found again in chap4 i4 #ca1 'the ,lord thy ,god bare thee1 as a man doth bear his son4' ,so that we may give the text a wider extension1 and take it as setting forth under a lovely metaphor1 and with a restricted reference1 what is true of all ,god's children everywhere and always4 ,i4 ,who are the 'beloved of the ,lord'8 ,the first answer to that question must be--all men4 ,but these great blessings1 so beautifully shadowed in this text1 do not belong to all men2 nor does the designation1 'the beloved of the ,lord1' belong to all men1 but to those who have entered into a special relation to ,him4 ,in these words of the ,hebrew singer there sound the first faint tones of a music that was to swell into clear notes1 when ,jesus said3 ',if a man love ,me1 he will keep ,my ,word1 and ,my ,father will love him1 and ,we will come unto him1 and make ,our abode with him4' ,they who are knit by faith and love to ,god's only-begotten and beloved ,son1 by that union receive 'power to become the sons of ,god1' and share in the love which is ever pouring out from the ,father's heart on 'the ,son of ,his love4' ,,ii4 ,what are their blessed privileges8 ,the three clauses of the text express substantially the same idea1 but with a striking variety of metaphors4 #a4 ,they have a sure dwelling-place4 ,there is a very slight change of rendering of the first clause1 which greatly increases its 'force1 and preserves the figure that is obscured by the usual translation4 ,we should read 'shall dwell safely on1' rather than 'by1 ,him4' ,and the effect of that small change in the preposition is to bring out the thought that ,god is regarded as the foundation on which ,his beloved build their house of life1 and dwell in security and calm4 ,if we are sons through the ,son1 we shall build our houses or pitch our tents on that firm ground1 and1 being founded on the ,rock of ages1 they will not fall when all created foundations reel to the overthrow of whatever is built on them4 ,it is not companionship only1 blessed as that is1 that is promised here4 ,we have a larger privilege than dwelling by ,him1 for if we love ,his ,son1 we build on ,god1 and ',god dwelleth in us and we in ,him4' ,what spiritual reality underlies the metaphor of dwelling or building on ,god8 ,the fact of habitual communion4 ,note the blessed results of such grounding of our lives on ,god through such habitual communion4 ,we shall 'dwell safely4' ,we may think of that as being objective safety--that is1 freedom from peril1 or as being subjective--that is1 freedom from care or fear1 or as meaning 'trustfully1' confidently1 as the expression is rendered in ,psalm xvi4 #i 7margin71 which is for us the ground of both these4 ,he who dwells in ,god trustfully dwells both safely and securely1 and none else is free either from danger or from dread4 #b4 ,they have a sure shelter4 ,god is for ,his beloved not only the foundation on which they dwell in safety1 but their perpetual covering4 ,they dwell safely because ,he is so4 ,there are many tender shapes in which this great promise is presented to our faith4 ,sometimes ,god is thought of as covering the weak fugitive1 as the arching sides of ,his cave sheltered ,david from ,saul4 ,sometimes ,he is represented as covering ,his beloved1 who cower under ,his wings1 'as the hen gathereth her chickens' when hawks are in the sky4 ,sometimes ,he appears as covering them from tempest1 'when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall1' and 'the shadow of a great rock' shields from its fury4 ,sometimes ,he is pictured as stretching out protection over ,his beloved's heads1 as the ,pillar of cloud lay1 long-drawn-out1 over the ,tabernacle when at rest1 and 'on all the ,glory was a defence4' ,but under whatever emblem the general idea of a covering shelter was conceived1 there was always a correlative duty on our side4 ,for the root-meaning of one of the ,old ,testament words for 'faith' is 'fleeing to a refuge1' and we shall not be safe in ,god unless by faith we flee for refuge to ,him in ,christ4 #c4 ,they have a ,father who bears them on ,his shoulders4 ,the image is the same as in chap4 i4 already referred to4 ,it recurs also in ,isaiah 7xlvi4 #c1 #d71 ',even to hoar hairs will ,i carry you1 and ,i have made and ,i will bear1 yea1 ,i will carry1 and will deliver'2 and in ,hosea 7xi4 #c71 ',i taught ,ephraim to go2 ,i took them on ,my arms4' ,the image beautifully suggests the thought of the favourite child riding high and happy on the strong shoulder1 which lifts it above rough places and miry ways4 ,the prose reality is3 ',my grace is sufficient for thee1 for ,my strength is made perfect in weakness4' ,the ,cross carries those who carry it4 ,they who carry ,god in their hearts are carried by ,god through all the long pilgrimage of life4 ,because they are thus upheld by a strength not their own1 'they shall run and not be weary1 they shall walk and not faint1' and though marches be long and limbs strained1 they shall 'go from strength to strength till every one of them appears before ,god in ,zion4' ',,at ,,the ,,bush' '44 ,the goodwill of ,him that dwelt in the bush4'-,,deut4 xxxiii4 #af4 ,i ,think this is the only reference in the ,old ,testament to that great vision which underlay ,moses' call and ,israel's deliverance4 ,it occurs in what is called 'the blessing wherewith ,moses1 the man of ,god1 blessed the children of ,israel before his death1' although modern opinion tends to decide that this hymn is indeed much more recent than the days of ,moses4 ,there seems a peculiar appropriateness in this reference being put into the mouth of the ancient ,lawgiver1 for to him even ,sinai1 with all its glories1 cannot have been so impressive and so formative of his character as was the vision granted to him when solitary in the wilderness4 ,it is to be noticed that the characteristic by which ,god is designated here never occurs elsewhere than in this one place4 ,it is intended to intensify the conception of the greatness1 and preciousness1 and all-sufficiency of that 'goodwill4' ,if it is that 'of ,him that dwelt in the bush1' it is sure to be all that a man can need4 ,i need not remind you that the words occur in the blessing pronounced on ',joseph'--that is1 the two tribes which represented ,joseph--in which all the greatest material gifts that could be desired by a pastoral people are first called down upon them1 and then the ground of all these is laid in 'the goodwill of ,him that dwelt in the bush4' ',the blessing--let it come on the head of ,joseph4' ,so then here1 first1 is a great thought as to what for us all is the blessing of blessings--,god's 'goodwill4' ',goodwill'-the word1 perhaps1 might bear a little stronger rendering4 ',goodwill' is somewhat tepid4 ,a man may have a good enough will1 and yet no very strong emotion of favour or delight1 and may do nothing to carry his goodwill into action4 ,but the word that is employed here1 and is a common enough one in ,scripture1 always carries with it a certain intensity and warmth of feeling4 ,it is more than 'goodwill'2 it is more than 'favour'2 perhaps 'delight' would be nearer the meaning4 ,it implies1 too1 not only the inward sentiment of complacency1 but also the active purpose of action in conformity with it1 on ,god's part4 ,now it needs few words to show that these two things1 which are inseparable1 do make the blessing of blessings for every one of us--the delight1 the complacency1 of ,god in us1 and the active purpose of good in ,god for us4 ,these are the things that will make a man happy wherever he is4 ,if ,i might dwell for a moment upon other scriptural passages1 ,i would just recall to you1 as bringing up very strongly and beautifully the all-sufficiency and the blessed effects of having this delight and loving purpose directed towards us like a sunbeam1 the various great things that a chorus of psalmists say that it will do for a man4 ,here is one of their triumphant utterances3 ',thou wilt bless the righteous2 with favour wilt ,thou compass him as with a shield4' ,that crystal battlement1 if ,i may so vary the figure1 is round a man1 keeping far away from him all manner of real evil1 and filling his quiet heart as he stands erect behind the rampart1 with the sense of absolute security4 ,that is one of the blessings that ,god's favour or goodwill will secure for us4 ,again1 we read3 ',by ,thy favour ,thou hast made my mountain to stand strong4' ,he that knows himself to be the object of the divine delight1 and who by faith knows himself to be the object of the divine activity in protection1 stands firm1 and his purposes will be carried through1 because they will be purposes in accordance with the divine mind1 and nothing has power to shake him4 ,so he that grasps the hand of ,god can say1 not because of his grasp1 but because of the ,hand that he holds1 ',the ,lord is at my right hand2 ,i shall not be greatly moved4 ,by ,thy favour ,thou hast made our mountain to stand strong4' ,and again1 in another analogous but yet diversified representation1 we read3 ',in ,thee shall we rejoice all the day1 and in ,thy favour shall our horn be exalted4' ,that is the emblem1 not only of victory1 but of joyful confidence1 and so he who knows himself to have ,god for his friend and his helper1 can go through the world keeping a sunny face1 whatever the clouds may be1 erect and secure1 light of heart and buoyant1 holding up his chin above the stormiest waters1 and breasting all difficulties and dangers with a confidence far away from presumption1 because it is the consequence of the realisation of ,god's presence4 ,so the goodwill of ,god is the chiefest good4 ,now1 if we turn to the remarkable designation of the divine nature which is here1 consider what rivers of strength and of blessedness flow out of the thought that for each of us 'the goodwill of ,him that dwelt in the bush' may be our possession4 ,what does that pregnant designation of ,god say8 ,that was a strange shrine for ,god1 that poor1 ragged1 dry desert bush1 with apparently no sap in its gray stem1 prickly with thorns1 with 'no beauty that we should desire it1' fragile and insignificant1 yet it was ',god's house4' ,not in the cedars of ,lebanon1 not in the great monarchs of the forest1 but in the forlorn child of the desert did ,he abide4 ',the goodwill of ,him that dwelt in the bush' may dwell in you and me4 ,never mind how small1 never mind how sapless1 never mind how lightly esteemed among men1 never mind though we make a very poor show by the side of the 'oaks of ,bashan' or the 'cedars of ,lebanon4' ,it is all right2 the ,fire does not dwell in them4 ',unto this man will ,i look1 and with him will ,i dwell1 who is of a humble and a contrite heart1 and who trembleth at ,my word4' ,let no sense of poverty1 weakness1 unworthiness1 ever draw the faintest film of fear across our confidence1 for even with us ,he will sojourn4 ,for it is 'the goodwill of ,him that dwelt in the bush' that we evoke for ours4 ,again1 what more does that name say8 ,he 'that dwelt in the bush' filled it with fire1 and it 'burned and was not consumed4' ,now there is good ground to object to the ordinary interpretation1 as if the burning of the bush which yet remains unconsumed was meant to symbolise ,israel1 or1 in the ,new ,testament application1 the ,church which1 notwithstanding all persecution1 still remains undestroyed4 ,our brethren of the ,presbyterian churches have taken the ,latin form of the words in the context for their motto--,nec ,tamen ,consumebatur4 ,but ,i venture to think that that is a mistake2 and that what is meant by the symbol is just what is expressed by the verbal revelation which accompanied it1 and that was this3 ',i ,,am ,,that ,i ,,am4' ,the fire that did not burn out is the emblem of the divine nature which does not tend to death because it lives1 nor to exhaustion because it energises1 nor to emptiness because it bestows1 but after all times is the same2 lives by its own energy and is independent4 ',i am that ,i have become1'--that is what men have to say4 ',i am that ,i once was not1 and again once shall not be1' is what men have to say4 ',i am that ,i am' is ,god's name4 ,and this eternal1 ever-living1 self-sufficing1 absolute1 independent1 unwearied1 inexhaustible ,god is the ,god whose favour is as inexhaustible as ,himself1 and eternal as ,his own being4 ',therefore the sons of men shall put their trust beneath the shadow of ,thy wings1' and1 if they have 'the goodwill of ,him that dwelt in the bush1' will be able to say1 ',because ,thou livest we shall live also4' ,what more does the name say8 ,he 'that dwelt in the bush' dwelt there in order to deliver2 and1 dwelling there1 declared ',i have seen the affliction of ,my people1 and am come down to deliver them4' ,so1 then1 if the goodwill of that eternal1 delivering ,god is with us1 we1 too1 may feel that our trivial troubles and our heavy burdens1 all the needs of our prisoned wills and captive souls1 are known to ,him1 and that we shall have deliverance from them by ,him4 ,brethren1 in that name1 with its historical associations1 with its deep revelations of the divine nature1 with its large promises of the divine sympathy and help1 there lie surely abundant strengths and consolations for us all4 ,the goodwill1 the delight1 of ,god1 and the active help of ,god1 may be ours1 and if these be ours we shall be blessed and strong4 ,do not let us forget the place in this blessing on the head of ,joseph which my text holds4 ,it is preceded by an invoking of the precious things of ,heaven1 and 'the precious fruits brought forth by the sun444 of the chief things of the ancient mountains1 and the precious things of the lasting hills1 and the precious things of the earth and the fulness thereof4' ,they are all heaped together in one great mass for the beloved ,joseph4 ,and then1 like the golden spire that tops some of those campaniles in ,italian cities1 and completes their beauty1 above them all there is set1 as the shining apex of all1 'the goodwill of ,him that dwelt in the bush4' ,that is more precious than all other precious things2 set last because it is to be sought first2 set last as in building some great structure the top stone is put on last of all2 set last because it gathers all others into itself1 secures that all others shall be ours in the measure in which we need them1 and arms us against all possibilities of evil4 ,so the blessing of blessings is the 'goodwill of ,him that dwelt in the bush4' ,in my text this is an invocation only2 but we can go further than that4 ,you and ,i can make sure that we have it1 if we will4 ,how to secure it8 ,one of the texts which ,i have already quoted helps us a little way along t he road in answer to that question1 for it says1 ',thou1 ,lord1 wilt bless the righteous4 ,with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield4' ,but it is of little use to tell me that if ,i am 'righteous' ,god will 'bless me1' and 'compass me with favour4' ,if you will tell me how to become righteous1 you will do me more good4 ,and we have been told how to be righteous--',if a man keep ,my commandments ,my ,father will love him1 and we will come to him and make our abode with him4' ,if we knit ourselves to ,jesus ,christ1 and we can all do that if we like1 by faith that trusts ,him1 and by love1 the child of faith1 that obeys ,him1 and grows daily more like ,him--then1 without a doubt1 that delight of ,god in us1 and that active purpose of good in ,god's mind towards us1 will assuredly be ours2 and on no other terms4 ,so1 dear brethren1 the upshot of my homily is just this--,men may strive and scheme1 and wear their finger-nails down to the quick1 to get some lesser good1 and fail after all4 ,the greatest good is certainly ours by that easy road which1 however hard it may be otherwise1 is made easy because it is so certain to bring us to what we want4 ,holiness is the condition of ,god's delight in us1 and a genuine faith in ,christ1 and the love which faith evokes1 are the conditions4 ,so it is a very simple matter ,you never can be sure of getting the lower good ,you can be quite sure of getting the highest4 ,you never can be certain that the precious things of the earth and the fulness thereof will be yours1 or that if they were1 they would be so very precious2 but you can be quite sure that the 'goodwill of ,him that dwelt in the bush' may lie like light upon your hearts1 and be strength to your limbs4 ,and so ,i commend to you the words of the ,apostle1 ',wherefore we labour that1 whether present or absent1 we may be well-pleasing to ,him4' ,to minister to ,god's delight is the highest glory of man4 ,to have the favour of ,him that dwelt in the bush resting upon us is the highest blessing for man4 ,he will say ',well done6 good and faithful servant4' ',the ,lord taketh pleasure'--wonderful as it sounds--'in them that fear ,him1 in them that hope in ,his mercy1' and that1 hoping in ,his mercy1 live as ,he would have them live4 ,,shod ,,for ,,the ,,road ',thy shoes shall be iron and brass2 and as thy days1 so shall thy strength be4' ,,deut4 xxxiii4 #be4 ,there is a general correspondence between those blessings wherewith ,moses blessed the tribes of ,israel before his death1 and the circumstances and territory of each tribe in the promised land4 ,the portion of ,asher1 in whose blessing the words of our text occurs1 was partly the rocky northern coast and partly the fertile lands stretching to the base of the ,lebanon4 ,in the inland part of their territory they cultivated large olive groves1 the produce of which was trodden out in great rock-hewn cisterns4 ,so the clause before my text is a benediction upon that industry-'let him dip his foot in oil4' ,and then the metaphor naturally suggested by the mention of the foot is carried on into the next words1 ',thy shoes shall be iron and brass1' the tribe being located upon rocky sea-coast1 having rough roads to travel1 and so needing to be well shod4 ,the substance1 then1 of that promise seems to be--strength adequate to1 and unworn by1 exercise2 while the second clause1 though not altogether plain1 seems to put a somewhat similar idea in unmetaphorical shape4 ',as thy days1 so shall thy strength be1' probably means the promise of power that grows with growing years4 ,so1 then1 we have first that thought that ,god gives us an equipment of strength proportioned to our work1--shoes fit for our road4 ,god does not turn people out to scramble over rough mountains with thin-soled boots on2 that is the plain ,english of the words4 ,when an ,alpine climber is preparing to go away into ,switzerland for rock work1 the first thing he does is to get a pair of strong shoes1 with plenty of iron nails in the soles of them4 ,so ,asher had to be shod for his rough roads1 and so each of us may be sure that if ,god sends us on stony paths ,he will provide us with strong shoes1 and will not send us out on any journey for which ,he does not equip us well4 ,there are no difficulties to be found in any path of duty1 for which he that is called to tread it is not prepared by ,him that sent him4 ,whatsoever may be the road1 our equipment is calculated for it1 and is given to us from ,him that has appointed it4 ,is there not a suggestion here1 too1 as to the sort of travelling we may expect to have8 ,an old saying tells us that we do not go to heaven in silver slippers1 and the reason is because the road is rough4 ,the 'primrose way' leads somewhere else1 and it may be walked on 'delicately4' ,but if we need shoes of iron and brass1 we may pretty well guess the kind of road we have before us4 ,if a man is equipped with such coverings on his feet1 depend upon it that there will be use for them before he gets to the end of his day's journey4 ,the thickest sole will make the easiest travelling over rocky roads4 ,so be quite sure of this1 that if ,god gives to us certain endowments and equipments which are only calculated for very toilsome paths1 the roughness of the road will match the stoutness of the shoes4 ,and see what ,he does give4 ,see the provision which is made for patience and strength1 for endurance and courage1 in all the messages of ,his mercy1 in all the words of ,his love1 in all the powers of ,his ,gospel1 and then say whether that looks as if we should have an easy life of it on our way home4 ,those two ships that went away a while ago upon the brave1 and1 as some people thought1 desperate task of finding the ,north ,pole--any one that looked upon them as they lay in ,portsmouth ,roads1 might know that it was no holiday cruise they were meant for4 ,the thickness of the sides1 the strength of the cordage1 the massiveness of the equipment1 did not look like pleasure-sailing4 ,and so1 dear brethren1 if we think of all that is given to us in ,god's ,gospel in the way of stimulus and encouragement1 and exhortation1 and actual communication of powers1 we may calculate1 from the abundance of the resources1 how great will be the strain upon us before we come to the end1 and our 'feet stand within thy gates1 ,o ,jerusalem4' ,go into some of the great fortresses in continental countries1 and you will find the store-rooms full of ammunition and provisions2 bread enough and biscuits enough1 as it seems1 for half the country1 laid up there1 and a deep well somewhere or other in the courtyard4 ,what does that mean8 ,it means fighting1 that is what it means4 ,so if we are brought into this strong pavilion1 so well provisioned1 so massively fortified and defended1 that means that we shall need all the strength that is to be found in those thick walls1 and all the sustenance that is to be found in those gorged magazines1 and all the refreshment that is to be drawn from that free1 and full1 and inexhaustible fountain1 before the battle is over and the victory won4 ,depend upon it1 the promise ',thy shoes shall be iron and brass4' means1 ',thy road shall be rocky and flinty'2 and so it is4 ,and yet1 thank ,god6 whilst it is true that it is very hard and very difficult for many of us1 and hard and difficult--even if without the 'very'--for us all1 it is also true that we have the adequate provision sufficient for all our necessities--and far more than sufficient6 ,it is a poor compliment to the strength that ,he gives to us to say that it is enough to carry us through4 ,god does not deal out ,his gifts to people with such an economical correspondence to necessities as that4 ,there is always a wide margin4 ,more than we can ask1 more than we can think1 more than we can need is given us4 ,if ,he were to deal with us as men often deal with one another1 asking us1 ',well1 how much do you want8 cannot you do with a little less8 there is the exact quantity that you need for your support'--if you got your bread by weight and your water by measure1 it would be a very poor affair4 ,see how ,he actually does--,he says1 ',child1 there is ,mine own strength for you'2 and we think that we honour ,him when we say1 ',god has given us enough for our necessities6' ,rather the old word is always true3 ',so they did eat and were filled2 and they took up of the fragments that remained seven baskets-full1' and after they were satisfied and replete with the provision1 there was more at the end than when they began4 ,that suggests another possible thought to be drawn from this promise1 namely1 that it assures not only of strength adequate to the difficulties and perils of the journey1 but also of a strength which is not worn out by use4 ,the 'portion' of ,asher was the rocky sea-coast4 ,the sharp1 jagged rocks would cut to pieces anything made of leather long before the day's march was over2 but the travellers have their feet shod with metal1 and the rocks which they have to stumble over will only strike fire from their shoes4 ,they need not step timidly for fear of wearing them out2 but1 wherever they have to march1 may go with full confidence that their shoeing will not fail them4 ,a wise general looks after that part of his soldiers' outfit with special care1 knowing that if it gives out1 all the rest is of no use4 ,so our ,captain provides us with an inexhaustible strength1 to which we may fully trust4 ,we shall not exhaust it by any demands that we can make upon it4 ,we shall only brighten it up1 like the nails in a well-used shoe1 the heads of which are polished by stumbling and scrambling over rocky roads4 ,so we may be bold in the march1 and draw upon our stock of strength to the utmost4 ,there is no fear that it will fail us4 ,we may put all our force into our work1 we shall not weaken the power which 'by reason of use is exercised1' not exhausted4 ,for the grace which ,christ gives us to serve ,him1 being divine1 is subject to no weariness1 and neither faints nor fails4 ,the bush that burned unconsumed is a type of that ,infinite ,being who works unexhausted1 and lives undying1 after all expenditure is rich1 after all pouring forth is full4 ,and of ,his strength we partake4 ,whensoever a man puts forth an effort of any kind whatever--when ,i speak1 when ,i lift my hand1 when ,i run1 when ,i think-there is waste of muscular tissue4 ,some of my strength goes in the act1 and thus every effort means expenditure and diminution of force4 ,hence weariness that needs sleep1 waste that needs food1 languor that needs rest4 ,we belong to an order of being in which work is death1 in regard to our physical nature2 but our spirits may lay hold of ,god1 and enter into an order of things in which work is not death1 nor effort exhaustion1 nor is there loss of power in the expenditure of power4 ,that sounds strange1 and yet it is not strange4 ,think of that electric light which is made by directing a strong stream upon two small pieces of carbon4 ,as the electricity strikes upon these and turns their blackness into a fiery blaze1 it eats away their substance while it changes them into light4 ,but there is an arrangement in the lamp by which a fresh surface is continually being brought into the path of the beam1 and so the light continues without wavering and blazes on4 ,the carbon is our human nature1 black and dull in itself2 the electric beam is the swift energy of ,god1 which makes us 'light in the ,lord4' ,for the one1 decay is the end of effort2 for the other1 there is none4 ',though our outward man perish1 yet the inward man is renewed day by day4' ,though we belong to the perishing order of nature by our bodily frame1 we belong to the undecaying realm of grace by the spirit that lays hold upon ,god4 ,and if our work weary us1 as it must do so long as we continue here1 yet in the deepest sanctuary of our being1 our strength is greatened by exercise4 ',thy shoes shall be iron and brass4' ',thy raiment waxed not old upon thee1 neither did thy foot swell1 these forty years4' ',stand1 therefore1 having your feet shod with the preparedness of the ,gospel of peace4' ,but this is not all4 ,there is an advance even upon these great promises in the closing words4 ,that second clause of our text says more than the first one4 ',thy shoes shall be iron and brass1' that promises us powers and provision adapted to1 and unexhausted by1 the weary pilgrimage and rough road of life4 ,but 'as thy days1 so shall thy strength be1' says even more than that4 ,the meaning of the word rendered 'strength' in our version is very doubtful1 and most modern translators are inclined to render it 'rest4' ,but if we adhere to the translation of our version1 we get a forcible and relevant promise1 which fits on well to the previous clause1 understood as it has been in my previous remarks4 ,the usual understanding of the words is 'strength proportioned to thy day1' an idea which we have found already suggested by the previous clause4 ,but that explanation rests on1 or at any rate derives support from1 the common misquotation of the words4 ,they are not1 as we generally hear them quoted1 ',as thy day1 so shall thy strength be1'--but 'day' is in the plural1 and that makes a great difference4 ',as thy days1 so shall thy strength be1' that is to say3 the two sums--of 'thy days' and of 'thy strength'--keep growing side by side1 the one as fast as the other and no faster4 ,the days increase4 ,well1 what then8 ,the strength increases too4 ,as ,i said1 we are allied to two worlds4 ,according to the law of one of them1 the outer world of physical life1 we soon reach the summit of human strength4 ,for a little while it is true1 even in the life of nature1 that our power grows with our days4 ,but we soon reach the watershed1 and then the opposite comes to be true4 ,down1 steadily down1 we go4 ,with diminishing power1 with diminishing vitality1 with a dimmer eye1 with an obtuser ear1 with a slower-beating heart1 with a feebler frame1 we march on and on to our grave4 ',as thy days1 so shall thy weakness be1' is the law for all of us mature men and women in regard to our outward life4 ,but1 dear brethren1 we may be emancipated from that dreary law in regard to the true life of our spirits1 and instead of growing weaker as we grow older1 we may and we should grow stronger4 ,we may be and we should be moving on a course that has no limit to its advance4 ,we may be travelling on a shining path through the heavens1 that has no noon-tide height from which it must slowly and sadly decline1 but tends steadily and for ever upwards1 nearer and nearer to the very fountain itself of heavenly radiance4 ',the path of the just is as the shining light1 which shineth more and more till the noon-tide of the day4' ,but the reality surpasses even that grand thought1 for it discloses to us an endless approximation to an infinite beauty1 and an ever-growing possession of never exhausted fulness1 as the law for the progress of all ,christ's servants4 ,the life of each of us may and should be continual accession and increase of power through all the days here1 through all the ages beyond4 ,why8 ,because 'the life which ,i live1 ,i live by the faith of the ,son of ,god4' ,christ liveth in me4 ,it is not my strength that grows1 so much as ,god's strength in me which is given more abundantly as the days roll4 ,it is so given on one condition4 ,if my faith has laid hold of the infinite1 the exhaustless1 the immortal energy of ,god1 unless there is something fearfully wrong about me1 ,i shall be becoming purer1 nobler1 wiser1 more observant of ,his will1 gentler1 liker ,christ1 every way fitter for ,his service1 and for larger service1 as the days increase4 ,those of us who have reached middle life1 or perhaps gone a little over the watershed1 ought to have this experience as our own in a very distinct degree4 ,the years that are past ought to have drawn us somewhat away from our hot pursuing after earthly and perishable things4 ,they should have added something to the clearness and completeness of our perception of the deep simplicity of ,god's gospel4 ,they should have tightened our hold and increased our possession of ,christ1 and unfolded more and more of ,his all-sufficiency4 ,they should have enriched us with memories of ,god's loving care1 and lighted all the sky behind with a glow which is reflected on the path before us1 and kindles calm confidence in ,his unfailing goodness4 ,they should have given us power and skill for the conflicts that yet remain1 as the ,red ,indians believe that the strength of every defeated and scalped enemy passes into his conqueror's arm4 ,they should have given force to our better nature1 and weakening1 progressive weakening1 to our worse4 ,they should have rooted us more firmly and abidingly in ,him from whom all our power comes1 and so have given us more and fuller supplies of ,his exhaustless and ever-flowing might4 ,so it may be with us if we abide in ,him1 without whom we are nothing1 but partaking of whose strength 'the weakest shall be as ,david1 and ,david as an angel of ,god4' ,if for us1 drawing nearer to the end is drawing nearer to the light1 our faces will be brightened more and more with that light which we approach1 and our path will be 'as the shining light which shines more and more unto the noon-tide of the day1' because we are closer to the very fountain of heavenly radiance1 and growingly bathed and flooded with the outgoings of ,his glory4 ',as thy days1 so shall thy strength be4' ,the promise ought to be true for us all4 ,it is true for all who use the things that are freely given to them of ,god4 ,and whilst thus it is the law for the devout life here1 its most glorious fulfilment remains for the life beyond4 ,there each new moment shall bring new strength1 and growing millenniums but add fresh vigour to our immortal life4 ,here the unresting beat of the waves of the sea of time gnaws away the bank and shoal whereon we stand1 but there each roll of the great ocean of eternity shall but spread new treasures at our feet and add new acres to our immortal heritage4 ',the oldest angels1' says ,swedenborg1 'look the youngest4' ,when life is immortal1 the longer it lasts the stronger it becomes1 and so the spirits that have stood for countless days before ,his throne1 when they appear to human eyes1 appear as--'young men clothed in long white garments1'--full of unaging youth and energy that cannot wane4 ,so1 whilst in the flesh we must obey the law of decay1 the spirit may be subject to this better law of life1 and 'while the outward man perisheth1 the inward man be renewed day by day4' ',even the youths shall faint and be weary1 and the young men shall utterly fall2 but they that wait on the ,lord shall renew their strength4' ,a ,,death ,,in ,,the ,,desert ',so ,moses the servant of the ,lord died there in the land of ,moab1 according to the word of the ,lord4 #f4 ,and he buried him in a valley in the land of ,moab1 444 but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day4'--,,deut4 xxxiv4#e1 #f4 ,a fitting end to such a life6 ,the great law-giver and leader had been all his days a lonely man2 and now1 surrounded by a new generation1 and all the old familiar faces vanished1 he is more solitary than ever4 ,he had lived alone with ,god1 and it was fitting that alone with ,god he should die4 ,how the silent congregation must have watched1 as1 alone1 with 'natural strength unabated1' he breasted the mountain1 and went up to be seen no more6 ,with dignified reticence our chapter tells us no details4 ,he 'died there1' in that dreary solitude1 and in some cleft he was buried1 and no man knows where4 ,the lessons of that solitary death and unknown tomb may best be learned by contrast with another death and another grave--those of the ,leader of the ,new ,covenant1 the ,law-giver and ,deliverer from a worse bondage1 and ,guide into a better ,canaan1 the ,son who was faithful over ,his own house1 as ,moses was 'faithful in all his house1 as a servant4' ,that lonely and forgotten grave among the savage cliffs was in keeping with the whole character and work of him who lay there4 ,here1--here's his place1 where meteors shoot1 clouds form1 ,lightnings are loosened1 ,stars come and go6 ,let joy break with the storm1 ,peace let the dew send6 ,lofty designs must close in like effects2 ,loftily lying1 ,leave him--still loftier than the world suspects1 ,living and dying4' ,contrast that grave with the sepulchre in the garden where ,jesus lay1 close by a city wall1 guarded by foes1 haunted by troops of weeping friends1 visited by a great light of angel faces4 ,the one was hidden and solitary1 as teaching the loneliness and mystery of death2 the other revealed light in the darkness1 and companionship in the loneliness4 ,the one faded from men's memory because it was nothing to any man2 no impulses1 nor hopes1 nor gifts1 could come from it4 ,the other forever draws hearts and memories1 because in it was wrought out the victory in which all our hopes are rooted4 ,an endured cross1 an empty grave1 an occupied throne1 are as the threefold cord on which all our hopes hang4 ,moses was solitary as ,god's servant in life and death1 and oblivion covered his mountain grave4 ,christ's 'delights were with the sons of men4' ,he lived among them1 and all men 'know his sepulchre to this day4' ,i4 ,note1 then1 first1 as a lesson gathered from this lonely death1 the penalty of transgression4 ,one of the great truths which the old law and ordinances given by ,moses were intended to burn in on the conscience of the ,jew1 and through him on the conscience of the world1 was that indissoluble connection between evil done and evil suffered1 which reaches its highest exemplification in the death which is the 'wages of sin4' ,and just as some men that have invented instruments for capital punishment have themselves had to prove the sharpness of their own axe1 so the lawgiver1 whose message it had been to declare1 'the soul that sinneth it shall die1' had himself to go up alone to the mountain-top to receive in his own person the exemplification of the law that had been spoken by his own lips4 ,he sinned when1 in a moment of passion 7with many palliations and excuses71 he smote the rock that he was bidden to address1 and forgot therein1 and in his angry words to the rebels1 that he was only an instrument in the divine hand4 ,it was a momentary wavering in a hundred and twenty years of obedience4 ,it was one failure in a life of self-abnegation and suppression4 ,the stern sentence came4 ,people say1 ',a heavy penalty for a small offence4' ,yes2 but an offence of ,moses could not be a small offence4' ,noblesse oblige6 ,the higher a man rises in communion with ,god1 and the more glorious the message and office which are put into his hands1 the more intolerable in him is the slightest deflection from the loftiest level4 ,a splash of mud1 that would never be seen on a navvy's clothes1 stains the white satin of a bride or the embroidered garment of a noble4 ,and so a little sin done by a loftily endowed and inspired man ceases to be small4 ,nor are we to regard that momentary lapse only from the outside and the surface4 ,one little mark under the armpit of a plague-sufferer tells the physician that the fatal disease is there4 ,a tiny leaf above ground may tell that1 deep below1 lurks the root of a poison plant4 ,that little deflection1 coming as it did at the beginning of the resumption of his functions by the ,lawgiver after seven-and-thirty years of comparative abeyance1 and on his first encounter with the new generation that he had to lead1 was a very significant indication that his character had begun to yield and suffer from the strain that had been put upon it2 and that1 in fact1 he was scarcely fit for the responsibilities that the new circumstances brought4 ,so the penalty was not so disproportionate to the fault as it may seem4 ,and was the penalty such a very great one8 ,do you think that a man who had been toiling for eighty years at a very thankless task would consider it a very severe punishment to be told1 ',go home and take your wages'8 ,it did not mean the withdrawal of the divine favour4 ',moses and ,aaron among his priests4 444 ,thou wast a ,god that forgavest them1 though ,thou tookest vengeance of their inventions4' ,the penalty of a forgiven sin is never hard to bear1 and the penalty of a forgiven sin is very often punctually and mercifully exacted4 ,but still we are not to ignore the fact that this lonely death1 with which we are now concerned1 is of the nature of a penal infliction4 ,and so it stands forth in consonance with the whole tone of the ,mosaic teaching4 ,i admit1 of course1 that the mere physical fact of the separation between body and spirit is simply the result of natural law4 ,but that is not the death that you and ,i know4 ,death as we know it1 the ugly thing that flings its long shadows across all life1 and that comes armed with terrors for conscience and spirit1 is 'the wages of sin1' and is only experienced by men who have transgressed the law of ,god4 ,so far ,moses in his life and in his death carries us--that no transgression escapes the appropriate punishment2 that the smallest sin has in it the seeds of mortal consequences2 that the loftiest saint does not escape the law of retribution4 ,and no further does ,moses with his ,law and his death carry us4 ,but we turn to the other death4 ,and there we find the confirmation1 in an eminent degree1 of that ,law1 and yet the repeal of it4 ,it is confirmed and exhausted in ,jesus ,christ4 ,his death was 'the wages of sin4' ,whose8 ,not ,his4 ,mine1 yours1 every man's4 ,and because ,he died1 surrounded by men1 outside the old city wall1 pure and sinless in ,himself1 ,he therein both said ',amen' to the ,law of ,moses1 and swept it away4 ,for all the sins of the world were laid upon ,his head1 ,he bore the curse for us all1 and has emptied the bitter cup which men's transgressions have mingled4 ,therefore the solitary death in the desert proclaims 'the wages of sin'2 that death outside the city wall proclaims 'the gift of ,god1' which is 'eternal life4' ,,ii4 ,another of the lessons of our incident is the withdrawal1 by a hard fate1 of the worker on the very eve of the completion of his work4 ,for all these forty years there had gleamed before the fixed and steadfast spirit of the sorely tried leader one hope that he never abandoned1 and that was that he might look upon and enter into the blessed land which ,god had promised4 ,and now he stands on the heights of ,moab4 ,half a dozen miles onwards1 as the crow flies1 and his feet would tread its soil4 ,he lifts his eyes1 and away up yonder1 in the far north1 he sees the rolling uplands of ,gilead1 and across the deep gash where the ,jordan runs1 he catches a glimpse of the blue hills of ,naphtali or of ,galilee1 and the central mountain masses of ,ephraim and ,manasseh1 where ,ebal and ,gerizim lift their heads2 and then1 further south1 the stony summits of the ,judaean hills1 where ,jerusalem and ,bethlehem lie1 and1 through some gap in the mountains1 a gleam as of sunshine upon armour tells where the ocean is4 ,and then his eye falls upon the waterless plateau of the ,south1 and at his feet the fertile valley of ,jordan1 with ,jericho glittering amongst its palm trees like a diamond set in emeralds1 and on some spur of the lower hill bounding the plain1 the little ,zoar4 ,this was the land which the ,lord had promised to the fathers1 for which he had been yearning1 and to which all his work had been directed all these years2 and now he is to die1 as my text puts it1 with such pathetic emphasis1 'there in ,moab1' and to have no part in the fair inheritance4 ,it is the lot of all epoch-making men1 of all great constructive and reforming geniuses1 whether in the ,church or in the world1 that they should toil at a task1 the full issues of which will not be known until their heads are laid low in the dust4 ,but if1 on the one hand1 that seems hard1 on the other hand there is the compensation of 'the vision of the future and all the wonder that shall be1' which is granted many a time to the faithful worker ere he closes his eyes4 ,but that is not the fate of epoch-making and great men only2 it is the law for our little lives4 ,if these are worth anything1 they are constructed on a scale too large to bring out all their results here and now4 ,it is easy for a man to secure immediate consequences of an earthly kind2 easy enough for him to make certain that he shall have the fruit of his toil4 ,but quick returns mean small profits2 and an unfinished life that succeeds in nothing may be far better than a completed one1 that has realised all its shabby purposes and accomplished all its petty desires4 ,do you1 my brother1 live for the far-off2 and seek not for the immediate issues and fruits that the world can give1 but be contented to be of those whose toil waits for eternity to disclose its significance4 ,better a half-finished temple than a finished pigstye or huckster's shop4 ,better a life1 the beginning of much and the completion of nothing1 than a life directed to and hitting an earthly aim4 ',he that soweth to the spirit shall of the ,spirit reap life everlasting1' and his harvest and garner are beyond the grave4 ,,iii4 ,again1 notice here the lesson of the solitude and mystery of death4 ,moses dies alone1 with no hand to clasp his1 none to close his eyes2 but ,god's finger does it4 ,the outward form of his death is but putting into symbol and visibility the awful characteristics of that last moment for us all4 ,however closely we have been twined with others1 each of us has to unclasp dear hands1 and make that journey through the narrow1 dark tunnel by himself4 ,we live alone in a very real sense1 but we each have to die as if there were not another human being in the whole universe but only ourselves4 ,but the solitude may be a solitude with ,god4 ,up there1 alone with the stars and the sky and the everlasting rocks and menacing death1 ,moses had for companion the supporting ,god4 ,that awful path is not too desolate and lonely to be trodden if we tread it with ,him4 ,moses' lonely death leads to a society yonder4 ,if you refer to the thirty-second chapter you will find that1 when he was summoned to the mountain1 ,god said to him1 ',die in the mount whither thou goest up1 and be gathered to thy people4' ,he was to be buried there1 up amongst the rocks of ,moab1 and no man was ever to visit his sepulchre to drop a tear over it4 ,how1 then1 was he 'gathered to his people'8 ,surely only thus1 that1 dying in the desert alone1 he opened his eyes in 'the ,city1' surrounded by 'solemn troops and sweet societies' of those to whom he was kindred4 ,so the solitude of a moment leads on to blessed and eternal companionship4 ,so far the death of ,moses carries us4 ,what does the other death say8 ,moses had none but ,god with him when he died4 ,there is a drearier desolation than that1 and ,jesus ,christ proved it when ,he cried1 ',my ,god1 ,my ,god1 why hast ,thou forsaken ,me8' ,that was solitude indeed1 and in that hour of mysterious1 and to us unfathomable1 desertion and misery1 the lonely ,christ sounded a depth1 of which the lawgiver in ,his death but skimmed the surface4 ,christ was parted from ,god in ,his death1 because ,he bore on ,him the sins that separate us from our ,father1 and in order that none of us may ever need to tread that dark passage alone1 but may be able to say1 ',i will fear no evil1 for ,thou art with me'--,thou1 who hast trodden every step in its rough and dreary path1 uncheered by the presence which cheers us and millions more4 ,christ died that we might live4 ,he died alone that1 when we come to die1 we may hold ,his hand and the solitude may vanish4 ,then1 again1 our incident teaches us the mystery that wrapped death to that ancient world1 of which we may regard that unknown and forgotten sepulchre as the visible symbol4 ,deep darkness lies over the ,old ,testament in reference to what is beyond the grave1 broken by gleams of light1 when the religious consciousness asserted its indestructibility1 in spite of all appearance to the contrary2 but never growing to the brightness of serene and continuous assurance of immortal life and resurrection4 ,we may conceive that mysteriousness as set forth for us by that grave that was hidden away in the defiles of ,moab1 unvisited and uncared for by any4 ,we turn to the other grave1 and there1 as the stone is rolled away1 and the rising sunshine of the ,easter morning pours into it1 we have a visible symbol of the life and immortality which ,jesus ,christ then brought to light by ,his ,gospel4 ,the buried grave speaks of the inscrutable mystery that wrapped the future3 the open sepulchre proclaims the risen ,lord of life1 and the sunlight certainty of future blessedness which we owe to ,him4 ,death is solitary no more1 though it be lonely as far as human companionship is concerned2 and a mystery no more1 though what is beyond is hidden from our view1 and none but ,christ has ever returned to tell the tale1 and ,he has told us little but the fact that we shall live with ,him4 ,we rejoice that we have not to turn to a grave hid amongst the hills where our dead ,leader lies1 but to an open sepulchre by the city wall in the sunshine1 from whence has come forth the ever-living ',captain of our salvation4' ,,iv4 ,the last lesson is the uselessness of a dead leader to a generation with new conflicts4 ,commentators have spent a great deal of ingenuity in trying to assign reasons why ,god concealed the grave of ,moses4 ,the text does not say that ,god concealed it at all4 ,the ignorance of the place of his sepulchre does not seem to have been part of the divine design1 but simply a consequence of the circumstances of his death1 and of the fact that he lay in an enemy's land1 and that they had had something else to do than go to look for the grave of a dead commander4 ,they had to conquer the land1 and a living ,joshua was what they wanted1 not a dead ,moses4 ,so we may learn from this how easily the gaps fill4 ',thirty days' mourning1' and says my text1 with almost a bitter touch1' so the days of mourning for ,moses were ended4' ,a month of it1 that was all2 and then everybody turned to the new man that was appointed for the new work4 ,god has many tools in ,his tool-chest1 and ,he needs them all before the work is done4 ,joshua could no more have wielded ,moses' rod than ,moses could have wielded ,joshua's sword4 ,the one did his work1 and was laid aside4 ,new circumstances required a new type of character--the smaller man better fitted for the rougher work4 ,and so it always is4 ,each generation1 each period1 has its own men that do some little part of the work which has to be done1 and then drop it and hand over the task to others4 ,the division of labour is the multiplication of joy at the end1 and 'he that soweth and he that reapeth rejoice together4' ,but whilst the one grave tells us1 ',this man served his generation by the will of ,god1 and was laid asleep and saw corruption1' the other grave proclaims ,one whom all generations need1 whose work is comprehensive and complete1 who dies never4 ',he liveth and was dead1 and is alive for evermore4' ,christ1 and ,christ alone1 can never be antiquated4 ,this day requires ,him1 and has in ,him as complete an answer to all its necessities as if no other generation had ever possessed ,him4 ,he liveth for ever1 and for ever is the ,shepherd of men4 ,so ,aaron dies and is buried on ,hor1 and ,moses dies and is buried on ,pisgah1 and ,joshua steps into his place1 and1 in turn1 he disappears4 ,the one eternal ,word of ,god worked through them all1 and came at last ,himself in human flesh to be the ,everlasting ,deliverer1 ,redeemer1 ,founder of the ,covenant1 ,lawgiver1 ,guide through the wilderness1 ,captain of the warfare1 and all that the world or a single soul can need until the last generation has crossed the flood1 and the wandering pilgrims are gathered in the land of their inheritance4 ,the dead ,moses pre-supposes and points to the living ,christ4 ,let us take ,him for our all-sufficing and eternal ,guide4 ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,joshua ,,the ,,new ,,leaders ,,commission ',now after the death of ,moses the servant of the ,lord it came to pass1 that the ,lord spake unto ,joshua the son of ,nun1 ,moses' minister1 saying1 #b4 ,moses ,my servant is dead3 now therefore arise1 go over this ,jordan1 thou1 and all this people1 unto the land which ,i do give to them1 even to the children of ,israel4 #c4 ,every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon1 that have ,i given unto you1 as ,i said unto ,moses4 #d4 ,from the wilderness and this ,lebanon even unto the great river1 the river ,euphrates1 all the land of the ,hittites1 and unto the great sea1 toward the going down of the sun1 shall be your coast4 #e4 ,there shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life2 as ,i was with ,moses1 so ,i will be with thee3 ,i will not fail thee1 nor forsake thee4 #f4 ,be strong and of a good courage2 for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land which ,i sware unto their fathers to give them4 #g4 ,only be thou strong and very courageous1 that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law1 which ,moses ,my servant commanded thee3 turn not from it to the right hand or to the left1 that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest4 #h4 ,this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth2 but thou shalt meditate therein day and night1 that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein3 for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous1 and then thou shalt have good success4 #i4 ,have not ,i commanded thee8 ,be strong and of a good courage2 be not afraid1 neither be thou dismayed3 for the ,lord thy ,god is with thee whithersoever thou goest4 #aj4 ,then ,joshua commanded the officers of the people1 saying1 #aa4 ,pass through the host1 and command the people1 saying1 ,prepare you victuals2 for within three days ye shall pass over this ,jordan1 to go in to possess the land1 which the ,lord your ,god giveth you to possess it4'--,,joshua ,i4 #a-aa4 ,the closest connection exists between ,deuteronomy and ,joshua4 ,the narrative may be read as running on without a break4 ,it turns away from the lonely grave up on the mountain to the bustling camp and the new leader4 ,no man is indispensable4 ,god's work goes on uninterrupted4 ,the instruments are changed1 but the ,master-hand is the same1 and lays one tool aside and takes another out of the tool-chest as ,he will4 ,moses is dead1--what then8 ,does his death paralyse the march of the tribes8 ,no2 it is but the ground for the ringing command1 ',therefore arise1 go over this ,jordan4' ,the immediate installation of his successor1 and the uninterrupted continuance of the advance1 do not mean that ,moses is not honoured or is forgotten1 for the narrative lovingly links his honorific title1 'the servant of the ,lord1' with the mention of his death2 and ,god ,himself does the same1 for he is thrice referred to in the divine command to ,joshua1 as the recipient of the promise of the conquest1 as the example of the highest experience of ,god's all-sufficing companionship1 and as the medium by which ,israel received the law4 ,joshua steps into the empty place1 receives the same great promise1 is assured of the same ,presence1 and is to obey the same law4 ,the change of leaders is great1 but nothing else is changed2 and even it is not so great as faint hearts in their sorrow are apt to think1 for the real ,leader lives1 and ,moses and ,joshua alike are but the transmitters of ,his orders and ,his aids to ,israel4 ,the first command given to ,joshua was a trial of his faith1 for ',jordan was in flood' 7,joshua iii4 #ae71--;and how was that crowd to get across1 when fords were impassable and ferry-boats were wanting1 to say nothing of the watchful eyes that were upon them from the other bank8 ,to cross a stream in the face of the enemy is a ticklish operation1 even for modern armies2 what must it have been1 then1 for ,joshua and his horde8 ,not a hint is given him as to the means by which the crossing is to be made possible4 ,he has ,jehovah's command to do it1 and ,jehovah's promise to be with him1 and that is to be enough4 ,we too have sometimes to face undertakings which we cannot see how to carry through2 but if we do see that the path is one appointed by ,god1 and will boldly tread it1 we may be quite sure that1 when we come to what at present seems like a mountain wall across it1 we shall find that the glen opens as we advance1 and that there is a way1--narrow1 perhaps1 and dangerous1 but practicable4 ',one step enough for me' should be our motto4 ,we may trust ,god not to command impossibilities1 nor to lead us into a cul de sac4 ,the promise to ,moses 7,deut4 ii4 #bd7 is repeated almost verbally in verse #d4 ,the boundaries of the land are summarily given as from 'the wilderness' in the south to 'this ,lebanon' in the north1 and from the ,euphrates in the east to the ,mediterranean in the west4 ',the land of the ,hittites' is not found in the original passage in ,deuteronomy1 and it seems to be a designation of the territory between ,lebanon and the ,euphrates1 which we now know to have been the seat of the northern ,hittites1 while the southern branch was planted round ,hebron and the surrounding district4 ,but these wide boundaries were not attained till late in the history1 and were not long retained4 ,did the promise1 then1 fail8 ,no1 for it1 like all the promises1 was contingent on conditions1 and ,israel's unfaithfulness cut short its extent of territory4 ,we1 too1 fail to possess all the land destined for us4 ,our charter is much wider than our actual wealth4 ,god gives more than we take1 and we are content to occupy but a corner of the broad land which ,he has given us4 ,in like manner ,joshua did not realise to the full the following promise of uniform victory1 but was defeated at ,ai and elsewhere4 ,the reason was the same1--the faithlessness of the people4 ,unbelief and sin turn a ,samson into a weakling1 and make ,israel flee before the ranks of the ,philistines4 ,the great encouragement given to ,joshua in entering on his hard and perilous enterprise is twice repeated here3 ',as ,i was with ,moses1 so will ,i be with thee4' ,did ,joshua remember how1 nearly forty years since1 he had fronted the mob of cowards with the very same assurance1 and how the answer had been a shower of stones8 ,the cowards are all dead1--will their sons believe the assurance now8 ,if we do believe that ,god is with us1 we shall be ready to cross ,jordan in flood1 and to meet the enemies that are waiting on the other bank4 ,if we do not1 we shall not dare greatly1 nor succeed in what we attempt4 ,the small successes of material wealth and gratified ambition may be ours1 but for all the higher duties and nobler conflicts that become a man1 the condition of achievement and victory is steadfast faith in ,god's presence and help4 ,that assurance--which we may all have if we cling to ,jesus1 in whom ,god comes to be with every believing soul--is the only basis on which the command to ,joshua1 thrice repeated1 can wisely or securely be rested4 ,it is mockery to say to a man conscious of weakness1 and knowing that there are evils which must surely come1 and evils which may possibly come1 against which he is powerless1 ',don't be afraid' unless you can show him good reason why he need not be4 ,and there is only one reason which can still reasonable dread in a human heart that has to front 'all the ills that flesh is heir to1' and sees behind them all the grim form of death4 ,he ought to be afraid1 unless--unless what8 ,unless he has heard and taken into his inmost soul the ,voice that said to ,joshua1 ',i will not fail thee1 nor forsake thee3 be strong and of a good courage1' or1 still more sweet and peace-bringing1 the ,voice that said to the frightened crew of the fishing-boat in the storm and the darkness1' ,it is ,i2 be not afraid4' ,if we know that ,christ is with us1 it is wise to be strong and courageous2 if we are meeting the tempest alone1 the best thing we can do is to fear1 for the fear may drive us to seek for ,his help1 and ,he ever stretches out ,his hand to him who is afraid1 as he ought to be1 when he feels the cold water rising above his knees1 and by his very fear is driven to faith1 and cries1 ',lord1 save2 ,i perish6' ,courage that does not rest on ,christ's presence is audacity rather than courage1 and is sure to collapse1 like a pricked bladder1 when the sharp point of a real peril comes in contact with it4 ,if we sit down and reckon the forces that we have to oppose to the foes that we are sure to meet1 we shall find ourselves unequal to the fight1 and1 if we are wise1 shall 'send the ambassage' of a humble desire to the great ,king1 who will come to our help with ,his all-conquering powers4 ,then1 and only then1 shall we be safe in saying1' ,i will not fear what man can do unto me1 or devils either1' when we have said1' ,in ,god have ,i put my trust1' and have heard ,him answering1 ',i will not fail thee1 nor forsake thee4 ,,the ,,charge ,,to ,,the ,,soldier ,,of ,,the ,,lord ',only be then strong and very courageous1 that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law which ,moses ,my servant commanded thee444 that thou mayest prosper wheresoever thou goest4 #h4 ,this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth2 but thou shall meditate therein day and night1 that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein3 for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous1 and then thou shalt have good success4'--,,joshua i4 #g1h4 ,this is the central portion of the charge given to the successor of ,moses4 ,joshua was a very small man in comparison with his predecessor4 ,he was no prophet nor constructive genius2 he was not capable of the heights of communion and revelation which the lofty spirit of ,moses was able to mount4 ,he was only a plain1 fiery soldier1 with energy1 swift decision1 promptitude1 self-command1 and all the military virtues in the highest degree4 ,the one thing that he needed was to be 'strong and courageous'2 and over and over again in this chapter you will find that injunction pealed into his ears4 ,he is the type of the militant servant of the ,lord1 and the charge to him embodies the duties of all such4 ,i4 ,we have here the duty of courageous strength4 ,christianity has altered the perspective of human virtues1 has thrown the gentler ones into prominence altogether unknown before1 and has dimmed the brilliancy of the old heroic type of character2 but it has not struck those virtues out of its list4 ,whilst the perspective is altered1 there is as much need in the lowliest ,christian life for the loftiest heroism as ever there was4 ,for in no mere metaphor1 but in grim earnest1 all ,christian progress is conflict1 and we have to fight1 not only with the evils that are within1 but1 if we would be true to the obligations of our profession and loyal to the commands of our ,master1 we have to take our part in the great campaign which ,he has inaugurated and is ever carrying on against every abuse and oppression1 iniquity and sin1 that grinds down the world and makes our brethren miserable and servile4 ,so1 then1 in these words we have directions in regard to a side of the ,christian character1 indispensable to-day as ever1 and the lack of which cannot be made up for by any amount of sweet and contemplative graces4 ,jesus ,christ is the type of both4 ,the ,conqueror of ,canaan and the ,redeemer of the world bear the same name4 ,the ,jesus whom we trust was a ,joshua4 ,and let us learn the lesson that neither the conqueror of the typical and material land of promise nor the ,redeemer who has won the everlasting heaven for our portion could do their work without the heroic side of human excellence being manifestly developed4 ,do you remember ',he steadfastly set ,his face to go to ,jerusalem'8 ,do you remember that the ,apostle whom a hasty misconception has thought of as the gentlest of the ,twelve1 because he had most to say about love1 is the ,apostle that more emphatically than any other rings into our ears over and over again the thought of the ,christ1 militant and victorious1 the ,hero as well as the patient ,sufferer1 the ',captain of our salvation'8 ,and so let us recognise how both the gentler and the stronger graces1 the pacific and the warlike side of human excellence1 have their highest development in ,jesus ,christ1 and learn that the firmest strength must be accompanied with the tenderest love and swathed in meekest gentleness4 ,as another ,apostle has it in his pregnant1 brief injunctions1 ringing and laconic like a general's word of command1 ',quit you like men ,i be strong6 let all your deeds be done in love6' ,braid the two things together1 for the mightiest strength is the love that conquers hate1 and the only love that is worthy of a man is the love that is strong to contend and to overcome4 ',be strong4' ,then strength is a duty2 then weakness is a sin4 ,then the amount of strength that we possess and wield is regulated by ourselves4 ,we have our hands on the sluice4 ,we may open it to let the whole full tide run in1 or we may close it till a mere dribble reaches us4 ,for the strength which is strength1 and not merely weakness in a fever1 is a strength derived1 and ours because derived4 ,the ,apostle gives the complete version of the exhortation when he says3 ',finally1 my brethren1' that ,omega of command which is the ,alpha of performance1 'be strong in the ,lord and in the power of ,his might4' ,let ,christ's strength in4 ,open the heart wide that it may come4 ,keep yourself in continual touch with ,god1 the fountain of all power4 ,trust is strength1 because trust touches the ,rock of ,ages4 ,for this reason the commandment to be strong and of good courage is in the text based upon this3 ',as ,i was with ,moses1 so ,i will be with thee4 ,i will not fail thee nor forsake thee4' ,our strength depends on ourselves1 because our strength is the fruit of our faith4 ,and if we live with ,him1 grasping ,his hand and1 in the realising consciousness of our own weakness1 looking beyond ourselves1 then power will come to us above our desire and equal to our need4 ,the old victories of faith will be reproduced in us when we say with the ancient king1 ',lord6 ,we know not what to do1 but our eyes are up unto ,thee4' ,then ,he will come to us1 to make us 'strong in the ,lord and in the power of ,his might4' ',wait on the ,lord and ,he will strengthen thine heart2 wait1 ,i say1 on the ,lord4' ,but courage is duty1 too1 as well as strength4 ,power and the consciousness of power do not always go together4 ,in regard to the strength of nature1 courage and might are quite separable4 ,there may be a strong coward and a weak hero4 ,but in the spiritual region1 strength and courage do go together4 ,the consciousness of the divine power with us1 and that alone1 will make us bold with a boldness that has no taint of levity and presumption mingled with it1 and never will overestimate its own strength4 ,the charge to ,joshua1 then1 not only insists upon the duty of strength1 but on the duty of conscious strength1 and on the duty of measuring the strength that is at my back with the weakness that is against me1 and of being bold because ,i know that more and 'greater is ,he that is with me than are they that be with them4' ,,ii4 ,so much1 then1 for the first of the exhortations here4 ,now look next at the duty of implicit obedience to the word of command4 ,that is another soldierly virtue1 the exercise of which sheds a nobility over the repulsive horrors of the battlefield4 ,joshua had to be fitted to command by learning to obey1 and1 like that other soldier whose rough trade had led him to some inkling of ,christ's authority by its familiarising him with the idea of the strange power of the word of command1 had to realise that he himself was 'under authority' before he could issue his orders4 ,courage and strength come first1 and on them follows the command to do all according to the law1 to keep it without deflection to right or left1 and to meditate on it day and night4 ,these two virtues make the perfect soldier-courage and obedience4 ,daring and discipline must go together1 and to know how to follow orders is as essential as to know how to despise dangers4 ,but the connection between these two1 as set forth in this charge1 is not merely that they must co-exist1 but that courage and strength are needed for1 and are to find their noblest field of exercise in1 absolute acceptance of1 and unhesitating1 swift1 complete1 unmurmuring obedience to1 everything that is discerned to be ,god's will and our duty4 ,for the ,christian soldier1 then1 ,god's law is his marching orders4 ,the written word1 and especially the ,incarnate ,word1 are our law of conduct4 ,the whole science of our warfare and plan of campaign are there4 ,we have not to take our orders from men's lips1 but we must often disregard them1 that we may listen to the ',captain of our salvation4' ,the soldier stands where his officer has posted him1 and does what he was bid1 no matter what may happen4 ,only one voice can relieve him4 ,though a thousand should bid him flee1 and his heart should echo their advices1 he is recreant if he deserts his post at the command of any but him who set him there4 ,obedience to others is mutiny4 ,nor does the ,christian need another law to supplement that which ,christ has given him in ,his pattern and teaching4 ,men have appended huge comments to it1 and have softened some of its plain precepts which bear hard on popular sins4 ,but the ,lawgiver's law is one thing1 and the lawyers' explanations which explain it away or darken what was clear enough1 however unwelcome1 are quite another4 ,christ has given us ,himself1 and therein has given a sufficient directory for conduct and conflict which fits close to all our needs1 and will prove definite and practical enough if we honestly try to apply it4 ,the application of ,christ's law to daily life takes some courage1 and is the proper field for the exercise of ,christian strength4 ',be very courageous that thou mayest observe4' ,if you are not a bold ,christian you will very soon get frightened out of obedience to your ,master's commandments4 ,courage1 springing from the realisation of ,god's helping strength1 is indispensable to make any man1 in any age1 live out thoroughly and consistently the principles of the law of ,jesus ,christ4 ,no man in this generation will work out a punctual obedience to what he knows to be the will of ,god1 without finding out that all the ',canaanites' are not dead yet2 but that there are enough of them left to make a very thorny life for the persistent follower of ,jesus ,christ4 ,and not only is there courage needed for the application of the principles of conduct which ,god has given us1 but you will never have them handy for swift application unless1 in many a quiet hour of silent1 solitary1 patient meditation you have become familiar with them4 ,the recruit that has to learn on the battle-field how to use his rifle has a good chance of being dead before he has mastered the mysteries of firing4 ,and ,christian people that have their ,christian principles to dig out of the ,bible when the necessity comes1 will likely find that the necessity is past before they have completed the excavation4 ,the actual battle-field is no place to learn drill4 ,if a soldier does not know how his sword hangs1 and cannot get at it in a moment1 he will probably draw it too late4 ,i am afraid that the practice of such meditation as is meant here has come to be1 like the art of making ecclesiastical stained glass1 almost extinct in modern times4 ,you have all so many newspapers and magazines to read that the ,bible has a chance of being shoved out of sight1 except on ,sundays and in chapels4 ,the 'meditating' that is enjoined in my text is no mere intellectual study of ,scripture1 either from an antiquarian or a literary or a theological point of view1 but it is the mastering of the principles of conduct as laid down there1 and the appropriating of all the power for guidance and for sustaining which that word of the ,lord gives4 ,meditation1 the familiarising ourselves with the ethics of ,scripture1 and with the hopes and powers that are treasured in ,jesus ,christ1 so that our minds are made up upon a great many thorny questions as to what we ought to do1 and that when crises or dangers come1 as they have a knack of coming1 very suddenly1 and are sprung upon us unexpectedly1 we shall be able1 without much difficulty1 or much time spent in perplexed searching1 to fall back upon the principles that decide our conduct--that is essential to all successful and victorious ,christian life4 ,and it is the secret of all blessed ,christian life4 ,for there is a lovely echo of these vigorous words of command to ,joshua in a very much more peaceful form in the #ast ,psalm3 ',blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly1 444 but his delight is in the law of the ,lord1 and in ,his law doth he meditate day and night'--the very words that are employed in the text to describe the duty of the soldier--therefore 'all that he doeth shall prosper4' ,,iii4 ,that leads to the last thought here--the sure victory of such bold obedience4 ',thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest'2 ',thou shalt make thy way prosperous1 and then shalt thou have good success1' or1 as the last word might be rendered1 'then shalt thou act wisely' ,you may not get victory from an earthly point of view1 for many a man that lives strong and courageous and joyfully obeying ,god's law1 as far as he knows it and because he loves the ,lawgiver1 goes through life1 and finds that1 as far as the world's estimate is concerned1 there is nothing but failure as his portion4 ,ah ,i but the world's way is not the true way of estimating victory4 ',be of good cheer1 ,i have overcome the world1' said ,jesus ,christ when within arm's-length of the ,cross4 ,and ,his way is the way in which we must conquer the world1 if we conquer it at all4 ,the success which my text means is the carrying out of conscientious convictions of ,god's will into practice4 ,that is the only success that is worth talking about or looking for4 ,the man that succeeds in obeying and translating ,god's will into conduct is the victor1 whatever be the outward fruits of his life4 ,he may go out of the field beaten1 according to the estimate of men that can see no higher than their own height1 and little further than their own finger tips can reach2 he may himself feel that the world has gone past him1 and that he has not made much of it2 he may have to lie down at last unknown1 poor1 with all his bright hopes that danced before him in childhood gone1 and sore beaten by the enemies2 but if he is able to say in the strength that ,christ gives1 ',i have finished my course2 ,i have kept the faith1' his 'way has prospered1' and he has had' good success4' ',we are more than conquerors through ,him that loved us4' ,,the ,,untrodden ,,path ,,and ,,the ,,guiding ,,ark ',come not near unto the ark1 that ye may know the way by which ye must go2 for ye have not passed this way heretofore4'--,,joshua iii4 #d4 ,it was eminently true of ,israel that they had 'not passed this way heretofore1' inasmuch as the path which was opening before them1 through the oozy bed of the river1 had never been seen by human eye1 nor trodden by man's foot4 ,their old leader was dead4 ,there were only two of the whole host that had ever been out of the desert in their lives4 ,they had a hard task before them4 ,jericho lay there1 gleaming across the plain1 among the palm-trees1 backed by the savage cliffs1 up the passes in which they would have to fight their way4 ,so that we need not wonder that1 over and over again1 in these early chapters of this book1 the advice in reiterated1 ',be of good courage4 ,be strong and fear not6' ,they needed special guidance1 and they received very special guidance1 and my text tells us what they had to do1 in order to realise the full blessing and guidance that was given them4 ',let there be a space of #bjjj cubits by measure between you and the ark'--three-quarters of a mile or thereabouts--'do not press close upon the heels of the bearers1 for you will not be able to see where they are going if you crowd on them4 ,be patient4 ,let the course of the ark disclose itself before you try to follow it1 that ye may know the way by which ye must go1 for ye have not passed this way heretofore4' ,i4 ,note the untrodden path4 ,i suppose that most of us have to travel a very well-worn road1 and that our course1 in the cases of all except those in early life1 is liker that of a millhorse than an untrodden path4 ,most of us are continually treading again in the prints of our own footsteps4 ,a long1 weary stretch of monotonous duties1 and the repetition of the same things to-day that we did yesterday is the destiny of most of us4 ,some of us1 perhaps1 may be standing upon the verge of some new scenes in our lives4 ,some of you young people may have come up to a great city for the first time to carve out a position for yourselves1 and are for the first time encompassed by the temptations of being unknown in a crowd4 ,some of you may be in new domestic circumstances1 some with new sorrows1 or tasks1 or difficulties pressing upon you1 calling for wisdom and patience4 ,it is quite likely that there may be some who1 in the most prosaic and literal sense of the words1 are entering on a path altogether new and untrodden4 ,but they will be in the minority1 and for the most of us the days that were full of new possibilities are at an end1 and we have to expect little more than the monotonous repetition of the habitual1 humdrum duties of mature life4 ,we have climbed the winding paths up the hill1 and most of us are upon the long plateau that stretches unvaried1 until it begins to dip at the further edge4 ,and some of us are going down that other side of the hill4 ,but whatever may be the variety in regard to the mere externals of our lives1 how true it is about us all that even the most familiar duties of to-day are not quite like the same duties when they had to be done yesterday2 and that the path for each of us--though1 as we go along1 we find in it nothing new--is yet an untrodden path6 ,for we are not quite the same as we were yesterday1 though our work may be the same1 and the difference in us makes it in some measure different4 ,but what mainly makes even the most well-beaten paths new at the thousandth time of traversing them is our ignorance of what may be waiting round the next turn of the road4 ,the veil that hangs before and hides the future is a blessing1 though we sometimes grumble at it1 and sometimes petulantly try to make pinholes through it1 and peep in to see a little of what is behind it4 ,it brings freshness into our lives1 and a possibility of anticipation1 and even of wonder and expectation1 that prevents us from stagnating4 ,even in the most habitual repetition of the same tasks 'ye have not passed this way heretofore4' ,and life for every one of us is still full of possibilities so great and so terrible that we may well feel that the mist that covers the future is a blessing and a source of strength for us all4 ,our march through time is like that of men in a mist1 in which things loom in strangely distorted shapes1 unlike their real selves1 until we get close up to them1 and only then do we discover them4 ,so for us all the path is new and unknown by reason of the sudden surprises that may be sprung upon us1 by reason of the sudden temptations that may start up at any moment in our course1 by reason of the earthquakes that may shatter the most solid-seeming lives1 by reason of the sudden calamities that may fall upon us4 ,the sorrows that we anticipate seldom come1 and those that do come are seldom anticipated4 ,the most fatal bolts are generally from the blue4 ,one flash1 all unlooked for1 is enough to blast the tree in all its leafy pride4 ,many of us1 ,i have no doubt1 can look back to times in our lives when1 without anticipation on our parts1 or warning from anything outside of us1 a smiting hand fell upon some of our blessings4 ,the morning dawned upon the gourd in full vigour of growth1 and in the evening it was stretched yellow and wilted upon the turf4 ,dear brethren1 anything may come out of that dark cloud through which our life's course has to pass1 and there are some things concerning which all that we know is that they must come4 ,these are very old threadbare thoughts2 ,i dare say you think it was not worth your while to come to hear them1 nor mine to speak them2 but if we would lay them to heart1 and realise how true it is about every step of our earthly course that 'ye have not passed this way heretofore1' we should complain less than we do of the weariness and prosaic character of our commonplace lives1 and feel that all was mystical and great and awful2 and yet most blessed in its possibilities and its uncertainties4 ,,ii4 ,note1 again1 the guiding ark4 ,it was a new thing that the ark should become the guide of the people4 ,all through the wilderness1 according to the history1 it had been carried in the centre of the march1 and had had no share in the direction of the course4 ,that had been done by the pillar of cloud4 ,but1 just as the manna ceased when the tribes got across the ,jordan and could eat the bread of the land1 the miracle ending and they being left to trust to ordinary means of supply at the earliest possible moment1 so there ensued an approximation to ordinary guidance1 which is none the less real because it is granted without miracle4 ,the pillar of cloud ceased to move before the people in the crossing of the ,jordan1 and its place was taken by the material symbol of the presence of ,god1 which contained the tables of the law as the basis of the covenant4 ,and that ark moved at the commandment of the leader ,joshua1 for he was the mouthpiece of the divine will in the matter4 ,and so when the ark moved at the bidding of the leader1 and became the guide of the people1 there was a kind of a drop down from the pure supernatural of the guiding pillar4 ,for us a similar thing is true4 ,jesus ,christ is the true ,ark of ,god4 ,for what was the ark8 the symbol of the divine ,presence2 and ,christ is the reality of the divine ,presence with men4 ,the whole content of that ark was the 'law of the ,lord1' and ,jesus ,christ is the embodied law of the present ,god4 ,the ark was the sign that ,god had entered into this covenant with these people1 and that they had a right to say to ,him1 ',thou art our ,god1 and we are ,thy people1' and the same double assurance of reciprocal possession and mutual delight in possession is granted to us in and through ,jesus ,christ our ,lord4 ,so ,he becomes the guiding ,ark1 the ,shepherd of ,israel4 ,his presence and will are our directors4 ,the law1 which is contained and incorporated in ,him1 is that by which we are to walk4 ,the covenant which ,he has established in ,his own blood between ,god and man contains in itself not only the direction for conduct1 but also the motives which will impel us to walk where and as ,he enjoins4 ,and so1 every way we may say1 by ,his providences which ,he appoints1 by ,his example which ,he sets us1 by ,his gracious word in which ,he sums up all human duties in the one sweet obligation1 ',follow ,me1' and even more by ,his ,spirit that dwells in us1 and whispers in our ears1 ',this is the way2 walk ye in it1' and enlightens every perplexity1 and strengthens all feebleness1 and directs our footsteps into the way of peace2 that living and personal ,ark of the covenant of the ,lord of the whole earth is still the guide of waiting and docile hearts4 ,jesus ,christ's one word to us is1 ',if any man serve ,me1 let him follow ,me4 ,and where ,i am'--of course1 seeing he is a follower--'there shall also ,my servant be4' ,the one ,pattern for us1 the one ,example that we need to follow1 the one ,strength in our perplexities1 the true ,director of our feet1 is that dear ,lord1 if we will only listen to ,him4 ,and that direction will be given to us in regard to the trifles1 as in regard to the great things of our lives4 ,,iii4 ,and so the last thought that is here is the watchful following4 ',come not near unto it1 that ye may know the way by which ye ought to go4' ,in a shipwreck1 the chances are that the boats will be swamped by the people scrambling into them in too great a hurry4 ,in the ,christian life most of the mistakes that people make arise from their not letting the ark go far enough ahead of them before they gather up their belongings and follow it4 ,an impatience of the half-declared divine will1 a running before we are sent1 an acting before we are quite sure that ,god wills us to do so-and-so1 are at the root of most of the failures of ,christian effort1 and of a large number of the miseries of ,christian men4 ,if we would only have patience6 ,three-quarters of a mile the ark went ahead before a man lifted a foot to follow it1 and there was no mistake possible then4 ,now do not be in a hurry to act4 ',raw haste' is 'half-sister to delay4' ,we are all impatient of uncertainty1 either in opinion or in conduct2 but if you are not quite sure what ,god wants you to do1 you may be quite sure that ,he does not at present want you to do anything4 ,wait till you see what ,he does wish you to do4 ,better1 better far1 to spend hours in silent--although people that know nothing about what we are doing may call it indolent--waiting for the clear declaration of ,god's will1 than to hurry on paths which1 after we have gone on them far enough to make it a mortification and a weariness to turn back1 we shall find out to have been not ,his at all1 but only our own mistakes as to where the ark would have us go4 ,and that there may be this patience the one thing needful-as1 indeed1 it is the one thing needful for all strength of all kinds in the ,christian life--is the rigid suppression of our own wills4 ,that is the secret of goodness1 and its opposite is the secret of evil4 ,to live by my own will is to die4 ,nothing but blunders1 nothing but miseries1 nothing but failures1 nothing but remorse1 will be the fruit of such a life4 ,and a great many of us who call ourselves ,christians are not ,christians in the sense of having ,christ's will for our absolute law1 and keeping our own will entirely in subordination thereto4 ,as is the will1 so is the man1 and whoever does not bow himself absolutely1 and hush all the babble of his own inclinations and tastes and decisions1 in order that that great ,voice may speak1 has small chance of ever walking in the paths of righteousness1 or finding that his ways please the ,lord4 ,suppress your own wills1 dwell near ,god1 that you may hear ,his lightest whisper4 ',i will guide thee with ,mine eye4' ,what is the use of the glance of an eye if the man for whom it is meant is half a mile off1 and staring about him at everything except the eye that would guide8 ,and that is what some of us that call ourselves ,christian people are4 ,god might look guidance at us for a week1 and we should never know that ,he was doing it2 we have so many other things to look after4 ,and we are so far away from ,him that it would need a telescope for us to see ,his face4 ',i will guide thee with ,mine eye4' ,keep near ,him1 and you will not lack direction4 ,and so1 dear brethren1 if we stay ourselves on1 and wait patiently for1 ,him1 and are content to do what ,he wishes1 and never to run without a clear commission1 nor to act without a full conviction of duty1 then the old story of my text will repeat itself in our daily life1 as well as in the noblest form in the last act of life1 which is death4 ,the ,lord will move before us and open a safe1 dry path for us between the heaped waters2 and where the feet of our great ,high ,priest1 bearing the ,ark of the ,covenant of the ,lord1 stood1 amidst the slime and the mud1 we may plant our firm feet on the stones that ,he has left there4 ,and so the stream of life1 like the river of death1 will be parted for ,christ's followers1 and they will pass over on dry ground1 'until all the people are passed clean over ,jordan4' ',,the ,,waters ,,saw ,,thee2 ,,they ,,were ,,afraid' ',and ,joshua said unto the people1 ,sanctify yourselves3 for tomorrow the ,lord will do wonders among you4 #f4 ,and ,joshua spake unto the priests1 saying1 ,take up the ark of the covenant1 and pass over before the people4 ,and they took up the ark of the covenant1 and went before the people4 #g4 ,and the ,lord said unto ,joshua1 ,this day will ,i begin to magnify thee in the sight of all ,israel1 that they may know that1 as ,i was with ,moses1 so ,i will be with thee4 #h ,and thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant1 saying1 ,when ye are come to the brink of the water of ,jordan1 ye shall stand still in ,jordan4 #h4 ,and ,joshua said unto the children of ,israel1 ,come hither1 and hear the words of the ,lord your ,god4 #aj4 ,and ,joshua said1 ,hereby ye shall know that the living ,god is among you1 and that ,he will without fail drive out from before you the ,canaanites1 and the ,hittites1 and the ,hivites1 and the ,perizzites1 and the ,girgashites1 and the ,amorites1 and the ,jebusites4 #aa4 ,behold1 the ark of the covenant of the ,lord of all the earth passeth ,over before you into ,jordan4 #ab4 ,now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of ,israel1 out of every tribe a man4 #ac4 ,and it shall come to pass1 as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the ,lord1 the ,lord of all the earth1 shall rest in the waters of ,jordan1 that the waters of ,jordan shall be out off from the waters that come down from above2 and they shall stand upon an heap4 #ad4 ,and it came to pass1 when the people removed from their tents1 to pass over ,jordan1 and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people2 #ae4 ,and as they that bare the ark were come unto ,jordan1 and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water1 7for ,jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest17 #af4 ,that the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city ,adam1 that is beside ,zaretan3 and those that came down toward the sea of the plain1 even the salt sea failed1 and were cut off3 and the people passed over right against ,jericho4 #ag4 ,and the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the ,lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of ,jordan1 and all the ,israelites passed over on dry ground1 until all the people were passed clean over ,jordan4'--,,joshua iii #e-ag4 ,the arrangement of the narrative of the passage of ,jordan1 which occupies chapters iii4 and iv41 is remarkable1 and has led to suggestions of interpolation and blending of two accounts1 which are quite unnecessary4 ,it is divided into four sections1--the preparations 7,joshua in4 #a-f71 the passage 7,joshua in4 #g-ag71 the lifting of the memorial stones from the river's bed and the fixing of one set of them in it 7,joshua iv4 #a-ad71 the return of the waters1 and the erection of the second set of memorial stones at ,gilgal 7,joshua iv4 #ae-bd74 ,each section closes with a summary of the whole transaction1 after the common manner of ,old ,testament history1 which gives to a hasty reader the impression of confusion and repetition2 but a little attention shows a very symmetrical arrangement1 negativing the possibility of interpolation4 ,the last three sections are all built on the same lines4 ,in each there is a triple division1--,god's command to ,joshua1 ,joshua's communication of it to the people1 and the actual fact1 fulfilling these4 ,so each stage passes thrice before the view1 and the impressiveness of the history is heightened by our seeing it first in the mirror of the divine ,word1 and then in the orders of the commander1 before we see it as a thing actually happening4 ,verses #e and #f of the chapter belong to the section which deals with the preparation4 ,general instructions had been already issued that the host was to follow the ark1 leaving two thousand cubits between them and it2 but nothing had been said as to how ,jordan was to be crossed4 ,no doubt many a question and doubt had been muttered by the watch-fires1 as the people looked at the muddy1 turbid stream1 swirling in flood4 ,the spies probably managed to swim it1 but that was a feat worthy to be named in the epitaph of heroes 7#a ,chron4 xii4 #ae71 and impossible for the crowd of all ages and both sexes which followed ,joshua4 ,there was the rushing stream1 swollen as it always is in harvest4 ,how were they to get over8 ,and if the people of ,jericho1 right over against them1 chose to fall upon them as they were struggling across1 what could hinder utter defeat8 ,no doubt1 all that was canvassed1 in all sorts of tones2 but no inkling of the miracle seems to have been given4 ,god often opens ,his hand by one finger at a time1 and leaves us face to face with some plain but difficult duty1 without letting us see the helps to its performance1 till we need to use them4 ,if we go right on the road which ,he has traced out1 it will never lead us into a blind alley4 ,the mountains will part before us as we come near what looked their impassable wall2 and some narrow gorge or other1 wide enough to run a track through1 but not wide enough to be noticed before we are close on it1 will be sure to open4 ,the attitude of expectation of ,god's help1 while its nature is unrevealed1 is kept up in ,joshua's last instruction4 ,the people are bidden to 'sanctify themselves1 because to-morrow the ,lord will do wonders' among them4 ,that sanctifying was not external1 but included the hallowing of spirit by docile waiting for ,his intervention1 and by obedience while the manner of it was hidden4 ,the secret of to-morrow is partly made known1 and the faith of the people is nourished by the mystery remaining1 as well as by the light given4 ,the best security for to-morrow's wonders is to-day's sanctifying4 ,the command to the priests discloses to them a little more1 in bidding them pass over before the people1 but the additional disclosure would only be an additional trial of faith2 for the silence as to how so impossible a command was to be made possible is absolute4 ,the swollen river had obliterated all fords2 and how were priests1 staggering under the weight of the ark on their shoulders1 to 'pass over'8 ,the question is not answered till the ark is on their shoulders4 ,to-day often sees to-morrow's duty without seeing how it is to be done4 ,but the bearers of the ark need never fear but that the ,god to whom it belongs will take care of it and of them4 ,the last sentence of verse #f is the anticipatory summary which closes each section4 ,in verses #g-ag we have the narrative of the actual crossing1 in its three divisions of ,god's command 7vs4 #g-h71 ,joshua's repetition of it 7vs4 #i-ac71 and the historical fact 7vs4 #ad-ag74 ,the final instructions were only given on the morning of the day of crossing4 ,the report of ,god's commands given in verses #g and #h is condensed1 as is evident from the fuller statement of them in ,joshua's address to the people1 which immediately follows4 ,in it ,joshua is fully aware of the manner of the miracle and of the details of the crossing1 but we have no record of his having received them4 ,the summary of that eventful morning's instructions to him emphasises first the bearing of the miracle on his reputation4 ,the passage of the ,red ,sea had authenticated the mission of ,moses to the past generation1 who1 in consequence of it1 'believed ,god and ,his servant ,moses4' ,the new generation are to have a parallel authentication of ,joshua's commission4 ,it is noteworthy that this is not the purpose of the miracle which the leader announces to the people in verse #aj4 ,it was a message from ,god to himself1 a kind of gracious whisper meant for his own encouragement4 ,what a thought to fill a man's heart with humble devotion1 that ,god would work such a wonder in order to demonstrate that ,he was with him6 ,and what a glimpse of more to follow lay in that promise1 ',this day will ,i begin to magnify thee ,i' ,the command to the priests in verse #h is also obviously condensed2 for ,joshua's version of it1 which follows1 is much more detailed1 and contains particular instructions1 which must have been derived from the divine word to him on that morning4 ,we may pass on1 then1 to the second division of the narrative2 namely1 ,joshua's communication of ,god's commands to the people4 ,observe the form which the purpose of the miracle assumes there4 ,it is the confirmation of the divine ,presence1 not with the leader1 but with the people and their consequent victory4 ,joshua grasped the inmost meaning of ,god's ,word to himself1 and showed noble self-suppression1 when he thus turned the direction of the miracle4 ,the true servant of ,god knows that ,god is with him1 not for his personal glorification1 but for the welfare of ,god's people1 and cares little for the estimation in which men hold him1 if they will only believe that the conquering ,god is with them4 ,we too often make great leaders and teachers in the church opaque barriers to hide ,god from us1 instead of transparent windows through which ,he shines upon ,his people4 ,we are a great deal more ready to say1 ',god is with him1' than to add1 'and therefore ,god is with us1 in our ,joshuas1 and without them4' ,observe the grand emphasis of that name1 'the living ,god1' tacitly contrasted with the dead idols of the enemies1 and sealing the assurance of ,his swift and all-conquering might4 ,observe1 too1 the triumphant contempt in the enumeration of the many tribes of the foe with their barbarous names4 ,five of them had been enough1 when named by the spies' trembling lips1 to terrify the congregation1 but here the list of the whole seven but strengthens confidence4 ,faith delights to look steadily at its enemies1 knowing that the one ,helper is more than they all4 ,this catalogue breathes the same spirit as ,paul's rapturous list of the foes impotent to separate from the love of ,god4 ,mark1 too1 the long-drawn-out designation of the ark1 with its accumulation of nouns1 which grammatical purists have found difficult1--'the ark of the covenant of the ,lord of all the earth'2 where it leads they need not fear to follow4 ,it was the pledge of ,his presence1 it contained the ,ten ,words on which ,his covenant was concluded4 ,that covenant enlisted on their side ,him who was ,lord of the swollen river as of all the fierce clans beyond2 and with ,his ark in front1 their victory was sure4 ,if ever the contemplation of ,his power and covenant relation was in place1 it was on that morning1 as ,israel stood ranked for the march that was to lead them through ,jordan1 and to plant their feet on the soil of ,canaan4 ,nor must we omit the peculiar appropriateness of this solemn designation1 on the occasion of the ark's first becoming the leader of the march4 ,hitherto it had been carried in the centre2 now it was moved to the van1 and took the place of the pillar1 which blazed no more4 ,but the guidance was no less divine4 ,the simple coffer which ,bezaleel had made was as august and reliable a symbol of ,god's presence as the pillar2 and the tables of the law1 shut in it1 were henceforth to be the best directors of the nation4 ,then follows the command to elect twelve representatives of the tribes1 for a purpose not yet explained2 and then1 at the last moment1 the manner of crossing is disclosed1 to the silencing of wise doubters and the confirmation of ignorant faith4 ,the brief anticipatory announcement of the miracle puts stress on the arrest of the waters at the instant when the priests' feet touched them1 and tells what is to befall the arrested torrent above the point where the ark stood1 saying nothing about the lower stretch of the river1 and just hinting by one word 'heap' the parallel between this miracle and that of the passing of the ,red ,sea3 ',the floods stood upright as an heap' 7,exod4 xv4 #h74 ,verses #ad-ag narrate the actual crossing4 ,one long sentence1 like the roll of an ,atlantic wave1 or a long-drawn shout of triumph1 masses together the stages of the march2 the breaking up of the encampment2 the solemn advance of the ark1 watched by the motionless crowd2 its approach to the foaming stream1 running bank-full1 as is its wont in the early harvest months2 the decisive moment when the naked feet of the priests were dipped in the water4 ,what a hush of almost painful expectation would fall on the gazers6 ,then1 with a rush of triumph1 the long sentence pours on1 like a river escaping from some rocky gorge1 and tells the details of the transcendent fact4 ,looking up stream1 the water 'stood'2 and1 as the flow above went on1 it was dammed up1 and1 as would appear1 swept back to a point not now known1 but apparently some miles up4 ,looking down the course1 the water flowed naturally to the ,dead ,sea2 and1 in effect1 the whole bed southwards was quickly left bare1 giving room for the advance of the people with wide-extended front1 while the priests1 with the ark on their shoulders1 stood silent in the midst of the bed1 between the heaped waters and the hasting host4 ,verse #ag gives the usual summary sentence1 which partly anticipates what is still to follow1 but here comes in with special force1 as gathering up the whole wonderful scene1 and recounting once more1 and not without a ring of astonished triumph1 how the priests stood firm on dry ground in that strange place1 'until all the nation were passed clean over ,jordan' ,from verses #g and #aj we learn the purpose of this miracle as being twofold4 ,it was intended to stamp the seal of ,god's approbation on ,joshua1 and to hearten the people by the assurance of ,god's fighting for them4 ,the leader was thereby put on the level of ,moses1 the people1 on that of the generation before whom the ,red ,sea had been divided4 ,the parallel with that event is obvious and significant4 ,the miracle which led ,israel into the wilderness is repeated as they pass from it4 ,the first stage of their deliverance and the second are begun with analogous displays of divine power4 ,the same arm which cleft the sea is stretched out1 after all sins1 for the new generation1 and 'is not shortened that it cannot save4' ,god does not disdain to duplicate ,his wonders1 even for very unworthy servants4 ,the unchanging1 long-suffering patience1 and the unwearied strength to which all generations in succession can turn with confidence1 are wonderfully set forth by these two miracles4 ,and though we have passed into the higher stage1 where miracles have ceased1 the principle which dictated the parallelism still holds good1 and we too can look back to all these ancient wonders1 and be sure that they are done over and over again according to our needs4 ',as we have heard1 so have we seen1' might have been ,israel's song that day1 as it may be ours every day4 ,the beautiful application made of the parted waters of ,jordan in ,christian literature1 which sees in them the prophecy of conquered death1 is perhaps scarcely in accordance with truth1 for the divided ,jordan was the introduction1 not to peace1 but to warfare4 ,but it is too deeply impressed on the heart to be lightly put aside1 and we may well allow faith and hope to discern in the stream1 whose swollen waters shrink backwards as soon as the ark is borne into their turbid and swift current1 an emblem of that dark flood that rolled between the host of ,god and their home1 and was dried up as soon as the pierced foot of the ,christ touched its cold waters4 ',what ailest thee1 thou sea1 that thou fleest2 thou ,jordan1 that thou turnest back8' ,christ has gone up before us4 ,he has shaken ,his hand over the river1 and caused men to go over dry shod4 ,,stones ,,crying ,,out ',for the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of ,jordan1 until every thing was finished that the ,lord commanded ,joshua to speak unto the people1 according to all that ,moses commanded ,joshua3 and the people hasted and passed over4 #aa4 ,and it came to pass1 when all the people were clean passed over1 that the ark of the ,lord passed over1 and the priests1 in the presence of the people4 #ab4 ,and the children of ,reuben1 and the children of ,gad1 and half the tribe of ,manasseh1 passed over armed before the children of ,israel1 as ,moses spake unto them3 #ac4 ,about forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the ,lord unto battle1 to the plains of ,jericho4 #ad4 ,on that day the ,lord magnified ,joshua in the sight of all ,israel2 and they feared him1 as they feared ,moses1 all the days of his life4 #ae4 ,and the ,lord spake unto ,joshua1 saying1 #af4 ,command the priests that bare the ark of the testimony1 that they come up out of ,jordan4 #ag4 ,joshua therefore commanded the priests1 saying1 ,come ye up out of ,jordan4 #ah4 ,and it came to pass1 when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the ,lord were come up out of the midst of ,jordan1 and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up unto the dry land1 that the waters of ,jordan returned unto their place1 and flowed over all his banks1 as they did before4 #ai4 ,and the people came up out of ,jordan on the tenth day of the first month1 and encamped in ,gilgal1 in the east border of ,jericho4 #hj4 ,and those twelve stones1 which they took out of ,jordan1 did ,joshua pitch in ,gilgal4 #ba4 ,and he spake unto the children of ,israel1 saying1 ,when your children shall ask their fathers in time to come1 saying1 ,what mean these stones8 #bb4 ,then ye shall let your children know1 saying1 ,israel came over this ,jordan on dry land4 #bc4 ,for the ,lord your ,god dried up the waters of ,jordan from before you1 until ye were passed over1 as the ,lord your ,god did to the ,red sea1 which ,he dried up from before us1 until we were gone over3 #bd4 ,that all the people of the earth might know the hand of the ,lord1 that it is mighty3 that ye might fear the ,lord your ,god for ever4'--,,joshua iv4 #aj-bd4 ,this chapter is divided into two sections4 ,the first 7from verses #a to #ad7 has as its main subject the bringing up of the twelve memorial stones from the bed of ,jordan2 the second 7verse #ae to the end7 gives the conclusion of the whole incident4 ,the plan of arrangement1 already pointed out in a former chapter1 is very plain in this4 ,each section has ,god's commands to ,joshua1 ,joshua's to the people1 and the execution of these4 ,to each is appended a summary1 which anticipates the more detailed particulars that follow4 ,our text begins in the middle of the first section1 but we must glance at the preceding verses4 ,these tell how1 when the people were all across1 ,joshua1 who had apparently remained on the eastern bank with the twelve representatives of the tribes1 received ,god's command to tell these the purpose for which they had been chosen1 and to set them to execute it4 ,this additional instruction is the explanation of the apparent discrepancy between ,joshua iii4 #ab and iv4 #b4 ,verses #d-h tell ,joshua's communication of the instructions to the men2 verse #h narrates the execution of them by each man's wrenching up from the river's bed a great stone1 with which he toiled through the muddy ooze to the western shore1 and thence over the hot plain to ,gilgal1 where the host camped2 verse #i tells that twelve other stones were set up where the priests had stood1 and were visible at some time after date1 when it was written2 but when that was1 or whether the verse is part of the original or a later note1 we cannot say4 ,at any rate1 there were two memorials1 one on the bank1 one in the stream--'a grand jury of great stones1' as ,thomas ,fuller calls them4 ,there is no difficulty in supposing that the monument in the river was firm enough to resist its current1 and high enough to be visible either above the surface or beneath the ordinarily shallow water4 ,i4 ,the first picture here brought before us is that of the motionless ark in the midst of what had been ,jordan4 ,there is an obvious intention to contrast the stillness of the priests1 bearing it on their shoulders1 and standing rooted in that strange place all these long hours1 with the hurry around4 ',the priests stood 444 and the people hasted4' ,however broad the front and swift the march1 the crossing must have taken many hours4 ,the haste was not from fear1 but eagerness4 ,it was 'an industrious speed and mannerly quickness1 as not willing to make ,god wait upon them1 in continuing a miracle longer than necessity did require4' ,when all were over1 then came the twelve and ,joshua1 who would spend some time in gathering the stones and rearing the memorial in the river-bed4 ,through all the stir the ark was still4 ,over all the march it watched4 ,so long as one ,israelite was in the channel it remained1 a silent presence1 to ensure his safety4 ,it let their rate of speed determine the length of its standing there4 ,it waited for the slowest foot and the weariest laggard4 ,god makes ,his 'very present help' of the same length as our necessities1 and lets us beat the time to which ,he conforms4 ,not till the last loiterer has struggled to the farther shore does ,he cease by ,his presence to keep ,his people safe on the strange road which by ,his presence ,he has opened for them4 ,the silent presence of the ark is enough to dam up the stream4 ,there is vehement action around1 but the cause of it all is in absolute repose4 ,god moves all things1 ,himself unmoved4 ,he 'worketh hitherto1' and no intensity of energy breaks the depth of ,his perfect rest4 ,his activity implies no effort1 and is followed by no exhaustion4 ,the ark is still1 while it holds back a swollen river for hours4 ,the centre of the swiftest revolution is a point of rest4 ,the form of the miracle was a condescension to weak faith1 to which help was ministered by giving sense something to grasp4 ,it was easier to believe that the torrent would not rush down on them when they could look at the priests standing there motionless1 with the visible symbol of ,god's presence on their shoulders4 ,the ark was no more the cause of the miracle than were its carriers2 but1 just as ,jesus helped one blind man by laying moistened earth on his eyes1 and another by sending him to ,siloam to wash1 so ,god did here4 ,children learn best when they have something to look at4 ,sight is sometimes the servant of faith4 ,we need not dwell on the summary1 beginning with verse #aa1 which anticipates the subject of the next section1 and adds that the fighting men of the tribes who had already received their inheritance on the east bank of ,jordan1 loyally kept their promise1 and marched with their brethren to the campaign4 ,,ii4 ,verses #ae-ah finish the story with the return of the waters to their bed4 ,the triple division appears again4 ,first ,god commands ,joshua1 who then transmits the command to the people1 who1 in turn1 then obey4 ,and thus at each stage the divine causality1 ,joshua's delegated but absolute authority1 and the people's prompt obedience1 are signalised2 and the whole incident1 in all its parts1 is set forth as on the one hand a conspicuous instance of ,god's interposition1 and1 on the other1 of ,israel's willing service4 ,we can fancy how the people who had reached the western shore lined the bank1 gazing on the group in the channel1 who still stood waiting ,god's command to relieve them at their post4 ,the word comes at last1 and is immediately obeyed4 ,may we not learn the lesson to stand fixed and patient wherever ,god sets us1 as long as ,he does not call us thence8 ,god's priests should be like the legionary on guard in ,pompeii1 who stuck to his post while the ashes were falling thick1 and was smothered by them1 rather than leave his charge without his commander's orders4 ,one graphic word pictures the priests lifting1 or1 as it might be translated1 'plucking1' the soles of their feet from the slimy bottom into which they had settled down by reason of long standing still4 ,they reach the bank1 marching as steadily with their sacred burden as might be over so rough and slippery a road4 ,the first to enter were the last to leave the river's bed4 ,god's ark 'goes before us1' and 'is our rearward4' ,he besets us behind and before1 and all dangerous service is safe if begun and ended in ,him4 ,the one point made prominent is the instantaneous rush back of the impatient torrent as soon as the curb was taken off4 ,like some horse rejoicing to be free1 the tawny flood pours down1 and soon everything looks 'as aforetime1' except for the new rock1 piled by human hands1 round which the waters chafed4 ,the dullest would understand what had wrought the miracle when they saw the immediate consequence of the ark's leaving its place4 ,cause and effect seldom come thus close together in ,god's dealings2 but sometimes ,he lets us see them as near each other as the lightning and the thunder1 that we may learn to trace them in faith1 when centuries part them4 ,how the people would gaze as the hurrying stream covered up their path1 and would look across to the further shore1 almost doubting if they had really stood there that morning ,i ,they were indeed ',hebrews'--men from the other side-now1 and would set themselves to the dangerous task before them with courage4 ',well begun is half done'2 and ,god would not divide the river for them to thrust them into a tiger's den1 where they would be torn to pieces4 ,retreat was impossible now4 ,a new page in their history was turned4 ,the desert was as unreachable as ,egypt1 ,the passage of the ,jordan rounded off the epoch which the passage of the ,bed ,sea introduced1 and began a new era4 ,that parallelism of the two crossings is suggested by the notice of date in verse #ai4 ',the tenth day of the first month' was just forty years to a day since the first ,paschal lamb had been chosen1 and four days short of the ,passover1 which was solemnised at ,gilgal 7,joshua v4 #aj7 where they encamped that night4 ,it was a short march from the point of crossing1 and a still shorter from ,jericho4 ,it would have been easy to fall upon the invaders as they straggled across the river1 but no attempt was made to dispute the passage1 though1 no doubt1 many a keen pair of eyes watched it from the neighbouring hills4 ,in the beginning of the next chapter we are told why there was this singular supineness4 ',their heart melted1 neither was there spirit in them any more1' or1 in more modern language1 panic laid hold of the enemy1 and they could not pluck up courage to oppose the advance of ,israel4 ,if we add this result to those mentioned in chapter in41 we find sufficient motive for the miracle to take it out of the class of purposeless1 legendary wonders4 ,given the importance of ,israel as the depositaries of revelation1 there is nothing unreasonable in a miracle which so powerfully contributed to their conquest of ,canaan1 and we have yet to learn that there is anything unreasonable in the belief that they were the depositaries of revelation4 ,the fundamental postulate of the ,old ,testament is a supernatural revelation1 and that opens the door for any miracle needful for its accomplishment4 ,it is folly to seek to conciliate by minimising the miraculous element4 ,however much may be thrown out to the wolves1 they will not cease to pursue and show their teeth4 ,we should be very slow to pronounce on what is worthy of ,god2 but any man who believes in a divine revelation1 given to the world through ,israel1 may well believe in such a miracle as this at such a moment of their history4 ,,iii4 ,the memorial stones 7verses #bj-bd74 ,gilgal1 the first encampment1 lay defenceless in the open plain1 and the first thing to be done would be to throw up some earthwork round the camp4 ,it seems to have been the resting-place of the ark and probably of the non-combatants1 during the conquest1 and to have derived thence a sacredness which long clung to it1 and finally led1 singularly enough1 to its becoming a centre of idolatrous worship4 ,the rude circle of unhewn stones without inscription was1 no doubt1 exactly like the many prehistoric monuments found all over the world1 which forgotten races have raised to keep in everlasting remembrance forgotten fights and heroes4 ,it was a comparatively small thing2 for each stone was but a load for one man1 and it would seem mean enough by the side of ,stonehenge or ,carnac1 just as ,israel's history is on a small scale1 as compared with the world-embracing empires of old4 ,size is not greatness2 and ,joshua's little circle told a more wonderful story than its taller kindred1 or ,egyptian obelisks or colossi4 ,these grey stones preached at once the duty of remembering1 and the danger of forgetting1 the past mercies of ,god4 ,when they were reared1 they would seem needless2 but the deepest impressions get filled up by degrees1 as the river of time deposits its sands on them4 ,we do not forget pain so quickly as joy1 and most men have a longer and keener remembrance of their injurers than of their benefactors1 human or divine4 ,the stones were set up because ,israel remembered1 but also lest ,israel should forget4 ,we often think of the ,jews as monsters of ingratitude2 but we should more truly learn the lesson of their history1 if we regarded them as fair1 average men1 and asked ourselves whether our recollection of ,god's goodness to us is much more vivid than theirs4 ,unless we make distinct and frequent efforts to recall1 we shall certainly forget 'all ,his benefits4' ,the cultivation of thankful remembrance is a very large part of practical religion2 and it is not by accident that the ,psalmist puts it in the middle1 between hope and obedience1 when he says 'that they might set their hope in ,god1 and not forget the works of ,god1 but keep ,his commandments' 7,psalm lxxviii4#g74 ,the memorial stones further proclaimed the duty of parental instruction in ,god's mercies4 ,they speak of a time when tradition was the vehicle of history2 when books were rare1 and monuments were relied upon to awaken curiosity which a father's words would satisfy4 ,notwithstanding all differences in means of obtaining knowledge1 the old law remains in full force1 that the parent is the natural and most powerful instructor in the ways of ,god4 ,the ,jewish father was not to send his child to some ,levite or other to get his question answered1 but was to answer it himself4 ,i am afraid that a good many ,english parents1 who call themselves ,christians1 are too apt to say1 ',ask your ,sunday-school teacher1' when such questions are put to them4 ,the decay of parental religious teaching is working enormous mischief in ,christian households2 and the happiest results would follow if ,joshua's homely advice were attended to1 ',ye shall let your children know4' ,the same principle which led to the erection of this simple monument reaches its highest and sacredest instance in the institution of the ,lord's ,supper1 in which ,jesus1 with wonderful lowliness1 condescends to avail ,himself of material symbols in order to secure a firmer place in treacherous memories4 ,he might well have expected that such stupendous love could never be forgotten2 but ,he 'knoweth our frame1' and trusts some share in keeping ,his death vividly in the hearts of ,his people to the humble ministry of bread and wine1 ,strange that we should need to be reminded of the death which it is life to remember6 ,blessed that1 needing it1 we have the need so tenderly met1 and that ,he does not disdain to accept loving memories which slumber till stirred by such poor reminders of ,his unspeakable love6 ,,the ,,captain ,,of ,,the ,,lord',s ,,host ,and he said1 ,nay1 but as captain of the host of the ,lord am ,i now come4 ,,joshua v4 #ad4 ,the army of ,israel was just beginning a hard conflict under an untried leader4 ,behind them the ,jordan barred their retreat1 in front of them ,jericho forbade their advance4 ,most of them had never seen a fortified city1 and had no experience nor engines for a siege4 ,so we may well suppose that many doubts and fears shook the courage of the host1 as it drew around the doomed city4 ,their chief had his own heavy burden4 ,he seems to have gone apart to meditate on what his next step was to be4 ,absorbed in thought1 he lifts up his eyes mechanically1 as brooding men will1 not expecting to see anything1 and is startled by the silent figure of 'a man with a sword drawn' in his hand1 close beside him4 ,there is nothing supernatural in his appearance2 and the immediate thought of the leader is1 ',is this one of the enemy that has stolen upon my solitude8' ,so1 promptly and boldly1 he strides up to him with the quick challenge3 ',whose side are you on8 ,are you one of us1 or from the enemy's camp8' ,and then the silent lips open4 ',upon neither the one nor the other4 ,i am not on your side1 you are on mine1 for as ,captain of the ,lord's host1 am ,i come up4' ,and then ,joshua falls on his face1 recognises his ,commander-in-,chief1 owns himself a subordinate1 and asks for orders4 ',what saith my ,lord unto his servant8' ,now let us try to gather the meaning and the lessons of this striking incident4 ,i4 ,i see in it a transient revelation of an eternal truth4 ,i believe1 as the vast majority of careful students of the course of ,old ,testament revelation and its relation to the ,new ,testament completion believe1 that we have here not a record of the appearance of a created superhuman person1 but that of a preliminary manifestation of the ,eternal ,word of ,god1 who1 in the fulness of time1 'became flesh and dwelt among us4' ,you will observe that there run throughout the whole of the ,old ,testament notices of the occasional manifestation of a mysterious person who is named 'the ,angel1' 'the ,angel of the ,lord4' ,for instance1 in the great scene in the wilderness1 where the bush burned and was not consumed1 he who appeared is named 'the ,angel of the ,lord'2 and his lips declare ',i am that ,i am4' ,in like manner1 soon after1 the divine voice speaks to ,moses of 'the ,angel in whom is ,my name4' ,when ,balaam had his path blocked amongst the vineyards1 it was a replica of the figure of my text that stayed his way1 a man with a drawn sword in his hand1 who spoke in autocratic and divine fashion4 ,when the parents of ,samson were apprised of the coming birth of the hero1 it was 'the ,angel of the ,lord' that appeared to them1 accepted their sacrifice1 declared the divine will1 and disappeared in a flame of fire from the altar4 ,a psalm speaks of 'the ,angel of the ,lord' as encamping round about them that fear him1 and delivering them4 ,isaiah tells us of the ',angel of his face1' who was 'afflicted in all ,israel's afflictions1 and saved them4' ,and the last prophetic utterance of the ,old ,testament is most distinct and remarkable in its strange identification and separation of ,jehovah and the ,angel1 when it says1 'the ,lord shall suddenly come to ,his ,temple1 even the ,angel of the ,covenant4' ,now1 if we put all these passages--and they are but select instances--if we put all these passages together1 ,i think we cannot help seeing that there runs1 as ,i said1 throughout the whole of the ,old ,testament a singular strain of revelation in regard to a ,person who1 in a remarkable manner1 is distinguished from the created hosts of angel beings1 and also is distinguished from1 and yet in name1 attributes1 and worship all but identified with1 the ,lord ,himself4 ,if we turn to the narrative before us1 we find there similar phenomena marked out4 ,for this mysterious 'man with the sword drawn' in his hand1 quotes the very words which were spoken at the bush1 when he says1 ',loose thy shoes from off thy feet1 for the place whereon thou standest is holy4' ,and by fair implication1 ,he would have us to identify the persons in these two great theophanies4 ,he ascribes to ,himself1 in the further conversation in the next chapter1 directly divine attributes1 and is named by the sacred name2 ',the ,lord said unto ,joshua1 see1 ,i have given into thy hand ,jericho and its king4' ,if we turn to the ,new ,testament1 we find that there under another image the same strain of thought is presented4 ,the ,word of ,god1 who from everlasting 'was with ,god1 and was ,god1' is represented as being the ,agent of ,creation1 the ,source of all human illumination1 the ,director of ,providence1 the ,lord of the ,universe4 ',by him were all things1 and in him all things consists4' ,so1 surely1 these two halves make a whole2 and the ,angel of the ,lord1 separate and yet so strangely identified with ,jehovah1 who at the crises of the nation's history1 and stages of the development of the process of ,revelation1 is manifested1 and the ,eternal ,word of ,god1 whom the ,new ,testament reveals to us1 are one and the same4 ,this truth was transiently manifested in our text4 ,the vision passed1 the ground that was hallowed by ,his foot is undistinguished now in the sweltering plain round the mound that once was ,jericho4 ,but the fact remains1 the humanity1 that was only in appearance1 and for a few minutes1 assumed then1 has now been taken up into everlasting union with the divine nature1 and a ,man reigns on the ,throne1 and is ,commander of all who battle for the truth and the right4 ,the eternal order of the universe is before us here4 ,it only remains to say a word in reference to the sweep of the command which our vision assigns to the ,angel of the ,lord4 ',captain of the ,lord's host' means a great deal more than the true ,general of ,israel's little army4 ,it does mean that1 or the words and the vision would cease to have relevance and bearing on the moment's circumstances and need4 ,but it includes also1 as the usage of ,scripture would sufficiently show1 if it were needful to adduce instances of it1 all the ordered ranks of loftier intelligent beings1 and all the powers and forces of the universe4 ,these are conceived of as an embattled host1 comparable to an army in the strictness of their discipline and their obedience to a single will4 ,it is the modern thought that the universe is a ,cosmos and not a ,chaos1 an ordered unit1 with the addition of the truth beyond the reach and range of science1 that its unity is the expression of a personal will4 ,it is the same thought which the centurion had1 to ,christ's wonder1 when he compared his own power as an officer in a legion1 where his will was implicitly obeyed1 to the power of ,christ over diseases and sorrows and miseries and death1 and recognised that all these were ,his servants1 to whom1 if ,his autocratic lips chose to say ',go1' they went1 and if ,he said1 ',do this1' they did it4 ,so the ,lord of the universe and its ordered ranks is ,jesus ,christ4 ,that is the truth which was flashed from the unknown1 like a vanishing meteor in the midnight1 before the face of ,joshua1 and which stands like the noonday sun1 unsetting and irradiating for us who live under the ,gospel4 ,,ii4 ,i see here the ,leader of all the warfare against the world's evil4 ',the ,captain of the ,lord's host4' ,he ,himself takes part in the fight4 ,he is not like a general who1 on some safe knoll behind the army1 sends his soldiers to death1 and keeps his own skin whole4 ,but ,he has fought1 and ,he is fighting4 ,do you remember that wonderful picture in two halves1 at the end of one of the ,gospels1 'the ,lord went up into ,heaven and sat at the right hand of ,god1 444 they went forth everywhere preaching the ,word'8 ,strange contrast between the repose of the seated ,christ and the toils of ,his peripatetic servants6 ,yes1 strange contrast2 but the next words harmonise the two halves of it2 'the ,lord also working with them1 and confirming the word with signs following4' ,the ,leader does not so rest as that ,he does not fight2 and the servants do not need so to fight1 as that they cannot rest4 ,thus the old legends of many a land and tongue have a glorious truth in them to the eye of faith1 and at the head of all the armies that are charging against any form of the world's misery and sin1 there moves the form of the ,son of ,man1 whose aid we have to invoke1 even from ,his crowned repose at the right hand of ,god4 ',gird thy sword upon ,thy thigh1 ,o ,most ,mighty1 and in ,thy majesty ride forth prosperously1 and ,thy right hand shall teach ,thee terrible things4' ,if this1 then1 be for us1 as truly as for ,joshua and his host1 a revelation of who is our true leader1 surely all of us in our various degrees1 and especially any of us who have any ',quixotic crusade' for the world's good on our consciences and on our hands1 may take the lessons and the encouragements that are here4 ,own your ,leader2 that is one plain duty4 ,and recognise this fact1 that by no other power than by ,his1 and with no other weapons than those which ,he puts into our hands1 in ,his ,cross and meekness1 can a world's evils be overcome1 and the victory be won for the right and the truth4 ,i have no faith in crusades which are not under the ,captain of our salvation4 ,and ,i would that the earnest men1 and there are many of them1 the laborious and the self-sacrificing men in many departments of philanthropy and benevolence and social reformation--who labour unaware of who is their ,leader1 and not dependent upon ,his help1 nor trusting in ,his strength--would take to heart this vision of my text1 and see beside them the 'man with the drawn sword in his hand1' the ,christ with the 'sharp two-edged sword going out of his mouth1' by whom1 and by whom alone1 the world's evil can be overcome and slain4 ,own your ,general2 submit to ,his authority2 pick the weapons that ,he can bless2 trust absolutely in ,his help4 ,we may have1 we shall have1 in all enterprises for ,god and man that are worth doing1 'need of patience1' just as the army of ,israel had to parade for six weary days round ,jericho blowing their useless trumpets1 whilst the impregnable walls stood firm1 and the defenders flouted and jeered their aimless procession4 ,but the seventh day will come1 and at the trumpet blast down will go the loftiest ramparts of the cities that are 'walled up to heaven' with a rush and a crash1 and through the dust and over the ruined rubbish ,christ's soldiers will march and take possession4 ,so trust in your ,leader1 and be sure of the victory1 and have patience and keep on at your work4 ,do not make ,joshua's mistake4 ',art ,thou for us8'--',nay6 ,thou art for me4' ,that is a very different thing4 ,we have the right to be sure that ,god is on our side1 when we have made sure that we are on ,god's4 ,so take care of self-will and self-regard1 and human passions1 and all the other parasitical insects that creep round philanthropic religious work1 lest they spoil your service4 ,there is a great deal that calls itself after ,jehu's fashion1 ',my zeal for the ,lord1' which is nothing better than zeal for my own notions and their preponderance4 ,therefore we must strip ourselves of all that1 and not fancy that the cause is ours1 and then graciously admit ,christ to help us1 but recognise that it is ,his1 and lowly submit ourselves to ,his direction1 and what we do1 do1 and when we fight1 fight1 in ,his name and for ,his sake4 ,,iii4 ,here is the ,ally in all our warfare with ourselves4 ,that is the worst fight4 ,far worse than all these ,hittites and ,hivites1 and the other tribes with their barbarous names1 far worse than all external foes1 are the foes that each man carries about in his own heart4 ,in that slow hand-to-hand and foot-to-foot struggle ,i do not believe that there is any conquering power available for a man that can for a moment be compared with the power that comes through submission to ,christ's command and acceptance of ,christ's help4 ,he has fought every foot of the ground before us4 ,we have to 'run the race'--to take another metaphor--'that is set before us1 looking unto ,jesus1' the great ,leader1 and in ,his own self the ,perfecter of the faith which conquers4 ,in ,him1 ,his example1 the actual communication of ,his divine ,spirit1 and in the motives for brave and persistent conflict which flow from ,his ,cross and ,passion1 we shall find that which alone will make us the victors in this internecine warfare4 ,there can be no better directory given to any man than to tread in ,christ's footsteps1 and learn how to fight1 from ,him who in the wilderness repelled the triple assault with the single ',it is written'2 thus recognising the word and will of ,god as the only directory and defence4 ,thus1 brethren1 if we humbly take service in ,his ranks1 and ask ,him to show us where our foes within are1 and to give us the grace to grapple with them1 and cast them out1 anything is possible rather than ultimate defeat1 and however long and sore the struggle may be1 its length and its severity are precious parts of the discipline that makes us strong1 and we shall at last be more than conquerors through ,him that loveth us4 ,,iv4 ,lastly1 ,i see here the ,power which it is madness to resist4 ,think of this vision4 ,think of the deep truths1 partially shadowed and symbolised by it4 ,think of ,christ1 what ,he is1 and what resources ,he has at ,his back1 of what are ,his claims for our service1 and our loyal1 militant obedience4 ,think of the certain victory of all who follow ,him amongst 'the armies of ,heaven1 clad in fine linen1 clean and white4' ,think of the crown and the throne for him that 'overcomes4' ,remember the destructive powers that sleep in ,him3 the 'drawn sword in ,his hand1' the 'two-edged sword out of ,his mouth' the 'wrath of the ,lamb4' ,think of the ultimate certain defeat of all antagonisms2 of that last campaign when ,he goes forth with the 'name written on ,his vesture and on ,his thigh ,king of kings and ,lord of lords4' ,think of how ,he 'strikes through kings in the day of ,his wrath1 and fills the place with the bodies of the dead'2 and how ,his 'enemies become ,his footstool4' ,ponder ,his own solemn word1 ',he that is not with ,me1 is against ,me4' ,there is no neutrality in this warfare4 ,either we are for ,him or we are for ,his adversary4 ',under which ,king8 speak or die6' ,as sensible men1 not indifferent to your highest and lasting well-being1 ask yourselves1 ',can ,i1 with my ten thousand1 meet ,him with ,his twenty thousand8' ,put yourselves under ,his orders1 and ,he will be on your side4 ,he will teach your hands to war1 and your fingers to fight2 will cover your heads in the day of battle1 and bring you at last1 palm-bearing and laurel-crowned1 to that blissful state where there will still be service1 and ,he still be the ',captain of the ,lord's host1' but where 'swords will be beaten into ploughshares' and the victors shall need to 'learn war no more4' ,,the ,,siege ,,of ,,jericho ',and ,joshua had commanded the people1 saying1 ,ye shall not shout1 nor make any noise with your voice1 444 until the day ,i bid you shout2 then shall ye shout4 #aa4 ,so the ark of the ,lord compassed the city1 going about it once3 and they came into the camp1 and lodged in the camp4'--,,joshua vi4#aj1 #aa4 ,the cheerful uniform obedience of ,israel to ,joshua stands in very remarkable contrast with their perpetual murmurings and rebellions under ,moses4 ,many reasons probably concurred in bringing about this change of tone4 ,for one thing the long period of suspense was over2 and to average sense-bound people there is no greater trial of faith and submission than waiting1 inactive1 for something that is to come4 ,now they are face to face with their enemies1 and it is a great deal easier to fight than to expect2 and their courage mounts higher as dangers come nearer4 ,then there were great miracles which left their impression upon the people1 such as the passage of the ,jordan1 and so on4 ,so that the ,epistle to the ,hebrews is right when it says1 ',by faith the walls of ,jericho fell down after they were compassed about seven days4' ,and that faith was as manifest in the six days' march round the city1 as on the seventh day of victorious entrance4 ,for1 if you will read the narrative carefully1 you will see that it says that the ,israelites were not told what was to be the end of that apparently useless and aimless promenade4 ,it was only on the morning of the day of the miracle that it was announced4 ,so there are two stages in this instance of faith4 ,there is the protracted trial of it1 in doing an apparently useless thing2 and there is the victory1 which explains and vindicates it4 ,let us look at these two points now4 ,i4 ,consider that strange protracted trial of faith4 ,the command comes to the people1 through ,joshua's lips1 unaccompanied by any explanation or reasons4 ,if ,moses had called for a like obedience from the people in their wilderness mood1 there would have been no end of grumbling4 ,but whatever some of them may have thought1 there is nothing recorded now but prompt submission4 ,notice1 too1 the order of the procession4 ,first come the armed men1 then seven white-robed priests1 blowing1 probably1 discordant music upon their ram's horn trumpets2 then the ,ark1 the symbol and token of ,god's presence2 and then the rereward4 ,so the ,ark is the centre2 and it is not only ,israel that is marching round the city1 but rather it is ,god who is circling the walls4 ,very impressive would be the grim silence of it all4 ,tramp1 tramp1 tramp1 round and round1 six days on end1 without a word spoken 7though no doubt taunts in plenty were being showered down from the walls71 they marched1 and went back to the camp1 and subsided into inactivity for another four-and-twenty hours1 until they 'turned out' for the procession once more4 ,now1 what did all that mean8 ,the blast of the trumpet was1 in the ,jewish feasts1 the solemn proclamation of the presence of ,god4 ,and hence the purpose of that singular march circumambulating ,jericho was to declare ',here is the ,lord of the whole earth1 weaving ,his invisible cordon and network around the doomed city4' ,in fact the meaning of the procession1 emphasised by the silence of the soldiers1 was that ,god ,himself was saying1 in the long-drawn blasts of the priestly trumpet1 ',lift up your heads1 ,o ye gates6 even lift them up1 ye everlasting doors2 and the ,king of ,glory shall come in4' ,now1 whatever ,jericho and its people thought about that1 ,israel1 according to the commentary of the ,new ,testament1 had to some extent1 at all events1 learnt the lesson1 and knew1 of course very rudimentarily and with a great deal of mere human passion mingled with it1 but still knew1 that this was ,god's summons1 and the manifestation of ,god's presence4 ,and so round the city they went1 and day by day they did the thing in which their faith apprehended its true meaning1 and which1 by reason of their faith1 they were willing to do4 ,let us take some lessons from that4 ,here is a confidence in the divine presence1 manifested by unquestioning obedience to a divine command4 ',theirs not to make reply1 ,theirs not to reason why4' ,joshua had spoken2 ,god had spoken through him4 ,and so here goes6 up with the ,ark and the trumpets1 and out on to the hot sand for the march6 ,it would have been a great deal easier to have stopped in the tents4 ,it was disheartening work marching round thus4 ,the sceptical spirit in the host--the folk of whom there are many great-grandchildren living to-day1 who always have objections to urge when disagreeable duties are crammed up against their faces--would have enough to say on that occasion1 but the bulk of the people were true1 and obeyed4 ,now1 we do not need to put out the eyes of our understanding in order to practise the obedience of faith4 ,and we have to exercise common-sense about the things that seem to us to be duties4 ,but this is plain1 that if once we see a thing to be1 in ,christian language1 the will of our ,father in heaven1 then everything is settled2 and there is only one course for us1 and that is1 unquestioning submission1 active submission1 or1 what is as hard1 passive submission4 ,then here again is faith manifesting itself by an obedience which was altogether ignorant of what was coming4 ,i think that is quite plain in the story1 if you will read it carefully1 though ,i think that it is not quite what people generally understand as its meaning4 ,but it makes the incident more in accordance with ,god's uniform way of dealing with us that the host should be told on the morning of the first day of the week that they were to march round the city1 and told the same on the second day1 and on the third the same1 and so on until the sixth2 and that not until the morning of the seventh1 were they told what was to be the end of it all4 ,that is the way in which ,god generally deals with us4 ,in the passage of the ,jordan1 too1 you will find1 if you will look at the narrative carefully1 that although ,joshua was told what was coming1 the people were not told till the morning of the day1 when the priests' feet were dipped in the brink of the water4 ,we1 too1 have to do our day's march1 knowing very little about tomorrow2 and we have to carry on all through life 'doing the duty that lies nearest us1' entirely ignorant of the strange issues to which it may conduct4 ,life is like a voyage down some winding stream1 shut in by hills1 sometimes sunny and vine-clad1 like the ,rhine1 sometimes grim and black1 like an ,american canon4 ,as the traveller looks ahead he wonders how the stream will find a passage beyond the next bend2 and as he looks back1 he cannot trace the course by which he has come4 ,it is only when he rounds the last shoulder that he sees a narrow opening flashing in the sunshine1 and making a way for his keel4 ,so1 seeing that we know nothing about the issues1 let us make sure of the motives2 and seeing that we do not know what to-morrow may bring forth1 nor even what the next moment may bring1 let us see that we fill the present instant as full as it will hold with active obedience to ,god1 based upon simple faith in ,him4 ,he does not open ,his whole hand at once2 ,he opens a finger at a time1 as you do sometimes with your children when you are trying to coax them to take something out of the palm4 ,he gives us enough light for the moment1 ,he says1 ',march round ,jericho2 and be sure that ,i mean something4 ,what ,i do mean ,i will tell you some day4' ,and so we have to put all into ,his hands4 ,then here1 again1 is faith manifesting itself by persistency4 ,a week was not long1 but it was a long while during which to do that one apparently useless thing and nothing else4 ,it would take about an hour or so to march round the city1 and there were twenty-three hours of idleness4 ,little progress in reducing ,jericho was made by the progress round it1 and it must have got rather wearisome about the sixth day4 ,familiarity would breed monotony1 but notwithstanding the deadly influences of habit1 the obedient host turned out for their daily round4 ',let us not be weary in well-doing1' for there is a time for everything4 ,there is a time for sowing and for reaping1 and in the season of the reaping 'we shall reap1 if we faint not4' ,dear brethren6 we all get weary of our work4 ,custom presses upon us1 'with a weight heavy as frost1 and deep almost as life4' ,it is easy to do things with a spurt1 but it is the keeping on at the monotonous1 trivial1 and sometimes unintelligible duties that is the test of a man's grit1 and of his goodness too4 ,so1 although it is a very1 very threadbare lesson--one that you may think it was not worth while for me to bring you all here to receive--,i am sure that there are few things needed more by us all1 and especially by those of us who are on the wrong side of middle life1 as people call it--though ,i think it is the right side in many respects--than that old familiar lesson4 ,keep on as you have begun1 and for the six weary days turn out1 however hot the sun1 however comfortable the carpets in the tent1 however burning the sand1 however wearisome and flat it may seem to be perpetually tramping round the same walls of the same old city2 keep on1 for in due season the trumpet will sound and the walls will fall4 ,,ii4 ,so that brings me to the second stage--viz41 the sudden victory which vindicates and explains the protracted trial of faith4 ,i do not need to tell the story of how1 on the seventh day1 the host encompassed the city seven times1 and at last they were allowed to break the long silence with a shout4 ,you will observe the prominence given to the sacred seven1 both in the number of days1 of circuits made1 and the number of the priests' trumpets4 ,probably the last day was a ,sabbath1 for there must have been one somewhere in the week1 and it is improbable that it was one of the undistinguished days4 ,that was a shout1 we may be sure1 by which the week's silence was avenged1 and all the repressed emotions gained utterance at last4 ,the fierce yell from many throats1 which startled the wild creatures in the hills behind ,jericho1 blended discordantly with the trumpets' clang which proclaimed a present ,god2 and at ,his summons the fortifications toppled into hideous ruin1 and over the fallen stones the men of ,israel clambered1 each soldier1 in all that terrible circle of avengers that surrounded the doomed city1 marching straight forward1 and so all converging on the centre4 ,now1 we can discover good reasons for this first incident in the campaign being marked by miracle4 ,the fact that it was the first is a reason4 ,it is a law of ,god's progressive revelation that each new epoch is inaugurated by miraculous works which do not continue throughout its course4 ,for instance1 it is observable that1 in the ,acts of the ,apostles1 the first example of each class of incidents recorded there1 such as the first preaching1 the first persecution1 the first martyrdom1 the first expansion of the ,gospel beyond ,jews1 its first entrance into ,europe1 has usually the stamp of miracle impressed on it1 and is narrated at great length1 while subsequent events of the same class have neither of those marks of distinction4 ,take1 for example1 the account of ,stephen1 the first martyr4 ,he saw 'the heavens opened' and the ,son of ,man 'standing at the right hand of ,god4' ,we do not read that the heavens opened when ,herod struck off the head of ,james with the sword4 ,but was ,jesus any the less near to help ,his servant8 ,certainly not4 ,in like manner it was fitting that the first time that ,israel crossed swords with these deadly and dreaded enemies should be marked by a miraculous intervention to hearten ,god's warriors4 ,but let us take care that we understand the teaching of any miracle4 ,surely it does not secularise and degrade the other incidents of a similar sort in which no miracle was experienced4 ,the very opposite lesson is the true one to draw from a miracle4 ,in its form it is extraordinary1 and presents ,god's direct action on men or on nature1 so obviously that all eyes can see it4 ,but the conclusion to be drawn is not that ,god acts only in a supernatural' manner1 but that ,he is acting as really1 though in a less obvious fashion1 in the 'natural' order4 ,in these turning-points1 the inauguration of new stages in revelation or history1 the cause which always produces all nearer effects and the ultimate effects1 which are usually separated or united 7as one may choose to regard it7 by many intervening links1 are brought together4 ,but the originating power works as truly when it is transmitted through these many links as when it dispenses with them4 ,miracle shows us in abbreviated fashion1 and therefore conspicuously1 the divine will acting directly1 that we may see it working when it acts indirectly4 ,in miracle ,god makes bare ,his arm1' that we may be sure of its operation when it is draped and partially hid1 as by a vesture1 by second causes4 ,we are not to argue that1 because there is no miracle1 ,god is not present or active4 ,he was as truly with ,israel when there was no ,ark present1 and no blast of the trumpet heard4 ,he was as truly with ,israel when they fought apparently unhelped1 as ,he was when ,jericho fell4 ,the teaching of all the miracles in the ,old and the ,new ,testaments is that the order of the universe is maintained by the continual action of the will of ,god on men and things4 ,so this story is a transient revelation of an eternal fact4 ,god is as much with you and me in our fights as ,he was with the ,israelites when they marched round ,jericho1 and as certainly will ,he help4 ,if by faith we endure the days of often blind obedience1 we shall share the rapture of the sudden victory4 ,now1 ,i have said that the last day of this incident was probably a ,sabbath day4 ,does not that suggest the thought that we may take this story as a prophetic symbol8 ,there is for us a week of work1 and a seventh day of victory1 when we shall enter1 not into the city of confusion which has come to nought1 but into the city which 'hath the foundations1 whose builder and maker is ,god4' ,the old fathers of the ,christian ,church were not far wrong1 when they saw in this story a type of the final coming of the ,lord4 ,did you ever notice how ,st4 ,paul1 in writing to the ,thessalonians about that coming1 seems to have his mind turned back to the incident before us8 ,remember that in this incident the two things which signalised the fall of the city were the trumpet and the shout4 ,what does ,paul say8 ',the ,lord ,himself shall descend from heaven with a shout1 with the voice of the archangel1 and with the trump of ,god4' ,jericho over again6 ,and then1 ',babylon is fallen1 is fallen6' ',and ,i saw the new ,jerusalem coming down out of heaven1 like a bride adorned for her husband4' ,,rahab ',and ,joanna paved ,rahab the harlot alive444 and she dwelleth in ,israel even unto this day4'--,,joshua vi4 #be4 ,this story comes in like an oasis in these terrible narratives of ,canaanite extermination4 ,there is much about it that is beautiful and striking1 but the main thing is that it teaches the universality of ,god's mercy1 and the great truth that trust in ,him unites to ,him and brings deliverance1 how black soever may have been the previous life4 ,i need not tell over again the story1 told with such inimitable picturesqueness here3 how the two spies1 swimming the ,jordan in flood1 set out on their dangerous mission and found themselves in the house of ,rahab1 a harlot2 how the king sent to capture them1 how she hid them among the flax-stalks bleaching on the flat roof1 confessed faith in ,israel's ,god and lied steadfastly to save them1 how they escaped to the ,quarantania hills1 how she 'perished not' in the capture1 entered into the community of ,israel1 was married1 and took her place--hers6--in the line of ,david's and ,christ's ancestresses4 ,the point of interest is her being1 notwithstanding her previous position and history1 one of the few instances in which heathen were brought into ,israel4 ,the ,epistle to the ,hebrews and ,james both refer to her4 ,we now consider her story as embodying for us some important truths about faith in its nature1 its origin1 its power4 ,i4 ,faith in its constant essence and its varying objects4 ,her creed was very short and simple4 ,she abjured idols1 and believed that ,jehovah was the one ,god4 ,she knew nothing of even the ,mosaic revelation1 nothing of its moral law or of its sacrifices4 ,and yet the ,epistle to the ,hebrews has no scruple in ascribing faith to her4 ,the object of that ,epistle is to show that ,christianity is ,judaism perfected4 ,it labours to establish that objectively there has been advance1 not contradiction1 and that subjectively there is absolute identity4 ,it has always been faith that has bound men to ,god4 ,that faith may co-exist with very different degrees of illumination4 ,not the creed1 but the trust1 is the all-important matter4 ,this applies to all pre-,christian times and to all heathen lands4 ,our faith has a fuller gospel to lay hold of4 ,do not neglect it4 ,beware lest people with less light and more love get in before you1 'who shall come from the east and the west4' ,,ii4 ,faith in its origin in fear4 ,there are many roads to faith1 and it matters little which we take1 so long as we get to the goal4 ,this is one1 and some people seem to think that it is a very low and unworthy one1 and one which we should never urge upon men4 ,but there are a side of the divine nature and a mode of the divine government which properly evoke fear4 ,god's moral government1 ,his justice and retribution1 are facts4 ,fear is an inevitable and natural consequence of feeling that ,his justice is antagonistic to us4 ,the work of conscience is precisely to create such fear4 ,not to feel it is to fall below manhood or to be hardened by sin4 ,that fear is meant to lead us to ,god and love4 ,rahab fled to ,god4 ,peter 'girt his fisher's coat to him1' and lost his fear in the sunshine of ,christ's face1 as a rainbow trembles out of a thunder-cloud when touched by sunbeams4 ,we have all grounds enough to fear4 ,urge these as a reason for trust4 ,,iii4 ,faith in its relation to the previous life4 ,it is a strange instance of blindness that attempts have been made to soften down the ,bible's plain speaking about ,rahab's character4 ,in her story we have an anticipation of ,new ,testament teaching4 ,the 'woman that was a sinner4' ,mary ,magdalene4 ',then drew near all the publicans and sinners for to hear ,him4' ,she shows us that there is no hopeless guilt4 ,none is so in regard to the effects of sin on a soul4 ,there is no heart so indurated as that its capacity for being stirred by the divine message is killed4 ,there is none hopeless in regard to ,god4 ,his love embraces all1 however bad4 ,the bond which unites to ,him is not blamelessness of life but simple trust4 ,the grossest vice is not so thorough a barrier as self-satisfied self-righteousness4 ,a thin slice of crystal will bar the entrance of air more effectually than many folds of stuff4 ,,iv4 ,faith in its practical effects4 ,rahab's story shows how living faith1 like a living stream1 will cut a channel for itself1 and must needs flow out into the life4 ,hence ,james is right in using her as an example of how 'we are justified by works and not by faith only1' and the author of the ,epistle to the ,hebrews is equally right in enrolling her in his great muster-roll of heroes and heroines of faith1 and asserting that 'by faith' she 'perished not among them who believed not4' ,the one writer fastens on a later stage in her experience than does the other4 ,james points to the rich fruit1 the ,epistle to the ,hebrews goes deeper and lays bare the root from which the life rose to the clusters4 ,the faith that saves is not a barren intellectual process1 nor an idle trust in ,christ's salvation1 but a practical power4 ,if genuine it will mould and impel the life4 ,so ,rahab's faith led her1 as ours1 if real1 will lead us1 to break with old habits and associations contrary to itself4 ,she ceased to be ',rahab the harlot1' she forsook 'her own people and her father's house4' ,but her conquest of her old self was gradual4 ,a lie was a strange kind of first-fruits of faith4 ,its true fruit takes time to flower and swell and come to ripeness and sweetness4 ,so we should not expect old heads on young shoulders1 nor wonder if people1 lifted from the dunghills of the world1 have some stench and rags of their old vices hanging about them still4 ,that thought should moderate our expectations of the characters of converts from heathenism1 or from the degraded classes at home4 ,and it should be present to ourselves1 when we find in ourselves sad recurrences of faults and sins that we know should have been cast out1 and that we hoped had been so4 ,this thought enhances our wondering gratitude for the divine long-suffering which bears with our slow progress4 ,our great ,teacher never loses patience with ,his dull scholars4 ,v4 ,faith as the means of deliverance and safety4 ,from external evils it delivers us or not1 as ,god may will4 ,james was no less dear1 and no less faithful1 than ,john1 though he was early 'slain with the sword1' and his brother died in extreme old age in ,ephesus4 ,paul looked forward to being 'delivered from every evil work1' though he knew that the time of his being 'offered' was at hand1 because the deliverance that he looked for was his being 'saved into ,his heavenly kingdom4' ,that true deliverance is infallibly ours1 if by faith we have made the ,deliverer ours4 ,there is a more terrible fall of a worse city than ,jericho1 in that day when 'the city of the terrible ones shall be laid low1' and our ,joshua brings it 'to the ground1 even to the dust4' ',in that same day shall this song be sung in the land of ,judah3 we have a strong city1 salvation will ,god appoint for walls and bulwarks1' and into that eternal home ,he will certainly lead all who are joined to ,him1 and separated from their foul old selves1 and from 'the city of destruction1' by faith in ,him4 ,,achan',s ,,sin1 ,,israel',s ,,defeat ',but the children of ,israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing3 for ,achan1 the son of ,carmi1 the son of ,zabdi1 the son of ,zerah1 of the tribe of ,judah1 took of the accursed thing3 and the anger of the ,lord was kindled against the children of ,israel4 #b4 ,and ,joshua sent men from ,jericho to ,ai1 which is beside ,beth-aven1 on the east side of ,beth-ei1 and spake unto them1 saying1 ,go up and view the country4 ,and the men went up and viewed ,ai4 #c4 ,and they returned to ,joshua1 and said unto him1 ,let not all the people go up2 but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite ,ai2 and make not all the people to labour thither2 for they are but few4 #d4 ,so there went up thither of the people about three thousand men3 and they fled before the men of ,ai4 #e4 ,and the men of ,ai smote of them about thirty and six men3 for they chased them from before the ,irate even unto ,shebarim1 and smote them in the going down2 wherefore the hearts of the people melted1 and became as water4 #f4 ,and ,joshua rent his clothes1 and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the ,lord until the eventide1 he and the elders of ,israel1 and put dust upon their heads4 #g4 ,and ,joshua said1 ,alas1 ,o ,lord ,god1 wherefore hast ,thou at all brought this people over ,jordan1 to deliver us into the hand of the ,amorites1 to destroy us8 would to ,god we had been content1 and dwelt on the other side ,jordan6 #h4 ,o ,lord1 what shall ,i say1 when ,israel turneth their backs before their enemies6 #i4 ,for the ,canaanites1 and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it1 and shall environ us round1 and cut off our name from the earth3 and what wilt ,thou do unto ,thy great name8 #aj4 ,and the ,lord said unto ,joshua1 ,get thee up2 wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face8 #aa4 ,israel hath sinned1 and they have also trangressed ,my covenant which ,i commanded them3 for they have even taken of the accursed thing1 and have also stolen1 and dissembled also1 and they have put it even among their own stuff4 #ab4 ,therefore the children of ,israel could not stand before their enemies1 but turned their backs before their enemies1 because they were accursed2 neither will ,i be with you any more1 except ye destroy the accursed from among you4'--,,joshua vii4 #a-ab4 ,this passage naturally parts itself into--#a4 ,the hidden sin 7v4 #a72 #b4 ,the repulse by which it is punished 7vs4 #b-e72 #c4 ,the prayer of remonstrance 7vs4 #f-i72 and #d4 ,the answer revealing the cause 7vs4 #aj-ab74 ,we may briefly note the salient points in these four divisions1 and then consider the general lessons of the whole4 ,i4 ,observe1 then1 that the sin is laid at the doors of the whole nation1 while yet it was the secret act of one man4 ,that ,is a strange 'for' in verse #a--the people did it2 'for' ,achan did it4 ,observe1 too1 with what bitter particularity his descent is counted back through three generations1 as if to diffuse the shame and guilt over a wide area1 and to blacken the ancestors of the culprit4 ,note also the description of the sin4 ,its details are not given1 but its inmost nature is4 ,the specification of the ',babylonish garment1' the 'shekels of silver1' and the 'wedge of gold1' is reserved for the sinner's own confession2 but the blackness of the deed is set forth in its principle in verse #a4 ,it was a 'breach of trust1' for so the phrase 'committed a trespass' might be rendered4 ,the expression is frequent in the ,pentateuch to describe ,israel's treacherous departure from ,god1 and has this full meaning here4 ,the sphere in which ,achan's treason was evidenced was 'in the devoted thing4' ,the spoil of ,jericho was set aside for ,jehovah1 and to appropriate any part of it was sacrilege4 ,his sin1 then1 was double1 being at once covetousness and robbing ,god4 ,achan1 at the beginning of ,israel's warfare for ,canaan1 and ,ananias1 at the beginning of the ,church's conquest of the world1 are brothers alike in guilt and in doom4 ,note the wide sweep of 'the anger of the ,lord1' involving in its range not only the one transgressor1 but the whole people4 ,,ii4 ,all unconscious of the sin1 and flushed with victory1 ,joshua let no grass grow under his feet1 but was prepared to push his advantage to the utmost with soldierly promptitude4 ,the commander's faith and courage were contagious1 and the spies came back from their perilous reconnaissance of ,ai with the advice that a small detachment was enough for its reduction4 ,they had not spied the mound in the middle of ,achan's tent1 or their note would have been changed4 ,three thousand1 or three hundred1 would have been enough1 if ,god had been with them4 ,the whole army would not have been enough since ,he was not4 ,the site of ,ai seems to have been satisfactorily identified on a small plateau among the intricate network of wild wadys and bare hills that rise behind ,jericho4 ,the valley to the north1 the place where the ambush lay at the successful assault1 and a great mound1 still bearing the name ',et ,tel' 7the heap71 are all there4 ,the attacking force does not seem to have been commanded by ,joshua4 ,the ark stayed at ,gilgal1 ,the contempt for the resistance likely to be met makes the panic which ensued the more remarkable4 ,what turned the hearts of the confident assailants to water8 ,there was no serious fighting1 or the slaughter would have been more than thirty-six4 ',there went up 444 about three thousand and they'--did what8 fought and conquered8 ,alas1 no1 but 'they fled before the men of ,ai1' rushing in wild terror down the steep pass which they had so confidently breasted in the morning1 till the pursuers caught them up at some 'quarries1' where1 perhaps1 the ground was difficult1 and there slew the few who fell1 while the remainder got away by swiftness of foot1 and brought back their terror and their shame to the camp4 ,as the disordered fugitives poured in1 they infected the whole with their panic4 ,such unwieldy undisciplined hosts are peculiarly liable to such contagious terror1 and we find many instances in ,scripture and elsewhere of the utter disorganisation which ensues4 ,the whole conquest hung in the balance4 ,a little more and the army would be a mob2 and the mob would break into twos and threes1 which would get short shrift from the ,amorites4 ,ill4 ,mark1 then1 ,joshua's action in the crisis4 ,he does not try to encourage the people1 but turns from them to ,god4 ,the spectacle of the leader and the elders prone before the ark1 with rent garments and dust-bestrewn hair1 in sign of mourning1 would not be likely to hearten the alarmed people2 but the defeat had clearly shown that something had disturbed the relation to ,god1 and the first necessity was to know what it was4 ,joshua's prayer is perplexed1 and not free from a wistful1 backward look1 nor from regard to his own reputation2 but the soul of it is an earnest desire to know the 'wherefore' of this disaster4 ,it traces the defeat to ,god1 and means really1 ',show me wherefore ,thou contendest with me4' ,no doubt it runs perilously near to repeating the old complaints at ,kadesh and elsewhere1 which are almost verbally reproduced in its first words4 ,but the same things said by different people are not the same2 and ,joshua's question is the voice of a faith struggling to find footing1 and his backward look is not because he doubts ,god's power to help1 or hankers after ,egypt1 but because he sees that1 for some unknown reason1 they have lost the divine protection4 ,his reference to himself betrays the crushing weight of responsibility which he felt1 and comes not from carefulness for his own good fame so much as from his dread of being unable to vindicate himself1 if the people should turn on him as the author of their misfortunes4 ,his fear of the news of the check at ,ai emboldening not only the neighbouring ,amorites 7highlanders7 of the western ,palestine1 but the remoter ,canaanites 7lowlanders7 of the coast1 to make a combined attack1 and sweep ,israel out of existence1 was a perfectly reasonable forecast of what would follow4 ,the naive simplicity of the appeal to ,god1 ',what wilt ,thou do for ,thy great name8' becomes the soldier1 whose words went the shortest way to their aim1 as his spear did4 ,we cannot fancy this prayer coming from ,moses2 but1 for all that1 it has the ring of faith in it1 and beneath its blunt1 simple words throbs a true heart4 ,,iv4 ,the answer sounds strange at first4 ,god almost rebukes him for praying4 ,he gives ,joshua back his own 'wherefore' in the question that sounds so harsh1 ',wherefore art thou thus fallen upon thy face8' but the harshness is only apparent1 and serves to point the lesson that follows1 that the cause of the disaster is with ,israel1 not with ,god1 and that therefore the remedy is not in prayer1 but in active steps to cast out 'the unclean thing4' ,the prayer had asked two things1--the disclosure of the cause of ,god's having left them1 and ,his return4 ,the answer lays bare the cause1 and therein shows the conditions of ,his return4 ,note the indignant accumulation of verbs in verse #aa1 describing the sin in all its aspects4 ,the first three of the six point out its heinousness in reference to ,god1 as sin1 as a breach of covenant1 and as an appropriation of what was specially ,his4 ,the second three describe it in terms of ordinary morality1 as theft1 lying1 and concealment2 so many black sides has one sin when ,god's eye scrutinises it4 ,note1 too1 the attribution of the sin to the whole people1 the emphatic reduplication of the shameful picture of their defeat1 the singular transference to them of the properties of 'the devoted thing' which ,achan has taken1 and the plain1 stringent conditions of ,god's return4 ,joshua's prayer is answered4 ,he knows now why little ,ai has beaten them back4 ,he asked1 ',what shall ,i say8' ,he has got something of grave import to say4 ,so far this passage carries us1 leaving the pitiful last hour of the wretched troubler of ,israel untouched4 ,what lessons are taught here8 ,first1 ,god's soldiers must be pure4 ,the conditions of ,god's help are the same to-day as when that panic-stricken crowd ignominiously fled down the rocky pass1 foiled before an insignificant fortress1 because sin clave to them1 and ,god was gone from them4 ,the age of miracles may have ceased1 but the law of the divine intervention which governed the miracles has not ceased4 ,it is true to-day1 and will always be true1 that the victories of the ,church are won by its holiness far more than by any gifts or powers of mind1 culture1 wealth1 eloquence1 or the like4 ,its conquests are the conquests of an indwelling ,god1 and ,he cannot share ,his temples with idols4 ,when ,god is with us1 ,jericho is not too strong to be captured2 when ,he is driven from us by our own sin1 ,ai is not too weak to defeat us4 ,a shattered wall keeps us out1 if we fight in our own strength4 ,fortifications that reach to heaven fall flat before us when ,god is at our side4 ,if ,christian effort seems ever fruitless1 the first thing to do is to look for the ',babylonish garment' and the glittering shekels hidden in our tents4 ,nine times out of ten we shall find the cause in our own spiritual deficiencies4 ,our success depends on ,god's presence1 and ,god's presence depends on our keeping ,his dwelling-place holy4 ,when the ,church is 'fair as the moon1' reflecting in silvery whiteness the ardours of the sun which gives her all her light1 and without such spots as dim the moon's brightness1 she will be 'terrible as an army with banners4' ,this page of ,old ,testament history has a living application to the many efforts and few victories of the churches of to-day1 which seem scarce able to hold their own amid the natural increase of population in so-called ,christian lands1 and are so often apparently repulsed when they go up to attack the outlying heathenism4 ',his strength was as the strength of ten1 ,because his heart was pure1' is true of the ,christian soldier4 ,again1 we learn the power of one man to infect a whole community and to inflict disaster on it4 ,one sick sheep taints a flock4 ,the effects of the individual's sin are not confined to the doer4 ,we have got a fine new modern word to express this solemn law1 and we talk now of 'solidarity1' which sounds very learned and 'advanced4' ,but it means just what we see in this story2 ,achan was the sinner1 all ,israel suffered4 ,we are knit together by a mystical but real bond1 so that 'no man1' be he good or bad1 'liveth to himself1' and no man's sin terminates in himself4 ,we see the working of that unity in families1 communities1 churches1 nations4 ,men are not merely aggregated together like a pile of cannon balls1 but are knit together like the myriad lives in a coral rock4 ,put a drop of poison anywhere1 and it runs by a thousand branching veins through the mass1 and tints and taints it all4 ,no man can tell how far the blight of his secret sins may reach1 nor how wide the blessing of his modest goodness may extend4 ,we should seek to cultivate the sense of being members of a great whole1 and to ponder our individual responsibility for the moral and religious health of the church1 the city1 the nation4 ,we are not without danger from an exaggerated individualism1 and we need to realise more constantly and strongly that we are but threads in a great network1 endowed with mysterious vitality and power of transmitting electric impulses1 both of good and evil4 ,again1 we have one more illustration in this story of the well-worn lesson1--never too threadbare to be repeated1 until it is habitually realised1--that ,god's eye sees the hidden sins4 ,nobody saw ,achan carry the spoil to his tent1 or dig the hole to hide it4 ,his friends walked across the floor without suspicion of what was beneath4 ,no doubt1 he held his place in his tribe as an honourable man1 and his conscience traced no connection between that recently disturbed patch on the floor and the helter-skelter flight from ,ai2 but when the lot began to be cast1 he would have his own thought1 and when the tribe of ,judah was taken1 some creeping fear would begin to coil round his heart1 which tightened its folds1 and hissed more loudly1 as each step in the lot brought discovery nearer home2 and when1 at last1 his own name fell from the vase1 how terribly the thought would glare in on him1--',and ,god knew it all the while1 and ,i fancied ,i had covered it all up so safely4' ,it is an awful thing to hear the bloodhounds following up the scent which leads them straight to our lurking-place4 ,god's judgments may be long in being put on our tracks1 but1 once loose1 they are sure of scent1 and cannot be baffled4 ,it is an old1 old thought1 ',thou ,god seest me'2 but kept well in mind1 it would save from many a sin1 and make sunshine in many a shady place4 ,again1 we have in ,achan a lesson which the professing ,christians of great commercial nations1 like ,england1 sorely need4 ,i have already pointed out the singular parallel between him and ,ananias and ,sapphira4 ,covetousness was the sin of all three4 ,it is the sin of the ,church to-day4 ,the whole atmosphere in which some of us live is charged with the subtle poison of it4 ,men are estimated by their wealth4 ,the great aim of life is to get money1 or to keep it1 or to gain influence and notoriety by spending it4 ,did anybody ever hear of church discipline being exercised on men who committed ,achan's sin8 ,he was stoned to death1 but we set our ,achans in high places in the ,church4 ,perhaps if we went and fell on our faces before the ark when we are beaten1 we should be directed to some tent where a very 'influential member' of ,israel lived1 and should find that to put an end to his ecclesiastical life had a wonderful effect in bringing back courage to the army1 and leading to more unmingled dependence on ,god4 ,covetousness was stoned to death in ,israel1 and struck with sudden destruction in the ,apostolic ,church4 ,it has been reserved for the modern ,church to tolerate and almost to canonise it2 and yet we wonder how it comes that we are so often foiled before some little ,ai1 and so seldom see any walls falling by our assault4 ,let us listen to that stern sentence1 ',i will not be with you any more1 except ye destroy the devoted thing from among you4' ,,the ,,sun ,,stayed ,sun1 stand thou still upon ,gibeon4'-,,joshua x4 #ab ',the last time1' what a sad sound that has6 ,in all minds there is a shrinking from the last time of doing even some common act4 ,the walk down a street that we have passed every day for twenty years1 and never cared in the least about1 and the very doorsteps and the children in the streets1 have an interest for us1 as pensively we leave the commonplace familiar scene4 ,on this last ,sunday of another year1 there comes a tone of sober meditation over us1 as we think that it is the last4 ,i would fain let the hour preach4 ,i have little to say but to give voice to its lessons4 ,my text is only taken as a starting-point1 and ,i shall say nothing about ,joshua and his prayer4 ,i do not discuss whether this was a miracle or not4 ,it seems1 at any rate1 to be taken by the writer of the story as one4 ,what a picture he draws of the fugitives rushing down the rocky pass1 blind in their fear1 behind them the flushed and eager conqueror1 the burst of the sudden tempest and far in the west the crescent moon1 the leader on the hilltop with his prayer for but one hour or two more of daylight to finish the wild work so well begun6 ,and1 says the story1 his wish was granted1 and no day has been 'like it before or since1 in which the ,lord hearkened unto the voice of a man4' ,once1 and only once1 did time seem to stand still2 from the beginning till now it has been going steadily on1 and even then it only seemed to stand4 ,that day seemed longer1 but life was passing all the same4 ,and so the first thought forced upon us here by our narrative and by the season is the old one1 so commonplace and yet so solemn4 ,i4 ,life inexorably slides away from us4 ,once1 and only once1 it seemed to pause4 ,how often since has ,joshua's prayer been prayed again6 ,by the fearful1--the wretch to be hanged at eight o'clock to-morrow morning1 the man whom the next train will part from all he loves4 ,by the hopeful1--the child wearying for the holidays1 the bridegroom1 ',gallop apace1 ye fiery-footed steeds6' ,by the suffering1-- ',would ,god it were evening6' ,by the martyr amid the flames1 ',come quickly1 ,lord ,jesus6' ,but all in vain4 ,we cannot expand the moments to hours1 nor compress the hours to moments4 ,leaden or winged1 the hours are hours4 ,the cold-blooded pendulum ticks on1 equable and unaltered1 and after sixty minutes1 no sooner and no later1 the hour strikes4 ',there is a time for every purpose4' ,how solemn is the thought of that constant process6 ,it goes on for ever1 like the sea fog creeping up from the wide ocean and burying life and sunshine in its fatal folds1 or like the ever-flowing river1 or like the fall plunging over the edge of the cliff1 or like the motions of the midnight sky4 ,each moment in its turn passes into the colourless stony past1 and the shadow creeps up the hillside4 ,and how unnoticed it is6 ,we only know motion by the jolts4 ,the revolution of the earth and its rush along its orbit are unfelt by us4 ,we are constantly startled to feel how long ago such and such a thing took place4 ,the mother sees her little girl at her knee1 and in a few days1 as it seems1 finds her a woman4 ,how immense is our life in the prospect1 how awfully it collapses in the retrospect6 ,only by seeing constellation after constellation set1 do we know that the heavens are in motion4 ,we have need of an effort of serious reflection to realise that it is of us and of our lives that all these old commonplaces are true4 ,that constant1 unnoticed progress has an end4 ,our life is a definite period1 having a bounded past behind it1 a present1 and a bounded future before it4 ,we have a sandglass and it runs out4 ,we are like men sliding down a rope or hauling a boat towards a fixed point4 ,the sea is washing away our sandy island1 and is creeping nearer and nearer to where we stand1 and will wash over us soon4 ,no cries1 nor prayers1 nor wishes will avail4 ,it is vain for us to say1 ',sun6 stand thou still6' ,,ii4 ,therefore our chief care should be to finish our work in our day4 ,joshua had his day lengthened2 we can come to the same result by crowding ours with service4 ,what is the purpose of life8 ,is it a shop8 or a garden8 a school8 ,no4 ,our 'chief end' is to become like ,god and a little to help forward ,his cause4 ,all is intended to develop character2 all life is disciplinary4 ,god's purpose should be our desire4 ,that desire should mould all our thoughts and acts4 ,there should be no mere sentimental regrets for the past1 but the spirit of consecration should affect our thoughts about it4 ,there should be penitence1 thankfulness1 not vain mourning over what is gone4 ,there should be no waste or selfish use of the present4 ,what is it given us for but to use for ,god8 ,strenuous work is the true way to lengthen each day4 ,time is infinitely elastic4 ,the noblest work is to do 'the works of ,him that sent me4' ,there should be no care for the future4 ,it is in ,his hand4 ,there will be room in it for doing all ,his will4 ',lord1 it belongs not to my care1 ,whether ,i die or live4' ,,iii4 ,if so1 the passing day will have results that never pass4 ,joshua's day was long enough for his work1 and that work was a victory which told on future generations4 ,so life1 short as it is1 will be long enough for all that we have to do and learn and be4 ,christ's servant is immortal till his work is done4 ,god gives every man time enough for his salvation4 ,what may we bring out of life8 ,character1 ,christ-likeness1 thankful memories1 union with ,god1 capacity for heaven4 ,the transient leaves the abiding4 ,the flood foams itself away1 but deposits rich soil on the plain4 ,,iv4 ,thus the passing away of what must pass may become a joy4 ,why should we be sad8 ,there are reasons enough1 as many sad1 lonely hearts among us know too well ,to some men dark thoughts of death and judgment make the crumbling away of life too gloomy a fact to be contemplated1 but it may and should be calm joy to us that the weary world ends and a blessed life begins4 ,we may count the moments and see them pass1 as a bride watches the hours rolling on to her marriage morning2 not1 indeed1 without tremor and sadness at leaving her old home1 but yet with meek hope and gentle joy4 ,it is possible for men to see that life is but 'as a shadow that declineth1' and yet to be glad4 ,by faith in ,christ1 united to ',him ,who is for ever and ever1' our souls shall 'triumph over death and thee1 ,o time4' ,we need not cry1 ',sun6 stand still6' but rather1 ',come quickly1 ,lord ,jesus6' ,then ,time shall be 'the lackey to eternity1' and ,death be the porter of heaven's gate1 and we shall pass from the land of setting suns and waning moons and change and sorrow1 to that land where 'thy sun shall no more go down1' and 'there shall be no more time4' ,,unwon ,,but ,,claimed ',there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed1 444 them will ,i drive out from before the children of ,israel2 only divide thou it by lot unto ,israel for an inheritance'--,joshua xiii4 #a-h4 ,joshua was now a very old man and had occupied seven years in the conquest4 ,his work was over1 and now he had only to take steps to secure the completion by others of the triumph which he would never see4 ,this incident has many applications to the work of the ,church in the world1 but not less important ones to individual progress1 and we consider these mainly now4 ,i4 ,the clear recognition of present imperfection4 ,that is essential in all regions1 ',not as though'2 the higher up1 the more clearly we see the summit4 ,the ideal grows loftier1 as partially realised4 ,the mountain seems comparatively low and easy till we begin to climb4 ,we should be continually driven by a sense of our incompleteness1 and drawn by the fair vision of unattained possibilities4 ,in all regions1 to be satisfied with the attained is to cease to grow4 ,this is eminently so in the ,christian life1 with its goal of absolute completeness4 ,how blessed this dissatisfaction is6 ,it keeps life fresh3 it is the secret of perpetual youth4 ,joshua's work was incomplete1 as every man's must be4 ,we each have our limitations1 the defects of our qualities1 the barriers of our environment1 the brevity of our day of toil1 and we have to be content to carry the fiery cross a little way and then to give it up to other hands4 ,there is only ,one who could say1' ,it is done4' ,let us see that we do our own fragment4 ,,ii4 ,the confident reckoning on complete possession4 ,joshua's conquest was very partial4 ,he subdued part of the central mountain nucleus1 but the low-lying stretch of country on the coast1 ,philistia and the maritime plain up to ,tyre and ,sidon and other outlying districts1 remained unsubdued4 ,yet the whole land was now to be allotted out to the tribes4 ,that allotment must have strengthened faith in their ultimate possession1 and encouraged effort to make the ideal a reality1 and to appropriate as their own in fact what was already theirs in ,god's purpose4 ,so a great part of ,christian duty1 and a great secret of ,christian progress1 is to familiarise ourselves with the hope of complete victory4 ,we should acquire the habit of contemplating as certainly meant by ,god to be ours1 complete conformity to ,christ's character1 complete appropriation of ,christ's gifts4 ,god bade ,jeremiah buy a 'field that was in ,anathoth' at the time an invading army held the land4 ,a ,roman paid down money for the ground on which the besiegers of ,rome were encamped4 ,it does not become ,christians to be less confident of victory4 ,but we have to take heed that our confidence is grounded on the right foundation4 ,god's commandment to ,joshua to allot the land1 even while the formidable foes enumerated in the context held it firmly1 was based on the assurance 7verse #f73 ',them will ,i drive out before the children of ,israel4' ,confidence based on self is presumption1 and will end in defeat2 confidence based on ,god will brace to noble effort1 which is all the more vigorous and will surely lead to victory1 because it distrusts self4 ,,iii4 ,the vigorous effort animated by both the preceding4 ,how the habit of thinking the unconquered land theirs would encourage ,israel4 ,efforts without hope are feeble2 hope without effort is fallacious4 ,israel's history is significant4 ,the land was never actually all conquered4 ,god's promises are all conditional1 and if we do not work1 or if we work in any other spirit than in faith1 we shall not win our allotted part in the 'inheritance of the saints in light4' ,it is possible to lose 'thy crow4' ',work out your own salvation4' ',trust in the ,lord and do good1 so shalt thou dwell in the land4' ,,caleb--,a ,,green ,,old ,,age ',and ,caleb444 said unto him 7,joshua71 ,thou knowest the thing that the ,lord said unto ,moses the man of ,god concerning me and thee in ,kadesh-barnea4'--,,joshua xiv4 #f4 ,five and forty years had passed since the ,lord had 'said this thing4' ,it was the promise to these two1 now old men1 of the prolongation of their lives1 and to ,caleb of his inheritance in the land4 ,seven years of fighting have been got through1 and the preparations are being made for the division of the land by lot4 ,but1 before that is done1 it is fitting that ,caleb1 whose portion had been specially secured to him by that old promise1 should have the promise specially recognised and endorsed by the action of the leader1 and independent of the operation of the lot4 ,so he appears before ,joshua1 accompanied by the head men of his tribe1 whose presence expresses their official consent to the exceptional treatment of their tribesman1 and urges his request in a little speech1 full of pathos and beauty and unconscious portraiture of the speaker4 ,i take it as a picture of an ideal old age1 showing in an actual instance how happy1 vigorous1 full of buoyant energy and undiminished appetite for enterprise a devout old age may be4 ,and my purpose now is not merely to comment on the few words of our text1 but upon the whole of what falls from the lips of ,caleb here4 ,i4 ,i see then here1 first1 a life all built upon ,god's promise4 ,five times in the course of his short plea with ,joshua does he use the expression 'the ,lord spake4' ,on the first occasion of the five he unites ,joshua with himself as a recipient of the promise1 ',thou knowest the thing that the ,lord said concerning me and thee4' ,but in the other four he takes it all to himself2 not because it concerned him only1 but because his confidence1 laying hold of the promise1 forgot his brother in the earnestness of his personal appropriation of it4 ,and so1 whatsoever general words ,god speaks to the world1 a true believer will make them his very own2 and when ,christ says1 ',god so loved the world that ,he gave ,his only begotten ,son1 that whosoever believeth on ,him should not perish1' faith translates it into ',he loved me1 and gave ,himself for me4' ,this is the first characteristic of a life built upon the promise of ,god1 that it lays its hand upon that promise and claims it all for its very own4 ,then notice1 still further1 how for all these forty-five years ,caleb had 'hid the word in his heart1' had lived upon it and thought about it and believed it1 and recognised the partial fulfilment of it1 and cherished the secret fire unknown to any besides4 ,and now at last1 after so long an interval1 he comes forward and stretches out a hand1 unweakened by the long delay1 to claim the perfect fulfilment at the end of his days4 ,so 'the vision may tarry1' but a life based upon ,god's promise has another estimate of swiftness and slowness than is current amongst men who have only the years of earthly life to reckon by2 and that which to sense seems a long1 weary delay1 to faith seems but as 'a watch in the night'4 ,the world1 which only measures time by its own revolutions1 has to lament over what seem to the sufferers long years of pains and tears1 but in the calendar of faith 'weeping endures for a night1 joy cometh in the morning4' ,the weary days dwindle into a point when they are looked at with an eye that has been accustomed to gaze on the solemn eternities of a promising and a faithful ,god4 ,to it1 as to ,him1 'a thousand years are as one day'2 and 'one day1' in the possibilities of divine favour and spiritual growth which it may enfold1 'as a thousand years4' ,to the men who measure time as ,god measures it1 ,his help1 howsoever long it may tarry1 ever comes 'right early4' ,further1 note how this life1 built upon faith in the divine promise1 was nourished and nurtured by instalments of fulfilment all along the road4 ,two promises were given to ,caleb--one1 that his life should be prolonged1 and the other1 that he should possess the territory into which he had so bravely ventured4 ,the daily fulfilment of the one fed the fire of his faith in the ultimate accomplishment of the other1 and he gratefully recounts it now1 as part of his plea with ,joshua--',now1 behold1 the ,lord hath kept me alive as ,he spake1 these forty and five years1 even since the ,lord spake this word unto ,moses4 ,and now1 lo6 ,i am this day fourscore and five years old4' ,whosoever builds his life on the promise of ,god has in the present the guarantee of the better future4 ,as we are journeying onwards to that great fountain-head of all sweetness and felicity1 there are ever trickling brooks from it by the way1 at which we may refresh our thirsty lips and invigorate our fainting strength4 ,the present instalment carries with it the pledge of the full discharge of the obligation1 and he whose heart and hope is fixed with a forward look on the divine inheritance1 may1 as he looks backward over all the years1 see clearly in them one unbroken mass of preserving providences1 and thankfully say1 ',the ,lord hath kept me alive1 as ,he spake4' ,and1 still further1 the life that is built upon faith like this man's1 is a life of buoyant hopefulness till the very end4 ,the hopes of age are few and tremulous4 ,when the feast is nearly over1 and the appetite is dulled1 there is little more to be done1 but to push back our chairs and go away4 ,but ,god keeps 'the good wine' until the last4 ,and when all earthly hopes are beginning to wear thin and to burn dim1 then the great hope of 'the mountain of the inheritance' will rise brighter and clearer upon our horizon4 ,it is something to have a hope so far in front of us that we never get up to it1 to find it either less than our expectations or more than our desires2 and this is not the least of the blessednesses of the living 'hope that maketh not ashamed1' that it lies before us till the very end1 and beckons and draws us across the gulf of darkness4 ',the ,lord hath kept me alive1 as ,he said2 now give me this mountain whereof the ,lord spake4' ,,ii4 ,further1 ,i see here a life that bears to be looked back at4 ,caleb becomes almost garrulous in telling over the old story of that never-to-be-forgotten day1 when he and ,joshua stood alone and tried to put some heart into the cowardly mob before them4 ,there is no mock modesty about the man4 ,he says that1 amidst many temptations to be untrue1 he gave his report with sincerity and veracity1 'speaking as it was in mine heart1' and then he quotes twice1 with a permissible satisfaction1 the eulogium that had come upon him from the divine lips1 ',i wholly followed the ,lord my ,god4' ,the private soldier's cheek may well flush and his eye glitter as he repeats over again his general's praise4 ,and for ,caleb1 half a century has not dimmed the impression that was made on his heart when he received that praise1 through the lips of ,moses1 from ,god4 ,now1 of course1 such a tone of speaking about one's past savours of an earlier stage in revelation than that in which we live1 and1 if this were to be taken as a man's total account of his whole life1 we could not free it from the charge of unpleasing self-complacency and self-righteousness4 ,but for all that1 it is not the same thing in the retrospect whether you and ,i have to look back upon years that have been given to self1 and the world1 and passion1 and pride1 and covetousness1 and frivolities and trifles of all sorts1 or upon years that in the main1 and regard being had to their deepest desires and governing direction1 have been given to ,god and to ,his service4 ,many a man looking back upon his life--,i wonder if there are any such men listening to me now--can only see such a sight as ,abraham did on that morning when he looked down on the plain of ,sodom1 and ',lo6 the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace4' ,dear friends ,i the only thing that makes life in the retrospect tolerable is that it shall have been given to ,god1 and that we can say1 ',i wholly followed the ,lord my ,god4' ,,iii4 ,again1 ,i see here a life which has discovered the secret of perpetual youth4 ',i1' says the old man--'am as strong this day as ,i was in the day when ,moses sent me4 ,as my strength was then1 even so is my strength now1 for war1 both to go out and to come in4' ,for fighting1 and for all the intercourse and manifold activities of life1 his sinews are as braced1 his eyes as clear1 his spirit and limbs as alert as they were in those old days4 ,no doubt you will say that was due to miraculous intervention4 ,no doubt it was2 but is it not true that1 in a very real sense1 a man may keep himself young all his life1 if he will go the right way to work8 ,and the secret of perpetual youthfulness lies here1 in giving our hearts to ,god and in living for ,him4 ,christianity1 with its self-restraint and its exhortations to all1 and especially to the young1 to be chaste and temperate and to subdue the animal passions1 has a direct tendency to conserve physical vigour2 and ,christianity1 by the inspiration that it imparts1 the stimulus that it gives1 and the hopes that it permits us to cherish1 has a direct tendency to keep alive in old age all the best of the characteristics of youth4 ,its buoyancy1 its undimmed interest1 its cheeriness1 its freedom from anxiety and care--all these things are directly ministered to1 and preserved by1 a life of simple faith that casts itself upon ,god1 and dwells securely1 in joy and in restfulness1 and not without a great light of hope1 even when the shadows of evening are falling4 ,one of the greatest and most blessed of the characteristics of youth is the consciousness that the most of life lies before us2 and to a ,christian man1 in any stage of his earthly life1 that consciousness is possible4 ,when he stands on the verge of the last sinking sandbank of time1 and the water is up to his ankles1 he may well feel that the best and the most of life is yet to be4 ',the last of life1 for which the first was made3 ,our times are in ,his hand ,who saith1 ,a whole ,i planned4 ,youth shows but half2 trust ,god3 see all1 nor be afraid4' ',they shall still bring forth fruit in old age1 they shall be full of sap and green4' ,a gnarled old tree may be green in all its branches1 and blossom and fruit may hang together there4 ,the ideal of life is1 that into each stage we shall carry the best of the preceding1 harmonised with the best of the new1 and that is possible to a ,christian soul4 ,the fountain of perpetual youth1 of which the ancients fabled1 is no fable1 but a fact2 and it rises1 where the prophet in his vision saw the stream coming out1 from beneath the threshold of the ,temple door4 ,,iv4 ,so1 lastly1 ,i see here a beautiful example of a life which to the last is ready for danger and enterprise4 ,caleb's words as to his undiminished strength were not meant for a boast4 ,they express thankfulness and praise1 and they are put as the ground of the request that he has to make4 ,he gives a chivalrous reason for his petition when he says1' ,now1 therefore1 give me this mountain1 for the ,anakims 7the giants7 are there2 and the cities great and fenced4' ,caleb's readiness for one more fight was fed by his reliance on ,god's help in it4 ,when he says1 ',it may be the ,lord will be with me1' the perhaps is that of humility1 not of doubt4 ,the old warrior's eye flashes1 and his voice sounds strong and full1 as he ends his words with ',i shall drive them out1 as the ,lord spake4' ,that has the true ring4 ,what were the three ,anak chiefs1 with their barbarous names1 ,sheshai1 and ,ahiman1 and ,talmai1 and their giant stature1 to the onset of a warrior faith like that8 ,of course1 ',caleb drove out thence the three sons of ,anak1' and ,hebron became his inheritance4 ,nothing can stand against us1 if we seek for our portion1 not where advantages are greatest1 but where difficulties and dangers are most rife1 and cast ourselves into the conflict1 sure that ,god is with us1 though humbly wondering that we should be worthy of ,his all-conquering presence1 and sure1 therefore1 that victory marches by our sides4 ,old age is generally much more disposed to talk about its past victories than to fight new ones2 to rest upon its arms1 or upon its laurels1 than to undertake fresh conflicts4 ,now and then we see a man1 statesman or other1 who1 bearing the burden of threescore years and ten lightly1 is still as alert of spirit1 as eager for work1 as bold for enterprise1 as he was years before4 ,and in nine cases out of ten such a man is a ,christian2 and his brilliant energy of service is due1 not only1 nor so much1 to natural vigour of constitution as to religion1 which has preserved his vigour because it has preserved his purity1 and been to him a stimulus and an inspiration4 ,danger is an attraction to the generous mind4 ,it is the coward and the selfish man who are always looking for an easy place1 where somebody else will do the work4 ,this man felt that this miraculously prolonged life of his bound him to special service1 and the fact that up in ,hebron there were a fenced city and tall giants behind the battlements1 was an additional reason for picking out that bit of the field as the place where he ought to be4 ,thank ,god1 that spirit is not dead yet6 ,it has lived all through the ,christian ,church1 and flamed up in times of martyrdom4 ,on missionary fields to-day1 if one man falls two are ready to step into his place4 ,it is the true spirit of the ,christian soldier4 ',a great door and effectual is opened1' says ,paul1 'and there are many adversaries4' ,he knew the door was opened because the adversaries were many4 ,and because there were so many of them1 would he run away8 ,some of us would have said3 ',i must abandon that work1 it bristles with difficulties2 ,i cannot stop in that post1 the bullets are whistling too fast4' ,nay6 says ,paul2 ',i abide till ,pentecost'--a good long while--because the post is dangerous1 and promises to be fruitful4 ,so1 dear friends1 if we would have lives on which we can look back1 lives in which early freshness will last beyond the 'morning dew1' lives in which there shall come1 day by day and moment by moment1 abundant foretastes to stay our hunger until we sit at ,christ's table in ,his kingdom1 we must 'follow the ,lord alway1' with no half-hearted surrender1 nor partial devotion1 but give ourselves to ,him utterly1 to be guided and sent where ,he will4 ,and then1 like ,caleb1 we shall be able to say1 with a 'perhaps1' not of doubt1 but of wonder1 that it should be so1 to us unworthy1 ',it may be the ,lord will be with me1 arid ,i shall drive them out4' ,in all these things 'we are more than conquerors through ,him that loved us4' ,,the ,,cities ,,of ,,refuge ',the ,lord also spake unto ,joshua1 saying1 #b4 ,speak to the children of ,israel1 saying1 ,appoint out for you cities of refuge1 whereof ,i spake unto you by the hand of ,moses3 #c4 ,that the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither3 and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood4 #d4 ,and when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entering of the gate of the city1 and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city1 they shall take him into the city unto them1 and give him a place1 that he may dwell among them4 #e4 ,and if the avenger of blood pursue after him1 then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand2 because he smote his neighbour unwittingly1 and hated him not beforetime4 #f4 ,and he shall dwell in that city1 until he stand before the congregation for judgment1 and until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days3 then shall the slayer return1 and come unto his own city1 and unto his own house1 unto the city from whence he fled4 #g4 ,and they appointed ,kedesh in ,galilee in mount ,naphtali1 and ,shechem in mount ,ephraim1 and ,kirjath-arba1 which is ,hebron1 in the mountain of ,judah4 #h4 ,and on the other side ,jordan by ,jericho eastward1 they assigned ,bezer in the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of ,reuben1 and ,ramoth in ,gilead out of the tribe of ,gad1 and ,golan in ,bashan out of the tribe of ,manasseh4 #i4 ,these were the cities appointed for all the children of ,israel1 and for the stranger that sojourneth among them1 that whosoever killeth any person at unawares might flee thither1 and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood1 until he stood before the congregation4'--,,joshua xx4 #a-i4 ,our ,lord has taught us that parts of the ,mosaic legislation were given because of the 'hardness' of the people's hearts4 ,the moral and religious condition of the recipients of revelation determines and is taken into account in the form and contents of revelation4 ,that is strikingly obvious in this institution of the 'cities of refuge4' ,they have no typical meaning1 though they may illustrate ,christian truth4 ,but their true significance is that they are instances of revelation permitting1 and1 while permitting1 checking1 a custom for the abolition of which ,israel was not ready4 ,i4 ,cities of refuge were needed1 because the 'avenger of blood' was recognised as performing an imperative duty4 ',blood for blood' was the law for the then stage of civilisation4 ,the weaker the central authority1 the more need for supplementing it with the wild justice of personal avenging4 ,neither ,israel nor surrounding nations were fit for the higher commandment of the ,sermon on the ,mount4 ',an eye for an eye1 and a tooth for a tooth1' corresponded to their stage of progress2 and to have hurried them forward to ',i say unto you1 ,resist not evil1' would only have led to weakening the restraint on evil1 and would have had no response in the hearers' consciences4 ,it is a commonplace that legislation which is too far ahead of public opinion is useless1 except to make hypocrites4 ,and the divine law was shaped in accordance with that truth4 ,therefore the goel1 or kinsman-avenger of blood1 was not only permitted but enjoined by ,moses4 ,but the evils inherent in his existence were great4 ,blood feuds were handed down through generations1 involving an ever-increasing number of innocent people1 and finally leading to more murders than they prevented4 ,but the thing could not be abolished4 ,therefore it was checked by this institution4 ,the lessons taught by it are the gracious forbearance of ,god with the imperfections attaching to each stage of ,his people's moral and religious progress2 the uselessness of violent changes forced on people who are not ready for them2 the presence of a temporary element in the ,old ,testament law and ethics4 ,no doubt many things in the present institutions of so-called ,christian nations and in the churches are destined to drop away1 as the principles of ,christianity become more clearly discerned and more honestly applied to social and national life4 ,but the good shepherd does not overdrive his flock1 but1 like ,jacob1 'leads on softly1 according to the pace of the cattle that is before' him4 ,we must be content to bring the world gradually to the ,christian ideal4 ,to abolish or to impose institutions or customs by force is useless4 ,revolutions made by violence never last4 ,to fell the upas-tree maybe very heroic1 but what is the use of doing it1 if the soil is full of seeds of others1 and the climate and conditions favourable to their growth8 ,change the elevation of the land1 and the flora' will change itself4 ,institutions are the outcome of the whole mental and moral state of a nation1 and when that changes1 and not till then1 do they change4 ,the ,new ,testament in its treatment of slavery and war shows us the ,christian way of destroying evils2 namely1 by establishing the principles which will make them impossible4 ,it is better to girdle the tree and leave it to die than to fell it4 ,,ii4 ,another striking lesson from the cities of refuge is the now well-worn truth that the same act1 when done from different motives1 is not the same4 ,the kinsman-avenger took no heed of the motive of the slaying4 ,his duty was to slay1 whatever the slayer's intention had been4 ,the asylum of the city of refuge was open for the unintentional homicide1 and for him only1 ,deliberate murder had no escape thither4 ,so the lesson was taught that motive is of supreme importance in determining the nature of an act4 ,in ,god's sight1 a deed is done when it is determined on1 and it is not done1 though done1 when it was not meant by the doer4 ',whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer1' and he that killeth his brother unawares is none4 ,we suppose ourselves to have learned that so thoroughly that it is trivial to repeat the lesson4 ,what1 then1 of our thoughts and desires which never come to light in acts8 ,do we recognise our criminality in regard to these as vividly as we should8 ,do we regulate the hidden man of the heart accordingly8 ,a man may break all the commandments sitting in an easy-chair and doing nothing4 ,von ,moltke fought the ,austro-,prussian war in his cabinet in ,berlin1 bending over maps4 ,the soldiers on the field were but pawns in the dreadful game4 ,so our battles are waged1 and we are beaten or conquerors1 on the field of our inner desires and purposes4 ',keep thy heart with all diligence2 for out of it are the issues of life4' ,,iii4 ,the elaborately careful specification of cases which gave the fugitive a right to shelter in the city is set forth at length in ,numbers xxxv4 #ae-bd1 and ,deuteronomy xix4 #d-ac4 ,the broad principle is there laid down that the cities were open for one who slew a man 'unwittingly4' ,but the plea of not intending to slay was held to be negatived1 not only if intention could be otherwise shown but if the weapon used was such as would probably kill2 such1 for instance1 as 'an instrument of iron1' or a stone1 or a 'weapon of wood1 whereby a man may die4' ,if we do what is likely to have a given result1 we are responsible for that result1 should it come about1 even though we did not consciously seek to bring it4 ,that is plain common sense4 ',i never thought the house would catch fire' is no defence from the guilt of burning it down1 if we fired a revolver into a powder barrel4 ,further1 if the fatal blow was struck in 'hatred1' or if the slayer had lain in ambush to catch his victim1 he was not allowed shelter4 ,these careful definitions freed the cities from becoming nests of desperate criminals1 as the 'sanctuaries' of the ,middle ,ages in ,europe became4 ,they were not harbours for the guilty1 but asylums for the innocent4 ,,iv4 ,the procedure by which the fugitive secured protection is described at length in the passages cited1 with which the briefer account here should be compared4 ,it is not quite free from obscurity1 but probably the process was as follows4 ,suppose the poor hunted man arrived panting at the limits of the city1 perhaps with the avenger's sword within half a foot of his neck2 he was safe for the time4 ,but before he could enter the city1 a preliminary inquiry was held 'at the gate' by the city elders4 ,that could only be of a rough-and-ready kind2 most frequently there would be no evidence available but the man's own word4 ,it1 however1 secured interim protection4 ,a fuller investigation followed1 and1 as would appear1 was held in another place1--perhaps at the scene of the accident4 ',the congregation' was the judge in this second examination1 where the whole facts would be fully gone into1 probably in the presence of the avenger4 ,if the plea of non-intention was sustained1 the fugitive was 'restored to his city of refuge1' and there remained safely till the death of the high-priest1 when he was at liberty to return to his home1 and to stay there without fear4 ,attempts have been made to find a spiritual significance in this last provision of the law1 and to make out a lame parallel between the death of the high-priest1 which cancelled the crime of the fugitive1 and the death of ,christ1 which takes away our sins4 ,but--to say nothing of the fact that the fugitive was where he was just because he had done no crime--the parallel breaks down at other points4 ,it is more probable that the death of one high-priest and the accession of another were regarded simply as closing one epoch and beginning another1 just as a king's accession is often attended with an amnesty4 ,it was natural to begin a new era with a clean sheet1 as it were4 ,v4 ,the selection of the cities brings out a difference between the ,jewish right of asylum and the somewhat similar right in heathen and mediaeval times4 ,the temples or churches were usually the sanctuaries in these4 ,but not the ,tabernacle or ,temple1 but the priestly cities1 were chosen here4 ,their inhabitants represented ,god to ,israel1 and as such were the fit persons to cast a shield over the fugitives2 while yet their cities were less sacred than the ,temple1 and in them the innocent man-slayer could live for long years4 ,the sanctity of the ,temple was preserved intact1 the necessary provision for possibly protracted stay was made1 evils attendant on the use of the place of worship as a refuge were avoided4 ,another reason--namely1 accessibility swiftly from all parts of the land--dictated the choice of the cities1 and also their number and locality4 ,there were three on each side of ,jordan1 though the population was scantier on the east than on the west side1 for the extent of country was about the same4 ,they stood1 roughly speaking1 opposite each other1--,kedesh and ,golan in the north1 ,shechem and ,ramoth central1 ,hebron and ,bezer in the south4 ,so1 wherever a fugitive was1 he had no long distance between himself and safety4 ,we too have a 'strong city' to which we may 'continually resort4' ,the ,israelite had right to enter only if his act had been inadvertent1 but we have the right to hide ourselves in ,christ just because we have sinned wilfully4 ,the hurried1 eager flight of the man who heard the tread of the avenger behind him1 and dreaded every moment to be struck to the heart by his sword1 may well set forth what should be the earnestness of our flight to 'lay hold on the hope set before us in the gospel4' ,his safety1 as soon as he was within the gate1 and could turn round and look calmly at the pursuer shaking his useless spear and grinding his teeth in disappointment1 is but a feeble shadow of the security of those who rest in ,christ's love1 and are sheltered by ,his work for sinners4 ',i give unto them eternal life2 and they shall never perish1 and no one shall pluck them out of ,my hand4' ,,the ,,end ,,of ,,the ,,war ',and the ,lord gave unto ,israel all the land which ,he sware to give unto their fathers2 and they possessed it1 and dwelt therein4 #dd4 ,and the ,lord gave them rest round about1 according to all that ,he sware unto their fathers3 and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them2 the ,lord delivered all their enemies into their hand4 #de4 ,there failed not ought of any good thing which the ,lord had spoken unto the house of ,israel2 all came to pass4 ',then ,joshua called the ,reubenites1 and the ,gadites1 and the half-tribe of ,manasseh1 #b4 ,and said unto them1 ,ye have kept all that ,moses1 the servant of the ,lord commanded you1 and have obeyed my voice in all that ,i commanded you3 #c4 ,ye have not left your brethren these many days unto this day1 but have kept the charge of the commandment of the ,lord your ,god4 #d4 ,and now the ,lord your ,god hath given rest unto your brethren1 as ,he promised them3 therefore now return ye1 and get you unto your tents1 and unto the land of your possession1 which ,moses the servant of the ,lord gave you on the other side ,jordan4 #e4 ,but take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law1 which ,moses the servant of the ,lord charged you1 to love the ,lord your ,god1 and to walk in all ,his ways1 and to keep ,his commandments1 and to cleave unto ,him1 and to serve ,him with all your heart1 and with all your soul4 #f4 ,so ,joshua blessed them1 and sent them away3 and they went unto their tents4 #g4 ,now to the one half of the tribe of ,manasseh ,moses had given possession in ,bashan3 but unto the other half thereof gave ,joshua among their brethren on this side ,jordan westward4 ,and when ,joshua sent them away also unto their tents1 then he blessed them1 #h4 ,and he spake unto them1 saying1 ,return with much riches unto your tents1 and with very much cattle1 with silver1 and with gold1 and with brass1 and with iron1 and with very much raiment3 divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren4 #i4 ,and the children of ,reuben and the children of ,gad and the half-tribe of ,manasseh returned1 and departed from the children of ,israel out of ,shiloh1 which is in the land of ,canaan1 to go unto the country of ,gilead1 to the land of their possession1 whereof they were possessed1 according to the word of the ,lord by the hand of ,moses4'--,,joshua xxi4 #dc-de2 xxii4 #a-i4 ',the old order changeth1 giving place to new4' ,in this passage we have the breaking up of the congregation and the disbanding of the victorious army4 ,the seven years of fighting had come to an end4 ,the swords were to be 'beaten into plowshares1' and the comrades who had marched shoulder to shoulder1 and shared the fierce excitement of many a bloody field1 were to be scattered1 each becoming a peaceful farmer or shepherd4 ,a picturesque historian1 of the modern 'special correspondent' sort1 would have overlaid the narrative with sentiment and description2 but how quietly the writer tells it1 so that we have to bethink ourselves before we apprehend that we are reading the account of an epoch-making event6 ,he fixes attention on two things1--the complete fulfilment of ,god's promises 7xxi4 #dc-de7 and the dismissal to their homes of the contingent from the trans-,jordanic tribes1 whose departure was the signal that the war was ended 7xxii4 #a-h74 ,we may consider the lessons from these two separately4 ,i4 ,the triumphant record of ,god's faithfulness 7xxi4 #dc-de74 ,these three verses are the trophy reared on the battlefield1 like the lion of ,marathon1 which the ,greeks set on its sacred soil4 ,but the only name inscribed on this monument is ,jehovah's4 ,other memorials of victories have borne the pompous titles of commanders who arrogated the glory to themselves2 but the ,bible knows of only one conqueror1 and that is ,god4 ',the help that is done on earth1 ,he doeth it all ,himself4' ,the military genius and heroic constancy of ,joshua1 the eagerness for perilous honour that flamed1 undimmed by age1 in ,caleb1 the daring and strong arms of many a humble private in the ranks1 have their due recognition and reward2 but when the history that tells of these comes to sum up the whole1 and to put the 'philosophy' of the conquest into a sentence1 it has only one name to speak as cause of ,israel's victory4 ,that is the true point of view from which to look at the history of the world and of the church in the world4 ,the difference between the 'miraculous' conquest of ,canaan and the 'ordinary' facts of history is not that ,god did the one and men do the other2 both are equally1 though in different methods1 ,his acts4 ,in the field of human affairs1 as in the realm of nature1 ,god is immanent1 though in the former ,his working is complicated by the mysterious power of man's will to set itself in antagonism to ,his2 while yet1 in manner insoluble to us1 ,his will is supreme4 ,the very powers which are arrayed against ,him are ,his gift1 and the issues which they finally subserve are ,his appointment4 ,it does not need that we should be able to pierce to the bottom of the bottomless in order to attain and hold fast by the great conviction that 'there is no power but of ,god1' and that 'from ,him are all things1 and to ,him are all things4' ,especially does this trophy on the battlefield teach a needful lesson to us in the ,christian warfare4 ,we are ever apt to think too much of our visible weapons and leaders1 and to forget our unseen and ever-present ,commander1 from whom comes all our power4 ,we 'burn incense to our own net1 and sacrifice to our own drag1' and1 like the heathen conqueror of whom ,habakkuk speaks1 make our swords our gods 7,hab4 i4 #aa1 #af74 ,the ,church has always been prone to hero-worship1 and to the idolatry of its organisation1 its methods1 or its theology4 ,augustine did so and so2 ,luther smote the 'whited wall' 7the ,pope7 a blow that made him reel2 the ,pilgrim ,fathers carried a slip of the plant of religious liberty in a tiny pot across the ,atlantic1 and watered it with tears till it has grown a great tree2 the ,wesleys revived a formal ,church1--let us sing hallelujahs to these great names6 ,by all means2 but do not let us forget whence they drew their power2 and let us listen to ,paul's question1 ',who then is ,paul1 and who is ,apollos1 but servants through whom ye believed1 even as the ,lord gave to every man8' ,and let us carve1 deep-cut and indelible1 in solitary conspicuousness1 on the trophy that we rear on each well-fought field1 the name of no man save ',jesus only4' ,we read that on a pyramid in ,egypt the name and sounding titles of the king in whose reign it was erected were blazoned on the plaster facing1 but beneath that transitory inscription the name of the architect was hewn1 imperishable1 in the granite1 and stood out when the plaster dropped away4 ,so1 when all the short-lived records which ascribe the events of the ,church's progress to her great men have perished1 the one name of the true builder will shine out1 and 'at the name of ,jesus every knee shall bow4' ,let us not rely on our own skill1 courage1 talents1 orthodoxy1 or methods1 nor try to 'build tabernacles' for the witnessing servants beside the central one for the supreme ,lord1 but ever seek to deepen our conviction that ,christ1 and ,christ only1 gives all their powers to all1 and that to ,him1 and ,him only1 is all victory to be ascribed4 ,that is an elementary and simple truth2 but if we really lived in its power we should go into the battle with more confidence1 and come out of it with less self-gratulation4 ,we may note1 too1 in these verses1 the threefold repetition of one thought1 that of ,god's punctual and perfect fulfilment of ,his word4 ,he 'gave unto ,israel all the land which ,he sware to give'2 ',he gave them rest1 444 according to all that ,he sware'2 'there failed not aught of any good thing which the ,lord had spoken4' ,it is the joy of thankful hearts to compare the promise with the reality1 to lay the one upon the other1 as it were1 and to declare how precisely their outlines correspond4 ,the finished building is exactly according to the plans drawn long before4 ,god gives us the power of checking ,his work1 and we are unworthy to receive ,his gifts if we do not take delight in marking and proclaiming how completely ,he has fulfilled ,his contract4 ,it is no small part of ,christian duty1 and a still greater part of ,christian blessedness1 to do this4 ,many a fulfilment passes unnoticed1 and many a joy1 which might be sacred and sweet as a token of love from ,his own hand1 remains common and unhallowed1 because we fail to see that it is a fulfilled promise4 ,the eye that is trained to watch for ,god's being as good as ,his word will never have long to wait for proofs that ,he is so4 ',whoso is wise1 and will observe these things1 even he shall understand the loving kindness of the ,lord4' ,and to such a one faith will become easier1 being sustained by experience2 and a present thus manifestly studded with indications of ,god's faithfulness will merge into a future still fuller of these4 ,for it does not need that we should wait for the end of the war to have many a token that ,his every word is true4 ,the struggling soldier can say1 ',no good thing has failed of all that the ,lord has spoken4' ,we look1 indeed1 for completer fulfilment when the fighting is done2 but there are 'brooks by the way' for the warriors in the thick of the fight1 of which they drink1 and1 refreshed1 'lift up the head4' ,we need not postpone this glad acknowledgment till we can look back and down from the land of peace on the completed campaign1 but may rear this trophy on many a field1 whilst still we look for another conflict to-morrow4 ,,ii4 ,the disbanding of the contingent from the tribes across ,jordan 7xxii4 #a-h74 ,forty thousand fighting men1 of the tribes of ,reuben1 ,gad1 and the half of ,manasseh1 had willingly helped in the conquest1 leaving their own newly-won homes on the eastern side of ,jordan1 and for seven long years taking their share in the hardships and dangers of their brethren4 ,it was no small tax which they had thus cheerfully paid for the sake of brotherly unity4 ,their aid had not only been valuable as strengthening ,joshua's force1 but still more so as a witness of the unbroken oneness of the nation1 and of the sympathy which the tribes already settled bore to the others4 ,politically1 it was wise to associate the whole people in the whole conquest2 for nothing welds a nation together like the glories of common victories and the remembrance of common dangers survived4 ,the separation of the trans-,jordanic tribes by the rapid river1 and by their pastoral life1 was a possible source of weakness1 and would1 no doubt1 have led to more complete severance1 if it had not been for the uniting power of the campaign4 ,if the forty thousand had been quietly feeding sheep on the uplands while their brethren were fighting among the stony hills of ,canaan1 a great gulf would have opened between them4 ,even as it was1 the eastern tribes drifted somewhat away from the western2 but the disintegration would have been still more complete if no memories of the war1 when all ,israel stood side by side1 had lived on among them4 ,their share in the conquest was not only a piece of policy1--it was the natural expression of the national brotherhood4 ,even ,i ,joshua had not ordered their presence1 it would have been impossible for them to stop in their peacefulness and let their brethren bear the brunt of battle4 ,the law for us is the same as for these warriors4 ,in the family1 the city1 the nation1 the ,church1 and the world1 union with others binds us to help them in their conflicts1 and that especially if we are blessed with secure possessions1 while they have to struggle for theirs4 ,we are tempted to selfish lives of indulgence in our quiet peace1 and sometimes think it hard that we should be expected to buckle on our armour1 and leave our leisurely repose1 because our brethren ask the help of our arms4 ,if we did as ,reuben and ,gad did1 would there be so many rich men who never stir a finger to relieve poverty1 so many ,christians whose religion is much more selfish than beneficent8 ,would so many souls be left to toil without help1 to struggle without allies1 to weep without comforters1 to wander in the dark without a guide8 ,all ,god's gifts in providence and in the ,gospel are given that we may have somewhat wherewith to bless our less happy brethren4 ',the service of man' is not the substitute for1 but the expression of1 ,christianity4 ,are we not kept here1 on this side ,jordan1 away for a time from our inheritance1 for the very same reason that these men were separated from theirs1--that we may strike some strokes for ,god and our fellows in the great war8 ,dives1 who lolls on his soft cushions1 and has less pity for ,lazarus than the dogs have1 is ,cain come to life again2 and every ,christian is either his brother's keeper or his murderer4 ,would that the ,church of to-day1 with infinitely deeper and sacreder ties knitting it to suffering1 struggling humanity1 had a tithe of the willing relinquishment of legitimate possessions and patient participation in the long campaign for ,god which kept these rude soldiers faithful to their flag and forgetful of home and ease1 till their general gave them their discharge6 ,note the commander's parting charge4 ,they were about to depart for a life of comparative separation from the mass of the nation4 ,their remoteness and their occupations drew them away from the current of the national life1 and gave them a kind of quasi-independence4 ,they would necessarily be less directly under ,joshua's control than the other tribes were4 ,he sends them away with one commandment1 the ,imperative stringency of which is expressed by the accumulation of expressions in verse #e4 ,they are to give diligent heed to the law of ,moses4 ,their obedience is to be based on love to ,god1 who is their ,god no less than the ,god of the other tribes4 ,it is to be comprehensive--they are 'to walk in all ,his ways'2 it is to be resolute--they are 'to cleave to ,him'2 it is to be wholehearted and whole-souled service1 that will be the true bond between the separated parts of the whole4 ,independence so limited will be harmless2 and1 however wide apart their paths may lie1 ,israel will be one4 ,in like manner the bond that knits all divisions of ,god's people together1 however different their modes of life and thought1 however unlike their homes and their work1 is the similarity of relation to ,god4 ,they are one in a common faith1 a common love1 a common obedience4 ,wider waters than ,jordan part them4 ,graver differences of tasks and outlooks than separated these two sections of ,israel part them4 ,but all are one who love and obey the one ,lord4 ,the closer we cleave to ,him1 the nearer we shall be to all ,his tribes4 ,we need only note in a word how these departing soldiers1 leaving the battlefield with their commander's praise and benediction1 laden with much wealth1 the spoil of their enemies1 and fording the stream to reach the peaceful homes1 which had long stood ready for them1 may be taken1 by a permissible play of fancy1 as symbols of the faithful servants and soldiers of the true ,joshua1 at the end of their long warfare passing to the 'kingdom prepared for them before the foundation of the world1' bearing in their hands the wealth which1 by ,god's grace1 they had conquered from out of things here4 ,they are not sent away by their ,commander1 but summoned by ,him to the great peace of ,his own presence2 and while ,his lips give them the praise which is praise indeed1 they inscribe on the perpetual memorial which they rear no name but ,his1 who first wrought all their works in them1 and now has ordained eternal peace for them4 ,,the ,,national ,,oath ,,at ,,shechem ',and ,joshua said unto the people4 ,ye cannot serve the ,lord3 for ,he is an holy ,god2 ,he is a jealous ,god2 ,he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins4 #bj4 ,if ye forsake the ,lord1 and serve strange gods1 then ,he will turn and do you hurt1 and consume you1 after that ,he hath done you good4 #ba4 ,and the people said unto ,joshua1 ,nay2 but we will serve the ,lord4 #bb4 ,and ,joshua said unto the people1 ,ye are witnesses against yourselves1 that ye have chosen you the ,lord1 to serve ,him4 ,and they said1 ,we are witnesses4 #bc4 ,now therefore put away1 said he1 the strange gods which are among you1 and incline your heart unto the ,lord ,god of ,israel4 #bd4 ,and the people said unto ,joshua1 ,the ,lord our ,god will we serve1 and ,his voice will we obey4 #be4 ,so ,joshua made a covenant with the people that day1 and set them a statute and an ordinance in ,shechem4 #bf4 ,and ,joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of ,god1 and took a great stone1 and set it up there under an oak1 that was by the sanctuary of the ,lord4 #bg4 ,and ,joshua said unto all the people1 ,behold1 this stone shall be a witness unto us2 for it hath heard all the words of the ,lord which ,he spake unto us3 it shall be therefore a witness unto you1 lest ye deny your ,god4 #bh4 ,so ,joshua let the people depart1 every man unto his inheritance4'-,,joshua xxiv4 #ai-bh4 ,we reach in this passage the close of an epoch4 ,it narrates the last public act of ,joshua and the last of the assembled people before they scatter 'every man unto his inheritance4' ,it was fitting that the transition from the nomad stage to that of settled abode in the land should be marked by the solemn renewal of the covenant1 which is thus declared to be the willingly accepted law for the future national life4 ,we have here the closing scene of that solemn assembly set before us4 ,the narrative carries us to ,shechem1 the lovely valley in the heart of the land1 already consecrated by many patriarchal associations1 and by that picturesque scene 7,joshua viii4 #cj-ce71 when the gathered nation1 ranged on the slopes of ,ebal and ,gerizim1 listened to ,joshua reading 'all that ,moses commanded4' ,there1 too1 the coffin of ,joseph1 which had been reverently carried all through the desert and the war1 was laid in the ground that ,jacob had bought five hundred years ago1 and which now had fallen to ,joseph's descendants1 the tribe of ,ephraim4 ,there was another reason for the selection of ,shechem for this renewal of the covenant4 ,the gathered representatives of ,israel stood1 at ,shechem1 on the very soil where1 long ago1 ,abram had made his first resting-place as a stranger in the land1 and had received the first divine pledge1 'unto thy seed will ,i give this land1' and had piled beneath the oak of ,moreh his first altar 7of which the weathered stones might still be there7 to 'the ,lord1 who appeared unto him4' ,it was fitting that this cradle of the nation should witness their vow1 as it witnessed the fulfilment of ,god's promise4 ,what ,plymouth ,rock is to one side of the ,atlantic1 or ,hastings ,field to the other1 ,shechem was to ,israel4 ,vows sworn there had sanctity added by the place4 ,nor did these remembrances exhaust the appropriateness of the site4 ,the oak1 which had waved green above ,abram's altar1 had looked down on another significant incident in the life of ,jacob1 when1 in preparation for his journey to ,bethel1 he had made a clean sweep of the idols of his household1 and buried them 'under the oak which was by ,shechem' 7,gen4 xxxv4 #b-d74 ,his very words are quoted by ,joshua in his command1 in verse #bc1 and it is impossible to overlook the intention to parallel the two events4 ,the spot which had seen the earlier act of purification from idolatry was for that very reason chosen for the later4 ,it is possible that the same tree at whose roots the idols from beyond the river1 which ,leah and ,rachel had brought1 had been buried1 was that under which ,joshua set up his memorial stone2 and it is possible that the very stone had been part of ,abram's altar4 ,but1 in any case1 the place was sacred by these past manifestations of ,god and devotions of the fathers1 so that we need not wonder that ,joshua selected it rather than ,shiloh1 where the ark was1 for the scene of this national oath of obedience4 ,patriotism and devotion would both burn brighter in such an atmosphere4 ,these considerations explain also the designation of the place as 'the sanctuary of the ,lord1'--a phrase which has led some to think of the ,tabernacle1 and apparently occasioned the ,septuagint reading of ',shiloh' instead of ',shechem' in verses #a and #be4 ,the precise rendering of the preposition in verse #bf 7which the ,revised ,version has put in the margin7 shows that the ,tabernacle is not meant2 for how could the oak-tree be 'in' the ,tabernacle8 ,clearly1 the open space1 hallowed by so many remembrances1 and by the appearance to ,abram1 was regarded as a sanctuary4 ,the earlier part of this chapter shows that the people1 by their representatives1 responded with alacrity--which to ,joshua seemed too eager--to his charge1 and enumerated with too facile tongues ,god's deliverances and benefits4 ,his ear must have caught some tones of levity1 if not of insincerity1 in the lightly-made vow4 ,so he meets it with a douche of cold water in verses #ai1 #bj1 because he wishes to condense vaporous resolutions into something more tangible and permanent4 ,cold1 judiciously applied1 solidifies4 ,discouragements1 rightly put1 encourage4 ,the best way to deepen and confirm good resolutions which have been too swiftly and inconsiderately formed1 is to state very plainly all the difficulty of keeping them4 ,the hand that seems to repel1 often most powerfully attracts4 ,there is no better way of turning a somewhat careless 'we will' into a persistent 'nay1 but we will' than to interpose a 'ye cannot4' ,many a boy has been made a sailor by the stories of hardships which his parents have meant as dissuasives4 ,joshua here is doing exactly what ,jesus ,christ often did4 ,he refused glib vows because ,he desired whole hearts4 ,his very longing that men should follow ,him made ,him send them back to bethink themselves when they promised to do it4 ',master1 ,i will follow ,thee whithersoever ,thou goest6' was answered by no recognition of the speaker's enthusiasm1 and by no word of pleasure or invitation1 but by the apparently cold repulse3 ',foxes have holes1 birds of the air roosting-places2 but the ,son of ,man has not where to lay ,his head4 ,that is what you are offering to share4 ,do you stand to your words8' ,so1 when once 'great multitudes' came to ,him ,he turned on them1 with no invitation in ,his words1 and told them the hard conditions of discipleship as being entire self-renunciation4 ,he will have no soldiers enlisted under false pretences4 ,they shall know the full difficulties and trials which they must meet2 and if1 knowing these1 they still are willing to take ,his yoke upon them1 then how exuberant and warm the welcome which ,he gives6 ,there is a real danger that this side of the evangelist's work should be overlooked in the earnestness with which the other side is done4 ,we cannot be too emphatic in our reiteration of ,christ's call to all the 'weary and heavy-laden' to come unto ,him1 nor too confident in our assurance that whosoever comes will not be 'cast out'2 but we may be1 and1 ,i fear1 often are1 defective in our repetition of ,christ's demand for entire surrender1 and of ,his warning to intending disciples of what they are taking upon them4 ,we shall repel no true seeker by duly emphasising the difficulties of the ,christian course4 ,perhaps1 if there were more plain speaking about these at the beginning1 there would be fewer backsliders and dead professors with 'a name to live4' ,christ ran the risk of the rich ruler's going away sorrowful1 and so should ,his messengers do4 ,the sorrow tells of real desire1 and the departure will sooner or later be exchanged for return with a deeper and more thorough purpose1 if the earlier wish had any substance in it4 ,if it had not1 better that the consciousness of its hollowness should be forced upon the man1 than that he should outwardly become what he is not really1--a ,christian2 for1 in the one case1 he may be led to reflection which may issue in thorough surrender2 and in the other he will be a self-deceived deceiver1 and probably an apostate4 ,note the special form of ,joshua's warning4 ,it turns mainly on two points1--the extent of the obligations which they were so lightly incurring1 and the heavy penalties of their infraction4 ,as to the former1 the vow to 'serve the ,lord' had been made1 as he fears1 with small consideration of what it meant4 ,in heathenism1 the 'service' of a god is a mere matter of outward acts of so-called worship4 ,there is absolutely no connection between religion and morality in idolatrous systems4 ,the notion that the service of a god implies any duties in common life beyond ceremonial ones is wholly foreign to paganism in all its forms4 ,the establishment of the opposite idea is wholly the consequence of revelation4 ,so we need not wonder if the pagan conception of service was here in the minds of the vowing assembly4 ,if we look at their vow1 as recorded in verses #af-ah1 we see nothing in it which necessarily implies a loftier idea4 ,jehovah is their national ,god1 who has fought and conquered for them1 therefore they will 'serve ,him4' ,if we substitute ,baal1 or ,chemosh1 or ,nebo1 or ,ra1 for ,jehovah1 this is exactly what we read on ,moabite stones and ,assyrian tablets and ,egyptian tombs4 ,the reasons for the service1 and the service itself1 are both suspiciously external4 ,we are not judging the people more harshly than ,joshua did2 for he clearly was not satisfied with them1 and the tone of his answer sufficiently shows what he thought wrong in them4 ,observe that he does not call ,jehovah 'your ,god4' ,he does so afterwards2 but in this grave reply to their exuberant enthusiasm he speaks of ,him only as 'the ,lord1' as if he would put stress on the monotheistic conception1 which1 at all events1 does not appear in the people's words1 and was probably dim in their thoughts4 ,then observe that he broadly asserts the impossibility of their serving the ,lord2 that is1 of course1 so long as they continued in their then tone of feeling about ,him and ,his service4 ,then observe the points in the character of ,god on which he dwells1 as indicating the points which were left out of view by the people1 and as fitted to rectify their notions of service4 ,first1 ',he is an holy ,god4' ,the scriptural idea of the holiness of ,god has a wider sweep than we often recognise4 ,it fundamentally means ,his supreme and inaccessible elevation above the creature2 which1 of course1 is manifested in ,his perfect separation from all sin1 but has not regard to this only4 ,joshua here urges the infinite distance between man and ,god1 and especially the infinite moral distance1 in order to enforce a profounder conception of what goes to ,god's service4 ,a holy ,god cannot have unholy worshippers4 ,his service can be no mere ceremonial1 but must be the bowing of the whole man before ,his majesty1 the aspiration of the whole man after ,his loftiness1 the transformation of the whole man into the reflection of ,his purity1 the approach of the unholy to the ,holy through a sacrifice which puts away sin4 ,further1 ,he is 'a jealous ,god4' ',jealous' is an ugly word1 with repulsive associations1 and its application to ,god has sometimes been explained in ugly fashion1 and has actually repelled men4 ,but1 rightly looked at1 what does it mean but that ,god desires our whole hearts for ,his own1 and loves us so much1 and is so desirous to pour ,his love into us1 that ,he will have no rivals in our love8 ,the metaphor of marriage1 which puts ,his love to men in the tenderest form1 underlies this word1 so harsh on the surface1 but so gracious at the core4 ,there is still abundant need for ,joshua's warning4 ,we rejoice that it takes so little to be a ,christian that the feeblest and simplest act of faith knits the soul to the all-forgiving ,christ4 ,but let us not forget that1 on the other hand1 it is hard to be a ,christian indeed2 for it means 'forsaking all that we have1' and loving ,god with all our powers4 ,the measure of ,his love is the measure of ,his 'jealousy1' and ,he loves us no less than ,he did ,israel4 ,unless our conceptions of ,his service are based upon our recognition of ,his holiness and demand for our all1 we1 too1 'cannot serve the ,lord4' ,the other half of ,joshua's warnings refers to the penalties of the broken vows4 ,these are put with extraordinary force4 ,the declaration that the sins of the servants of ,god would not be forgiven is not1 of course1 to be taken so as to contradict the whole teaching of ,scripture1 but as meaning that the sins of ,his people cannot be left unpunished4 ,the closer relation between ,god and them made retribution certain4 ,the law of ,israel's existence1 which its history ever since has exemplified1 was here laid down1 that their prosperity depended on their allegiance1 and that their nearness to ,him ensured ,his chastisement for their sin4 ',you only have ,i known of all the families of the earth3 therefore ,i will punish you for all your iniquities4' ,the remainder of the incident must be briefly disposed of4 ,these warnings produced the desired effect2 for ,joshua did not seek to prevent1 but to make more intelligent and firm1 the people's allegiance4 ,the resolve1 repeated after fuller knowledge1 is the best reward1 as it is the earnest hope1 of the faithful teacher1 whose apparent discouragements are meant to purify and deepen1 not to repress1 the faintest wish to serve ,god4 ,having tested their sincerity1 he calls them to witness that their resolution is perfectly voluntary2 and1 on their endorsing it as their free choice1 he requires the putting away of their 'strange gods1' and the surrender of their inward selves to ,him who1 by this their action as well as by ,his benefits1 becomes in truth 'the ,god of ,israel4' ,attempts have been made to evade the implication that idolatry had crept in among the people2 but there can be no doubt of the plain1 sad meaning of the words4 ,they are a quotation of ,jacob's1 at the same spot1 on a similar occasion centuries before4 ,if there were no idols buried now under the old oak1 it was not because there were none in ,israel1 but because they had not been brought by the people from their homes4 ,joshua's commands are the practical outcome of his previous words4 ,if ,god be 'holy' and 'jealous1' serving ,him must demand the forsaking of all other gods1 and the surrender of heart and self to ,him4 ,that is as true to-day as ever it was4 ,the people accept the stringent requirement1 and their repeated shout of obedience has a deeper tone than their first hasty utterance had4 ,they have learned what service means1--that it includes more than ceremonies2 and they are willing to obey ,his voice4 ,blessed those for whom the plain disclosure of all that they must give up to follow ,him1 only leads to the more assured and hearty response of willing surrender6 ,the simple but impressive ceremony which ratified the covenant thus renewed consisted of two parts1--the writing of the account of the transaction in 'the book of the law'2 and the erection of a great stone1 whose grey strength stood beneath the green oak1 a silent witness that ,israel1 by his own choice1 after full knowledge of all that the vow meant1 had reiterated his vow to be the ,lord's4 ,thus on the spot made sacred by so many ancient memories1 the people ended their wandering and homeless life1 and passed into the possession of the inheritance1 through the portal of this fresh acceptance of the covenant1 proclaiming thereby that they held the land on condition of serving ,god1 and writing their own sentence in case of unfaithfulness4 ,it was the last act of the assembled people1 and the crown and close of ,joshua's career4 ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,judges ,a ,,summary ,,of ,,israel',s ,,faithlessness ,,and ,,god',s ,,patience ',and an angel of the ,lord came up from ,gilgal to ,bochim1 and said1 ,i made you to go up out of ,egypt1 and have brought you unto the land which ,i sware unto your fathers2 and ,i said1 ,i will never break my covenant with you4 #b4 ,and ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land2 ye shall throw down their altars3 but ye have not obeyed my voice3 why have ye done this8 #c4 ,wherefore ,i also said1 ,i will not drive them out from before you2 but they shall be as thorns in your sides1 and their gods shall be a snare unto you4 #d4 ,and it came to pass1 when the angel of the ,lord spake these words unto all the children of ,israel1 that the people lifted up their voice1 and wept4 #e4 ,and they called the name of that place ,bochim3 and they sacrificed there unto the ,lord4 #f4 ,and when ,joshua had let the people go1 the children of ,israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land4 #g4 ,and the people served the ,lord all the days of ,joshua1 and all the days of the elders that outlived ,joshua1 who had seen all the great works of the ,lord that ,he did for ,israel4 #h4 ,and ,joshua the son of ,nun1 the servant of the ,lord1 died1 being an hundred and ten years old4 #i4 ,and they buried him in the border of his inheritance in ,timnath-heres1 in the mount of ,ephraim1 on the north side of the hill ,gaash4 #aj4 ,and also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers3 and there arose another generation after them1 which knew not the ,lord1 nor yet the works which ,he had done for ,israel4'--,,judges ,,ii4 #a-aj4 ,the ,book of ,judges begins a new era1 the development of the nation in its land4 ,chapters i4 to iii4 #f contain two summaries3 first1 of the progress of the conquest2 and second1 of the history about to be unfolded in the book4 ,the first part of this passage 7verses #a-e7 belongs to the former1 and closes it2 the second 7verses #f-aj7 introduces the latter1 and contrasts it with the state of things prevailing as long as the soldiers of ,joshua lived4 ,i4 ',the ,angel of the ,lord' had appeared to ,joshua in ,gilgal at the beginning of the war1 and issued his orders as ',captain of the ,lord's host4' ,now ,he reappears to ask why his orders had not been carried out1 and to announce that victory was no longer to attend ,israel's arms4 ,nothing can be plainer than that the ,angel speaks as one in whom the divine name dwells4 ,his reiterated ',i's' are incomprehensible on any other hypothesis than that ,he is that mysterious person1 distinct from and yet one with ,jehovah1 whom we know as the ',word made flesh4' ,his words here are stern4 ,he enumerates the favours which ,he had showed to ,israel1 and which should have inspired them to glad obedience4 ,he recalls the conditions on which they had received the land2 namely1 that they were to enter into no entangling alliances with the remnant of the inhabitants1 and especially to have no tolerance for their idolatry4 ,here we may observe that1 according to ,joshua's last charge1 the extermination of the native peoples was not contemplated1 but that there should be no such alliances as would peril ,israel's observance of the covenant 7,joshua xxiii4 #g1 #ab74 ,he charges them with disobedience1 and asks the same question as had been asked of ,eve1 ',what is this ye have done8' ,and ,he declares the punishment about to follow1 in the paralysing of ,israel's conquering arm by the withdrawal of ,his conquering might1 and in the seductions from the native inhabitants to which they would fall victims4 ,note1 then1 how ,god's benefits aggravate our disobedience1 and how ,he bases ,his right to command on them4 ,further1 note how ,his promises are contingent on our fulfilment of their conditions1 and how a covenant which ,he has sworn that ,he will never break ,he does count as non-existent when men break it4 ,again1 observe the sharp arraignment of the faithless1 and the forcing of them to bethink themselves of the true character of their deeds1 or1 if we adopt the ,revised ,version's rendering1 of the unreasonableness of departing from ,god4 ,no man dare answer when ,god asks1 ',what hast thou done8' ,no man can answer reasonably when ,he asks1 ',why hast thou done it8' ,once more1 note that ,his servants sin when they allow themselves to be so mixed up with the world that they are in peril of learning its ways and getting a snare to their souls4 ,we have all unconquered ',canaanites' in our hearts1 and amity with them is supreme folly and crying wickedness4 ',thorough' must be our motto4 ,many times have the conquered overcome their conquerors1 as in ,rome's conquest of ,greece1 the ,goths' conquest of ,rome1 the ,normans' conquest of ,england4 ,israel was in some respects conquered by ,canaanites and other conquered tribes4 ,let us take care that we are not overcome by our inward foes1 whom we fancy we have subdued and can afford to treat leniently4 ,again1 ,god punishes our making truce with our spiritual foes by letting the effects of the truce work themselves out4 ,he said to ,israel1 in effect3 ',if you make alliances with the people of the land1 you shall no longer have power to cast them out4 ,the swift rush of the stream of victory shall be stayed4 ,you have chosen to make them your friends1 and their friendship shall produce its natural effects1 of tempting you to imitation4' ,the increased power of our unsubdued evils is the punishment1 as it is the result1 of tolerance of them4 ,we wanted to keep them1 and dreamed that we could control them4 ,keep them we shall1 control them we cannot4 ,they will master us if we do not expel them4 ,no wonder that the place was named ,bochim 7',weepers'71 when such stern words were thundered forth4 ,tears flow easily2 and many a sin is wept for once1 and afterwards repeated often4 ,so it was with ,israel1 as the narrative goes on to tell4 ,let us take the warning1 and give heed to make repentance deep and lasting4 ,,ii4 ,verses #f-aj go back to an earlier period than the appearance of the ,angel4 ,we do not know how long the survivors of the conquering army lived in sufficient numbers to leaven opinion and practice4 ,we may1 however1 roughly calculate that the youngest of these would be about twenty when the war began1 and that about fifty years would see the end of the host that had crossed ,jordan and stormed ,jericho4 ,if ,joshua was of about the same age as ,caleb1 he would be about eighty at the beginning of the conquest1 and lived thirty years afterwards1 so that about twenty years after his death would be the limit of 'the elders that outlived ,joshua4' ,verses #f-i substantially repeat ,joshua xxiv4 #bh-ca1 and are here inserted to mark not only the connection with the former book1 but to indicate the beginning of a new epoch4 ,the facts narrated in this paragraph are but too sadly in accord with the uniform tendencies of our poor weak nature4 ,as long as some strong personality leads a nation or a church1 it keeps true to its early fervour4 ,the first generation which has lived through some great epoch1 when ,god's arm has been made bare1 retains the impression of ,his power4 ,but when the leader falls1 it is like withdrawing a magnet1 and the heap of iron filings tumbles back to the ground inert4 ,think of the post-,apostolic age of the ,church1 of ,germany in the generation after ,luther1 not to come nearer home1 and we must see that ,israel's experience was an all but universal one4 ,it is hard to keep a community even of professing ,christians on the high level4 ,no great cause is ever launched which does not lose 'way' as it continues4 ',having begun in the ,spirit1' all such are too apt to continue 'in the flesh4' ,the original impulses wane1 friction begins to tell4 ,custom clogs the wheels4 ,the fiery lava-stream cools and slackens4 ,so it always has been4 ,therefore ,god has to change ,his instruments1 and churches need to be shaken up1 and sometimes broken up1 'lest one good1' when it has degenerated into 'custom1' should 'corrupt the world4' ,but we shall miss the lesson here taught if we do not apply it to tendencies in ourselves1 and humbly recognise that we are in danger of being 'hindered1' however 'well' we may have begun to 'run1' and that our only remedy is to renew continually our first-hand vision of 'the great works of the ,lord1' and our consecration to ,his service4 ,it is a poor affair if1 like ,israel1 our devotion to ,god depends on ,joshua's life1 or1 like ,king ,joash1 we do that which is 'right in the eyes of the ,lord all the days of ,jehoiada the priest4' ,,israel',s ,,obstinacy ,,and ,,god',s ,,patience ',and the children of ,israel did evil in the sight of the ,lord1 and served ,baalim2 #ab4 ,and they forsook the ,lord ,god of their fathers1 which brought them out of the land of ,egypt1 and followed other gods1 of the gods of the people that were round about them1 and bowed themselves unto them1 and provoked the ,lord to anger4 #ac4 ,and they forsook the ,lord1 and served ,baal and ,ashtaroth4 #ad4 ,and the anger of the ,lord was hot against ,israel1 and ,he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them1 and ,he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about1 so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies4 #ae4 ,whithersoever they went out1 the hand of the ,lord was against them for evil1 as the ,lord had said1 and as the ,lord had sworn unto them3 and they were greatly distressed4 #af4 ,nevertheless the ,lord raised up judges1 which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them4 #ag4 ,and yet they would not hearken unto their judges1 but they went a whoring after other gods1 and bowed themselves unto them3 they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in1 obeying the commandments of the ,lord2 but they did not so4 #ah4 ,and when the ,lord raised them up judges1 then the ,lord was with the judge1 and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge3 for it repented the ,lord because of their groanings1 by reason of them that oppressed them1 and vexed them4 #ai4 ,and it came to pass1 when the judge was dead1 that they returned1 and corrupted themselves more than their fathers1 in following other gods to serve them1 and to bow down unto them2 they ceased not from their own doings1 nor from their stubborn way4 #bj4 ,and the anger of the ,lord was hot against ,israel2 and ,he said1 ,because that this people hath transgressed ,my covenant which ,i commanded their fathers1 and have not hearkened unto ,my voice2 #ba4 ,i also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which ,joshua left when he died3 #bb4 ,that through them ,i may prove ,israel1 whether they will keep the way of the ,lord1 to walk therein1 as their fathers did keep it1 or not4 #bc4 ,therefore the ,lord left those nations1 without driving them out hastily2 neither delivered ,he them into the hand of ,joshua4'--,,judges ii4 #aa-bc4 ,this passage sums up the ,book of ,judges1 and also the history of ,israel for over four hundred years4 ,like the overture of an oratorio1 it sounds the main themes of the story which follows4 ,that story has four chapters1 repeated with dreary monotony over and over again4 ,they are3 ,relapse into idolatry1 retribution1 respite and deliverance1 and brief return to ,god4 ,the last of these phases soon passes into fresh relapse1 and then the old round is gone all over again1 as regularly as the white and red lights and the darkness reappear in a revolving lighthouse lantern1 or the figures recur in a circulating decimal fraction4 ,that sad phrase which begins this lesson1 ',the children of ,israel did evil in the sight of the ,lord1' is repeated at the beginning of each new record of apostacy1 on which duly follow1 as outlined here1 the oppression by the enemy1 the raising up of a deliverer1 the gleam of brightness which dies with him1 and then1 da capo1 'the children of ,israel did evil1' and all the rest as before4 ,the names change1 but the incidents are the same4 ,there is something extremely impressive in this uniformity of the plan of the book1 which thus sets in so strong light the persistence through generations of the same bad strain in the nation's blood1 and the unwearying patience of ,god4 ,the story of these successive recurrences of the same sequence of events occupies the book to the end of chapter xvi41 and the remainder of it is taken up with two wild stories deeply stained with the lawlessness and moral laxity of these anarchic times4 ,we may best bring out the force of this summary by considering in their order the four stages signalised4 ,i4 ,the first is the continual tendency to relapse into idolatry4 ,the fact itself1 and the frank prominence given to it in the ,old ,testament1 are both remarkable4 ,as to the latter1 certainly1 if the ,old ,testament histories have the same origin as the chronicles of other nations1 they present most anomalous features4 ,where do we find any other people whose annals contain nothing that can minister to national vanity1 and have for one of their chief themes the sins of the nation8 ,the history of ,israel1 as told in ,scripture1 is one long indictment of ,israel4 ,the peculiarity is explicable1 if we believe that1 whoever or how numerous soever its authors1 ,god was its true ,author1 as ,he is its true theme1 and that the object of its histories is not to tell the deeds of ,israel1 but those of ,god for ,israel4 ,as to the fact of the continual relapses into idolatry1 nothing could be more natural than that the recently received and but imperfectly assimilated revelation of the one ,god1 with its stringent requirements of purity1 and its severe prohibition of idols1 should easily slip off from these rude and merely outward worshippers4 ,joshua's death without a successor1 the dispersion of the tribes1 the difficulty of communication when much of the country was still in the hands of its former possessors1 would all weaken the sense of unity1 which was too recent to be firm1 and would expose the isolated ,israelites to the full force of the temptation to idolatry4 ,it is difficult for us fairly to judge the immense strain required for resistance to it4 ,the conception of one sole ,god was too high to be easily retained4 ,a shrine without a deity seemed bare and empty4 ,the ,law stringently bridled passions which the hideous worship of the ,canaanites stimulated4 ,no wonder that1 when the first generation of the conquerors had passed away1 their successors lapsed into the universal polytheism1 with its attendant idolatry and immorality4 ,instead of thinking of the ,israelites as monsters of ingratitude and backsliding1 we come nearer the truth1 and make a better use of the history1 when we see in it a mirror which shows us our own image4 ,the strong earthward pull is ever acting on us1 and1 unless ,god hold us up1 we too shall slide downwards4 ',hath a nation changed their gods1 which yet are no gods8 but ,my people hath changed their glory for that which doth not profit4' ,idolatry and worldliness are persistent2 for they are natural4 ,firm adherence to ,god is less common1 because it goes against the strong forces1 within and without1 which bind us to earth4 ,apparently the relapses into idolatry did not imply the entire abandonment of the worship of ,jehovah1 but the worship of ,baalim and ,ashtaroth along with it4 ,such illegitimate mixing up of deities was accordant with the very essence of polytheism1 and repugnant to that of the true worship of ,god4 ,the one may be tolerant1 the other cannot be4 ,to unite ,baal with ,jehovah was to forsake ,jehovah4 ,these continual relapses have an important bearing on the question of the origin of the ',jewish conception of ,god4' ,they are intelligible only if we take the old-fashioned explanation1 that its origin was a divine revelation1 given to a rude people4 ,they are unintelligible if we take the new-fashioned explanation that the monotheism of ,israel was the product of natural evolution1 or was anything but a treasure put by ,god into their hands1 which they did not appreciate1 and would willingly have thrown away4 ,the foul ,canaanitish worship was the kind of thing in which1 if left to themselves1 they would have wallowed4 ,how came such people by such thoughts as these8 ,the history of ,israel's idolatry is not the least conclusive proof of the supernatural revelation which made ,israel's religion4 ,,ii4 ,note the swift-following retribution4 ,we have two sections in the context dealing with this1 each introduced by that terrible phrase1 which recurs so often in the subsequent parts of the book1 ',the anger of the ,lord was kindled against ,israel4' ,that phrase is no sign of a lower conception of ,god than that which the gospel brings4 ,wrath is an integral part of love1 when the lover is perfectly righteous and the loved are sinful4 ,the most terrible anger is the anger of perfect gentleness1 as expressed in that solemn paradox of the ,apostle of love1 when he speaks of 'the wrath of the ,lamb4' ,god was angry with ,israel because ,he loved them1 and desired their love for their own good4 ,the fact of ,his choice of the nation for ,his own and the intensity of ,his love were shown no less by the swift certainty with which suffering dogged sin1 than by the blessings which crowned obedience4 ,the first section1 referring to the punishment1 is in verses #ad and #ae1 which seems to describe mainly the defeats and plunderings which outside surrounding nations inflicted4 ,the brief description is extraordinarily energetic4 ,it ascribes all their miseries to ,god's direct act4 ,he 'delivered' them over1 or1 as the next clause says still more strongly1 'sold' them1 to plunderers1 who stripped them bare4 ,their defeats were the result of ,his having thus ceased to regard them as ,his4 ,but though ,he had 'sold' them1 ,he had not done with them2 for it was not only the foeman's hand that struck them1 but ,god's 'hand was against them1' and its grip crushed them4 ,his judgments were not occasional1 but continuous1 and went with them 'whithersoever they went out4' ,everything went wrong with them2 there were no gleams breaking the black thunder-cloud4 ,god's anger darkened the whole sky1 and blasted the whole earth4 ,and the misery was the more miserable and awful because it had all been foretold1 and in it ,god was but doing 'as ,he had said' and sworn4 ,it is a dreadful picture of the all-withering effect of ,god's anger1--a picture which is repeated in inmost verity in many an outwardly prosperous life to-day4 ,the second section is in verses #bj-bc1 and describes the consequence of ,israel's relapse in reference to the surviving ,canaanite and other tribes in the land itself4 ,note that 'nation' in verse #bj is the term usually applied1 not to ,israel1 but to the ,gentile peoples2 and that its use here seems equivalent to cancelling the choice of ,israel as ,god's special possession1 and reducing them to the level of the other nations in ,canaan1 to whom the same term is applied in verse #ba4 ,the stern words which are here put into the mouth of ,god may possibly refer to the actual message recorded in the first verses of the chapter2 but1 more probably1 'the ,lord said' does not here mean any divine communication1 but only the divine resolve1 conceived as spoken to himself4 ,it embodies the divine lex talionis4 ,the punishment is analogous to the crime4 ,israel had broken the covenant2 ,god would not keep ,his promise4 ,that involves a great principle as to all ,god's promises1--that they are all conditional1 and voidable by men's failure to fulfil their conditions4 ,observe1 too1 that the punishment is the retention of the occasions of the sin4 ,is not that1 too1 a law of the divine procedure to-day8 ,whips to scourge us are made of our pleasant vices4 ,sin is the punishment of sin4 ,if we yield to some temptation1 part of the avenging retribution is that the temptation abides by us1 and has power over us4 ,the ',canaanites' whom we have allowed to lead us astray will stay beside us when their power to seduce us is done1 and will pull off their masks and show themselves for what they are1 our spoilers and foes4 ,the rate of ,israel's conquest was determined by ,israel's faithful adherence to ,god4 ,that is a standing law4 ,victory for us in all the good fight of life depends on our cleaving to ,him1 and forsaking all other4 ,the divine motive1 if we may so say1 in leaving the unsubdued nations in the land1 was to provide the means of proving ,israel4 ,would it not have been better1 since ,israel was so weak1 to secure for it an untempted period8 ,surely1 it is a strange way of helping a man who has stumbled1 to make provision that future occasions of stumbling shall lie in his path4 ,but so the perfect wisdom which is perfect love ever ordains4 ,there shall be no unnatural greenhouse shelter provided for weak plants4 ,the liability to fall imposes the necessity of trial1 but the trial does not impose the necessity of falling6 ,the ,devil tempts1 because he hopes that we shall fall4 ,god tries1 in order that we may stand1 and that our feet may be strengthened by the trial4 ',i cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue1 unexercised and unbreathed1 that never sallies out and sees her adversary1 but slinks out of the race1 where that immortal garland is to be run for1--not without dust and heat4' ,,iii4 ,respite and deliverance are described in verses #af and #ah4 ,the ,revised ,version has wisely substituted a simple 'and' for 'nevertheless' at the beginning of verse #af4 ,the latter word implies that the raising up of the judges was a reversal of what had gone before2 'and' implies that it was a continuation4 ,and its use here is not merely an instance of inartificial ,hebrew style1 but carries the lesson that ,god's judgment and deliverance come from the same source1 and are harmonious parts of one educational process4 ,nor is this thought negatived by the statement in verse #ah that 'it repented the ,lord4' ,that strong metaphorical ascription to ,him of human emotion simply implies that ,his action1 which of necessity is the expression of ,his will1 was changed4 ,the will of the moment before had been to punish2 the will of the next moment was to deliver1 because their 'groaning' showed that the punishment had done its work4 ,but the two wills were one in ultimate purpose1 and the two sets of acts were equally and harmoniously parts of one design4 ,the surgeon is carrying out one plan when he cuts deep into the quivering flesh1 and when he sews up the wounds which he himself has made4 ,god's deliverances are linked to ,his chastisements by 'and1' not by 'nevertheless4' ,we need not discuss that remarkable series of judges1 who were champions rather than the peaceful functionaries whom we understand by the name4 ,the vivid and stirring stories associated with their names make the bulk of this book1 and move the most peace-loving among us like the sound of a trumpet4 ,these wild warriors1 with many a roughness and flaw in their characters1 of whom no saintly traits are recorded1 are yet treated in this section as directly inspired1 and as continually upheld by ,god4 ,the writer of the ,epistle to the ,hebrews claims some of them as heroes of 'faith4' ,and one chief lesson for us to learn1 as we look on the strange garb in which in them faith has arrayed itself1 and the strange work which it does in nerving hands to strike with sharp swords1 is the oneness of the principle amid the most diverse manifestations1 and the nobleness and strength which the sense of belonging to ,god and reliance on ,his help breathe into the rudest life and shed over the wildest scenes4 ,these judges were raised up indiscriminately from different tribes4 ,they belonged to different ranks1 and were of different occupations4 ,one of them was a woman4 ,the when and the where and the how of their appearance were incalculable4 ,they authenticated their commission by no miracles except victory4 ,for a time they started to the front1 and then passed1 leaving no successors1 and founding no dynasty4 ,they were an entirely unique order1 plainly raised up by ,god1 and drawing all their power from ,him4 ,let us be thankful for the weaknesses1 and even sins1 recorded of some of them1 and for the boldness with which the book traces the physical strength of a ,samson1 in spite of his wild animalism1 and the bravery of a ,jephthah1 notwithstanding his savage vow and subsequent lapse into idolatry1 to ,god's inspiration4 ,their faith was limited1 and acted but imperfectly on their moral nature2 but it was true faith1 in the judgment of the ,epistle to the ,hebrews4 ,their work was rough and bloody1 and they were rough tools1 as such work needed2 but it was ,god's work1 and ,he had made them for ,his instruments1 in the judgment of the ,book of ,judges4 ,if we try to understand the reasons for such judgments1 we may learn some useful lessons4 ,,iv4 ,a word only can be given to the last stage in the dreary round4 ,it comes back to the first4 ,the religion of the delivered people lasted as long as the judge's life4 ,when he died1 it died4 ,there is intense bitterness in the remark to that effect in verse #ai4 ,did ,god then die with the judge8 ,was it ,samson1 or ,jehovah1 that had delivered8 ,why should the death of the instrument affect gratitude to the hand that gave it its edge8 ,what a lurid light is thrown back on the unreality of the people's return to ,god by their swift relapse6 ,if it needed a human hand to keep them from departing1 had they ever come near8 ,we may press the questions on ourselves2 for none of us knows how much of our religion is owing to the influence of men upon us1 or how much of it would drop away if we were left to ourselves4 ,this miserable repetition of the same weary round of sin1 punishment1 respite1 and renewed sin1 sets in a strong light the two great wonders of man's obstinate persistency in unfaithfulness and sin1 and of ,god's unwearied persistency in discipline and patient forgiveness4 ,his charity 'suffers long and is kind1 is not easily provoked4' ,we can weary out all forbearance but ,his1 which is endless4 ,we weary ,him indeed1 but we do not weary ,him out1 with our iniquities4 ,man's sin stretches far2 but ,god's patient love overlaps it4 ,it lasts long2 but ,god's love is eternal4 ,it resists miracles of chastisement and love2 but ,he does not cease ,his use of the rod and the staff4 ,we can tire out all other forbearance1 but not ,his4 ,and however old and obstinate our rebellion1 ,he waits to pardon1 and smites but to heal4 ,,recreant ,,reuben ',why satest then among the sheepfolds1 to hear the pipings for the flocks8 ,at the watercourses of ,reuben there were great searchings of heart4'--,,judges v4 #af 7,r4,v474 ,i4 ,the fight4 ,the warfare is ever repeated1 though in new forms4 ,in the highest form it is ,christ versus the ,world1 ,and that conflict must be fought out in our own souls first4 ,our religion should lead not only to accept and rely on what ,christ does for us1 but to do and dare for ,christ4 ,he has given ,himself for us1 and has thereby won the right to recruit us as ,his soldiers4 ,we have to fight against ourselves to establish ,his reign over ourselves4 ,and then we have to give our personal service in the great battle for right and truth1 for establishing the kingdom of heaven on earth4 ,there come national crises when every man must take up arms1 but in ,christ's kingdom that is a permanent obligation4 ,there the nation is the army4 ,each subject is not only ,his servant but ,his soldier4 ,the metaphor is well worn1 but it carries everlasting truth1 and to take it seriously to heart would revolutionise our lives4 ,,ii4 ,the reason for standing aloof4 ,reuben 'abode in the sheepfolds to hear the pipings to the flocks4' ,for ,dan his ships1 for ,asher his havens held them apart4 ,reuben and the other trans-,jordanic tribes held loosely by the national unity4 ,they had fallen in love with an easy life of pastoral wealth1 they did not care to venture anything for the national good4 ,it is still too true that like reasons are largely operative in producing like results4 ,it is seldom from the wealthy and leisurely classes that the bold fighters for great social reformations are recruited4 ,times of commercial prosperity are usually times of stagnation in regard to these4 ,reuben lies lazily listening to the 'drowsy tinklings' that 'lull' not only 'the distant folds' but himself to inglorious slumber1 while ,zebulon and ,naphtali are 'venturing their lives on the high places of the field4' ,the love of ease enervates many a one who should be doing valiantly for the ',captain of his salvation4' ,the men of ,reuben cared more for their sheep than for their nation4 ,they were not minded to hazard these by listening to ,deborah's call4 ,and what their flocks were to that pastoral tribe1 their business is to shoals of professing ,christians4 ,the love of the world depletes the ranks of ,christ's army1 and they are comparatively few who stick by the colours and are 'ready1 aye ready' for service1 as the brave motto of one ,english regiment has it4 ,the lives of multitudes of so-called ,christians are divided between strained energy in their business or trade or profession and self-regarding repose4 ,no doubt competition is fierce1 and1 no doubt1 a ,christian man is bound1 'whatsoever his hand finds to do1 to do it with his might1' and1 no doubt1 rest is as much a duty as work4 ,but must not loyalty to ,jesus have become tepid1 if a servant of ,his has so little interest in the purposes for which ,he gave ,his life that he can hear no call to take active part in promoting them1 nor find rest in the work by which he becomes a fellow-worker with his ,lord8 ,,iii4 ,the recreant's brave resolves which came to nothing4 ,the indignant question of our text is1 as it were1 framed between two clauses which contrast ,reuben's indolent holding aloof with his valorous resolves4 ',by the watercourses of ,reuben there were great resolves of heart4' 444 ',at the watercourses of ,reuben there were great searchings of heart4' ,resolves came first1 but they were not immediately acted on1 and as the ,reubenites sate among the sheepfolds and felt the charm of their peaceful lives1 the 'native hue of resolution was sicklied o'er1' and doubts of the wisdom of their gallant determination crept in1 and their valour oozed out4 ,and so for all their fine resolves1 they had no share in the fight nor in the triumph4 ,so let us lay the warning of that example to heart1 and if we are stirred by noble impulses to take our place in the ranks of the fighters for ,god1 let us act on these at once4 ,emotions evaporate very soon if they are not used to drive the wheels of conduct4 ,the ,psalmist was wise who 'delayed not1 but made haste and delayed not to keep ,god's commandments4' ,many a man has over and over again resolved to serve ,god in some specific fashion1 and to enlist in the 'effective force' of ,christ's army1 and has died without ever having done it4 ,,iv4 ,the question in the hour of victory4 ',why8' ,deborah asks it with vehement contempt4 ,that victory is certain4 ,are you to have part in it8 ,the question will be asked on the judgment day by ,christ1 and by our own consciences4 ',and he was speechless4' ,to be neutral is to be on the side of the enemy1 against whom the 'stars fight1' and whom ,kishon sweeps away4 ',who is on the ,lord's side8'--,who8 ',,all ,,things ,,are ,,yours' ',they fought from heaven2 the stars in their courses fought against ,sisera4'--,,judges v4 #bj4 ',for thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field3 and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee4'--,job v4 #bc4 ,these two poetical fragments present the same truth on opposite sides4 ,the first of them comes from ,deborah's triumphant chant4 ,the singer identifies ,god with the cause of ,israel1 and declares that heaven itself fought against those who fought against ,god's people4 ,there may be an allusion to the tempest which ,jewish tradition tells us burst over the ranks of the enemy1 or there may be some trace of ancient astrological notions1 or the words may simply be an elevated way of saying that ,heaven fought for ,israel4 ,the silent stars1 as they swept on their paths through the sky1 advanced like an avenging host embattled against the foes of ,israel and of ,god4 ,all things fight against the man who fights against ,god4 ,the other text gives the other side of the same truth4 ,one of ,job's friends is rubbing salt into his wounds by insisting on the commonplace1 which needs a great many explanations and limitations before it can be accepted as true1 that sin is the cause of sorrow1 and that righteousness brings happiness2 and in the course of trying to establish this heartless thesis to a heavy heart he breaks into a strain of the loftiest poetry in describing the blessedness of the righteous4 ,all things1 animate and inanimate1 are upon his side4 ,the ground1 which ,genesis tells us is 'cursed for his sake1' becomes his ally1 and the very creatures whom man's sin set at enmity against him are at peace with him4 ,all things are the friends and servants of him who is the friend and servant of ,god4 ,i4 ,so1 putting these two texts together1 we have first the great conviction to which religion clings1 that ,god being on our side all things are for us1 and not against us4 ,now1 that is the standing faith of the ,old ,testament1 which no doubt was more easily held in those days1 because1 if we accept its teaching1 we shall recognise that ,israel lived under a system in so far supernatural as that moral goodness and material prosperity were a great deal more closely and indissolubly connected than they are to-day4 ,so1 many a psalmist and many a prophet breaks out into apostrophes1 warranted by the whole history of ,israel1 and declaring how blessed are the men who1 apart from all other defences and sources of prosperity1 have ,god for their help and ,him for their hope4 ,but we are not to dismiss this conviction as belonging only to a system where the supernatural comes in1 as it does in the ,old ,testament history1 and as antiquated under a dispensation such as that in which we live4 ,for the ,new ,testament is not a whit behind the ,old in insisting upon this truth4 ',all things work together for good to them that love ,god4' ',all things are yours1 and ye are ,christ's1 and ,christ is ,god's4' ',who is he that will harm you if ye be followers of that which is good8' ,the ,new ,testament is committed to the same conviction as that to which the faith of ,old ,testament saints clung as the sheet anchor of their lives4 ,that conviction cannot be struck out of the creed of any man1 who believes in the ,god to whom the ,old and the ,new ,testament alike bear witness4 ,for it rests upon this plain principle1 that all this great universe is not a chaos1 but a cosmos1 that all these forces and creatures are not a rabble1 but an ordered host4 ,what is the meaning of that great ,name by which1 from of old1 ,god in ,his relations to the whole universe has been described--the ',lord of ,hosts'8 ,who are the 'hosts' of which ,he is 'the ,lord1' and to whom1 as the centurion said1 ,he says to this one1 ',go6' and he goeth2 and to another1 ',come6' and he cometh2 and to another1 ',do this6' and he doeth it8 ,who are 'the hosts'8 ,not only these beings who are dimly revealed to us as rational and intelligent1 who 'excel in strength1' because they 'hearken to the voice of ,his word'1 but in the ranks of that great army are also embattled all the forces of the universe1 and all things living or dead4 ',all are ,thy servants2 they continue this day'--angels1 stars1 creatures of earth--' according to ,thine ordinances4' ,and if it be true that the ,all is an ordered whole1 which is obedient to the touch and to the will of that divine ,commander1 then all ,his servants must be on the same side1 and cannot turn their arms against each other4 ,as an old hymn says with another reference-- ',all the servants of our ,king ,in heaven and earth are one1' and none of them can injure1 wound1 or slay a fellow-servant4 ,if all are travelling in the same direction there can be no collision4 ,if all are enlisted under the same standard they can never turn their weapons against each other4 ,if ,god sways all things1 then all things which ,god sways must be on the side of the men that are on the side of ,god4 ',thou shalt make a league with the stones of the field3 and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee4' ,,ii1 ,note the difficulties arising from experience1 in the way of holding fast by this conviction of faith4 ,the grim facts of the world1 seen from their lowest level1 seem to shatter it to atoms4 ,talk about 'the stars in their courses fighting' for or against anybody6 ,in one aspect it is superstition1 in another aspect it is a dream and an illusion4 ,the prose truth is that they shine down silent1 pitiless1 cold1 indifferent1 on battlefields or on peaceful homes2 and the moonlight is as pure when it falls upon broken hearts as when it falls upon glad ones4 ,nature is utterly indifferent to the moral or the religious character of its victims4 ,it goes on its way unswerving and pitiless2 and whether the man who stands in its path is good or bad matters not4 ,if he gets into a typhoon he will be wrecked2 if he tumbles over ,niagara he will be drowned4 ,and what becomes of all the talk about an embattled universe on the side of goodness1 in the face of the plain facts of life--of nature's indifference1 nature's cruelty which has led some men to believe in two sovereign powers1 one beneficent and one malicious1 and has led others to say1 ',god is a superfluous hypothesis1 and to believe in ,him brings more enigmas than it solves1' and has led still others to say1 ',why1 if there is a ,god1 does it look as if either ,he was not all-powerful1 or was not all-merciful8' ,nature has but ambiguous evidence to give in support of this conviction4 ,then1 if we turn to what we call ,providence and its mysteries1 the very book of ,job1 from which my second text is taken1 is one of the earliest attempts to grapple with the difficulty and to untie the knot2 and ,i suppose everybody will admit that1 whatever may be the solution which is suggested by that enigmatical book1 the solution is by no means a complete one1 though it is as complete as the state of religious knowledge at the time at which the book was written made possible to be attained4 ,the seventy-third psalm shows that even in that old time when1 as ,i have said1 supernatural sanctions were introduced into the ordinary dealings of life1 the difficulties that cropped up were great enough to bring a devout heart to a stand1 and to make the ,psalmist say1 ',my feet were almost gone2 my steps had well-nigh slipped4' ,providence1 with all its depths and mysteries1 often to our aching hearts seems in our own lives to contradict the conviction1 and when we look out over the sadness of humanity1 still more does it seem impossible for us to hold fast by the faith 'that all which we behold is full of blessings4' ,i doubt not that there are many of ourselves whose lives1 shadowed1 darkened1 hemmed in1 perplexed1 or made solitary for ever1 seem to them to be hard to reconcile with this cheerful faith upon which ,i am trying to insist4 ,brethren1 cling to it even in the darkness4 ,be sure of this1 that amongst all our mercies there are none more truly merciful than those which come to us shrouded in dark garments1 and in questionable shapes4 ,let nothing rob us of the confidence that 'all things work together for good4' ,,iii4 ,i come1 lastly1 to consider the higher form in which this conviction is true for ever4 ,i have said that the facts of life seem often to us1 and are felt often by some of us1 to shatter it to atoms2 to riddle it through and through with shot4 ,but1 if we bring the ,pattern-life to bear upon the illumination of all life1 and if we learn the lessons of the ,cradle and the ,cross1 and rise to the view of human life which emerges from the example of ,jesus ,christ1 then we get back the old conviction1 transfigured indeed1 but firmer than ever4 ,we have to alter the point of view4 ,everything always depends on the point of view4 ,we have to alter one or two definitions4 ,definitions come first in geometry and in everything else4 ,get them right1 and you will get your theorems and problems right4 ,so1 looking at life in the light of ,christ1 we have to give new contents to the two words 'good' and 'evil1' and a new meaning to the two words 'for' and 'against4' ,and when we do that1 then the difficulties straighten themselves out1 and there are not any more knots1 but all is plain2 and the old faith of the ,old ,testament1 which reposed very largely upon abnormal and extraordinary conditions of life1 comes back in a still nobler form1 as possible to be held by us amidst the commonplace of our daily existence4 ,for everything is my friend1 is for me and not against me1 that helps me nearer to ,god4 ,to live for ,him1 to live with ,him1 to be conscious ever of communion with ,himself1 to feel the touch of ,his hand on my hand1 and the pressure of ,his breast against mine1 at all moments of my life1 is my true and the highest good4 ,and if it is true that the 'river of the water of life' which 'flows from the ,throne of ,god' is the only draught that can ever satisfy the immortal thirst of a soul1 then whatever drives me away from the cisterns and to the fountain1 is on my side4 ,better to dwell in a 'dry and thirsty land1 where no water is1' if it makes me long for the water that rises at the gate of the true ,bethlehem--the house of bread--than to dwell in a land flowing with milk and honey1 and well watered in every part6 ,if the cup that ,i would fain lift to my lips has poison in it1 or if its sweetness is making me lose my relish for the pure and tasteless river that flows from the ,throne of ,god1 there can be no truer friend than that calamity1 as men call it1 which strikes the cup from my hands1 and shivers the glass before ,i have raised it to my lips4 ,everything is my friend that helps me towards ,god4 ,everything is my friend that leads me to submission and obedience4 ,the joy of life1 and the perfection of human nature1 is an absolutely submitted will1 identified with the divine1 both in regard to doing and to enduring4 ,and whatever tends to make my will flexible1 so that it corresponds to all the sinuosities1 so to speak1 of the divine will1 and fits into all its bends and turns1 is a blessing to me4 ,raw hides1 stiff with dirt and blood1 are put into a bath of bitter infusion of oak-bark4 ,what for8 ,for the same end as1 when they are taken out1 they are scraped with sharp steels1--that they may become flexible4 ,when that is done the useless hide is worth something4 ',our wills are ours1 we know not how2 ,our wills are ours1 to make them ,thine4' ,and whatever helps me to that is my friend4 ,everything is a friend to the man that loves ,god1 in a far sweeter and deeper sense than it can ever be to any other4 ,like a sudden burst of sunshine upon a gloomy landscape1 the light of union with ,god and friendship with ,him flooding my daily life flashes it all up into brightness4 ,the dark ribbon of the river that went creeping through the black copses1 when the sun glints upon it1 gleams up into links of silver1 and the trees by its bank blaze out into green and gold4 ,brethren6 ',who follows pleasure follows pain'2 who follows ,god finds pleasure following him4 ,there can be no surer way to set the world against me than to try to make it for me1 and to make it my all ,they tell us that if you want to count those stars that 'like a swarm of fire-flies tangled in a silver braid' make up the ,pleiades1 the surest way to see the greatest number of them is to look a little on one side of them4 ,look away from the joys and friendships of creatural things right up to ,god1 and you will see these sparkling and dancing in the skies1 as you never see them when you gaze at them only4 ,make them second and they are good and on your side4 ,make them first1 and they will turn to be your enemies and fight against you4 ,this conviction will be established still more irrefragably and wonderfully in that future4 ,nothing lasts but goodness4 ',he that doeth the will of ,god abideth for ever4' ,to oppose it is like stretching a piece of pack-thread across the rails before the express comes2 or putting up some thin wooden partition on the beach on one of the ,western ,hebrides1 exposed to the whole roll of the ,atlantic1 which will be battered into ruin by the first winter's storm4 ,such is the end of all those who set themselves against ,god4 ,but there comes a future in which1 as dim hints tell us1 these texts of ours shall receive a fulfilment beyond that realised in the present condition of things4 ',then comes the statelier ,eden back to man1' and in a renewed and redeemed earth 'they shall not hurt nor destroy in all ,my holy mountain'2 and the ancient story will be repeated in higher form4 ,the servants shall be like the ,lord who1 when ,he had conquered temptation1 'was with the wild beasts' that forgot their enmity1 and 'angels ministered unto ,him4' ,that scene in the desert may serve as a prophecy of the future when1 under conditions of which we know nothing1 all ,god's servants shall1 even more markedly and manifestly than here1 help each other2 and every man that loves ,god will find a friend in every creature4 ,if we take ,him for our ,commander1 and enlist ourselves in that embattled host1 then all weathers will be good2 'stormy winds1 fulfilling ,his word1' will blow us to our port2 'the wilderness will rejoice and blossom as the rose'2 and the whole universe will be radiant with the light of ,his presence1 and ringing with the music of ,his voice4 ,but if we elect to join the other army--for there is another army1 and men have wills that enable them to lift themselves up against ,god1 the ,ruler of all things--then the old story1 from which my first text is taken1 will fulfil itself again in regard to us--'the stars in their courses will fight against' us2 and ,sisera1 lying stiff and stark1 with ,jael's tent-peg through his temples1 and the swollen corpses being swirled down to the stormy sea by 'that ancient river1 the river ,kishon1' will be a grim parable of the end of the men that set themselves against ,god1 and so have the universe against them4 ',choose ye this day whom ye will serve4' ,,love ,,makes ,,suns ',let them that love ,him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might4' ,,judges ,v4 #ea4 ,these are the closing words of ,deborah1 the great warrior-prophetess of ,israel4 ,they are in singular contrast with the tone of fierce enthusiasm for battle which throbs through the rest of the chant1 and with its stern approval of the deed of ,jael when she slew ,sisera4 ,here1 in its last notes1 we have an anticipation of the highest and best truths of the ,gospel4 ',let them that love ,him be as the sun when he goeth forth in ,his might4' ,if we think of the singer1 of the age and the occasion of the song1 such purely spiritual1 lofty words must seem very remarkable4 ,i4 ,note1 then1 first of all1 how here we have a penetrating insight into the essence of religion4 ,this woman had been nourished upon a more or less perfect edition of what we know as the ',mosaic ,law4' ,her faith had been fed by forms4 ,she moved amidst a world full of the cruelties and dark conceptions of a mysterious divine power which torture heathenism apart from ,christianity4 ,she had forced her way through all that1 and laid hold of the vital centre4 ,and there1 a way out amidst cruelty and murder1 amidst the unutterable abominations and terrors of heathenism1 in the centre of a rigid system of ceremonial and retaliation1 the woman's heart spoke out1 and taught her what was the great commandment4 ,prophetess she was1 fighter she was1 she could burst into triumphant approval of ,jael's bloody deed2 and yet with the same lips could speak this profound word4 ,she had learned that ',thou shalt love the ,lord thy ,god with all thy heart1 and with all thy soul1 and with all thy strength1 and with all thy mind1' summed up all duty1 and was the beginning of all good in man4 ,that precept found an echo in her heart4 ,whatever part in her religious development may have been played by the externalisms of ceremonial1 she had pierced to the core of religion4 ,advanced modern critics admit the antiquity of ,deborah's song1 and this closing stanza witnesses to the existence1 at that early period1 of a highly spiritual conception of the bond between ,god and man4 ,deborah had got as far1 in a moment of exaltation and insight1 as the teaching of the ,apostle ,john1 although her thought was strangely blended with the fierceness of the times in which she lived4 ,her approval of ,jael's deed by no means warrants our approving it1 but we may thankfully see that though she felt the fierce throbbing of desire for vengeance1 she also felt this--',them that love ,him2 that is the ,alpha and the ,omega of all4' ,our love must depend on our knowledge4 ,deborah's knowledge was a mere skeleton outline as compared with ours4 ,contrast the fervour of emotional affection that manifestly throbbed in her heart with the poor1 cold pulsations which we dignify by the name of love1 and the contrast may put us to shame4 ,there is a religion of fear which dominates hundreds of professing ,christians in this land of ours4 ,there is a religion of duty1 in which there is no delight1 which has many adherents amongst us4 ,there is a religion of form1 which contents itself with the externals of ,christianity1 and that is the religion of many men and women in all our churches4 ,and ,i may further say1 there is a religion of faith1 in its narrower and imperfect sense1 which lays hold of and believes a body of ,christian truth1 and has never passed through faith into love4 ,not he who 'believes that ,god is1' and comes to ,him with formal service and an alienated or negligent heart2 not he who recognises the duty of worship1 and discharges it because his conscience pricks him1 but has no buoyancy within bearing him upwards towards the object of his love2 not he who cowers before the dark shadow which some call ,god2 but he who1 knowing1 trusts1 and who1 knowing and trusting 'the love which ,god hath to us1' pulses back the throbs of a recipient heart1 and loves ,him in return--he1 and he only1 is a worshipper4 ,let us learn the lesson that ,deborah learnt below the palm-trees of ,lapidoth1 and if we want to understand what a religious man is1 recognise that he is a man who loves ,god4 ,,ii4 ,further1 note the grand conception of the character which such a love produces4 ',let them be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might4' ,think of the fierce ,eastern sun1 with 'sunbeams like swords1' that springs up from the ,east1 and rushes to the zenith1 and 'nothing is hid from the heat thereof'--a sun the like of which we1 in our cloudy skies1 never see nor feel1 but which1 to the ,oriental1 is the very emblem of splendour and of continuous1 victorious power4 ,there are two things here1 radiance and energy1 light and might4 ',as the sun when he goeth forth in his strength4' ,deborah was a 'prophetess1' and people say1 ',what did she prophesy8' ,well1 she prophesied the heart of religion--as ,i have tried to show--in reference to its essence1 and1 as one sees by this phrase1 in reference to its effects4 ,what is her word but a partial anticipation of ,christ's saying1 ',ye are the light of the world'2 and of ,his disciple's utterance1 ',ye were sometimes darkness1 but now are ye light in the ,lord3 walk as children of light'8 ,it is too plain to need any talking about1 that the direct tendency of what we venture to call love to ,god1 meaning thereby the turning of the whole nature to ,him1 in aspiration1 admiration1 longing for likeness1 and practical imitation1 is to elevate1 ennoble1 and illuminate the whole character4 ,it was said about one woman that 'to love her was an education4' ,that was exaggeration2 but it is below the truth about ,god4 ,the true way to refine and elevate and educate is to cultivate love to ,god4 ,and when we get near to ,him1 and hold by ,him1 and are continually occupied with ,him2 when our being is one continual aspiration after union with ,him1 and we experience the glow and rapture included in the simple word 'love1' then it cannot but be that we shall be like ,him4 ,that is what ,paul meant when he said1 ',now are ye light in the ,lord4' ,union with ,him illuminates4 ,the true radiance of saintly character will come in the measure in which we are in fellowship with ,jesus ,christ4 ,deborah's astronomy was not her strong point4 ,the sun shines by its own light4 ,we are planets1 and are darkness in ourselves1 and it is only the reflection of the central sun that ever makes us look silvery white and radiant before men4 ,but though it be derived1 it is none the less our light1 if it has passed into us1 as it surely will1 and if it streams out from us1 as it no less surely will1 in the measure in which love to ,god dominates our whole lives4 ,if that is so1 dear brethren1 is not the shortest and the surest way to have our faces shining like that of ,moses when he came down from the mountain1 or like ,stephen's when he 'saw the heavens opened1' to keep near ,jesus ,christ8 ,it is slow work to hammer bits of ore out of the rock with a chisel and a mallet4 ,throw the whole mass into the furnace1 and the metal will come out separated from the dross4 ,get up the heat1 and the light1 which is the consequence of the heat1 will take care of itself4 ',in the ,lord' ye shall be 'light4' ,is ,deborah's aspiration fulfilled about me8 ,let each of us ask that4 ',as the sun when he goeth forth in his strength'--would anybody say that about my ,christian character8 ,why not8 ,only because the springs have run low within is the stream low through the meadows4 ,only because the love is cold is the light feeble4 ,there is another thought here4 ,there is power in sunlight as well as radiance4 ,on that truth the prophetess especially lays a finger2 'as the sun when he goeth forth in his strength4' ,she did not know what we know1 that solar energy is the source of all energy on this earth1 and that1 just as in the deepest spiritual analysis 'there is no power but of ,god1' so in the material region we may say that the only force is the force of the sun1 which not only stimulates vegetation and brings light and warmth--as the pre-scientific prophetess knew--but in a hundred other ways1 unknown to her and known to modern science1 is the author of all change1 the parent of all life1 and the reservoir of all energy4 ,so we come to this thought3 ,the true love of ,god is no weak1 sentimental thing1 such as narrow and sectional piety has often represented it to be1 but it is a power which will invigorate the whole of a man1 and make him strong and manly as well as gentle and gracious2 being1 indeed1 the parent of all the so-called heroic and of all the so-called saintly virtues4 ,the sun 'goeth forth in his strength1' rushing through the heavens to the zenith4 ,as one of the other editions of this metaphor in the ,old ,testament has it1 ',the path of the just is as the shining light1 that shineth more and more until the noontide of the day4' ,that light1 indeed1 declines1 but that fact does not come into view in the metaphor of the progressive growth towards perfection of the man in whom is the all-conquering might of the true love of ,jesus ,christ4 ,note the context of these words of our text1 which1 ,i said1 presents so singular a contrast to them4 ,it is a strange thing that so fierce a battle-chant should at the end settle down into such a sweet swan-song as this4 ,it is a strange thing that in the same soul there should throb the delight in battle and almost the delight in murder1 and these lofty thoughts4 ,but let us learn the lesson that true love to ,god means hearty hatred of ,god's enemy1 and that it will always have to be militant and sometimes stern and what people call fierce4 ,amidst the amenities and sentimentalities of modern life there is much necessity for remembering that the ,apostle of love was a 'son of thunder1' and that it was the lips which summoned ,israel to the fight1 and chanted hymns of triumph over the corpses borne down by the rushing ,kishon1 which also said3 ',let them that love ,him be as the sun when he shineth forth in his strength4' ,if you love ,god1 you will surely be a strong man as well as an emotional and affectionate ,christian4 ,that energy is to be continuous and progressive4 ,the sun that ,deborah saw day by day spring from his station in the east1 and climb to his height in the heavens1 and ray down his beams1 has been doing that for millions of years1 and it will probably keep doing it for uncounted periods still4 ,and so the ,christian man1 with continuity unbroken and progressive brilliance and power1 should shine 'more and more till the unsetting noontide of the day4' ,,iii4 ,that brings me to the last thought1 which passes beyond the limits of the prophetess' vision4 ,here is a prophecy of which the utterer was unaware4 ,there is a contrast drawn in the words of our text and in those immediately preceding4 ,so1 says ,deborah1 after the fierce description of the slaughter of ,sisera--',so let all ,thine enemies perish1 ,o ,lord6 but let them that love ,thee be as the sun when he shineth in his strength4' ,she contrasts the transiency of the lives that pit themselves against ,god with the perpetuity that belongs to those which are in harmony with ,him4 ,the truth goes further than she probably knew2 certainly further than she was thinking when she chanted these words4 ,let us widen them by other words which use the same metaphor1 and say1 'they that be wise'--that is a shallower word than 'them that love ,thee'--'they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament2 and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever4' ,let us widen and deepen them by sacreder words still2 for ,jesus ,christ laid hold of this old metaphor1 and said1 describing the time when all the enemies shall have perished1 and the weeds have been flung out of the vineyard1 ',then shall the righteous shine forth like the sun1 in the ,kingdom of their ,father1' with a brilliancy that will fill heaven with new splendours1 bright beyond all that we see here amidst the thick atmosphere and mists and clouds of the present life6 ,nor need we stop even there1 for ,jesus ,christ not only laid hold of this metaphor in order to describe the eternal glory of the children of the ,kingdom1 but at the last time that human eyes on earth saw ,him1 the glorified ,man ,christ ,jesus is thus described3 ',his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength4' ,love always tends to likeness2 and love to ,christ will bring conformity with ,him4 ,the perfect love of heaven will issue in perfect and perpetual assimilation to ,him4 ,science tells us that the light of the sun probably comes from its contraction2 and that that process of contraction will go on until1 at some point within the bounds of time1 though far beyond the measure of our calculations1 the sun himself shall die1 the ineffectual beams will be paled1 and there will be a black orb1 with neither life nor light nor power4 ,and then1 then1 and after that for ever1 'they that love ,him' shall continue to be as that dead sun once was1 when he went forth in his hot might4 ,,gideon',s ,,altar ',then ,gideon built an altar there unto the ,lord1 and called it ,jehovah-shalom ,god is peace4'--,,judges vi4 #bd4 ,i need not tell over again1 less vividly1 the picturesque story in this chapter1 of the simple husbandman up in the hills1 engaged furtively in threshing out a little wheat in some hollow in the rock where he might hide it from the keen eyes of the oppressors2 and of how the angel of the ,lord1 unrecognised at first1 appeared to him2 and gradually there dawned upon his mind the suspicion of who ,he was who spoke4 ,then follow the offering1 the discovery by fire1 the shrinking of the man from contact with the divine1 the wonderfully tranquillizing and condescending assurance1 cast into the form of the ordinary salutation of domestic life3 ',and the ,lord said unto him ,peace be unto thee6'--as any man might have said to any other--'fear not6 thou shalt not die4' ,then ,gideon piles up the unhewn stones on the hillside into a rude altar1 apparently not for the purpose of offering sacrifice1 but for a monument1 to which is given this strange name1 strange upon such warrior lips1 and strange in contemplation of the fierce conflict into which he was immediately to plunge1 'the ,lord is peace4' ,how ,i think that this name1 imposed for such a reason and under such circumstances1 may teach us a good many things4 ,i4 ,the first thing that it seems to me to suggest is the great discovery which this man had made1 and in the rapture of which he named his altar1--that the sight of ,god is not death1 but life and peace4 ,gideon was a plain1 rude man1 with no very deep religious experience4 ,apparently up to the moment of this vision he had been contentedly tolerating the idolatrous practices which had spread over all the country4 ,he had heard of ',jehovah4' ,it was a name1 a tradition1 which his fathers had told him4 ,that was all that he knew of the ,god of ,israel4 ,into this hearsay religion1 as in a flash1 while ,gideon is busy about his threshing floor1 thinking of his wheat or of the misery of his nation1 there comes1 all at once1 this crushing conviction1--'the hearsay ,god is beside you1 speaking to you6 ,you have personal relations to ,him1 ,he is nearer you than any human being is1 ,he is no mere ,name1 here ,he stands6' ,and whenever the lightning edge of a conviction like that cuts its way through the formalisms and traditionalisms and hearsay repetitions of conventional religion1 then there comes what came to ,gideon1 the swift thought1 ',and if this be true1 if ,i really do touch1 and am touched by1 that living ,person whose name is ,jehovah1 what is to become of me8 ,shall ,i not shrivel up when ,his fiery finger is laid upon me8 ,i have seen ,him face to face1 and ,i must die4' ,i believe that1 in the case of the vast majority of men1 the first living1 real apprehension of a real1 living ,god is accompanied with a shock1 and has mingled with it something of awe1 and even of terror4 ,were there no sin there would be no fear1 and pure hearts would open in silent blessedness and yield their sweetest fragrance of love and adoration1 when shone on by ,him1 as flowers do to the kiss of the sunbeams4 ,but1 taking into account the sad and universal fact of sin1 it is inevitable that men should shrink from the ,light which reveals their evil1 and that the consciousness of ,god's presence should strike a chill4 ,it is sad that it should be so4 ,but it is sadder still when it is not so1 but when1 as is sometimes the case1 the sight of ,god produces no sense of sin1 and no consciousness of discord1 or foreboding of judgment4 ,for1 only through that valley of the shadow of death lies the path to the happy confidence of peace with ,god1 and unless there has been trembling at the beginning1 there will be no firm and reasonable trust afterwards4 ,for ,gideon's terror opened the way for the gracious proclamation1 which would have been needless but for it--',peace be unto thee2 fear not1 thou shalt not die4' ,the sight of ,god passes from being a fear to a joy1 from being a fountain of death to a spring of life1 ,terror is turned to tranquil trust4 ,the narrow and rough path of conscious unworthiness leads to the large place of happy peace4 ,the divine word fits ,gideon's condition1 and corresponds to his then deepest necessity2 and so he drinks it in as the thirsty ground drinks in the water2 and in the rapture of the discovery that the ,name1 that had come down from his fathers to him1 was the ,name of a real ,person1 with whom he stood in real relationships1 and those of simple friendship and pure amity1 he piles up the rough stones of the place1 and makes the name of his altar the echo of the divine voice4 ,it is as if he had said with rapture of surprise1 ',then ,jehovah is peace2 which ,i never dreamed of before4' ,dear friends1 do you know anything of such an experience8 ,can you build your altar1 and give it this same name8 ,can you write upon the memorial of your experiences1 ',the ,lord is my peace'8 ,have you passed from hearsay into personal contact8 ,can you say1 ',i have heard of ,thee by the hearing of the ear1 but now mine eye seeth ,thee'8 ,do you know the further experience expressed in the subsequent words of the same quotation3 ',wherefore ,i abhor myself1 and repent in dust and ashes'8 ,and have you passed out of that stormy ocean of terror and self-condemnation into the quiet haven of trust in ,him in whom we have peace with ,god1 where your little boat lies quiet1 moored for ever to the ,rock of ,ages1 to ',jehovah1 who is ,peace'8 ,in connection with this rapturous discovery1 and to ,gideon strange new thought1 we may gather the lesson that peace with ,god will give peace in all the soul4 ,the 'peace with ,god' will pass into a wider thing1 the 'peace of ,god4' ,there is tranquillity in trust4 ,there is rest in submission4 ,there is repose in satisfied desires4 ,when we live near ,him1 and have ceased from our own works1 and let ,him take control of us and direct us in all our ways1 then the storms abate4 ,the things that disturb us are by no means so much external as inward2 and there is a charm and a fascination in the thought1 'the ,lord is peace1' which stills the inward tempest1 and makes us quiet1 waiting upon ,his will and drawing in ,his grace4 ,the secret of rest is to cease from self1 from self as guide1 from self as aim1 from self as safety4 ,and when self-will is cast out1 and self-dependence is overcome1 and self-reliance is sublimed into hanging upon ,god's hand1 and when ,he1 not mine own inclination1 is my ,director1 and the ,arbiter of my fate1 then all the fever of unrest is swept wholly out of my heart1 and there is nothing left in it on which the gnawing tooth of anxiety or of care can prey4 ,god being my peace1 and ,i yielding myself to ,him1 'in quietness and confidence' is my 'strength4' ',thou shalt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed upon ,thee1 because he trusteth in ,thee4' ,,ii4 ,we may look upon this inscription from another point of view1 as suggesting the thought that ,god's peace is the best preparation for1 and may be experienced in the midst of1 the intensest conflict4 ,remember what the purpose of this vision was1--to raise up a man to fight an almost desperate fight1 no metaphorical war1 but one with real sharp swords1 against real strong enemies4 ,the first blow in the campaign was to be struck that night4 ,gideon was being summoned by the vision1 to long years of hardship and bitter warfare1 and his preparation for the conflict consisted largely in the revelation to his inmost spirit that ',jehovah is peace4' ,we might rather have looked for a manifestation of the divine nature as ready to go forth to battle with the raw levies of timid peasants4 ,we should have expected the thought which inspired their captain to have been ',the ,lord is a man of war1' rather than ',the ,lord is peace4' ,but it is not so--and therein lies the deep truth that the peace of ,god is the best preparation for strife4 ,it gives courage1 it leaves the heart at leisure to fling all its power into the conflict1 it inspires with the consciousness of a divine ally4 ,as ,paul puts it1 in his picture of the fully-armed ,christian soldier1 the feet are 'shod with the preparedness of alacrity which is produced by the gospel of peace4' ,that will make us 'ready1 aye ready' for the roughest march1 and enable us to stand firm against the most violent charges of the enemy4 ,there is no such preparation for the conflict of life1 whether it be waged against our own inward evil1 or against opposing forces without1 as to have deep within the soul the settled and substantial peace of ,god4 ,if we are to come out of the battle with victory sitting on our helmets1 we must go into it with the ,dove of ,god brooding in our hearts4 ,as the ,lord said to ,gideon1 ',go in this thy might1 and thou shalt save ,israel1 444 have not ,i sent thee8' ,but1 besides this thought that the knowledge of ,jehovah as peace fits us for strife1 that hastily-reared altar with its seemingly inappropriate name1 may remind us that it is possible1 in the midst of the deadliest hand-to-hand grip with evil1 and whilst fighting the 'good fight of faith' with the most entire self-surrender to the divine will1 to bear within us1 deeper than all the surface strife1 that inward tranquillity which knows no disturbance1 though the outward life is agitated by fierce storms4 ,deep in the centre of the ocean the waters lie quiet1 though the wildest tempests are raging above1 and the fiercest currents running4 ,over the tortured and plunging waters of the cataract there lies unmoving1 though its particles are in perpetual flux1 the bow of promise and of peace4 ,so over all the rush and thunder of life there may stretch1 radiant and many-coloured1 and dyed with beauty by the very sun himself1 the abiding bow of beauty1 the emblem and the reality of the divine tranquillity4 ,the ,christian life is continual warfare1 but in it all1 'the peace of ,god which passeth understanding' may 'garrison our hearts and minds4' ,in the inmost keep of the castle1 though the storm of war may be breaking against the walls1 there will be a quiet chamber where no noise of the archers can penetrate1 and the shouts of the fight are never heard4 ,let us seek to live in the 'secret place of the ,most ,high'2 and in still communion with ,him1 keep our inmost souls in quiet1 while we bravely front difficulties and enemies4 ,you are to be ,god's warriors2 see to it that on every battlefield there stands the altar ',jehovah ,shalom4' ,,iii4 ,lastly1 we may draw yet another lesson1 and say that that altar1 with its significant inscription1 expressed the aim of the conflict and the hope which sustains in the fight4 ,gideon was fighting for peace1 and what he desired was that victory should bring tranquillity4 ,the hope which beckoned him on1 when he flung himself into his else desperate enterprise1 was that ,god would so prosper his work that the swords might be beaten into ploughshares1 and the spears into pruning hooks4 ,which things may stand as an allegory1 and suggest to us that the ,christian warfare1 whilst it rests upon1 and is prompted by1 the revelation of ,god who is peace1 aims in all its blows1 at the conquering of that sure and settled peace which shall be broken by no rebellious outbursts of self-will1 nor by any risings of passions and desires4 ,the aim of our warfare should ever be that the peace of ,god may be throned in our hearts1 and sit there a gentle queen4 ,the true tranquillity of the blessed life is the prize of conflict4 ,david1 'the man of war from his youth1' prepares the throne for ,solomon1 in whose reign no alarms of war are heard4 ,if you would enter into peace1 you must fight your way to it1 and every step of the road must be a battle4 ,the land of peace is won by the good fight of faith4 ,but ,gideon's altar not only expressed his purpose in his taking up arms1 but his confidence of accomplishing it1 based upon the assurance that the ,lord would give peace4 ,it was a trophy erected before the fight1 and built1 not by arrogant presumption or frivolous underestimate of the enemy's strength1 but by humble reliance on the power of that ,lord who had promised ,his presence1 and had assured triumph4 ,so the hope that named this altar was the hope that war meant victory1 and that victory would bring peace4 ,that hope should animate every ,christian soldier4 ,across the dust of the conflict1 the fair vision of unbroken and eternal peace should gleam before each of us1 and we should renew fainting strength and revive drooping courage by many a wistful gaze4 ,we may realise that hope in large measure here4 ,but its fulfilment is reserved for the land of peace which we enter by the last conflict with the last enemy4 ,every ,christian man's gravestone is an altar on which is written ',our ,god is peace'2 in token that the warrior has passed into the land where 'violence shall no more be heard1 wasting1 nor destruction within its borders1' but all shall be deep repose1 and the unarmed1 because unattacked1 peace of tranquil communion with1 and likeness to1 ',jehovah our ,peace4' ,so1 dear brethren1 let us pass from tradition and hearsay into personal intercourse with ,god1 and from shrinking and doubt into the sunshine of the conviction that ,he is our peace4 ,and then1 with ,his tranquillity in our hearts let us go out1 the elect apostles of the peace of ,god1 and fight for ,him1 after the pattern of the ,captain of our salvation1 who had to conquer peace through conflict2 and was 'first of all ,king of ,righteousness1 and after that also ,king of ,peace4' ,,gideon',s ,,fleece ',behold1 ,i will put a fleece of wool in the floor2 and if the dew be on the fleece only1 and it be dry upon all the earth beside1 then shall ,i know that ,thou wilt save ,israel by mine hand1 as ,thou hast said4'--,,judges vi4 #cg4 ,the decisive moment had come when ,gideon1 with his hastily gathered raw levies1 was about to plunge down to the plain to face immensely superior forces trained to warfare4 ,no wonder that the equally untrained leader's heart heat faster4 ,many a soldier1 who will be steadfastly brave in the actual shock of battle1 has tremors and throbbings on its eve4 ,gideon's hand shook a little as he drew his sword4 ,i4 ,gideon's request4 ,his petition for a sign was not the voice of unbelief or of doubt or of presumption1 but in it spoke real1 though struggling faith1 seeking to be confirmed4 ,therefore it was not regarded by ,god as a sin4 ,when a 'wicked and adulterous generation asked for a sign1' no sign was given it1 but when faith asks for one to help it to grasp ,god's hand1 and to go on ,his warfare in ,his strength and as ,his instrument1 it does not ask in vain4 ,gideon's prayer was wrapped1 as it were1 in an enfolding promise1 for it is preceded and followed by the quotation of words of the ,angel of the ,lord who had 'looked on him1' and said1 ',go in this thy might and save ,israel from the hand of ,midian3 have not ,i sent thee8' ,prayers that begin and end with 'as ,thou hast spoken' are not likely to be repulsed4 ,,ii4 ,god's answer4 ,god wonderfully allows ,gideon to dictate the nature of the sign4 ,he stoops to work it both ways1 backwards and forwards1 as it were4 ,first the fleece is to be wet and the ground to be dry1 then the fleece is to be dry and the ground wet4 ,miracle was a necessary accompaniment of revelation in those early days1 as picture-books are of childhood4 ,but1 though we are far enough from being 'men' in ,christ1 yet we have not the same need for 'childish things' as ,gideon and his contemporaries had4 ,we have ,christ and the ,spirit1 and so have a 'word made more sure' than to require signs4 ,but still it is true that the same gracious willingness to help a tremulous faith1 which carries its tremulousness to ,god in prayer1 moves the ,father's heart to-day1 and that to such petitions the answer is given even before they are offered3 ',ask what ye will1 and it shall be done unto you4' ,no sign that eyes can see is given1 but inward whispers speak assurance and communicate the assurance which they speak4 ,,iii4 ,the meaning of the sign4 ,many explanations have been offered4 ,the main point is that the fleece is to be made different from the soil around it4 ,it is to be a proof of ,god's power to endow with characteristics not derived from1 and resulting in qualities unlike1 the surroundings4 ,gideon had no thought of any significance beyond that4 ,but we may allowably let the ,scripture usage of the symbol of dew influence our reading into the symbol a deeper meaning than it bore to him4 ,god makes the fleece wet with dew1 while all the threshing-floor is dry4 ,dew is the symbol of divine grace1 of the silently formed moisture which1 coming from no apparent source1 freshens by night the wilted plants1 and hangs in myriad drops1 that twinkle into green and gold as the early sunshine strikes them1 on the humblest twig4 ,that grace is plainly not a natural product nor to be accounted for by environment4 ,the dew of the ,spirit1 which ,god and ,god only1 can give1 can freshen our worn and drooping souls1 can give joy in sorrow1 can keep us from being touched by surrounding evils1 and from being parched by surrounding drought1 can silently 'distil' its supplies of strength according to our need into our else dry hearts4 ,the wet fleece on the dry ground was not only a revelation of ,god's power1 but may be taken as a pattern of what ,god's soldiers must ever be4 ,a prophet long after ,gideon said3 ',the remnant of ,jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples as dew from the ,lord1' bringing to others the grace which they have received that they may diffuse it1 and turning the dry and thirsty land where no water is into fertility1 and the 'parched ground' into a 'pool4' ,we have said that the main point of ,gideon's petition was that the fleece should be made unlike the threshing-floor1 and that that unlikeness1 which could obviously not be naturally brought about1 was to be to him the sure token that ,god was at work to produce it4 ,the strongest demonstration that the ,church can give the world of its really being ,god's ,church is its unlikeness to the world4 ,if it is wet with divine dew when all the threshing-floor is dry1 and if1 when all the floor is drenched with poisonous miasma1 it is dry from the diffused and clinging malaria1 the world will take knowledge of it1 and some souls be set to ask how this unlikeness comes4 ,when ,haman has to say3 ',there is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples 444 and their laws are diverse from those of every people1' he may meditate murder1 but 'many from among the people of the land' will join their ranks4 ,gideon may or may not have thought of the fleece as a symbol of his little host1 but we may learn from it the old lesson1 ',be not conformed to this world1 but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds4' ',,fit1 ,,though ,,few' ',then ,jerubbaal1 who is ,gideon1 and all the people that were with him1 rose up early1 and pitched beside the well of ,harod3 so that the host of the ,midianites were on the north side of them1 by the hill of ,moreh1 in the valley4 #b4 ,and the ,lord said unto ,gideon1 ,the people that are with thee are too many for ,me to give the ,midianites into their hands1 lest ,israel vaunt themselves against ,me1 saying1 ,mine own hand hath saved me4 #c4 ,now therefore go to1 proclaim in the ears of the people1 saying1 ,whosoever is fearful and afraid1 let him return and depart early from mount ,gilead4 ,and there returned of the people twenty and two thousand2 and there remained ten thousand4 #d4 ,and the ,lord said unto ,gideon1 ,the people are yet too many2 bring them down unto the water1 and ,i will try them for thee there3 and it shall be1 that of whom ,i say unto thee1 ,this shall go with thee1 the same shall go with thee2 and of whomsoever ,i say unto thee4 ,this shall not go with thee1 the same shall not go4 #e4 ,so he brought down the people unto the water3 and the ,lord said unto ,gideon1 ,every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue1 as a dog lappeth1 him shalt thou set by himself2 likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink4 #f4 ,and the number of them that lapped1 putting their hand to their mouth1 were three hundred men3 but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water4 #g4 ,and the ,lord said unto ,gideon1 ,by the three hundred men that lapped will ,i save you1 and deliver the ,midianites into thine hand3 and let all the other people go every man unto his place4 #h4 ,so the people took victuals in their hand1 and their trumpets3 and he sent all the rest of ,israel every man unto his tent1 and retained those three hundred men4 ,and the host of ,midian was beneath him in the valley4'--,,judges vii #a-h4 ,gideon is the noblest of the judges4 ,courage1 constancy1 and caution are strongly marked in his character4 ,the youngest son of an obscure family in a small tribe1 he humbly shrinks from the task imposed on him1--not from cowardice or indolence1 but from conscious weakness4 ,men who are worthy to do such work as his are never forward to begin it1 nor backward in it when they are sure that it is ,god's will4 ,he began his war against ,midian by warring against ,baal1 whose worship had brought the oppressor4 ,if any thorough deliverance from the misery which departure from ,god has wrought is to be effected1 we must destroy the idols before we attack the spoilers4 ,cast out sin1 and you cast out sorrow4 ,so he first earns his new name of ,jerubbaal 7',let ,baal plead'71 and is known as ,baal's antagonist1 before he blows the trumpet of revolt4 ,the name is an omen of victory4 ,the hand that had smitten the idol1 and had not been withered1 would smite ,midian4 ,therefore that new name is used in this chapter1 which tells of the preparations for the fight and its triumphant issue4 ,from his home among the hills1 he had sent the fiery cross to the three northern tribes1 who had been the mainstay of ,deborah's victory1 and who now rallied around ,gideon to the number of thirty-two thousand4 ,the narrative shows us the two armies confronting each other on the opposite slopes of the valley of ,jezreel1 where it begins to dip steeply towards the ,jordan4 ,gideon and his men are on the south side of the valley1 above the fountain of ,harod1 or ',trembling1' apparently so called from the confessed terror which thinned his army4 ,the word 'is afraid1' in verse #c1 comes from the same root4 ,on the other side of the glen1 not far from the site of the ,philistine camp on the day of ,saul's last defeat1 lay the far-stretching camp of the invaders1 outnumbering ,israel by four to one4 ,for seven years these ,midianite marauders had paralysed ,israel1 and year by year had swarmed up this valley from the eastern desert1 and thence by the great plain had penetrated into every corner of the land1 as far south as ,gaza1 devouring like locusts4 ,it is the same easy route by which1 to this day1 the ,bedouin find their way into ,palestine1 whenever the weak ,turkish ,government is a little weaker or more corrupt than usual4 ,apparently1 the ,midianites were on their homeward march1 laden with spoil1 and very contemptuous of the small force across the valley1 who1 on their part1 had not shaken off their terror of the fierce nomads who had used them as they pleased for seven years4 ,i4 ,note1 as the first lesson taught here1 the divinely appointed disproportion between means and end1 and its purpose4 ,many an ,israelite would look across to the long lines of black tents1 and think1 ',we are too few for our task'2 but to ,god's eye they were too many1 and the first necessity was to weed them out4 ,the numbers must be so reduced that the victory shall be unmistakably ,god's1 not theirs4 ,the same sort of procedure1 and for the same reason1 runs through all ,god's dealings4 ,it is illustrated in a hundred ,scripture instances1 and is stated most plainly by ,paul in his triumphant eloquence4 ,he revels in telling how foolish1 weak1 base things1 that are no things in the world's estimate1 have been chosen to cover with shame wise1 strong1 honoured things1 which seem to be somewhat2 and he gives the same reason as our lesson does1 'that no flesh should glory in ,his presence4' ,eleven poor men on one side1 and all the world on the other1 made fearful odds4 ,the more unevenly matched are the respective forces1 the more plainly does the victory of the weaker demand for its explanation the intervention of ,god4 ,the old sneer1 that ',providence is always on the side of the strongest battalions1' is an audacious misreading of history1 and is the very opposite of the truth4 ,it is the weak battalions which win in the long run1 for the history of every good cause is the same4 ,first1 it kindles a fire in the hearts of two or three nobodies1 who are burned in earlier times1 and laughed at as fools1 fanatics1 impracticable dreamers1 in later ages1 but whose convictions grow till1 one day1 the world wakes up to find that everybody believes them1 and then it 'builds the tombs of the prophets4' ,why should ,god desire that there shall be no mistake as to who wins the battle8 ,the answer may very easily be so given as to make what is really a token of ,his love become an unlovely and repellent trait in ,his character4 ,it is not eagerness for praise that moves ,him1 but longing that men may have the blessedness of recognising ,his hand fighting for them4 ,it is for ,israel's sake that ,he is so solicitous to deliver them from the delusion of their having won the victory4 ,it is because ,he loves us and would fain have us made restful1 confident1 and strong1 in the assurance of ,his fighting for us1 that ,he takes pains so to order the history of ,his ,church in the world1 that it is one long attestation of the omnipotence of weakness when ,his power flows through it4 ,to say ',mine own hand hath saved me1' is to lose unspeakable peace and blessing2 to say ',not ,i1 but the grace of ,god in me1' is to be serene and of good cheer in the face of outnumbering foes1 and sure of victory in all conflicts4 ,therefore ,god is careful to save us from self-gratulation and self-confidence4 ,one lesson we may learn from this thinning of the ranks2 namely1 that we need not be anxious to count heads1 when we are sure that we are doing ,his work1 nor even be afraid of being in a minority4 ,minorities are generally right when they are the apostles of new thoughts1 though the minorities which cleave to some old fossil are ordinarily wrong4 ,the prophet and his man were alone and ringed around with enemies1 when he said1 ',they that be with us are more than they that be with them'2 and yet he was right1 for the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire4 ,let us be sure that we are on ,god's side1 and then let us not mind how few are in the ranks with us1 nor be afraid1 though the far-extended front of the enemy threatens to curl around our flanks and enclose us4 ,the three hundred heroes had ,god with them1 and that was enough4 ,,ii4 ,note the self-applied test of courage which swept away so much chaff4 ,according to ,deuteronomy xx4 #h1 the standing enactment was that such a proclamation as that in verse #c should precede every battle4 ,much difficulty has been raised about the mention of ,mount ,gilead here1 as the only ,mount ,gilead otherwise mentioned in ,scripture lay to the east of ,jordan4 ,but perhaps the simplest solution is the true one1-that there was another hilly region so named on the western side4 ,the map of the ,palestine ,exploration ,fund attaches the name to the northern slopes of the western end of ,gilboa1 where ,gideon was now encamped1 and that is probably right4 ,be that as it may1 the effect of the proclamation was startling4 ,two-thirds of the army melted away4 ,no doubt1 many who had flocked to ,gideon's standard felt their valour oozing out at their finger ends1 when they came close to the enemy1 and saw their long array across the valley4 ,it must have required some courage to confess being afraid1 but the cowards were numerous enough to keep each other in countenance4 ,two out of three were panic-struck4 ,i wonder if the proportion would be less in ,christ's army to-day1 if professing ,christians were as frank as ,gideon's men8 ,why were the 'fearful' dismissed8 ,because fear is contagious2 and1 in undisciplined armies like ,gideon's1 panic1 once started1 spreads swiftly1 and becomes frenzied confusion4 ,the same thing is true in the work of the ,church to-day4 ,who that has had much to do with guiding its operations has not groaned over the dead weight of the timid and sluggish souls1 who always see difficulties and never the way to get over them8 ,and who that has had to lead a company of ,christian men has not often been ready to wish that he could sound out ,gideon's proclamation1 and bid the 'fearful and afraid' take away the chilling encumbrance of their presence1 and leave him with thinned ranks of trusty men8 ,cowardice1 dressed up as cautious prudence1 weakens the efficiency of every regiment in ,christ's army4 ,another reason for getting rid of the fearful is that fear is the opposite of faith1 and that therefore1 where it is uppermost1 the door by which ,god's power can enter to strengthen is closed4 ,not that faith must be free of all admixture of fear1 but that it must subdue fear1 if a man is to be ,god's warrior1 fighting in ,his strength4 ,many a tremor would rock the hearts of the ten thousand who remained1 but they so controlled their terror that it did not overcome their faith4 ,we do not need1 for our efficiency in ,christ's service1 complete exemption from fear1 but we do need to make the psalmist's resolve ours3 ',i will trust1 and not be afraid4' ,terror shuts the door against the entrance of the grace which makes us conquerors1 and so fulfils its own forebodings2 faith opens the door1 and so fulfils its own confidences4 ,,iii4 ,note the final test4 ,god required but few men1 but ,he required that these should be fit4 ,the first test had sifted out the brave and willing4 ,the liquor was none the less1 though so much froth had been blown off4 ,as ,thomas ,fuller says1 there were 'fewer persons1 but not fewer men1' after the poltroons had disappeared4 ,the second test1 'a purgatory of water1' as the same wise and witty author calls it1 was still more stringent4 ,the dwindled ranks were led down from their camp on the slopes to the fountain and brook which lay in the valley near the ,midianites' camp4 ,gideon alone seems to have known that a test was to be applied there2 but he did not know what it was to be till they reached the spring1 and the soldiers did not know that they were determining their fate when they drank4 ,the two ways of drinking clearly indicated a difference in the men4 ,those who glued their lips to the stream and swilled till they were full1 were plainly more self-indulgent1 less engrossed with their work1 less patient of fatigue and thirst1 than those who caught up enough in their curved palms to moisten their lips without stopping in their stride or breaking rank4 ,the former test was self-applied1 and consciously so4 ,this is no less self-applied1 though unconsciously4 ,god shuts out no man from ,his army1 but men shut themselves out2 sometimes knowingly1 by avowed disinclination for the warfare1 sometimes unknowingly1 by self-indulgent habits1 which proclaim their unfitness4 ,the great lesson taught here is that self-restraint in the use of the world's goods is essential to all true ,christian warfare4 ,there are two ways of looking at and partaking of these4 ,we may either 'drink for strength' or 'for drunkenness4' ,life is to some men first a place for strenuous endeavour1 and only secondly a place of refreshment4 ,such think of duty first and of water afterwards4 ,to them1 all the innocent joys and pleasures of the natural life are as brooks by the way1 of which ,christ's soldier should drink1 mainly that he may be re-invigorated for conflict4 ,there are others whose conception of life is a scene of enjoyment1 for which work is unfortunately a necessary but disagreeable preliminary4 ,one does not often see such a character in its pure perfection of sensualism2 but plenty of approximations to it are visible1 and ugly sights they are4 ,the roots of it are in us all2 and it cannot be too strongly insisted on that1 unless it be subdued1 we cannot enlist in ,christ's army1 and shall never be counted worthy to be ,his instruments4 ,such self-restraint is especially needful to be earnestly inculcated on young men and women1 to whom life is opening as if it were a garden of delight1 whose passions are strong1 whose sense is keen1 whose experience is slender1 and to whom all earth's joys appeal more strongly than they do to those who have drunk of the cup1 and know how bitter is its sediment4 ,it is especially needful to be pealed into the ears of a generation like ours1 in which senseless luxury1 the result of wealth which has increased faster than the power of rightly using it1 has attained such enormous proportions1 and is threatening1 in commercial communities especially1 to drown all noble aspirations1 and ,spartan simplicity1 and ,christian self-devotion1 in its muddy flood4 ,surely never was ,gideon's test more wanted for the army of the ,lord of hosts than it is to-day4 ,such self-restraint gives double sweetness to enjoyments1 which1 when partaken of more freely1 pall on the jaded palate4 ',the full soul loatheth a honeycomb2 but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet4' ,the senses are kept fine-edged1 and the rare holidays are sweeter because they are rare4 ,the most refined prudence of the mere sensualist would prescribe the same regimen as the ,christian moralist does4 ,but from how different a motive6 ,christ calls for self-restraint that we may be fit organs for ,his power1 and bids us endure hardness that we may be good soldiers of ,his4 ,if we know anything of the true sweetness of ,his fellowship and service1 it will not be hard to drink sparingly of earthly fountains1 when we have the river of ,his pleasures to drink from2 nor will it be painful sacrifice to cast away imitation jewels1 in order to clasp in our hands the true riches of ,his love and imparted life4 ,a ,,battle ,,without ,a ,,sword ',and when ,gideon was come1 behold1 there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow1 and said1 ,behold1 ,i dreamed a dream1 and1 lo1 a cake of barley-bread tumbled into the host of ,midian1 and came unto a tent1 and smote it that it fell1 and overturned it1 that the tent lay along4 #ad4 ,and his fellow answered and said1 ,this is nothing else save the sword of ,gideon the son of ,joash1 a man of ,israel3 for into his hand hath ,god delivered ,midian1 and all the host4 #ae1 ,and it was so1 when ,gideon heard the telling of the dream1 and the interpretation thereof1 that he worshipped1 and returned into the host of ,israel1 and said1 ,arise2 for the ,lord hath delivered into your hand the host of ,midian4 #af4 ,and he divided the three hundred men into three companies1 and he put a trumpet in every man's hand1 with empty pitchers1 and lamps within the pitchers4 #ag4 ,and he said unto them1 ,look on me1 and do likewise3 and1 behold1 when ,i come to the outside of the camp1 it shall be1 that as ,i do1 so shall ye do4 #ah4 ,when ,i blow with a trumpet1 ,i and all that are with me1 then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp1 and say1 ,the sword of the ,lord1 and of ,gideon4 #ai4 ,so ,gideon1 and the hundred men that were with him1 came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch2 and they had but newly set the watch3 and they blew the trumpets1 and brake the pitchers that were in their hands4 #bj4 ,and the three companies blew the trumpets1 and brake the pitchers1 and held the lamps in their left hands1 and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal3 and they cried1 ,the sword of the ,lord1 and of ,gideon4 #ba4 ,and they stood every man in his place round about the camp3 and all the host ran1 and cried1 and fled4 #bb4 ,and the three hundred blew the trumpets1 and the ,lord set every man's sword against his fellow1 even throughout all the host3 and the host fled to ,beth-shittah in ,zererath1 and to the border of ,abel-meholah1 unto ,tabbath4 #bc4 ,and the men of ,israel gathered themselves together out of ,naphtali1 and out of ,asher1 and out of all ,manasseh1 and pursued after the ,midianites4'--,,judges vii4 #ac-bc4 ,to reduce thirty-two thousand to three hundred was a strange way of preparing for a fight2 and1 no doubt1 the handful left felt some sinking of their courage when they looked on their own small number and then on the widespread ,midianite host4 ,gideon1 too1 would need heartening4 ,so the first thing to be noted is the encouragement given him4 ,god strengthens faith when it needs strengthening1 and ,he has many ways of doing so4 ,note that ,gideon's visit to the ,midianite camp was on 'the same night' on which his little band was left alone after the ordeal by water4 ,how punctually to meet our need1 when it begins to be felt1 does ,god's help come6 ,it was by ,god's command that he undertook the daring adventure of stealing down to the camp4 ,we can fancy how silently he and ,phurah crept down the hillside1 and1 with hushed breath and wary steps1 lest they should stumble on and wake some sleeper1 or even rouse some tethered camel1 picked their way among the tents4 ,but they had ,god's command and promise1 and these make men brave1 and turn what would else be foolhardy into prudence4 ,ho put his ear to the black camel's-hair wall of one tent1 and heard what his faith could not but recognise as ,god's message to him4 ,the soldier's dream was just such as such a man would dream in such circumstances4 ,a round loaf of barley 7the commonest kind of bread7 was dreamed of as rolling down from a height and upsetting 'the tent4' ,the use of the definite article seems to point to some particular tent1 perhaps simply the one in which the dreamer lay1 or perhaps the general's2 but the noun may be used as a collective1 and what is meant may be that the loaf went through the camp1 overturning all the tents in its way4 ,the interpretation needed no ,daniel1 but the immediate explanation given1 shows not only the transparency of the symbol1 but the dread in the ,midianite ranks of ,gideon's prowess4 ,a nameless awe1 which goes far to produce the defeat it dreads1 was beginning to creep over them4 ,it finds utterance both in the dream and in its translation4 ,the tiny loaf worked effects disproportioned to its size4 ,a rock thundering down the hillside might have mass and momentum enough to level a line of tents1 but one poor loaf to do it6 ,some mightier than human hand must have set it going on its career4 ,so the soldier interprets that ,god had delivered the army into ,gideon's hand4 ,this dream suggests two or three considerations4 ,in several instances we find ,god speaking to those outside ,israel by dreams2 for example1 to ,pharaoh and his two officers1 ,nebuchadnezzar1 ,pilate's wife4 ,it is the lowest form of divine communication1 and1 like other lower forms1 is not to be looked for when the higher teaching of the ,spirit of ,christ is open to us all4 ,again1 while both dream and interpretation might be accounted for on simply natural grounds1 a deeper insight into the so-called 'natural' brings us to see it as all penetrated by the operations of the ever-present ,god4 ,and the coincidences which brought ,gideon to just that tent among the thousands along the valley at just the moment when the two startled sleepers were talking1 might well strike ,gideon1 as they did1 as being ,god's own fulfilment of the promise that 'what they say' would strengthen his hands for the attack 7v4 #aa74 ,further1 ,gideon had already had the sign of the fleece and the dew2 but ,god does not disdain to let him have an additional encouragement1 and to let him draw confirmation of his own token from the talk of two ,midianites4 ,faith may be buttressed by men's words1 albeit its only foundation is ,god's4 ,gideon has a place in the muster-roll of heroes of faith in ,hebrews xi41 and his whole conduct in this incident proves his right to stand there4 ',he worshipped1' for his soul went out in trust to ,god1 whose voice he heard through the two ,midianites1 and bowed in thankfulness and submissive obedience4 ,there could be no outward worship there1 with an army of sleepers close by1 but the silent uplifting of confidence and desire reaches ,god and strengthens the man4 ,so he went back with new assurance of victory1 and roused his sleeping band4 ,mark his words as another token of his faith4 ,the ,midianite interpreter had said1 ',god has delivered'2 ,gideon says1 ',the ,lord has delivered4' ,the former name is the more general1 and is natural on the lips of a heathen2 the latter is the covenant name1 and to use it implies reliance on the ,jehovah revealed by ,his acts to ,israel4 ,the ,midianite had said that the host was delivered into ,gideon's hand2 he says that it is delivered into the hands of the three hundred1 suppressing himself and honouring them4 ,god's soldiers must be willing to 'esteem others better than themselves1' and to fight for ,god's glory1 not their own4 ,the ,midianite had said1 ',this is 444 the sword of ,gideon'2 he bid his men cry 'the sword of the ,lord1 and of ,gideon4' ,it was ,god's cause for which they were contending1 not his2 and yet it was his1 inasmuch as he was ,god's instrument4 ',excellent mixture1' says ,thomas ,fuller1 'both joined together2 admirable method1 ,god put in the first place4 ,where divine blessing leads up the van1 and man's valour brings up the battle1 must not victory needs follow in the rear8' ,gideon does not seem to have been divinely directed to the stratagem by which the ,midianites were thrown into panic4 ,he had been promised victory1 but that does not lead him to idle waiting for fulfilment of the promise4 ',to wait for ,god's performance in doing nothing is to abuse that divine providence1 which will so work that it will not allow us to idle' 7,bishop ,hall74 ,true faith will wisely adopt means to reach promised ends1 and1 having used brain and hand as if all depended on ourselves1 will look to ,him1 as if nothing depended on us1 but all on ,him4 ,there was strong faith as well as daring and skilful generalship in leading down the three hundred1 with no weapons but trumpets and pitchers1 to close quarters with an armed enemy so superior in numbers4 ,and did it not need some faith1 too1 not only in ,gideon but in ,god1 on the part of his band1 to plunge down the hill on such an errand1 each man with both his hands full1 and so unable to strike a blow8 ,the other three hundred at ,thermopylae have been wept over and sung2 were not these three hundred as true heroes8 ,let us not count heads when we are called on to take ,god's side4 ,his soldiers are always in the minority1 but1 if ,he is reckoned in1 the minority becomes the majority4 ',they that be with us are more than they that be with them4' ,one can fancy the sleepers starting up dazed by the sudden bray of the trumpets and the wild shout of that war-cry yelled from every side4 ,as they stumbled out of their tents1 without leaders1 without knowledge of the numbers of their foe1 and saw all around the flaring torches1 and heard the trumpet-blasts1 which seemed to speak of an immense attacking force1 no wonder that panic shook them1 and they fled4 ,huge mobs of undisciplined men1 as ,eastern armies are1 and these eminently were1 are especially liable to such infectious alarms2 and the larger the force1 the faster does panic spread1 the more unmanageable does the army become1 and the more fatal are the results4 ,each man reflects1 and so increases1 his neighbour's fear4 ',great armies1 once struck with amazement1 are like wounded whales4 ,give them but line enough1 and the fishes will be the fishermen to catch themselves4' ,so the host broke up in wild disorder1 and hurried in fragments towards the ,jordan fords1 trampling each other down as they raced through the darkness1 and each man1 as he ran1 dreading to feel the enemy's sword in his back next moment4 ,the wicked flee when no man pursueth3 but the righteous is bold as a lion4' ,thus without stroke of weapon was the victory won4 ,the battle was the ,lord's4 ,and the story is not antiquated in substance1 however the form of the contests which ,god's soldiers have to-day to fight has changed4 ,still it is true that we shall only wage war aright when we feel that it is ,his cause for which we contend1 and ,his sword which wins the victory4 ,if ,gideon had put himself first in his warcry1 or had put his own name only in it1 the issue would have been different4 ,may we not also venture to apply the peculiar accoutrements of the victorious three hundred to ourselves8 ,christ's men have no weapons to wield but the sounding out from them1 as from a trumpet1 of the word of the ,lord1 and the light of a ,christian life shining through earthen vessels4 ,if we boldly lift up our voices in the ancient war-cry1 and let that word peal forth from us1 and flash the light of holy lives on a dark world1 we may break the sleeper's slumbers to a glad waking1 and win the noblest of victories by leading them to enlist in the army of our ,captain1 and to become partakers of ,his conquests by letting ,him conquer1 and thereby save them4 ,,strength ,,profaned ,,and ,,lost ',but the ,philistines took him1 and put out his eyes1 and brought him down to ,gaza1 and bound him with fetters of brass2 and he did grind in the prison-house4 #bb1 ,howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven4 #bc4 ,then the lords of the ,philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto ,dagon their god1 and to rejoice3 for they said1 ,our god hath delivered ,samson our enemy into our hand4 #bd4 ,and when the people saw him1 they praised their god3 for they said1 ,our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy1 and the destroyer of our country1 which slew many of us4 #be4 ,and it came to pass1 when their hearts were merry1 that they said1 ,call for ,samson1 that he may make us sport4 ,and they called for ,samson out of the prison-house2 and he made them sport2 and they set him between the pillars4 #bj4 ,and ,samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand4 ,suffer me that ,i may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth1 that ,i may lean upon them4 #bg4 ,now the house was full of men and women2 and all the lords of the ,philistines were there2 and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women1 that beheld while ,samson made sport4 #bh4 ,and ,samson called unto the ,lord1 and said1 ,o ,lord ,god1 remember me1 ,i pray thee1 and strengthen me1 ,i pray thee1 only this once1 ,o ,god1 that ,i may be at once avenged of the ,phillistines4 ,and he bowed himself with all his might2 and the house fell upon the lords1 and upon all the people that were therein4 ,so the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life4 #ca4 ,then his brethren and all the house of his father came down1 and took him1 and brought him up1 and buried him between ,zorah and ,ishtaol in the burying place of ,munnah his father4 ,and he judged ,israel twenty years4'--,judges xvi4 #ba-ca4 ,nobody could be less like the ordinary idea of an ,old ,testament 'saint' than ,samson4 ,his gift from 'the spirit of the ,lord' was simply physical strength1 and it was associated with the defects of his qualities4 ,his passions were strong1 and apparently uncontrolled4 ,he had no moral elevation or religious fervour4 ,he led no army against the ,philistines1 nor seems to have had any fixed design of resisting them4 ,he seeks a wife among them1 and is ready to feast and play at riddles with them4 ,when he does attack them1 it is because he is stung by personal injuries2 and it is only with his own arm that he strikes4 ,his exploits have a mixture of grim humour and fierce hatred quite unlike anything else in ,scripture1 and more resembling the horse-play of ,homeric or ,norse heroes than the stern purpose and righteous wrath of a soldier who felt that he was ,god's instrument4 ,we seem to hear his loud laughter as he ties the firebrands to the struggling jackals1 or swings the jaw-bone4 ,a strange champion for ,jehovah6 ,but we must not leave out of sight1 in estimating his character1 the ,nazarite vow1 which his parents had made before his birth1 and he had endorsed all his life4 ,that supplies the substratum which is lacking1 ,the unshorn hair and the abstinence from wine were the signs of consecration to ,god1 which might often fail of reaching the deepest recesses of the will and spirit1 but still was real1 and gave the point of contact for the divine gift of strength4 ,samson's strength depended on his keeping the vow1 of which the outward sign was the long1 matted locks2 and therefore1 when he let these be shorn1 he voluntarily cast away his dependence on and consecration to ,god1 and his strength ebbed from him4 ,he had broken the conditions on which he received it1 and it disappeared4 ,so the story which connects the loss of his long hair with the loss of his superhuman power has a worthy meaning1 and puts in a picturesque form an eternal truth4 ,we see here1 first1 ,samson the prisoner4 ,milton has caught the spirit of the sad picture in verses #ba and #bb1 in that wonderful line1 ',eyeless1 in ,gaza1 at the mill1 with slaves1' in which the clauses drop heavily like slow tears1 each adding a new touch of woe4 ,the savage manners of the times used the literal forcing out of the eyes from their sockets as the easiest way of reducing dangerous enemies to harmlessness4 ,pitiable as the loss was1 ,samson was better blind than seeing4 ,the lust of the eye had led him astray1 and the loss of his sight showed him his sin4 ,fetters of brass betrayed his jailers' dread of his possibly returning strength2 and the menial task to which he was set was meant as a humiliation1 in giving him woman's work to do1 as if this were all for which the eclipsed hero was now fit4 ,generous enemies are merciful2 the baser sort reveal their former terror by the indignities they offer to their prisoner4 ,in ,samson we see an impersonation of ,israel4 ,like him1 the nation was strong so long as it kept the covenant of its ,god4 ,like him1 it was ever prone to follow after strange loves4 ,its ,delilahs were the gods of the heathen1 in whose laps it laid its anointed head1 and at whose hands it suffered the loss of its ,god-given strength2 for1 like ,samson1 ,israel was weak when it forgot its consecration1 and its punishment came from the objects of its infatuated desires4 ,like him1 it was blinded1 bound1 and reduced to slavery1 for all its power was held1 as was his1 on condition of loyalty to ,god4 ,his life is as a mirror1 in which the nation might see their own history reflected2 and the lesson taught by the story of the captive hero1 once so strong1 and now so weak1 is the lesson which ,moses taught the nation3 ',because thou servedst not the ,lord thy ,god with joyfulness1 and with gladness of heart1 by reason of the abundance of all things3 therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the ,lord shall send against thee1 in hunger1 and in thirst1 and in nakedness1 and in want of all things1 and ,he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck' 7,deut4 xxviii4 #dg1 #dh74 ,the blind ,samson1 chained1 at the mill1 has a warning for us1 too4 ,that is what ,god's heroes come to1 if once they prostitute the ,god-given strength to the base loves of self and the flattering world4 ,we are strong only as we keep our hearts clear of lower loves1 and lean on ,god alone4 ,delilah is most dangerous when honeyed words drop from her lips4 ,the world's praise is more harmful than its censure4 ,its favours are only meant to draw the secret of our strength from us1 that we may be made weak2 and nothing gives the ,philistines so much pleasure as the sight of ,god's warriors caught in their toils and robbed of power4 ,but ,samson's misery was ,samson's blessedness4 ,the 'howbeit' of verse #bb is more than a compensation for all the wretchedness4 ,the growth of his hair is not there mentioned as a mere natural fact1 nor with the superstitious notion that his hair made him strong4 ,god made him strong on condition of his keeping his vow of consecration4 ,the long matted locks were the visible sign that he kept it4 ,their loss was the consequence of his own voluntary breach of it4 ,so their growth was the visible token that the fault was being repaired4 ,chastisement wrought sorrow2 and in the bondage of the prison he found freedom from the worse chains of sin1 and in its darkness felt the dawning of a better light4 ,as ,bishop ,hall puts it3 ',his hair grew together with his repentance1 and his strength with his hair4' ,the cruelties of the ,philistines were better for him than their kindness4 ,the world outwits itself when it presses hard on ,god's deserters1 and thus drives them to repent4 ,god mercifully takes care that ,his wandering children shall not have an easy time of it2 and his chastisements1 at their sharpest1 are calls to us to come back to ,him4 ,well for those1 even if in chains1 who know their meaning1 and yield to it4 ,,ii4 ,we have here ,samson1--the occasion of godless triumph4 ,the worst consequence of the fall of a servant of ,god is that it gives occasion for ,god's enemies to blaspheme1 and reflects discredit on ,him1 as if ,he were vanquished4 ,samson's capture is ,dagon's glory4 ,the strife between ,philistia and ,israel was1 in the eyes of both combatants1 a struggle between their gods2 and so the men of ,gaza lit their sacrificial fires and sent up their hymns to their monstrous deity as victor4 ,what would ,samson's bitter thoughts be1 as the sound of the wild rejoicings reached him in his prison8 ,and is not all this true to-day8 ,if ever some conspicuous ,christian champion falls into sin or inconsistency1 how the sky is rent with shouts of malicious pleasure6 ,what paragons of virtue worldly men become all at once6 ,how swiftly the conclusion is drawn that all ,christians are alike1 and none of them any better than the non-,christian world6 ,how much more harm the one flaw does than all the good which a life of service has done6 ,the faults of ,christians are the bulwarks of unbelief4 ,the name of ,god is blasphemed among the ,gentiles through you4' ,the honour of ,christ is a sacred trust1 and it is in the keeping of us ,his followers4 ,our sins do not only darken our own reputation1 but they cloud ,his4 ,dagon's worshippers have a right to rejoice when they have ,samson safe in their prison1 with his eyes out4 ,,iii4 ,we have ,samson made a buffoon for drunkards4 ,the feasts of heathenism were wild orgies1 very unlike the pure joy of the sacrificial meals in ,jehovah's worship4 ,dagon's temple was filled with a drunken crowd1 whose mirth would be made more boisterous by a spice of cruelty4 ,so1 a roar of many voices calls for ,samson1 and this deepest degradation is not spared him4 ,the words employed for 'make sport' seem to require that we should understand that he was not brought out to be the passive object of their gibes and drunken mockery1 but was set to play the fool for their delectation4 ,they imply that he had to dance and laugh1 while three thousand gaping ,philistines1 any one of whom would have run for his life if he had been free1 fed their hatred by the sight4 ,perhaps his former reputation for mirth and riddles suggested this new cruelty4 ,surely there is no more pathetic picture than that of the blind hero1 with such thoughts as we know were seething in him1 dragged out to make a ,philistine holiday1 and set to play the clown1 while the bitterness of death was in his soul4 ,and this is what ,god's soldiers come down to1 when they forget ,him3 'they that wasted us required of us mirth4' ,wearied with his humiliating exertions1 the blind captive begs the boy who guided him to let him lean1 till he can breathe again1 on the pillars that held up the light roof4 ,we need not discuss the probable architecture of ,dagon's temple1 of which we know nothing4 ,only we may notice that it is not said that there were only two pillars1 but rather necessarily implied that there were more than two1 for those against which he leaned were 'the two middle' ones4 ,it is quite easy to understand how1 if there were a row of them1 knocking out the two strongest central ones would bring the whole thing down1 especially when there was such a load on the flat roof4 ,apparently the principal people were in the best places on the ground floor1 sheltered from the sun by the roof1 on which the commonalty were clustered1 all waiting for what their newly discovered mountebank would do next1 after he had breathed himself4 ,the pause was short1 and they little dreamed of what was to follow4 ,,iv4 ,we have the last cry and heroic death of ,samson4 ,it is not to be supposed that his prayer was audible to the crowd1 even if it were spoken aloud4 ,it is not an elevated prayer1 but is1 like all the rest of his actions at their best1 deeply marked with purely personal motives4 ,the loss of his two eyes is uppermost in his mind1 and he wants to be revenged for them4 ,instead of trying to make a lofty hero out of him1 it is far better to recognise frankly the limitations of his character and the imperfections of his religion4 ,the distance between him and the ,new ,testament type of ,god's soldier measures the progress which the revelation of ,god's will has made1 and the debt we owe to the ,captain of the host for the perfect example which ,he has set4 ,the defects and impurity of ,samson's zeal1 which yet was accepted of ,god1 preach the precious lesson that ,god does not require virtues beyond the standard of the epoch of revelation at which ,his servants stand1 and that imperfection does not make service unacceptable4 ,if the merely human passion of vengeance throbbed fiercely in ,samson's prayer1 he had never heard ',love your enemies'2 and1 for his epoch1 the destruction of the enemies of ,god and ,israel was duty4 ,he was not the only soldier of ,god who has let personal antagonism blend with his zeal for ,god2 and we have less excuse1 if we do it1 than he had4 ,but there is the true core of religion in the prayer4 ,it is penitence which pleads1 ',remember me1 ,o ,lord ,god6' ,he knows that his sin has broken the flow of loving divine thought to him1 but he asks that the broken current may be renewed4 ,many a silent tear had fallen from ,samson's blind eyes1 before that prayer could have come to his lips1 as he leaned on the great pillars4 ,clear recognition of the ,source of his strength is in the prayer2 if ever he had forgotten1 in ,delilah's lap1 where it came from1 he had recovered his conscious dependence amid the misery of the prison4 ,there is humility in the prayer ',only this once4' ,he feels that1 after such a fall1 no more of the brilliant exploits of former days are possible4 ,they who have brought such despite on ,jehovah and such honour to ,dagon may be forgiven1 and even restored to much of their old vigour1 but they must not be judges in ,israel any more4 ,the best thing left for the penitent ,samson is death4 ,he had been unconscious of the departure of his strength1 but he seems to have felt it rushing back into his muscles2 so he grasps the two pillars with his mighty hands2 the crowd sees that the pause for breath is over1 and prepares to watch the new feats4 ,perhaps we may suppose that his last words were shouted aloud1 ',let me die with the ,philistines6' and before they have been rightly taken in by the mob1 he sways himself backwards for a moment1 and then1 with one desperate forward push1 brings down the two supports1 and the whole thing rushes down to hideous ruin amid shrieks and curses and groans4 ,but ,samson lies quiet below the ruins1 satisfied to die in such a cause4 ,he 'counted not his life dear' unto himself1 that he might be ,god's instrument for ,god's terrible work4 ,the last of the judges teaches us that we too1 in a nobler cause1 and for men's life1 not their destruction1 must be ready to hazard and give our lives for the great ,captain1 who in ,his death has slain more of our foes than ,he did in ,his life1 and has laid it down as the law for all ,his army1 ',he that loseth his life for ,my sake shall find it4' ,how beautifully the quiet close of the story follows the stormy scene of the riotous assembly and the sudden destruction4 ,the ,philistines1 crushed by this last blow1 let the dead hero's kindred search for his body amid the chaos1 and bear it reverently up from the plain to the quiet grave among the hills of ,dan1 where ,manoah his father slept4 ,there they lay that mighty frame to rest4 ,it will be troubled no more by fierce passions or degrading chains4 ,nothing in his life became him like the leaving of it4 ,the penitent heroism of its end makes us lenient to the flaws in its course2 and we leave the last of the judges to sleep in his grave1 recognising in him1 with all his faults and grossness1 a true soldier of ,god1 though in strange garb4 ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,ruth ,a ,,gentle ,,heroine1 ,a ,,gentile ,,convert ',and ,ruth said1 ,intreat me not to leave thee1 or to return from following after thee3 for whither thou goest1 ,i will go2 and where thou lodgest1 ,i will lodge3 thy people shall be my people1 and thy ,god my ,god3 #ag4 ,where thou diest1 will ,i die1 and there will ,i be buried3 the ,lord do so to me1 and more also1 if ought but death part thee and me4 #ah4 ,when she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her1 then she left speaking unto her4 #ai4 ,so they two went until they came to ,beth-lehem4 ,and it came to pass1 when they were come to ,beth-lehem1 that all the city was moved about them1 and they said1 ,is this ,naomi8 #bj4 ,and she said unto them1 ,call me not ,naomi1 call me ,mara3 for the ,almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me4 #ba4 ,i went out full1 ,and the ,lord hath brought me home again empty3 why then call ye me ,naomi1 seeing the ,lord hath testified against me1 and the ,almighty hath afflicted me8 #bb4 ,so ,naomi returned1 and ,ruth the ,moabitess1 her daughter in law1 with her1 which returned out of the country of ,moab3 and they came to ,beth-lehem in the beginning of barley harvest4'--,,ruth #a #af-bb4 ,the lovely idyl of ,ruth is in sharp contrast with the bloody and turbulent annals of ,judges4 ,it completes1 but does not contradict1 these1 and happily reminds us of what we are apt to forget in reading such pages1 that no times are so wild but that in them are quiet corners1 green oases1 all the greener for their surroundings1 where life glides on in peaceful isolation from the tumult4 ,men and women love and work and weep and laugh1 the gossips of ,bethlehem talk over ,naomi's return 7'they said1' in verse #ai1 is feminine71 ,boaz stands among his corn1 and no sounds of war disturb them4 ,thank ,god6 the blackest times were not so dismal in reality as they look in history4 ,there are clefts in the grim rock1 and flowers blooming1 sheltered in the clefts4 ,the peaceful pictures of this little book1 multiplied many thousand times1 have to be set as a background to the lurid pictures of the ,book of ,judges4 ,the text begins in the middle of ,naomi's remonstrance with her two daughters-in-law4 ,we need not deal with the former part of the conversation1 nor follow ,orpah as she goes back to her home and her gods4 ,she is the first in the sad series of those1 'not far from the kingdom of ,god1' who needed but a little more resolution at the critical moment1 and1 for want of it1 shut themselves out from the covenant1 and sank back to a world which they had half renounced4 ,so these two lonely widows are left1 each seeking to sacrifice herself for the other4 ,who shall decide which was the more noble and truly womanly in her self-forgetfulness1--the elder1 sadder heart1 which strove to secure for the other some joy and fellowship at the price of its own deepened solitude2 or the younger1 which steeled itself against entreaties1 and cast away friends and country for love's sweet sake8 ,we rightly praise ,ruth's vow1 but we should not forget ,naomi's unselfish pleading to be left to tread her weary path alone4 ,ruth's passionate burst of tenderness is immortal4 ,it has put into fitting words for all generations the deepest thoughts of loving hearts1 and comes to us over all the centuries between1 as warm and living as when it welled up from that gentle1 heroic soul4 ,the two strongest emotions of our nature are blended in it1 and each gives a portion of its fervour--love and religion4 ,so closely are they interwoven that it is difficult to allot to each its share in the united stream2 but1 without trying to determine to which of them the greater part of its volume and force is due1 and while conscious of the danger of spoiling such words by comments weaker than themselves1 we may seek to put into distinct form the impressions which they make4 ,we see in them the heroism of gentleness4 ,put the sweet figure of the ,moabitess beside the heroes of the ,book of ,judges1 and we feel the contrast4 ,but is there anything in its pages more truly heroic than her deed1 as she turned her back on the blue hills of ,moab1 and chose the joyless lot of the widowed companion of a widow aged and poor1 in a land of strangers1 the enemies of her country and its gods8 ,it is easier far to rush on the spears of the foe1 amid the whirl and excitement of battle1 than to choose with open eyes so dreary a lifelong path4 ,the gentleness of a true woman covers a courage of the patient1 silent sort1 which1 in its meek steadfastness1 is nobler than the contempt of personal danger1 which is vulgarly called bravery4 ,it is harder to endure than to strike4 ,the supreme type of heroic1 as of all1 virtue is ,jesus ,christ1 whose gentleness was the velvet glove on the iron hand of an inflexible will4 ,of that best kind of heroes there are few brighter examples1 even in the annals of the ,church which numbers its virgin martyrs by the score1 than this sweet figure of ,ruth1 as the eager vow comes from her young lips1 which had already tasted sorrow1 and were ready to drink its bitterest cup at the call of duty4 ,she may well teach us to rectify our judgments1 and to recognise the quiet heroism of many a modest life of uncomplaining suffering4 ,her example has a special message to women1 and exhorts them to see to it that1 in the cultivation of the so-called womanly excellence of gentleness1 they do not let it run into weakness1 nor1 on the other hand1 aim at strength1 to the loss of meekness4 ,the yielding birch-tree1 the 'lady of the woods1' bends in all its elastic branches and tossing ringlets of foliage to the wind2 but it stands upright after storms that level oaks and pines4 ,god's strength is gentle strength1 and ours is likest ,his when it is meek and lowly1 like that of the 'strong ,son of ,god4' ,ruth's great words may suggest1 too1 the surrender which is the natural language of true love4 ,her story comes in among all these records of bloodshed and hate1 like a bit of calm blue sky among piles of ragged thunder-clouds1 or a breath of fresh air in the oppressive atmosphere of a slaughter-house4 ,even in these wild times there was still a quiet corner where love could spread his wings4 ,the question has often been asked1 what the purpose of the ,book of ,ruth is1 and various answers have been given4 ,the genealogical table at the end1 showing ,david's descent from her1 the example which it supplies of the reception of a ,gentile into ,israel1 and other reasons for its presence in ,scripture1 have been alleged1 and1 no doubt1 correctly4 ,but the ,bible is a very human book1 just because it is a divine one2 and surely it would be no unworthy object to enshrine in its pages a picture of the noble working of that human love which makes so much of human life4 ,the hallowing of the family is a distinct purpose of the ,old ,testament1 and the beautiful example which this narrative gives of the elevating influence of domestic affection entitles it to a place in the canon4 ,how many hearts1 since ,ruth spoke her vow1 have found in it the words that fitted their love best6 ,how often they have been repeated by quivering lips1 and heard as music by loving ears6 ,how solemn1 and even awful1 is that perennial freshness of words which came hot and broken by tears1 from lips that have long ago mouldered into dust6 ,what has made them thus 'enduring for ever1' is that they express most purely the self-sacrifice which is essential to all noble love4 ,the very inmost longing of love is to give itself away to the object beloved4 ,it is not so much a desire to acquire as to bestow1 or1 rather1 the antithesis of giving and receiving melts into one action which has a twofold motion1--one outwards1 to give2 one inwards1 to receive4 ,to love is to give one's self away1 therefore all lesser givings are its food and delight2 and1 when ,ruth threw herself on ,naomi's withered breast1 and sobbed out her passionate resolve1 she was speaking the eternal language of love1 and claiming ,naomi for her own1 in the very act of giving herself to ,naomi1 ,human love should be the parent of all self-sacrificing as of all heroic virtues2 and in our homes we do not live in love1 as we ought1 unless it leads us to the daily exercise of self-suppression and surrender1 which is not felt to be loss but the natural expression of our love1 which it would be a crime against it1 and a pain to ourselves1 to withhold4 ,if ,ruth's temper lived in our families1 they would be true 'houses of ,god' and 'gates of heaven4' ,we hear in ,ruth's words also that forsaking of all things which is an essential of all true religion4 ,we have said that it was difficult to separate1 in the words1 the effects of love to ,naomi from those of adoption of ,naomi's faith4 ,apparently ,ruth's adhesion to the worship of ,jehovah was originally due to her love for her mother-in-law4 ,it is in order to be one with her in all things that she says1 ',thy ,god shall be my ,god4' ,and it was because ,jehovah was ,naomi's ,god that ,ruth chose ,him for hers4 ,but whatever the origin of her faith1 it was genuine and robust enough to bear the strain of casting ,chemosh and the gods of ,moab behind her1 and setting herself with full purpose of heart to seek the ,lord4 ,abandoning them was digging an impassable gulf between herself and all her past1 with its friendships1 loves1 and habits4 ,she is one of the first1 and not the least noble1 of the long series of those who 'suffer the loss of all things1 and count them but dung1 that they may win' ,god for their dearest treasure4 ,we have seen how1 in her1 human love wrought self-sacrifice4 ,but it was not human love alone that did it4 ,the cord that drew her was twisted of two strands1 and her love to ,naomi melted into her love of ,naomi's ,god4 ,blessed they who are drawn to the knowledge and love of the fountain of all love in heaven by the sweetness of the characters of ,his representatives in their homes1 and who feel that they have learned to know ,god by seeing ,him in dear ones1 whose tenderness has revealed ,his1 and whose gracious words have spoken of ,his grace6 ,if ,ruth teaches us that we must give up all1 in order truly to follow the ,lord1 the way by which she came to her religion may teach us how great are the possibilities1 and consequently the duties1 of ,christians to the members of their own families4 ,if we had more elder women like ,naomi1 we should have more younger women like ,ruth4 ,the self-sacrifice which is possible and blessed1 even to inferior natures1 at the bidding of love1 is too precious to be squandered on earthly objects4 ,men's capacities for it1 at the call of dear ones here1 should be the rebuke of their grudging surrender to ,god4 ,he gave the capacity that it might find its true field of operation in our relation to ,him4 ,but how much more ready we all are to give up everything for the sake of our ,naomis than for ,his sake3 and how we may be our own accusers1 if the measure of our devotion to them be contrasted with the measure of our devotion to ,god6 ,finally1 we may see1 in ,ruth's entrance into the religion of ,israel1 a picture of what was intended to be the effect of ,israel's relation with the ,gentile world4 ,the household of ,elimelech emigrated to ,moab in a famine1 and1 whether that were right or wrong1 they were there among heathens as ,jehovah worshippers4 ,they were meant to be missionaries1 and1 in ,ruth's case1 the purpose was fulfilled4 ,she became the 'first-fruits of the ,gentiles'2 and one aim of the book1 no doubt1 is to show how the believing ,gentile was to be incorporated into ,israel4 ,boaz rejoices over her1 and especially over her conversion1 and prays1 ',a full reward be given thee of ,jehovah1 the ,god of ,israel1 under whose wings thou art come to trust4' ,she is married to him1 and becomes the ancestress of ,david1 and1 through him1 of the ,messiah4 ,all this is a beautiful completion to the other side of the picture which the fierce fighting in ,judges makes prominent1 and teaches that ,israel's relation to the nations around was not to be one of mere antagonism1 but that they had another mission than destruction1 and were set in their land1 as the candlestick in the ,tabernacle1 that light might stream out into the darkness of the desert4 ,the story of the ,moabitess1 whose blood flowed in ,david's veins1 was a standing protest against the later narrow exclusiveness which called ,gentiles 'dogs1' and prided itself on outward connection with the nation1 in the exact degree in which it lost real union with the nation's ,god1 and real understanding of the nation's mission4 ,we have left ourselves no space to speak of the remainder of this passage1 which is of less importance4 ,it gives us a lively picture of the stir in the little town of ,bethlehem1 as the two way-worn women came into it1 in their strange attire1 and attracting notice by travelling alone4 ,as we have observed1 'they said1' in verse #ai1 is feminine4 ,the women of the village buzzed round the strangers1 as they sat in silence1 perhaps by that well at the gate1 of which1 long after1 ,david longed to drink4 ,wonder1 curiosity1 and possibly a spice of malice1 mingle in the question1 ',is this ,naomi8' ,it is heartless1 at any rate2 it had been better to have found them food and shelter than to have let them sit1 the mark for sharp tongues4 ,naomi's bitter words seem to be moved partly by a sense of the coldness of the reception4 ,she realises that she has indeed come back to a changed world1 where there will be little sympathy except such as ,ruth can give4 ,it is with almost passion that she abjures her name ',pleasant1' as a satire on her woful lot1 and bids them call her ',bitter1' as truer to fact now4 ,the burst of sorrow is natural1 as she finds herself again where she had been a wife and mother1 and 'remembers happier things4' ,her faith wavers1 and her words almost reproach ,god4 ,the exaggerations in which memory is apt to indulge colour them4 ',i went out full4' ,she has forgotten that they 'went out' to seek for bread4 ,she only remembers that four went away1 and three sleep in ,moab4 ,possibly she thinks of their emigration as a sin1 and traces her dear ones' deaths to ,god's displeasure on its account4 ,his 'testifying' against her probably means that ,his providence in bereaving her witnessed to ,his disapprobation4 ,but1 whether that be so or not1 her wild words are not those of a patient sufferer1 who bows to ,his will4 ,but true faith may sometimes break down1 and ,ruth's 'trusting under the wings of ,jehovah' is proof enough that1 in the long years of lonely sorrow1 ,naomi's example had shown how peaceful and safe was the shelter there4 ,,the ,,first ,,book ,,of ,,samuel ,,the ,,child ,,prophet ',and the child ,samuel ministered unto the ,lord before ,eli4 ,and the word of the ,lord was precious in those days2 there was no open vision4 #b4 ,and it came to pass at that time1 when ,eli was laid down in his place1 and his eyes began to wax dim1 that he could not see2 #h4 ,and ere the lamp of ,god went out in the temple of the ,lord1 where the ark of ,god was1 and ,samuel was laid down to sleep2 #d4 ,that the ,lord called ,samuel3 and he answered1 ,here am ,i4 #e4 ,and he ran onto ,eli1 and said1 ,here am ,i2 for thou calledst me4 ,and he said1 ,i called not2 lie down again4 ,and he went and lay down4 #f4 ,and the ,lord called yet again1 ,samuel4 ,and ,samuel arose and went to ,eli1 and said1 ,here am ,i2 for thou didst call me4 ,and he answered1 ,i called not1 my son2 lie down again4 #g4 ,now ,samuel did not yet know the ,lord1 neither was the word of the ,lord yet revealed unto him4 #h4 ,and the ,lord called ,samuel again the third time4 ,and he arose and went to ,eli1 and said1 ,here am ,i2 for thou didst call me4 ,and ,eli perceived that the ,lord had called the child4 #i4 ,therefore ,eli said unto ,samuel1 ,go1 lie down3 and it shall be1 if ,he call thee1 that thou shalt say1 ,speak1 ,lord2 for ,thy servant heareth4 ,so ,samuel went and lay down in his place4 #aj4 ,and the ,lord came1 and stood1 and called as at other times1 ,samuel1 ,samuel4 ,then ,samuel answered1 ,speak2 for ,thy servant heareth4 #aa4 ,and the ,lord said to ,samuel1 ,behold1 ,i will do a thing in ,israel1 at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle4 #ab4 ,in that day ,i will perform against ,eli all things which ,i have spoken concerning his house3 when ,i begin1 ,i will also make an end4 #ac4 ,for ,i have told him that ,i will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth2 because his sons made themselves vile1 and he restrained them not4 #ad4 ,and therefore ,i have sworn unto the house of ,eli1 that the iniquity of ,eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever4'--#a ,,samuel ill4 #a-ad4 ,the opening words of this passage are substantially repeated from #a ,samuel ii4 #aa1ah4 ,they come as a kind of refrain1 contrasting the quiet1 continuous growth and holy service of the child ,samuel with the black narrative of ,eli's riotous sons4 ,while the hereditary priests were plunging into debauchery1 and making men turn away from the ,tabernacle services1 ,hannah's son was ministering unto the ,lord1 and1 though no priest1 was 'girt with an ephod4' ,this white flower blossomed on a dunghill4 ,the continuous growth of a character1 from a child serving ,god1 and to old age walking in the same path1 is the great lesson which the story of ,samuel teaches us4 ',the child is father of the man1' and all his long days are 'bound each to each' by true religion4 ,there are two types of experience among ,god's greatest servants4 ,paul1 made an ,apostle from a persecutor1 heads the one class4 ,timothy in the ,new ,testament and ,samuel in the ,old1 represent the other4 ,an ,augustine or a ,bunyan is made the more earnest1 humble1 and whole-hearted by the remembrance of a wasted youth and of ,god's arresting mercy4 ,but there are a serenity and continuity about a life which has grown up in the fear of ,god that have their own charm and blessing4 ,it is well to have 'much transgression' forgiven1 but it may be better to have always been 'innocent' and ignorant of it4 ,pardon cleanses sin1 and even turns the memory of it into an ally of holiness2 but traces are left on character1 and1 at the best1 years have been squandered which do not return4 ,samuel is the pattern of child religion and service1 to which teachers should aim that their children may be conformed4 ,how beautifully his double obedience is expressed in the simple words6 ,his service was 'unto the ,lord1' and it was 'before ,eli'2 that is to say1 he learned his work from the old man1 and in obeying him he served ,god4 ,the child's religion is largely obedience to human guides1 and he serves ,god best by doing what he is bid1--a lesson needed in our days by both parents and children4 ,samuel's peaceful service is contrasted1 in the second half of the first verse1 with the sad cessation of divine revelations in that dreary time of national laxity4 ,a demoralised priesthood1 an alienated people1 a silent ,god1--these are the outstanding features of the period when this fair life of continuous worship unfolded itself4 ,this flower grew in a desert4 ,the voice of ,god had become a tradition of the past1 not an experience of the present4 ',rare' conveys the idea better than 'precious4' ,the intention is not to tell the estimate in which the word was held1 but the infrequency of its utterance1 as appears from the following parallel clause4 ,the fact is mentioned in order to complete the picture of ,samuel's 'environment' to fling into relief against that background his service1 and to prepare the way for the narrative of the beginning of an epoch of divine speech4 ,when priests are faithless and people careless1 ,god's voice will often sound from lowly childlike lips4 ,the man who is to be ,his instrument in carrying on ,his work will often come from the very centre of the old order1 into which he is to breathe new life1 and on which he is to impress a new stamp4 ,the artless description of the night in the ,tabernacle is broken by the more general notice of ,eli's dim sight1 which the ,revised ,version rightly throws into a parenthesis4 ,it is somewhat marred1 too1 by the transposition which the ,authorised ,version1 following some more ancient ones1 has made1 in order to avoid saying1 as the ,hebrew plainly does1 that ,samuel slept in the ',temple of the ,lord1 where the ark was4' ,the picture is much more vivid and tender1 if we conceive of the dim-eyed old man1 lying somewhat apart2 of the glimmering light1 nearly extinct but still faintly burning2 and of the child laid to sleep in the ,tabernacle4 ,surely the picturesque contrast between the sanctity of the ark and the innocent sleep of childhood is meant to strike us1 and to serve as connecting the place with the subsequent revelation4 ,childlike hearts1 which thus quietly rest in the 'secret place of the ,most ,high1' and day and night are near ,his ark1 will not fail of hearing ,his voice4 ,he sleeps secure who sleeps 'beneath the shadow of the ,almighty4' ,may not these particulars1 too1 be meant to have some symbolic significance8 ,night hung over the nation4 ,the spiritual eye of the priest was dim1 and the order seemed growing old and decrepit1 but the lamp of ,god had not altogether gone out2 and if ,eli was growing blind1 ,samuel was full of fresh young life4 ,the darkest hour is that before the dawn2 and that silent sanctuary1 with the slumbering old half-blind priest and the expiring lamp1 may stand for an emblem of the state of ,israel4 ,the thrice-repeated and misunderstood call may yield lessons of value4 ,we note the familiar form of the call4 ,there is no vision1 no symbol of the divine glory1 such as other prophets had1 but an articulate voice1 so human-like that it is thought to be ,eli's4 ,such a kind of call fitted the child's stature best4 ,we note the swift1 cheery obedience to what he supposes to be ,eli's voice4 ,he sprang up at once1 and 'ran to ,eli1'--a pretty picture of cheerful service1 grudging not his broken sleep1 which1 no doubt1 had often been similarly broken by similar calls4 ,perhaps it was in order to wait on ,eli1 quite as much as to tend the lamp or open the gates1 that the singular arrangement was made of his sleeping in the ,temple2 and the reason for the previous parenthesis about ,eli's blindness may have been to explain why ,samuel slept near him4 ,where were ,eli's sons8 ,they should have been their father's attendants1 and the watchers 'by night 444 in the house of the ,lord'2 but they were away rioting1 and the care of both ,temple and priest was left to a child4 ,the old man's heart evidently went out to the boy4 ,how tenderly he bids him lie down again6 ,how affectionately he calls him 'my son1' as if he was already beginning to feel that this was his true successor1 and not the blackguards that were breaking his heart6 ,the two were a pair of friends3 on the one side were sedulous care and swift obedience by night and by day2 on the other were affection and a discernment of coming greatness1 made the clearer by the bitter contrast with his own children's lives4 ,the old and the young are good companions for one another1 and often understand each other better and help each other more than either does his contemporaries4 ,samuel mistook ,god's voice for ,eli's1 as we all often do4 ,and not less often we make the converse blunder1 and mistake ,eli's voice for ,god's4 ,it needs a very attentive ear1 and a heart purged from selfishness and self-will1 and ready for obedience1 to know when ,god speaks1 though men may be ,his mouthpieces1 and when men speak1 though they may call themselves ,his messengers4 ,the child's mistake was venial4 ,it is less pardonable and more dangerous when repeated by us4 ,if we would be guarded against it1 we must be continually where ,samuel was1 and we must not sleep in the ,temple1 but 'watch and be sober4' ,eli's perception that it was ,god who spoke must have had a pang in it4 ,it is not easy for the old to recognise that the young hear ,god's voice more clearly than they1 nor for the superior to be glad when he is passed over and new truth dawns on the inferior4 ,but1 if there were any such feeling1 it is silenced with beautiful self-abnegation1 and he tells the wondering child the meaning of the voice and the answer he must make4 ,what higher service can any man do to his fellows1 old or young1 than to help them to discern ,god's call and to obey it8 ,what nobler conception of a teacher's work is there than that8 ,eli heard no voice1 from which we may probably conclude that1 however real the voice1 it was not audible to sense2 but he taught ,samuel to interpret and answer the voice which he heard1 and thus won some share of a prophet's reward4 ,with what expectation in his young heart ,samuel lay down again in his place6 ,this time there is an advance in the form of the call1 for only now do we read that the ,lord 'came1 and stood1 and called' as before4 ,a manifestation1 addressed to the inward eye1 accompanied that to the ear4 ,there is no attempt at describing1 nor at softening down1 the frank 'anthropomorphism' of the representation1 which is the less likely to mislead the more complete it is4 ,samuel had heard ,him before2 he sees ,him now1 and mistake is impossible4 ,but there is no terror nor recoil from the presence4 ,the child's simplicity saves from that1 and the child's purity2 for his little life had been a growing in service and 'in favour with ,god and man4' ,the answer that came from the child's lips meant far more than the child knew4 ,it is the answer which we are all bound to make4 ,let us see how deep and wide its scope is4 ,it expresses the entire surrender of the will to the will of ,god4 ,that is the secret of all peace and nobleness4 ,there is nothing happy or great for man in this world but to love and do ,god's will4 ,all else is nought4 ,this is solid4 ',the world passeth away1 444 but he that doeth the will of ,god abideth for ever4' ,everything besides is show and delusion1 and a life directed to it is fleeting as the cloud-wrack that sweeps across the sky1 and1 whether it is shone on or is black1 is equally melting away4 ,happy the child who begins with such surrender of self to be ,god's instrument1 and who1 like ,samuel1 can stand up at the end and challenge men's judgment on his course6 ,the answer vows prompt obedience to yet undisclosed duty4 ,god ever calls ,his servants to tasks which only by degrees are made known4 ,so ,paul in his conversion was bid to go into ,damascus1 and there learn what more he was to do4 ,we must first put ourselves in ,god's hands1 and then ,he will lead us round the turn in the road1 and show us our work4 ,we get it set for us bit by bit1 but the surrender must be entire4 ,the details of ,his will are revealed as we need them for the moment's guidance4 ,let us accept them in bulk1 and stand to the acceptance in each single case6 ,that is no obedience at all which says1 ',tell me first what you are going to bid me do1 and then ,i will see whether ,i will do it4' ,the true spirit of filial submission says1 ',i delight to do ,thy will2 now show me what it is4' ,it was a strange1 long road on which ,samuel put his foot when he answered this call1 and he little knew where it was to lead him4 ,but the blessing of submission is that we do not need to know4 ,it is enough to see where to put our lifted foot4 ,what comes next we can let ,god settle4 ,the answer supplicated further light because of present obedience4 ',speak6 for ,thy servant heareth1' is a plea never urged in vain4 ,the servant's open ear is a reason for the ,lord's open lips4 ,we may be quite sure that1 if we are willing to hear1 ,he is more than willing to speak2 and anything is possible rather than that ,his children shall be left1 like ill-commanded soldiers on a battlefield1 waiting for orders which never come4 ',if any man willeth to do ,his will1 he shall know4' ,the sad prophecy which is committed to such apparently incongruous lips reiterates a former message by 'a man of ,god4' ,eli was a kindly1 and1 in his way1 good man1 but wanting in firmness1 and acquiescent in evil1 partly1 perhaps1 from lack of moral courage and partly from lack of fervent religion4 ,he is not charged with faults in his own administration of his office1 but with not curbing his disreputable sons4 ,the threatenings are directed1 not against himself1 but against his 'house1' who are to be removed from the high priestly office4 ,nothing less than a revolution is foretold4 ,the deposition of ,eli's family would shake the whole framework of society4 ,it is to be utterly destroyed1 and no sacrifice nor offering can purge it4 ,the ulcer must have eaten deep which required such stern measures for its excision4 ,the sin was mainly the sons'2 but the guilt was largely the father's4 ,we may learn how cruel paternal laxity is1 and how fatal mischief may be done1 by neglect of the plain duty of restraining children4 ,he who tolerates evil which it is his province to suppress1 is an accomplice1 and the blood of the doers is red on his hands4 ,it was a terrible message to give to a child2 but ,samuel's calling was to be the guide of ,israel in a period of transition1 and he had to be broken early into the work1 which needed severity as well as tenderness4 ,perhaps1 too1 the stern message was somewhat softened1 for the poor old man1 by the lips through which it came to him4 ,all that reverent love could do1 we may be sure1 the young prophet would do1 to lighten the heavy tidings4 ,secrecy would be secured1 too2 for ,samuel1 who was so unwilling to tell even ,eli what the ,lord had said1 would tell none besides4 ,god calls each child in our homes as truly as ,he did ,samuel4 ,from each the same obedience is asked4 ,each may1 like the boy in the ,tabernacle1 grow up 'in the nurture and admonition of the ,lord1' and so escape the many scars and sorrows of a life wrongly begun4 ,let parents see to it that they think rightly of their work1 and do not content themselves with conveying information1 but aim at nothing short of helping all their children to hear and lovingly to yield to the gentle call of the incarnate ,god6 ,,faithlessness ,,and ,,defeat ',and the word of ,samuel came to all ,israel4 ,now ,israel went out against the ,philistines to battle1 and pitched beside ,eben-ezer3 and the ,philistines pitched in ,aphek4 #b4 ,and the ,philistines put themselves in array against ,israel3 and when they joined battle1 ,israel was smitten before the ,philistines3 and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men4 #c4 ,and when the people were come into the camp1 the elders of ,israel said1 ,wherefore hath the ,lord smitten us today before the ,philistines8 ,let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the ,lord out of ,shiloh unto us1 that1 when it cometh among us1 it may save us out of the hand of our enemies4 #d4 ,so the people sent to ,shiloh1 that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the ,lord of hosts1 which dwelleth between the cherubims3 and the two sons of ,eli1 ,hophni and ,phinehas1 were there with the ark of the covenant of ,god4 #e4 ,and when the ark of the covenant of the ,lord came into the camp1 all ,israel shouted with a great shout1 so that the earth rang again4 #f4 ,and when the ,philistines heard the noise of the shout1 they said1 ,what meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the ,hebrews8 ,and they understood that the ark of the ,lord was come into the camp4 #g4 ,and the ,philistines were afraid1 for they said1 ,god is come into the camp4 ,and they said1 ,woe unto us6 for there hath not been such a thing heretofore4 #h4 ,woe unto us6 who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods8 these are the gods that smote the ,egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness4 #i4 ,be strong1 and quit yourselves like men1 ,o ye ,philistines1 that ye be not servants unto the ,hebrews1 as they have been to you3 quit yourselves like men1 and fight4 #aj4 ,and the ,philistines fought1 and ,israel was smitten1 and they fled every man into his tent3 and there was a very great slaughter2 for there fell of ,israel thirty thousand footmen4 #aa4 ,and the ark of ,god was taken2 and the two sons of ,eli1 ,hophni and ,phinehas1 were slain4 #ab4 ,and there ran a man of ,benjamin out of the army1 and came to ,shiloh the same day with his clothes rent1 and with earth upon his head4 #ac4 ,and when he came1 lo1 ,eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching3 for his heart trembled for the ark of ,god4 ,and when the man came into the city1 and told it1 all the city cried out4 #ad4 ,and when ,eli heard the noise of the crying1 he said1 ,what meaneth the noise of this tumult8 ,and the man came in hastily1 and told ,eli4 #ae4 ,now ,eli was ninety and eight years old2 and his eyes were dim1 that he could not see4 #af4 ,and the man said unto ,eli1 ,i am he that came out of the army1 and ,i fled to-day out of the army4 ,and he said1 ,what is there done1 my son8 #ag4 ,and the messenger answered and said1 ,israel is fled before the ,philistines1 and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people1 and thy two sons also1 ,hophni and ,phinehas1 are dead1 and the ark of ,god ,is taken4 #ah4 ,and it came to pass1 when he made mention of the ark of ,god1 that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate1 and his neck brake1 and he died3 for he was an old man1 and heavy4 ,and he had judged ,israel forty years4'--#a ,,samuel iv4 #a-ah4 ,the first words of verse #a are closely connected with the end of chapter iii41 and complete the account of ,samuel's inauguration4 ',the word of the ,lord' came to ,samuel1 and 'the word of ,samuel came to all ,israel4' ,the one clause tells of the prophet's inspiration1 the other of his message and its reception by the nation4 ,this bond of union between the clauses has been broken by the chapter division1 apparently for the sake of representing the revolt against the ,philistines as due to ,samuel's instigation4 ,but its being so is very doubtful4 ,if ,god had sent the army into the field1 ,he would have prepared it1 by penitent return to ,him1 for victory1 as no defeat follows on war which ,he commands4 ,probably ,samuel's mission made an unwholesome ferment in minds which were quite untouched by its highest significance1 and so led to a precipitate rebellion1 preceded by no religious reformation1 and therefore sure to fail4 ,it was twenty years too soon 7#a ,sam4 vii4 #c74 ,samuel took no part in the struggle1 and his name is never mentioned till1 at the end of that period1 he emphatically condemns all that had been done1 and points the true path of deliverance1 in 'return to the ,lord with all your heart4' ,so the great lesson of this story is that when ,israel fights ,philistines1 unbidden and unrepentant1 it is sure to be beaten1--a truth with manifold wide applications4 ,the first disastrous defeat took place on a field1 which was afterwards made memorable by a great victory1 and by a name which lives still as a watchword for hope and gratitude4 ,happy they who at last conquer where they once failed1 and in the retrospect can say1 ',hitherto the ,lord helped1' both by defeat and by the victory for which defeat prepared a way6 ,that opening struggle1 bloody and grave as it was1 was not decisive2 for the ,israelites regained their fortified camp unmolested1 and held together1 and kept their communications open1 as appears from what followed4 ,verses #c to #e give us a glimpse into the camp of ,israel1 and verses #f to #i into that of the ,philistines4 ,these two companion pictures are worth looking at4 ,the two armies are very much alike1 and we may say that the purpose of the picture is to show how ,israel was practically heathen1 taking just the same views of its relation to ,god which the ,philistines did4 ,note1 too1 the absence of central authority4 ',the elders' hold a kind of council4 ,where were ,eli the judge and ,samuel the prophet8 ,neither had part in this war4 ,the question of the elders was right1 inasmuch as it recognised that the ,lord had smitten them1 but wrong inasmuch as it betrayed that they had not the faintest notion that the reason was their own moral and religious apostasy4 ,they had not learned the ,a ,b ,c of their history1 and of the conditions of national prosperity4 ,they stand precisely on the ,pagan level1 believing in a national ,god1 who ought to help his votaries1 but from some inexplicable caprice does not2 or who1 perhaps1 is angry at the omission of some ritual observance4 ,what an answer they would have got if ,samuel had been there6 ,there ought to have been no need for the question1 or1 rather1 there was need for it1 and the answer ought to have been clear to them2 their sin was the all-sufficient reason for their defeat4 ,there are plenty of ,christians1 like these elders1 who1 when they find themselves beaten by the world and the devil1 puzzle their brains to invent all sorts of reasons for ,god's smiting1 except the true one1--their own departure from ,him4 ,the remedy suggested by the united wisdom of the leaders was as heathen as the consultation which resulted in it4 ',let us send for the ark' ',those who regarded not the ,god of the ark1' says ,bishop ,hall1 'think themselves safe and happy in the ark of ,god4' ,they thought1 with that confusion between symbol and reality which runs through all heathen worship1 and makes the danger of 'images1' whether in heathenism or in sensuous ,christianity1 that if they brought the ark1 they brought ,god with it4 ,it was a kind of charm1 which would help them1 they hardly knew how4 ,its very name might have taught them better4 ,they call it 'the ark of the covenant of the ,lord'2 and a covenant has two parties to it1 and promises favour on conditions4 ,if they had kept the conditions1 these four thousand corpses would not have been lying stiff and stark outside the rude encampment4 ,as they did not keep them1 bringing the chest which contained the transcript of them into their midst was bringing a witness of their apostasy1 not a helper of their feebleness4 ,repentance would have brought ,god4 ,dragging the ark thither only removed ,him farther away4 ,we need not be too hard upon these people2 for the natural disposition of us all is to trust to the externals of worship1 and to put a punctilious attention to these in the place of a true cleaving of heart to the ,god who dwells near us1 and is in us and on our side1 if we cling to ,him with penitent love4 ,even ,god-appointed symbols become snares4 ,baptism and the ,lord's ,supper are treated by multitudes as these elders did the ark4 ,the fewer and simpler the outward observances of worship are1 the less danger is there of the poor sense-bound soul tarrying in them1 instead of passing by means of them into the higher1 purer air beyond4 ,what right had these presumptuous elders to bring the ark from ,shiloh8 ,eli was its guardian2 and he1 as appears probable from his anxiety about its fate1 did not approve of its removal4 ,but 'the people' took the law into their own hands4 ,there seems some hint that their action was presumptuous profanation1 in the solemn1 full title given in verse #d3 ',the ark of the covenant of the ,lord of ,hosts which dwelleth between the cherubim1'--as if contrasting ,his awful majesty1 ,his universal dominion over the armies of heaven and the embattled powers of the universe1 and the dazzling light of that 'glory1' which shone in the innermost chamber of the ,tabernacle1 with the unanointed hands that presumed to press in thither and drag so sacred a thing into the light of common day and the tumult of the camp4 ,nor is the profanation lessened1 but rather increased1 by the priestly attendants1 ,eli's two sons1 themselves amongst the worst men in ,israel4 ,when ,hophni and ,phinehas are its priests1 the ark can bring no help4 ,heathenism separates religion from morality altogether4 ,in it there is no connection between worship and purity1 and the ,old ,testament religion for the first time welded these two inseparably together4 ,that tumultuous procession from ,shiloh1 with these two profligates for the priests of ,god1 and the bearers thinking that they were sure of their ,god's favour now1 whatever their sin1 shows how completely ,israel had forgotten its own law1 and1 whilst professedly worshipping ,jehovah1 had really become a heathen people4 ,the reception of the ark with that fierce shout1 which echoed among the hills and was heard in the ,philistines' encampment1 shows the same thing4 ,not so should the ark have been received1 but with tears and confessions and silent awe4 ,no man in all that host had ever looked upon it before4 ,no man ought to have seen it then4 ,once a year1 and not without blood sprinkled on its cover1 the high priest might look on it through the cloud of incense which kept him from death1 while all the people waited hushed till he came forth1 but now it is dragged into the camp1 and welcomed with a yell of mad delight1 as a pledge of victory4 ,what could display more strikingly the practical heathenism of the people8 ,verses #f to #i take us into the other camp1 and show us the undisguised heathens4 ,the ,philistines think just as the other side did1 only1 in their polytheistic way1 they do not use the name ',jehovah1' but speak first of ',god' and then of 'gods' as having arrived in the camp4 ,the nations dreaded each other's gods1 though they worshipped their own2 and the ,philistines believed quite as much that ',jehovah' was the ,hebrew's ,god1 as that ',dagon' was theirs4 ,there was to be a duel then between the two superhuman powers4 ,the vague reports which they had heard of the ,exodus1 nearly five hundred years ago1 filled the ,philistines with panic4 ,they had but a confused notion of the facts of that old story1 and thought that ,egypt had met the ten plagues 'in the wilderness4' ,the blunder is very characteristic1 and helps to show the accuracy of our narrative4 ,it would not have occurred to a legend-maker4 ,it sounds strange to us that the ,philistines' belief that the ,hebrews' ,god had come to their help should issue in exhortations to 'fight like men4' ,but polytheism makes that quite a natural conclusion2 and there is something almost fine in the truculent boldness with which they set their teeth for a fierce struggle4 ,they reiterate to one another the charge to 'quit themselves like men'2 and while they do not hide from themselves that the question whether they are to be still masters is hanging on the coming struggle1 a dash of contempt for the ',hebrews' who had been their 'slaves' is perceptible4 ,according to verse #aj1 the ,philistines appear to have begun the attack1 perhaps taking the enemy by surprise4 ,the rout this time was complete4 ,the grim catalogue of disaster in verses #aj and #aa is strangely tragic in its dreadful1 monotonous plainness1 each clause adding something to the terrible story1 and each linked to the preceding by a simple 'and4' ,the ,israelites seem to have been scattered4 ',they fled1 every man to his tent4' ,the army1 with little cohesion and no strong leaders1 melted away4 ,the ark was captured1 and its two unworthy attendants slain4 ,bringing it had not brought ,god1 then4 ,it was but a chest of shittimwood1 with two slabs of lettered stone in it1--and what help was in that8 ,but its capture was the sign that the covenant with ,israel was for the time annulled4 ,the whole framework of the nation was disorganised4 ,the keystone was struck out of their worship1 and they had fallen1 by their own sin1 to the level of the nations1 and even below these2 for they had their gods1 but ,israel had turned away from their ,god1 and ,he had departed from them4 ,superstition fancied that the presence of the ark secured to impenitent men the favour of ,god2 but it was no superstition which saw in its absence from ,shiloh ,his averted face4 ,is there in poetry or drama a more vivid and pathetic passage than the closing verses of this narrative1 which tell of the panting messenger and the old blind ,eli8 ',eben-ezer' cannot have been very far from ,shiloh1 for the fugitive had seen the end of the fight1 and reached the city before night4 ,he came with the signs of mourning1 and1 as it would appear from verse #ac1 passed the old man at the gate without pausing1 and burst into the city with his heavy tidings4 ,one can almost hear the shrill shrieks of wrath and despair which first told ,eli that something was wrong4 ,blind and unwieldy and heavy-hearted1 he sat by the gate to which the news would first come2 but yet he is the last to hear1--perhaps because all shrank from telling him1 perhaps because in the confusion no one remembered him4 ,only after he had asked the meaning of the tumult1 of which his foreboding heart and conscience told him the meaning before it was spoken1 is the messenger brought to the man to whom he should have gone first4 ,how touchingly the story pauses1 even at this crisis1 to paint the poor old man6 ,a stronger word is used to describe his blindness than in #a ,samuel iii4 #b1 as the ,revised ,version shows4 ,his fixed eyeballs were sightless now2 and there he sat1 dreading and longing to hear4 ,the fugitive's account of himself is shameless in its avowal of his cowardice1 and prepares ,eli for the worst4 ,but note how he speaks gently and with a certain dignity1 crushing down his anxiety1--',how went the matter1 my son8' ,then1 with no merciful circumlocution or veiling1 out comes the whole dismal story once again4 ,eli spoke no more4 ,his sons' death had been the sign given him years before that the threatenings against his house should be fulfilled2 but even that blow he can bear4 ,but the capture of the ark is more than a personal sorrow1 and his start of horror overbalances him1 and he falls from his seat 7which probably had no back to it71 and dies1 silent1 of a broken neck and a broken heart4 ,his forty years of judgeship ended thus4 ,he was in many respects good and lovable1 gentle1 courteous1 devout4 ,his kindly treatment of ,hannah1 his fatherly training of ,samuel1 his submission to the divine message through the child1 his 'trembling for the ark1' his death at the news of its being taken1 all indicate a character of real sweetness and true godliness4 ,but all was marred by a fatal lack of strong1 stern resolve to tolerate no evil which he ought to suppress4 ,good1 weak men1 especially when they let foolish tenderness hinder righteous severity1 bring terrible evils on themselves1 their families1 and their nation4 ,it was ,eli who1 at bottom1 was the cause of the defeat and the disasters which slew his sons and broke his own heart4 ,nothing is more cruel than the weak indulgence which1 when men are bringing a curse on themselves by their sin1 'restrains them not4' ,,repentance ,,and ,,victory ',and the men of ,kirjath-jearim came1 and fetched up the ark of the ,lord1 and brought it into the house of ,abinadab in the hill1 and sanctified ,eleazar his son to keep the ark of the ,lord4 #b4 ,and it came to pans1 while the ark abode in ,kirjath-jearim1 that the time was long2 for it was twenty years3 and all the house of ,israel lamented after the ,lord4 #c4 ,and ,samuel spake unto all the house of ,israel1 saying1 ,if ye do return unto the ,lord with all your hearts1 then put away the strange gods and ,ashtaroth from among you1 and prepare your hearts unto the ,lord1 and serve ,him only3 and ,he will deliver you out of the hand of the ,philistines4 #d4 ,then the children of ,israel did put away ,baalim and ,ashtaroth1 and served the ,lord only4 #e4 ,and ,samuel said1 ,gather all ,israel to ,mizpeh1 and ,i will pray for you unto the ,lord4 #f4 ,and they gathered together to ,mizpeh1 and drew water1 and poured it out before the ,lord1 and fasted on that day1 and said there1 ,we have sinned against the ,lord4 ,and ,samuel judged the children of ,israel in ,mizpeh4 #g4 ,and when the ,philistines heard that the children of ,israel were gathered together to ,mizpeh1 the lords of the ,philistines went up against ,israel4 ,and when the children of ,israel heard it1 they were afraid of the ,philistines4 #h4 ,and the children of ,israel said to ,samuel1 ,cease not to cry unto the ,lord our ,god for us1 that ,he will save us out of the hand of the ,philistines4 #i4 ,and ,samuel took a sucking lamb1 and offered it for a burnt-offering wholly unto the ,lord3 and ,samuel cried unto the ,lord for ,israel2 and the ,lord heard him4 #aj4 ,and as ,samuel was offering up the burnt-offering1 the ,philistines drew near to battle against ,israel3 but the ,lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the ,philistines1 and discomfited them3 and they were smitten before ,israel4 #aa4 ,and the men of ,israel went out of ,mizpeh1 and pursued the ,philistines1 and smote them1 until they came under ,beth-car4 #ab4 ,then ,samuel took a stone1 and set it between ,mizpeh and ,shen1 and called the name of it ,eben-ezer1 saying1 ,hitherto hath the ,lord helped us4'-#a ,,samuel vii #a-ab4 ,the ark had spread disaster in ,philistia and ,beth-shemesh1 and the willingness of the men of ,kirjath-jearim to receive it was a token of their devotion4 ,they must have been in some measure free from idolatry and penetrated with reverence4 ,the name of the city 7,city of the ,woods1 like our ,woodville7 suggests the situation of the little town1 'bosomed high in tufted trees1' where the ark lay for so long1 apparently without sacrifices1 and simply watched over by ,eleazar1 who was probably of the house of ,aaron4 ,eli's family was exterminated2 ,shiloh seems to have been destroyed1 or1 at all events1 forsaken2 and for twenty years internal disorganisation and foreign oppression1 relieved only by ,samuel's growing influence1 prevailed4 ,but during these dark days a better mind was slowly appearing among the people4 ',all 444 ,israel lamented after the ,lord4' ,lost blessings are precious4 ,god was more prized when withdrawn4 ,happy they to whom darkness brightens that ,light which brightens all darkness6 ,our text gives us three main points1--the preparation for victory in repentance and return 7verses #c-i72 the victory 7verses #aj1 #aa72 the thankful commemoration of victory 7verse #ab74 ,i4 ,we have first the preparation for victory in repentance and return4 ,at the time of the first fight at ,eben-ezer1 ,israel was full of idolatry and immorality4 ,then their preparation for battle was the mere bringing the ark into the camp1 as if it were a fetish or magic charm4 ,that was pure heathenism1 and they were idolaters in such worship of ,jehovah1 just as much as if they had been bowing to ,baal4 ,many of us rely on our baptism or on churchgoing precisely in the same spirit1 and are as truly pagans4 ,not the name of the ,deity1 but the spirit of the worshipper1 makes the 'idolater4' ,how different this second preparation6 ,samuel1 who had never been named in the narrative of defeat1 now reappears as the acknowledged prophet and1 in a sense1 dictator4 ,the first requirement is to come back to the ,lord 'with the whole heart1' and that return is to be practically exhibited in the complete forsaking of ,baal and the ,ashtoreths4 ',ye cannot serve ,god and mammon4' ,it must be ',him only1' if it is ,him at all4 ,real religion is exclusive1 as real love is4 ,in its very nature it is indivisible1 and if given to two is accepted by neither4 ,so there was some kind of general and perhaps public giving up of the idols1 and some1 though probably not the fully appointed1 public service of ,jehovah4 ,if we are to have ,his strength infused for victory1 we must cast away our idols1 and come back to ,him with all our hearts4 ,the hands that would clasp ,him1 and be upheld by the clasp1 must be emptied of trifles4 ,to yield ourselves wholly to ,god is the secret of strength4 ,the next step was a solemn national assembly at ,samuel's town of ,mizpeh1 situated on a conspicuous hill1 north-west of ,jerusalem1 which still is called 'the prophet ,samuel4' ,sacrifices were offered1 which are no part of the ,mosaic ritual4 ,a significant part of these consisted in the pouring out of water 'before the ,lord1' probably as emblematic of the pouring out of soul in penitence2 for it was accompanied by fasting and confession of sin4 ,the surest way to the true victory1 which is the conquest of our sins1 is confessing them to ,god4 ,when once we have seen any sin in its true character clearly enough to speak to ,him about it1 we have gone far to emancipate ourselves from it1 and have quickened our consciences towards more complete intolerance of its hideousness4 ,confession breaks the entail of sin1 and substitutes for the dreary expectation of its continuance the glad conviction of forgiveness and cleansing4 ,it does not make a stiff fight unnecessary2 for assured freedom from sin is not the easy prize of confession1 but the hard-won issue of sturdy effort in ,god's strength4 ,but it is like blowing the trumpet of revolt1--it gives the signal for1 and itself begins1 the conflict4 ,the night before the battle should be spent1 not in feasting1 but in prayer and lowly shriving of our souls before the great ,confessor4 ,the watchful ,philistines seem to have had their attention attracted by the unusual stir among their turbulent subjects1 and especially by this suspicious gathering at ,mizpeh1 and they come suddenly up the passes from their low-lying territory to disperse it4 ,a whiff of the old terror blows across the spirits of the people1 not unwholesomely2 for it sets them1 not to desire the outward presence of the ark1 not to run from their post1 but to beseech ,samuel's intercession4 ,they are afraid1 but they mean to fight all the same1 and1 because they are afraid1 they long for ,god's help4 ,that is the right temper1 which1 if a man cherish1 he will not be defeated1 however many ,philistines rush at him4 ,twenty years of slavery had naturally bred fear in them1 but it is a wise fear which breeds reliance on ,god4 ,our enemy is strong1 and no fault is more fatal than an underestimate of his power4 ,if we go into battle singing1 we shall probably come out of it weeping1 or never come out at all4 ,if we begin bragging1 we shall end bleeding4 ,it is only he who looks on the advancing foe1 and feels ',they are too strong for me1' who will have to say1 as he watches them retreating1 ',he delivered me from my strong enemy4' ,we should think much of our foes and little of ourselves4 ,such a temper will lead to caution1 watchfulness1 wise suspicion1 vigorous strain of all our little power1 and1 above all1 it will send us to our knees to plead with our great ,captain and ,advocate4 ,samuel acts as priest and intercessor1 offering a burnt-offering1 which1 like the pouring out of water1 is no part of the ,mosaic sacrifices4 ,the fact is plain1 but it is neither unaccountable nor large enough to warrant the sweeping inferences which have been drawn from it and its like1 as to the non-existence at this period of the developed ceremonial in ,leviticus4 ,we need only remember ,samuel's special office1 and the seclusion in which the ark lay1 to have a sufficient explanation of the cessation of the appointed worship and the substitution of such 'irregular' sacrifices4 ,we are on surer ground when we see here the incident to which ,psalm xcix4 #f refers 7',samuel among them that call upon ,his name4 ,they called upon the ,lord1 and ,he answered them'71 and when we learn the lesson that there is a power in intercession which we can use for one another1 and which reaches its perfection in the prevailing prayer of our great ,high-priest1 who1 like ,samuel and ,moses1 is on the mountain praying1 while we fight in the plain4 ,,ii4 ,we have next the victory on the field of the former defeat4 ,the battle is joined on the old ground4 ,strategic considerations probably determined the choice as they did in the case of the many battles on the plain of ,esdraelon1 for instance1 or on the fields of the ,netherlands4 ,probably the armies met on some piece of level ground in one of the wadies1 up which the ,philistines marched to the attack4 ,at all events1 there they were1 face to face once more on the old spot4 ,on both sides might be men who had been in the former engagement4 ,depressing remembrances or burning eagerness to wipe out the shame would stir in those on the one side2 contemptuous remembrance of the ease with which the last victory had been won would animate the other4 ,god ,himself helped them by the thunderstorm1 the solemn roll of which was 'the voice of the ,lord' answering ,samuel's prayer4 ,the ark had brought only defeat to the impure host2 the sacrifice brings victory to the penitent army4 ,observe that the defeat is accomplished before 'the men of ,israel went out of ,mizpeh4' ,god scattered the enemy1 and ,israel had only to pursue flying foes1 as they hurried in wild confusion down the pass1 with the lightning flashing behind them4 ,the same pregnant expression is used for the rout of the ,philistines as for the previous one of ,israel4 ',they were smitten before1' not by1 the victors4 ,the true victor was ,god4 ,the story gives boundless hope of victory1 even on the fields of our former defeats4 ,we can master rooted faults of character1 and overcome temptations which have often conquered us4 ,let no man say3 ',ah6 ,i have been beaten so often that ,i may as well give up the fight altogether4 ,years and years ,i have been a slave1 and everywhere ,i tread on old battlefields1 where ,i have come off second-best4 ,it will never be different4 ,i may as well cease struggling4' ,however obstinate the fault1 however often it has re-established its dominion and dragged us back to slavery1 when we thought that we had made good our escape1--that is no reason to 'bate one jot of heart or hope4' ,we have every reason to hope bravely and boundlessly in the possibility of victory4 ,true1 we should rightly despair if we had only our own powers to depend on4 ,but the grounds of our confidence lie in the inexhaustible fulness of ,god's ,spirit1 and the certain purpose of ,his will that we should be purified from all iniquity1 as well as in the proved tendency of the principles and motives of the gospel to produce characters of perfect goodness1 and1 above all1 in the sacrifice and intercession of our ,captain on high4 ,since we have ,christ to dwell in us1 and be the seed of a new life1 which will unfold into the likeness of that life from which it has sprung2 since we have a perfect ,example in ,him who became like us in lowliness of flesh1 that we might become like ,him in purity of spirit2 since we have a gospel which enjoins and supplies the mightiest motives for complete obedience2 and since the most rooted and inveterate evils are no part of ourselves1 but 'vipers' which may be 'shaken from the hand' into which they have struck their fangs1 we commit faithless treason against ,god1 ,his message1 and ourselves1 when we doubt that we shall overcome all our sins4 ,we should not1 then1 go into the fight downhearted1 with our banners drooping1 as if defeat sat on them4 ,the belief that we shall conquer has much to do with victory4 ,that is true in all sorts of conflicts4 ,so1 though the whole field may be strewed with relics1 eloquent of former disgrace1 we may renew the struggle with confidence that the future will not always copy the past4 ,we 'are saved by hope'2 by hope we are made strong4 ,it is the very helmet on our heads4 ,the warfare with our own evils should be waged in the assurance that every field of our defeat shall one day see set up on it the trophy of1 not our victory1 but ,god's in us4 ,,iii4 ,we have here the grateful commemoration of victory4 ,where that gray stone stands no man knows to-day1 but its name lives for ever4 ,this trophy bore no vaunts of leader's skill or soldier's bravery4 ,one name only is associated with it4 ,it is 'the stone of help1' and its message to succeeding generations is3 ',hitherto hath the ,lord helped us4' ,that ,hitherto' is the word of a mighty faith4 ,it includes as parts of one whole the disaster no less than the victory4 ,the ,lord was helping ,israel no less by sorrow and oppression than by joy and deliverance4 ,the defeat which guided them back to ,him was tender kindness and precious help4 ,he helps us by griefs and losses1 by disappointments and defeats2 for whatever brings us closer to ,him1 and makes us feel that all our bliss and wellbeing lie in knowing and loving ,him1 is helpful beyond all other aid1 and strength-giving above all other gifts4 ,such remembrance has in it a half-uttered prayer and hope for the future4 ',hitherto' means more than it says4 ,it looks forward as well as backward1 and sees the future in the past4 ,memory passes into hope1 and the radiance in the sky behind throws light on to our forward path4 ,god's 'hitherto' carries 'henceforward' wrapped up in it4 ,his past reveals the eternal principles which will mould ,his future acts4 ,he has helped1 therefore he will help1 is no good argument concerning men2 but it is valid concerning ,god4 ,the devout man's 'gratitude' is1 and ought to be1 'a lively sense of favours to come4' ,we should never doubt but that1 as good ,john ,newton puts it1 in words which bid fair to last longer than ,samuel's gray stone3-- ',each sweet ,ebenezer ,i have in review ,confirms ,his good pleasure to help me quite through4' ,we may write that on every field of our life's conflicts1 and have it engraved at last on our gravestones1 where we rest in hope4 ,the best use of memory is to mark more plainly than it could be seen at the moment the divine help which has filled our lives4 ,like some track on a mountain side1 it is less discernible to us1 when treading it1 than when we look at it from the other side of the glen4 ,many parts of our lives1 that seemed unmarked by any consciousness of ,god's help while they were present1 flash up into clearness when seen through the revealing light of memory1 and gleam purple in it1 while they looked but bare rocks as long as we were stumbling among them4 ,it is blessed to remember1 and to see everywhere ,god's help4 ,we do not remember aright unless we do4 ,the stone that commemorates our lives should bear no name but one1 and this should be all that is read upon it3 ',now unto ,him that kept us from falling1 unto ,him be glory6' ',,make ,,us ,a ,,king' ',then all the elders of ,israel gathered themselves together1 and came to ,samuel1 onto ,ramah1 #e4 ,and said unto him1 ,behold1 thou art old1 and thy sons walk not in thy ways3 now make us a king to judge us like all the nations4 #f4 ,but the thing displeased ,samuel1 when they said1 ,give us a king to judge us4 ,and ,samuel prayed unto the ,lord4 #g4 ,and the ,lord said unto ,samuel1 ,hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee3 for they have not rejected thee1 but they have rejected ,me1 that ,i should not reign over them4 #h4 ,according to all the works which they have done since the day that ,i brought them up out of ,egypt even unto this day1 wherewith they have forsaken ,me1 and served other gods1 so do they also unto thee4 #i4 ,now therefore hearken unto their voice3 howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them1 and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them4 #aj4 ,and ,samuel told all the words of the ,lord unto the people that asked of him a king4 #aa4 ,and he said1 ,this will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you3 ,he will take your sons1 and appoint them for himself1 for his chariots1 and to be his horsemen3 and some shall run before his chariots1 #ab4 ,and he will appoint him captains over thousands1 and captains over fifties2 and will set them to ear his ground1 and to reap his harvest1 and to make his instruments of war1 and instruments of his chariots4 #ac4 ,and he will take your daughters to be confectionaries1 and to be cooks1 and to be bakers4 #ad4 ,and he will take your fields1 and your vineyards1 and your oliveyards1 even the best of them1 and give them to his servants4 #ae4 ,and he will take the tenth of your seed1 and of your vineyards1 and give to his officers1 and to his servants4 #af4 ,and he will take your men-servants1 and your maid-servants1 and your goodliest young men1 and your asses1 and put them to his work4 #ag4 ,he will take the tenth of your sheep3 and ye shall be his servants4 #ah4 ,and ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you2 and the ,lord will not hear you in that day4 #ai4 ,nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of ,samuel2 and they said1 ,nay2 but we will have a king over us2 #bj4 ,that we also may be like all the nations2 and that our king may judge us1 and go out before us1 and fight our battles4'--,i ,,samuel viii4 #d-bj4 ,the office of judge was as little capable of transmission from father to son as that of prophet1 so that ,samuel's appointment of his sons as judges must be regarded as contrary to its true idea4 ,it was ,god who made the judges1 and the introduction1 in however slight a degree1 of the hereditary principle1 was not only politically a blunder1 but religiously wrong4 ,our narrative1 like ,scripture generally1 pronounces no opinion on the facts it records1 but its unfavourable judgment may be safely inferred from its explanation that ,samuel was 'old' when he made the appointment1 and that his sons were corrupt and unjust4 ,our text deals with the unexpectedly wide consequences of that act1 in the clamour for a king4 ,i4 ,note the ill-omened request4 ,a formal delegation of the representatives of the nation comes to ,ramah1 unsummoned by ,samuel1 with the demand for a king4 ,there must have been much talk through ,israel before the general mind could have been ascertained1 and this step taken4 ,not a whisper of what was passing seems to have reached ,samuel1 and the request is flung at him in harsh language4 ,it is not pleasant for any one1 least of all for a ruler1 to be told that everybody sees that he is getting old1 and should provide for what is to come next4 ,fathers do not like to be told that their sons are disreputable1 but ,samuel had to hear the bitter truth4 ,the old man was pained by it1 and felt that the people were tired of him1 as is plain enough from the divine words which followed1 and bade him look beyond the ingratitude displayed towards himself1 to that shown to ,god4 ,but from the 'practical' point of view1 there was a great deal to be said for the reasonableness and political wisdom of the elders' suggestion4 ,samuel had shown that he felt the danger of leaving the nation without a leader1 by his nomination of his sons1 and the proposal of a king is but carrying his policy a little farther4 ,the hereditary principle once admitted1 a full-blown king was evidently the best4 ,there were many inconveniences in the rule by judges4 ,they had no power but that of force of personal character and the authority of an unseen ,lord4 ,they left no successors2 and long intervals had elapsed1 and might again elapse1 between the death of one and the rise of another1 during which the nation appeared to have no head to guide nor arm to defend it4 ,examples of strong monarchies surrounded them1 and they wanted to have a centre of unity and a defender in the person of a king4 ,samuel's displeasure seems to have been mainly on the ground of the insult to himself in the proposal1 and its bearing on the rule of ,jehovah over the people does not seem to have occurred to him till it was pointed out by the divine voice4 ,but1 like a good and wise man1 he took his perplexity and trouble to ,god2 and there he got light4 ,the divine judgment of the request cuts down to its hidden1 and probably unconscious1 motive1 and shows ,samuel that weariness of him was only its surface1 while the true bottom of it was rejection of ,god4 ,the parallel drawn with idolatry is very instructive4 ,the two things were but diverse forms of the same sense-ridden disposition3 the one being an inability to grasp the thought of the unseen ,god2 the other1 a precisely similar inability to keep on the high level of trust in an unseen defender1 and obedience to an unseen monarch4 ,they wished for a king 'to go out before them' and 'fight their battles' 7v4 #bj74 ,had they forgotten ,eben-ezer1 and many another field1 where they and their fathers had but to stand still and see the ,lord fight for them8 ,the very same difficulty in living in quiet reliance on a power which is perceptible by no sense1 besets us4 ,we too are ever being tempted to prefer the solid security1 as our foolish senses call it1 of visible supports and delights1 to the shadowy help of an unseen ,arm4 ,how many of us would feel safer with a good balance at our banker's than with ,god's promises6 ,how many of us live as if we thought that men or women were better recipients of our love and of our trust than ,god6 ,how few1 even of professing ,christians1 really and habitually 'walk by faith1 not by sight'6 ,do we not see ourselves in the mirror of this story8 ,if we do not1 we should4 ,note that the elders had1 apparently1 no idea that they were rejecting ,god in wanting a king4 ,samuel says nothing of the sort to them1 and they could scarcely have made the request so boldly and briefly if they had been conscious that it was upsetting the very basis of their national life4 ,men are slow to appreciate the full force of their craving for visible good4 ,the petitioners could plead many strong reasons1 and1 no doubt1 fancied themselves simply taking proper precautions for the future4 ,a great deal of unavowed and unconscious unbelief wears the mask of wise foresight4 ,we rather pride ourselves on our prudence1 when we should be ashamed of our distrust4 ,note1 too1 that we cannot combine reliance on the seen and the unseen4 ,life must be moulded by one or the other4 ,the craving for a king was the rejection of ,jehovah4 ,we must elect by which we shall live1 and from which we shall draw our supreme good4 ,the desire to be like their neighbours was another motive with the elders4 ,it is hard to be singular1 and to foster reliance on the invisible1 when all around us are dazzling examples of the success attending the other course4 ,one of the first lessons which we have to learn1 and one of the last which we have to practise1 is a wholesome disregard of other people's ways4 ,if we are to do anything worth doing1 we must be content to be in a minority of one1 if needful4 ,,ii4 ,note ,god's concession of the foolish wish4 ,the divine word to ,samuel throws light on the nature of prophetic inspiration4 ,he is bidden to 'hearken to the people's voice'--a procedure directly opposite to his own ideas4 ,this is not a case of subsequent reflection modifying first impressions1 but of an authoritative voice discerned by the hearer to be not his own1 contradicting his own thoughts1 and leaving no room for further consideration4 ,further1 the granting to ,israel of the king whom they desired1 is but one instance of the law which is exemplified in ,god's dealing with nations and individuals1 according to which ,he lets them have their own way1 that they may 'be filled with their own devices4' ,such experience is the best teacher1 though her school fees are high4 ,the surest way to disgust men with their own folly1 is to let it work out its results1--just as boys in sweetmeat shops are allowed to eat as much as they like at first1 and so get a distaste for the dainties4 ',try it1 then1 and see how you like it1' is not an unkind thing to say1 and ,god often says it to us4 ,when argument and appeals to duty and the like fail1 there is nothing more to be done but to let us have our request1 and find out the poison that lurked under the fair outside4 ,the prodigal son gets his coveted portion1 and is allowed to go into the far country1 that he may prove how good and happy it is to starve among the swine1 not because his father is angry with him1 but because such experience is the only way to re-awaken his dormant love1 and to make him long for the despised place in his father's house4 ,there are some fevers of the desires which must run their course before the patient can be well again4 ,let us keep a careful watch over ourselves1 that we entertain no wishes but such as run parallel with ,god's manifest will1 lest ,he may have in ,his anger1 which is still love1 to give us our request1 that we may find out our error by the bitter fruits of a granted desire4 ,,iii4 ,note the obstinacy that1 with eyes open to the consequences1 persists in its demands4 ,samuel is bidden to 'show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them4' ,he sketches1 in sombre outline1 the picture of an ,eastern despot1 the only kind of king which the world then knew4 ,the darker features of these monarchies are not included4 ,there is no harem1 nor cruelty1 nor monstrous vice1 in the picture2 but the diversion of labour to minister to royal pomp1 the establishment of a standing army1 the alienation of land to officials1 heavy taxation and forced labour make up the items4 ,to these is added 7v4 #ah7 that the royalty1 now so eagerly desired1 would sooner or later become a burden1 and that then they or their sons would find it was easier to put on than to put off the yoke2 for 'the ,lord will not hear you in that day1' in reference1 that is1 to the removal of the king4 ,they were exchanging an unseen ,king who gave all things for one who would take1 and not give4 ,a wise exchange6 ,the consequences of our wishes are not always drawn out so clearly before us as in this instance2 but we are not left in darkness as to the broad issues1 and we all know enough to make our persistence in evil1 after such warnings1 the deepest mystery and most flagrant sin4 ,the drunkard is not deterred by his knowledge that there is such a thing as delirium tremens2 nor the thief1 by the certainty that the officer's hand will be laid on his shoulder one day or other2 nor the young profligate1 by the danger that his bones shall be 'full of the sin of his youth'2 nor are any of us kept from our sins1 by the clear sight of their end4 ',i have loved strangers1 and after them will ,i go1' notwithstanding all knowledge of the fatal issue4 ,surely there is nothing sadder than that power of neglecting the most certain known result of our acts4 ,wilfully blind1 and hurried on by lust1 passion1 or other impulse1 like bulls which shut their eyes when they charge1 we rush at our mark1 and often dash ourselves to pieces on it4 ,if a man saw the consequences of his sin at the moment of temptation1 he would not do it2 but this is the wonder1 that he does not see them1 though he knows them well enough1 and that the knowledge has no power to restrain him4 ,,iv4 ,note the divine purpose which uses man's sin as its instrument in advancing its designs4 ,god had promised ,israel a king 7,deut4 xvii4 #ad1 etc471 and the elders may have thought that they were only asking for what was in accordance with ,his plan4 ,so they were2 but their motive was wrong1 and so their prayer1 though for what ,god meant to give1 was wrong4 ,in this case1 as always1 ,god uses men's sins as occasions for the furtherance of ,his own eternal purpose1 as that profound saying has it1 ',surely the wrath of man shall praise ,thee4' ,the kingly office was a step in advance1 and gave occasion to the development of ,messianic expectations of the true ,king of ,israel and of men1 which would have been impossible without it1 ,in many ways it was for the good of the nation1 and the holders of the office were 'the ,lord's anointed4' ,modern criticism has found traces of two opposite views in this story1 as compared with the passage in ,deuteronomy above referred to2 but surely it is a more sober1 though less novel1 view1 to regard the whole incident as illustrating the two truths1 that men may wish for right things in a wrong way1 and that ,god uses sin as well as obedience as ,his instrument4 ,no barriers can stop the march of ,his great purpose through the ages1 any more than a bit of glass can stay a sunbeam4 ,however the currents run and the storms howl1 they carry the ship to the haven2 for ,he holds the helm1 and all winds help4 ,the people rejected ,him1 and in seeking a king followed but their own earthly minds2 but they prepared the way for ,david and ,david's ,son4 ,their children long after1 moved by the same spirit1 shouted1 ',we have no king but ,caesar6' but they prepared the throne for the true ,king1 for whom they destined a ,cross4 ,man's greatest sin1 the rejection of the visible ,king of the world1 brought about the firm establishment of ,his dominion on earth and in heaven4 ,the cross is the great instance of the same law as is embodied in this history1--the overruling providence which bends the antagonism of men into a tool for effecting the purpose of ,god4 ,alas for those who only thus carry on ,god's designs6 ,they perish1 and their work is none the less their sin1 because ,god has used it4 ,how much better to enter with a willing heart and a clear intelligence into sympathy with ,his designs1 and1 delighting to do ,his will1 to share in the eternal duration of ,his triumphant purpose6 ',the world passeth away1 and the fashion thereof3 but he that doeth the will of ,god abideth for ever4' ,,the ,,old ,,judge ,,and ,,the ,,young ,,king ',now the ,lord had told ,samuel ,in his ear a day before ,saul came1 saying1 #af1 ,to-morrow1 about this time ,i will send thee a man out of the land of ,benjamin1 and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over ,my people ,israel1 that he may save ,my people out of the hand of the ,philistines3 for ,i have looked upon ,my people1 because their cry is come unto ,me4 #ag4 ,and when ,samuel saw ,saul1 the ,lord said unto him1 ,behold the man whom ,i spake to thee of6 this same shall reign over ,my people4 #ah4 ,then ,saul drew near to ,samuel in the gate1 and said1 ,tell me1 ,i pray thee1 where the seer's house is4 #ai4 ,and ,samuel answered ,saul1 and said1 ,i am the seer3 go up before me unto the high place2 for ye shall eat with me to-day1 and to-morrow ,i will let thee go1 and will tell thee all that is in thine heart4 #bj4 ,and as for thine asses that were lost three days ago1 set not thy mind on them2 for they are found4 ,and on whom is all the desire of ,israel8 ,is it not on thee1 and on all thy father's house8 #ba4 ,and ,saul answered and said1 ,am not ,i a ,benjamite1 of the smallest of the tribes of ,israel8 and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of ,benjamin8 wherefore then speakest thou so to me8 #bb4 ,and ,samuel took ,saul and his servant1 and brought them into the parlour1 and made them sit in the chiefest place among them that were bidden1 which were about thirty persons4 #bc4 ,and ,samuel said unto the cook1 ,bring the portion which ,i gave thee1 of which ,i said unto thee1 ,set it by thee4 #bd4 ,and the cook took up the shoulder1 and that which was upon it1 and set it before ,saul4 ,and ,samuel said1 ,behold that which is left ,i set it before thee1 and eat3 for unto this time hath it been kept for thee since ,i said1 ,i have invited the people4 ,so ,saul did eat with ,samuel that day4 #be4 ,and when they were come down from the high place into the city1 ,samuel communed with ,saul upon the top of the house4 #bf4 ,and they arose early3 and it came to pass about the spring of the day1 that ,samuel called ,saul to the top of the house1 saying1 ,up1 that ,i may send thee away4 ,and ,saul arose1 and they went out both of them1 he and ,samuel1 abroad4 #bg4 ,and as they were going down to the end of the city1 ,samuel said to ,saul1 ,bid the servant pass on before us1 7and he passed on17 but stand thou still a while1 that ,i may shew thee the word of ,god4'--#a ,,samuel ix4 #ae-bg4 ,both the time and the place of the incidents here told are unknown4 ,no note is given of the interval that had elapsed since the elders' deputation4 ,all that we know is that on the previous day ,samuel had had the divine communication mentioned in verse #ae1 and that some days are implied as spent by ,saul in his quest for his fathers asses1 ,equally uncertain is the name of the city4 ,it was not ,samuel's ordinary residence2 it was in the 'land of ,zuph1' an unknown district2 it was perched1 like most of the cities1 on a hill2 it had fountains lower down the slope1 and a 'high place' farther up1 where there was a building large enough for a feast4 ,how strangely vivid the picture of this anonymous city is1 and how we can yet see the maidens coming down to the fountains1 the wearied travellers toiling up1 and the voluble abundance of the directions given them6 ,i4 ,the first thing we have to note is the premonitory word of the ,lord4 ,observe the picturesque and forcible expression1 'had uncovered the ear of ,samuel4' ,it is more than picturesque4 ,it gives in the strongest form the fact of a revelation1 both as to its origin and its secrecy4 ,it is vain to represent the transition from judgeship to monarchy as a mere political revolution1 inaugurated by ,samuel as a fore-seeing statesman4 ,it is misleading to speak of him1 as ,dean ,stanley does1 as one of the men who mediate between the old and the new4 ,his opinions and views go for just nothing in the transaction1 and he is simply ,god's instrument4 ,the people's desire for the king1 and ,god's answer to it1 were equally independent of him4 ,his own ideas were dead against the change1 and at each step in bringing it about the divine causality is everything1 and he is nothing but its obedient servant4 ,it is hopeless to sift out a naturalistic explanation from the narrative1 which is either supernatural or nothing4 ,note the three points of this communication1--,god's sending ,saul1 the command to anoint1 and the motive ascribed to ,god4 ,as to the first1 how striking that full-toned authoritative ',i will send' is6 ,think of the chain of ordinary events which brought ,saul to the little city1--the wandering of a drove of asses1 the failure to get on their tracks1 the accident of being in the land of ,zuph when he got tired of the search1 the suggestion of the servant2 and behind all these1 and working through them1 the will and hand of ,god1 thrusting this man1 all unconscious1 along a path which he knew not4 ,our own purposes we may know1 but ,god's we do not know4 ,there is something awful in the thought of the issues that may spring from the smallest affairs1 and we shall be bewildered and paralysed if once we get a glimpse of the complicated web which is ever being woven in the loom of time1 unless we1 too1 can1 by faith1 see the ,weaver1 and then we shall be at rest4 ,call nothing trivial1 and seek to be conscious of ,his guiding hand4 ,the command to ,samuel to anoint ,saul is no product of ,samuel's own reflection1 but comes to him1 in this imperative form1 before he has seen ,saul1 like a commission in blank1 in regard to which he has no option1 and in the origin of which he had no share4 ,it was a piece of painful work to devolve his authority1 like ,aaron's having to strip off his robes before he died1 and to put them on his son4 ,but there is no trace of wounded feeling in ,samuel4 ,he is true to his childhood's word1 ',speak1 for ,thy servant heareth1' and1 no doubt1 he had the reward which obedience ever has to sweeten the bitterest draught1 the reward of a quiet heart4 ,the reason as given in the last clause of the verse ought to have made ,samuel's self-abnegation easier4 ,god sets him the example4 ,israel had rejected ,him1 but ,he still calls them ',my people1' and looks upon them in tender care1 and hears their cry4 ,there is no contradiction here with the aspect of the concession to the people's wish1 which appeared in the former section4 ,hasty criticism tries to make out discrepancies in the accounts1 because it does not recognise one of the plainest characteristics of ,scripture2 namely1 its habit of stating strongly and exclusively that side of a complicated matter which is relevant to the purpose in hand1 and leaving the other sides to be presented in due time4 ,the three accounts of the election give three different reasons for it4 ,in chapter viii41 the people put it on the ground of ,samuel's age and his son's unfitness1 and ,god treats it as national rejection of ,him4 ,here it appears as due1 on the part of the people1 to their fear of the ,philistines1 and on the part of ,god to ,his loving yielding to their cry4 ,in #a ,samuel xii4 #ab1 ,samuel traces it to the fear of ,ammonite invasion4 ,are these contradictory or supplementary accounts8 ,certainly the latter4 ,though ,israel had in heart rejected ,god1 and ,he gave them a king that they might learn how much better they would have been without one1 it is as true that ,he lovingly listened to the cry of their fear1 and answered them1 in pity and tender care1 by giving them the king whom they desired1 and who would deliver them from their enemies4 ,let us learn how patient of our faithless follies1 and how full of long-suffering love1 even in 'anger1' ,he is4 ,the same gift of ,his providence1 regarded in one light1 is loving chastisement1 and in another is loving compliance with our cry and swift help to our need in the shape that we desire1 but in both aspects is good and perfect4 ,note1 too1 that ,god's look is active1 and is the bringing of the needed aid1 and that ,he waits for our cry before ,he comes with ,his help4 ,,ii4 ,the meeting of ,samuel and ,saul4 ,they encounter each other in the gate1--the prophet on his way to the sacrifice1 the future king with his head full of his humble quest4 ,samuel knows ,saul by divine intimation as soon as he sees him1 but ,saul does not know ,samuel4 ,his question indicates the noble simplicity1 without attendants or trappings1 of the judge's life2 but it also suggests the strange isolation of these early days1 and the probable indifference of ,saul to religion4 ,if he had cared much about ,god's rule in ,israel1 he could scarcely have been so ignorant as his servant's words about 'the seer1' and his failure to know him when he saw him1 show ,saul to have been4 ,he had not cared to see ,samuel in any of the latter's circuits1 and now he only wants to get some information from a diviner about these unfortunate asses4 ,what a contrast between the thoughts of the two1 as they looked at each other6 ,saul begins by consulting ,samuel as a magician2 he ends by seeking counsel from the witch at ,endor4 ,samuel's words are beautiful in their smothering of all personal feeling1 and dignified in their authority4 ,he at once takes command of ,saul1 and prepares him by half-hints for something great to come4 ,the direction to 'go up before me' is a sign of honour4 ,the invitation to the sacrificial feast is another4 ,the promise to disclose his own secret thoughts to ,saul may1 perhaps1 point to some hidden ambitions1 the knowledge of which would prove ,samuel's prophetic character4 ,the assurance as to the asses answers the small immediate occasion of ,saul's resort to him1 and the dim hint in the last words of verse #bj1 rightly translated1 tells him that 'all that is desirable in ,israel' is for him1 and for all his father's house4 ,he went out to look for his father's asses1 and he found a kingdom4 ,the words were enigmatical2 but if ,saul knew of the impending revolution1 they could scarcely fail to dazzle him and take away his breath4 ,his answer is more than mere ,oriental self-depreciation4 ,its bashful modesty contrasts sadly with the almost insane masterfulness and arrogant self-will of his later years4 ,fair beginnings may end ill1 and those who are set in positions of influence have hard work to keep steady heads1 and to sail with low sails4 ,,iii4 ,the feast4 ,up at the high place was some chamber used for the feasts which followed the sacrifices4 ,a company of thirty--or1 according to another reading1 of seventy--persons had been invited1 and the stately young stranger from ,benjamin1 with his servant 7a trait of the simple manners of these days71 is set in the place of honour1 where wondering eyes fasten on him4 ,attention is still more emphatically centred on him when ,samuel bids 'the cook' bring a part of the sacrifice which he had been ordered to set aside4 ,it proves to be the 'shoulder' or 'thigh1' the priest's perquisite1 and therefore probably ,samuel's4 ,to give this to another was equivalent to putting him in ,samuel's place2 and ,samuel's words in handing it to ,saul make its meaning plain4 ,it is 'that which hath been reserved4' ,it has been 'kept for thee' till 'the appointed time1' and that with a view to the assembled guests4 ,all this is in true prophetic fashion1 which delighted in symbols1 and these of the homeliest sort4 ,the whole transaction expressed the transference of power to ,saul1 the divine reserving of the monarchy for him1 and the public investiture with it1 by the prophet himself4 ,the veil was intentional1 and intentionally thin4 ,cannot we see the flush of surprise and modesty on ,saul's cheek1 as he tore the pieces from the significant 'shoulder1' and hear the whispers that ran through the guest-chamber8 ,,iv4 ,the private colloquy4 ,when the simple feast was over1 the strangely assorted pair went down to ,samuel's house1 and there1 on the quiet house-top1 where were no curious ears1 held long and earnest talk4 ,no doubt ,samuel told ,saul all that was in his heart1 as he had said that he would1 and convinced him thereby that it was ,god who was speaking to him through the prophet4 ,nor would exhortations and warnings be wanting1 which the old man's experience would be anxious to give1 and the young one's modesty not unwilling to receive4 ,saul is a listener1 not a speaker1 in this unreported interview2 and ,samuel is in it1 as throughout1 the superior4 ,the characteristic which marked the beginning of the ,jewish monarchy was stamped on it till the end4 ,the king was inferior to the prophet1 and was meant to take his instructions from him when he appeared4 ,saul was docile on that first day1 when he was half dazed with his new prospects1 and wholly grateful to ,samuel2 but the history will show us how soon the fair promise of concord was darkened1 and how fiercely he chafed at ,samuel's attempted control4 ,one can fancy his thoughts as he lay in the starlight1 on the house-top1 that night1 and gazed into the astounding future that had opened before him4 ,had there been any true religion in him1 it would have been a wakeful night of prayer4 ,but1 more likely1 as the event proves1 the ambition and arrogance which were deep in his nature1 though hitherto undeveloped1 were his counsellors1 and drove ,samuel's wisdom out of his head4 ,as soon as the morning-red began to rise in the ,east1 ,samuel sent him away1 to secure1 as would appear1 privacy in his departure4 ,with simple courtesy the prophet accompanied his guest1 and as soon as they had got down the hill beyond the last house of the city1 he bids ,saul send on his servant1 that he may speak a last word to him alone4 ,our text stops before the solemn anointing1 and leaves these two standing there1 in the fresh morning1 type of the new career opening for one of them4 ,what a contrast in the men6 ,the one has all his long life been true to his first vow1 ',speak1 for ,thy servant heareth1' and now has come1 in fulness of years1 and reverenced by all men1 near the end of his patient1 faithful service4 ,his work is all but done1 and his heart is quiet in the peace which is the best reward of loving and doing ,god's law4 ,ripened wisdom1 calm trust1 unhesitating submission cast a glory round the old man1 who is now performing the supreme act of self-abnegation of his lifetime1 and1 not without a sense of relief1 is laying the burden1 so long and uncomplainingly borne1 on the great shoulders of this young giant4 ,the other has a humble past of a few years rapidly sinking out of his dazzled sight1 and is in a whirl of emotion at the startling suddenness of his new dignity4 ,when one thinks of ,gilboa1 and the desperate suicide there1 how pathetic is that strong1 jubilant young figure1 in the morning light1 below the city1 as he bows his head to receive the anointing which1 little as he knew it1 was to prove his ruin6 ,a life begun by obedient listening to ,god's voice1 and continued in the same1 comes at last to a blessed end1 and is crowned with many goods4 ,a life which but partially accepts ,god's will as its law1 and rather takes counsel of its own passions and arrogant self-sufficiency1 may have much that is bright and lovable at its beginning1 but will steadily darken as it goes on1 and will set at last in eclipse and gloom4 ,,the ,,king ,,after ,,man',s ,,heart ',and ,samuel called the people together unto the ,lord to ,mizpeh2 #ah4 ,and said unto the children of ,israel1 ,thus saith the ,lord ,god of ,israel1 ,i brought up ,israel out of ,egypt1 and delivered you out of the hand of the ,egyptians1 and out of the hand of all kingdoms1 and of them that oppressed you2 #ai4 ,and ye have this day rejected your ,god1 who ,himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations2 and ye have said unto ,him1 ,nay1 but set a king over us4 ,now therefore present yourselves before the ,lord by your tribes1 and by your thousands4 #bj4 ,and when ,samuel had caused all the tribes of ,israel to come near1 the tribe of ,benjamin was taken4 #ba4 ,when he had caused the tribe of ,benjamin to come near by their families1 the family of ,matri was taken1 and ,saul the son of ,kish was taken3 and when they sought him1 he could not be found4 #bb4 ,therefore they enquired of the ,lord further1 if the man should yet come thither4 ,and the ,lord answered1 ,behold1 he hath hid himself among the stuff4 #bc4 ,and they ran and fetched him thence3 and when he stood among the people1 he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward4 #bd4 ,and ,samuel said to all the people1 ,see ye him whom the ,lord hath chosen1 that there is none like him among all the people8 ,and all the people shouted1 and said1 ,god save the king4 #be4 ,then ,samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom1 and wrote it in a book1 and laid it up before the ,lord4 ,and ,samuel sent all the people away1 every man to his house4 #bf4 ,and ,saul also went home to ,gibeah2 and there went with him a band of men1 whose hearts ,god had touched4 #bg4 ,but the children of ,belial said1 ,how shall this man save us8 ,and they despised him1 and brought him no presents4 ,but he held his peace4'--#a ,,samuel x4 #ag-bg4 ,these verses fit on to chapter viii41 chapters ix4 to x4 #af1 being probably from another source1 inserted here because the anointing of ,saul1 told in them1 did occur between ,samuel's dismissal of the people and his summoning of the national assembly which is here related4 ,that private anointing of ,saul was the divine call to him individually2 the text tells of his public designation to the nation4 ,the two are perfectly consistent1 and1 indeed1 the private anointing is presupposed in the incident recorded in this passage1 of ,saul's hiding himself1 for he could not have known the result that he would be 'taken1' unless he had had that previous intimation4 ,the assembly at ,mizpah was not convened in order to choose a king1 but to accept ,god's choice1 which was then to be declared4 ,but before the choice was announced1 a last appeal was made to the people1 if1 perchance1 they might still be persuaded to forgo their rebellious desire4 ,it is not1 indeed1 said that this final1 all but hopeless attempt was made by ,samuel at the divine command1 and we are not told that he had any further revelation than that in chapter viii4 #g-i4 ,but1 no doubt1 he was speaking as ,jehovah's mouthpiece1 and so we have here one more instance of that long-suffering divine patience and love which 'hopeth all things1' and lingers pleadingly round the alienated heart1 seeking to woo it back to itself1 and never ceasing to labour to avert the evil deed1 till it is actually and irrevocably done4 ,it may be said that ,god knew that the appeal was sure to fail1 and therefore could not have made it4 ,but is not that mysterious continuance of effort1 foreknown to be futile1 the very paradox of ,god's love8 ,did not ,jesus give the traitor the sop1 as a last token of friendship1 a last appeal to his heart8 ,and does not ,god still in like manner deal with us all8 ,observe how ,he seeks to win ,israel back4 ,it is not by threatenings1 but by reminders of ,his great benefits4 ,he will not drive men back to ,his service1 like a slave-driver with brandished whip1 but ,he wishes to draw them back by 'the cords of love4' ,it is service from hearts melted by thankfulness1 and therefore overflowing in joyful1 willing obedience and grateful acts1 that ,he desires4 ',the mercies of ,god' should lead to men offering themselves as 'living sacrifices4' ,the last appeal failed1 and ,samuel at once went on to give the people the desired bitter which they thought so sweet4 ,of course1 it was by their representatives that the tribes presented themselves before ,god4 ,the manner of making ,god's choice known is not told1 and speculations as to it are idle4 ,probably a simple yes or no1 as each tribe1 family or individual was 'presented' was the mode1 but how it was conveyed is quite unknown4 ,that is a small matter2 more important is it to note that ,saul was chosen simply because he was the very type of the national ideal of a hero-king4 ,both here and in chapter ix4 #b his stature and bravery are the only qualities mentioned4 ,what ,israel wanted was a rough fighter1 with physical strength1 plenty of bone and muscle4 ,about moral1 intellectual or spiritual qualities they did not care1 and they got the kind of king that they wanted1--the only kind that they could appreciate4 ,the only way to teach them that one who was a head and shoulders taller than any of them was not thereby certified to be the ideal king1 was to give them such a man1 and let them see what good he would do them4 ,there is no surer index nor sharper test of national or individual character than the sort of 'heroes' they worship4 ,vox populi has not been very much refined since ,saul's day4 ,athletes and soldiers still captivate the crowd1 and a mere prophet like ,samuel has no chance beside the man of broad shoulders and well-developed biceps4 ,and very often communities1 especially democratic ones1 get the 'king' they desire1 the leader1 statesman or the like1 who comes near their ideal4 ,the man whom they choose is the man whom1 generally1 they deserve4 ,israel had an excuse for its burst of ardour for a soldier1 for it was in deadly danger from the ,philistines4 ,is there as good an excuse for us in ,britain1 in our recent adoration of successful generals8 ,israel found out that its idol lacked higher gifts than thews and sinews1 and experience taught them the falseness of their ideal4 ,saul's hiding among the piles of miscellaneous baggage1 which the multitude of representatives had brought with them1 is usually set down to his credit1 as indicating an engaging modesty2 but there is another and more probable explanation of it1 less creditable to him4 ,was it not rather occasioned by his shrinking from the heavy task that ,god was laying on him8 ,he was not being summoned to a secure throne1 but to 'go out before us1 and fight our battles4' ,he might well shrink1 but if he had been ,god-fearing and ,god-obeying and ,god-trusting1 he would have cried1 ',here am ,i6 send me1' instead of skulking among the stuff4 ,there was another ,saul1 who could say1 ',i was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision4' ,it had been better for the son of ,kish if he had been like the young ,pharisee from ,tarsus4 ,we too have divine calls in our lives1 and alas6 we too not seldom hide ourselves among the stuff1 and try to avoid taking up some heavy duty1 by absorbing our minds in material good4 ,few things have greater power of obscuring 'the heavenly vision1' and of rendering us unwilling to obey it1 than the clinging to the things of this world1 which are in their place as the traveller's luggage needful on the road1 but very much out of their place when they become a hiding-place for a man whom ,god is calling to service4 ,the 'manner of the kingdom1' which ,samuel wrote and laid up before the ,lord1 was probably not the same as 'the manner of the king' 7chapter viii4 #i-ah71 but a kind of constitution1 or solemn statement of the principles which were to govern the monarchy4 ,the reading in verse #bf should probably be 'the men of valour1' instead of 'a band of men4' ,they were brave men1 'whose hearts ,god had touched4' ,now that ,saul was chosen by ,god1 loyalty to ,god was shown by loyalty to ,saul4 ,the sin of the people's desire1 and the drop from the high ideal of the theocracy1 and the lack of lofty qualities in ,saul1 may all be admitted4 ,but ,god has made him king1 and that is enough4 ,henceforward1 ,god's servants will be ,saul's partisans4 ,the malcontents were apparently but a small faction4 ,they1 perhaps1 had had a candidate of their own1 but1 at all events1 they criticised ,god's appointed deliverer1 and saw nothing in him to warrant the expectation that he would be able to do much for ,israel4 ,disparaging criticism of ,god's chosen instruments comes from distrust of ,god who chose them4 ,to doubt the divinely sent ,deliverer's power to 'save' is to accuse ,god of not knowing our needs and of miscalculating the power of ,his supply of them4 ,but not a few of us put that same question in various tones of incredulity1 scorn or indifference4 ,sense makes many mistakes when it takes to trying to weigh ,christ in its vulgar balances1 and to settling whether ,he looks like a ,saviour and a ,king4 ,,samuel',s ,,challenge ,,and ,,charge ',and ,samuel said unto all ,israel1 ,behold1 ,i have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me1 and have made a king over you4 #b4 ,and now1 behold1 the king walketh before you3 and ,i am old and grayheaded2 and1 behold1 my sons are with you3 and ,i have walked before you from my childhood unto this day4 #c4 ,behold1 here ,i am3 witness against me before the ,lord1 and before ,his anointed3 whose ox have ,i taken8 or whose ass have ,i taken8 or whom have ,i defrauded8 whom have ,i oppressed8 or of whose hand have ,i received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith8 and ,i will restore it you4 #d4 ,and they said1 ,thou hast not defrauded us1 nor oppressed us1 neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand4 #e4 ,and he said unto them1 ,the ,lord is witness against you1 and ,his anointed is witness this day1 that ye have not found ought in my hand4 ,and they answered1 ,he is witness4 #f4 ,and ,samuel said unto the people1 ,it is the ,lord that advanced ,moses and ,aaron1 and that brought your fathers up out of the land of ,egypt4 #g4 ,now therefore stand still1 that ,i may reason with you before the ,lord of all the righteous acts of the ,lord1 which he did to you and to your fathers4 #h4 ,when ,jacob was come into ,egypt1 and your fathers cried unto the ,lord1 then the ,lord sent ,moses and ,aaron1 which brought forth your fathers out of ,egypt1 and them dwell in this place4 #i4 ,and when they forgat the ,lord their ,god1 ,he sold them into the hand of ,sisera1 captain of the host of ,hazor1 and into the hand of the ,philistines1 and into the hand of the king of ,moab1 and they fought against them4 #aj4 ,and they cried unto the ,lord1 and said1 ,we have sinned1 because we have forsaken the ,lord1 and have served ,baalim and ,ashtaroth3 but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies1 and we will serve ,thee4 #aa4 ,and the ,lord sent ,jerubbaal1 and ,bedan1 and ,jephthah1 and ,samuel1 and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side1 and ye dwelled safe4 #ab4 ,and when ye saw that ,nahash the king of the children of ,ammon came against you1 ye said unto me1 ,nay2 but a king shall reign over us3 when the ,lord your ,god was your king4 #ac4 ,now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen1 and whom ye have desired6 and1 behold1 the ,lord hath set a king over you4 #ad4 ,if ye will fear the ,lord1 and serve ,him1 and obey ,his voice1 and not rebel against the commandment of the ,lord1 then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the ,lord your ,god3 #ae4 ,but if ye will not obey the voice of the ,lord1 but rebel against the commandment of the ,lord1 then shall the hand of the ,lord be against you1 as it was against your fathers4'--#a ,,samuel xii4 #a-ae4 ,the portion of ,samuel's address included in this passage has three main sections3 his noble and dignified assertion of his official purity1 his summary of the past history1 and his solemn declaration of the conditions of future wellbeing for the nation with its new king4 ,i4 ,probably the war with the ,ammonite king ,nahash1 which had postponed the formal inauguration of the king1 had been carried on in the neighbourhood of the ,jordan valley2 and thus ,gilgal would be a convenient rendezvous4 ,but it was chosen for other reasons also1 and1 as appears from #a ,samuel x4 #h1 had been fixed on by ,samuel at his first interview with ,saul4 ,there the ,covenant had been renewed1 after the wanderers had crossed the river1 with ,joshua at their head1 and it was fitting that the beginnings of the new form of the national life should be consecrated by worship on the same site as had witnessed the beginnings of the national life on the soil of the promised land4 ,perhaps the silent stones1 which ,joshua reared1 stood there yet4 ,at all events1 sacred memories could scarcely fail1 as the rejoicing crowd1 standing where their fathers had renewed the ,covenant1 saw the blackened ruins of ,jericho1 and the foaming river1 now1 as then1 filling all its banks in the time of harvest1 which their fathers had crossed with the ark1 that was now hidden at ,kirjath-jearim1 for their guide4 ,the very place spoke the same lessons from the past which ,samuel was about to teach them4 ,there is just a faint trace of ,samuel's disapproval of the new order in his first words4 ,he takes care to throw the whole responsibility on the people2 but1 at the same time1 he assumes the authoritative tone which becomes him1 and quietly takes the position of superiority to the king whom he has made4 ,i ,samuel xi4 #ae seems to imply that he took no part in the rejoicings4 ,it was ',saul and all the men of ,israel' who were so glad4 ,he was still hesitant as to the issue1 and obeyed the divine command with clearer insight into its purpose than the shouting crowd and the proud young king had4 ,there is something very pathetic in the contrast he draws between ,saul and himself4 ',the king walketh before you1' in all the vigour of his young activity1 and delighting all your eyes1 and ',i am old and gray-headed1' feeble1 and fit for little more work1 and therefore1 as happens to such worn-out public servants1 cast aside for a new man4 ,samuel was not a monster of perfection without human feelings4 ,his sense of ,israel's ingratitude to himself and practical revolt from ,god lay together in his mind1 and colour this whole speech1 which has a certain tone of severity1 and an absence of all congratulation4 ,probably that accounts for the mention of his sons4 ,the elders' frank statement of their low opinion of them had been a sore point with ,samuel1 and he cannot help alluding to it4 ,it was not for want of possible successors in his own house that they had cried out for a king4 ,if this be not the bearing of the allusion to his sons1 it is difficult to explain2 and this obvious explanation would never have been overlooked if ,samuel had not been idealised into a faultless saint4 ,the dash of human infirmity and fatherly blindness gives reality to the picture4 ',i have walked before you from my youth unto this day4' ,note the recurrence of the same expression as is applied to ,saul in the former part of the verse4 ,it is as if he had said1 ',once ,i was as he is now1--young and active in your sight1 and for your service4 ,remember these past years4 ,may your new fancy's record be as stainless as mine is1 when he is old and grayheaded6' ,the words bring into view the characteristic of ,samuel's life which is often insisted on in the earlier chapters1--its calm1 unbroken continuity and uniformity of direction1 from the long-past days when he wore 'the little coat' his mother made him1 with so many tears dropped on it1 till this closing hour4 ,while everything was rushing down to destruction in ,eli's time1 and his sons were rioting at the ,tabernacle door1 the child was growing up in the stillness2 and from then till now1 amid all changes1 his course had been steady1 and pointed to one aim4 ,blessed they whose age is but the fruitage of the promise of their youth6 ,blessed they who begin as 'little children1' with the forgiveness of sin and the knowledge of the ,father1 and who go on1 as 'young men1' to overcome the ,evil ,one1 and end1 as 'fathers1' with the deeper knowledge of ,him who is 'from the beginning1' which is the reward of childhood's trust and manhood's struggles6 ,samuel is still a prophet1 but he is ceasing to be the sole authority1 and1 in his conscious integrity1 calls for a public1 full discharge1 in the presence of the king4 ,note that verse #c gives the first instance of the use of the name ',messiah1' and think of the contrast between ,saul and ,jesus4 ,observe1 too1 the simple manners of these times1 when 'ox and ass' were the wealth4 ,they would be poor plunder nowadays4 ,note also the various forms of injustice of which he challenges any one to convict him4 ,forcible seizure of live stock1 fraud1 harsh oppression1 and letting suitors put gold on his eyes that he might not see1 are the vices of the ,eastern ruler to-day1 and rampant in that unhappy land1 as they have been ever since ,samuel's time4 ,i think ,i have heard of politicians in some other countries further west than ,gilgal1 who have axes to grind and logs to roll1 and of the wonderful effects1 in many places of business1 of certain circular gold discs applied to the eyes4 ,this man went away a poor man4 ,he does not seem to have had salary1 or retiring pension2 but he carried away a pair of clean hands1 as the voice of a nation witnessed4 ,,ii4 ,having cleared himself1 ,samuel recounts the outlines of the past1 in order to emphasise the law that cleaving to ,god had ever brought deliverance2 departure1 disaster2 and penitence1 restoration4 ,it is history with a purpose1 and less careful about chronology than principles4 ,facts are good1 if illuminated by the clear recognition of the law which they obey2 but1 without that1 they are lumber4 ,the 'philosophy of history' is not reached without the plain recognition of the working of the divine will4 ,no doubt the principles which ,samuel discerned written as with a sunbeam on the past of ,israel were illustrated there with a certainty and directness which belonged to it alone2 but we shall make a bad use of the history of ,israel1 if we say1 ',it is all miraculous1 and therefore inapplicable to modern national life4' ,it would be much nearer the mark to say1 ',it is all miraculous1 and therefore meant as an exhibition for blind eyes of the eternal principles which govern the history of all nations4' ,it is as true in ,britain to-day as ever it was in ,judea1 that righteousness and the fear of ,god are the sure foundations of real national as of individual prosperity4 ,the kingdoms of this world are not the devil's1 though diplomatists and soldiers seem to think so4 ,if any nation were to live universally by the laws of ,god1 it might not have what the world calls national success2 it would have no story of wholesale robbery1 called military glory1 but it would have peace within its borders1 and life would go nobly and sweetly there4 ',happy is the people1 that is in such a case3 yea1 happy is the people1 whose ,god is the ,lord4' ,the details of ,samuel's resume need not occupy much time4 ,note the word in verse #g1 'reason1' or1 as the ,revised ,version renders1 'plead4' ,he takes the position of ,god's advocate in the suit1 and what he will prove for his client is the 'righteousness' of his dealings in the past4 ,the story1 says he1 can be brought down to very simple elements1--a cry to ,god1 an answer of deliverance1 a relapse1 punishment1 a renewed cry to ,god1 and all the rest of the series as before4 ,it is like a repeating decimal1 over and over again1 each figure drawing the next after it4 ,the list of oppressors in verse #i1 and that of deliverers in verse #aa1 do not follow the same order1 but that matters nothing4 ,clearly the facts are assumed as well known1 and needing only summary reference4 ,the new-fashioned way of treating ,biblical history1 of course1 takes that as an irrefutable proof of the late date and spuriousness of this manufactured speech put into ,samuel's mouth4 ,less omniscient students will be content with accepting the witness to the history4 ,nobody knows anything of a judge named ,bedan1 and the conjectural emendation ',barak' is probable1 especially remembering the roll-call in the ,epistle to the ,hebrews1 where ,gideon1 ,barak1 and ,jephthah appear in the same order1 with the addition of ,samson4 ,the supposition that ',samuel1' in this verse1 is an error for ',samson1' is unnecessary2 for the prophet's mention of himself thus is not unnatural1 in the circumstances1 and is less obtrusive than to have said 'me4' ,the retrospect here given points the lesson of the sin and folly of the demand for a king4 ,the old way had been to cry to ,god in their distresses1 and the old experience had been that the answer came swift and sufficient2 but this generation had tried a new method1 and fear of ',nahash the ,ammonite' had driven them to look for a man to help them4 ,the experience of ,god's responses to prayer does not always wean even those who receive them from casting about for visible helpers4 ,still less does the experience of our predecessors keep us from it4 ,strange that after a hundred plain instances of ,his aid1 the hundred and first distress should find us almost as slow to turn to ,him1 and as eager to secure earthly stays1 as if there were no past of our own1 or of many generations1 all crowded and bright with tokens of ,his care6 ,we are always disposed to doubt whether the power that delivered from ,sisera1 ,philistines1 and ,moab1 will be able to deliver us from ,nahash4 ,the new danger looks the very worst of all1 and this time we must have a king4 ,all the while ,israel had ,god for its king4 ,our dim eyes cannot see the realities of the invisible world1 and so we cleave to the illusions of the visible1 which1 at their best1 are but shadows of the real1 and are often made1 by our weak hearts1 its rival and substitute4 ,what does the soldier1 who has an impenetrable armour to wear1 want with pasteboard imitations1 like those worn in a play8 ,it is doubtful wisdom to fling away the substance in grasping at the shadow4 ,saul was brave1 and a head and shoulders above the people1 and he had beaten ,nahash for them2 but ,saul for ,god is a poor exchange4 ,do we do better1 when we hanker after something more tangible than an unseen ,guide1 ,helper1 ,stay1 ,joy1 and ,peace-bringer for our hearts1 and declare plainly1 by our eager race after created good1 that we do not reckon ,god by ,himself enough for us8 ,,iii4 ,the part of ,samuel's address with which we are concerned here closes with the application of the history to the present time4 ,the great point of the last three verses is that the new order of things has not changed the old law1 which bound up well-being inseparably with obedience4 ,they have got their king1 and there he stands2 but if they think that that is to secure their prosperity1 they are much mistaken4 ,there is a touch of rebuke1 and possibly of sarcasm1 in pointing to ,saul1 and making so emphatic1 as in verse #ac1 the vehemence of their anxiety to get him4 ,it is almost as if ,samuel had said1 ',look at him1 and say whether he is worth all that eagerness4 ,do you like him as well1 now that you have him1 as you did before8' ,there are not many of this world's goods which stand that test4 ,the shell that looked silvery and iridescent when in the sea is but a poor1 pale reminder of its former self1 when we hold it dry in our hands4 ,one object of desire1 and only one1 brings no disappointment in possessing it4 ,he1 and only he1 who sets his hope on ,god1 will never have to feel that he is not so satisfied with the fulfilment as with the dream4 ,israel had rejected ,god in demanding a king2 but the giver of their demand had been ,god1 and their rejection had not abolished the divine government1 nor altered one jot of the old law4 ,they and their king were equally its subjects4 ,there is great emphasis in the special mention of 'your king' as bound to obedience as much as they2 and1 if we follow the ,septuagint reading of verse #ae1 the mention is repeated there in the threatening of punishment4 ,no abundance of earthly supports or objects of our love or trust in the least alters the unalterable conditions of well-being4 ,whether surrounded with these or stripped of all1 to fear and serve the ,lord and to hearken to ,his voice is equally the requisite for all true blessedness1 and is so equally to the helper and the helped1 the lover and the loved4 ,we are ever tempted to think that1 when our wishes are granted1 and some dear or strong hand is stretched out for aid1 all will be well2 and we are terribly apt to forget that we need ,god as much as before1 and that the way of being blessed has not changed4 ,those whose hearts and homes are bright with loved faces1 and whose lives are guarded by strong and wise hands1 have need to remember that they and their dear ones are under the same conditions of well-being as are the loneliest and saddest2 and they who 'have none other that fighteth for' them have no less need to remember that1 if ,god be their companion1 they cannot be utterly solitary1 nor altogether helpless if ,he be their aid4 ,,old ,,truth ,,for ,a ,,new ,,epoch ',now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen1 and whom ye have desired6 and1 behold1 the ,lord hath set a king over yon4 #ad4 ,if ye will fear the ,lord1 and serve ,him1 and obey ,his voice1 and not rebel against the commandment of the ,lord2 then shall both ye1 and also the king that reigneth over you1 continue following the ,lord your ,god3 #ae4 ,but if ye will not obey the voice of the ,lord1 but rebel against the commandment of the ,lord2 then shall the hand of the ,lord be against you1 as it was against your fathers4 #af4 ,now therefore stand and see this great thing1 which the ,lord will do before your eyes4 #ag4 ,is it not wheat-harvest to-day6 ,i will call unto the ,lord1 and ,he shall send thunder and rain2 that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great1 which ye have done in the sight of the ,lord1 in asking you a king4 #ah4 ,so ,samuel called unto the ,lord2 and the ,lord sent thunder and rain that day3 and all the people greatly feared the ,lord and ,samuel4 #ai4 ,and all the people said unto ,samuel1 ,pray for thy servants unto the ,lord thy ,god1 that we die not3 for we have added unto all our sins this evil1 to ask us a king4 #bj4 ,and ,samuel said unto the people1 ,fear not3 ye have done all this wickedness3 yet turn not aside from following the ,lord1 but serve the ,lord with all your heart2 #ba4 ,and turn ye not aside3 for then should ye go after vain things1 which cannot profit nor deliver1 for they are vain4 #bb4 ,for the ,lord will not forsake ,his people for ,his great name's sake3 because it hath pleased the ,lord to make you ,his people4 #bc4 ,moreover as for me1 ,god forbid that ,i should sin against the ,lord in ceasing to pray for you3 but ,i will teach you the good and the right way3 #bd4 ,only fear the ,lord1 and serve ,him in truth with all your heart3 for consider how great things ,he hath done for you4 #be4 ,but if ye shall still do wickedly1 ye shall be consumed1 both ye and your king4'--#a ,,samuel xii4 #ac-be4 ,samuel's office as judge necessarily ended when ,saul was made king1 but his office of prophet continued4 ,this chapter deals with both the cessation and the continuance1 giving at first his dignified1 and somewhat pained1 vindication of his integrity1 and then passing on to show him exercising his prophetic function in exhortation1 miracle1 and authoritative declaration of ,jehovah's will4 ,i4 ,the first point is the sign which ,samuel gave4 ,usually there is no rain in ,palestine from about the end of ,april till ,october4 ,samuel was speaking during the wheat harvest1 which falls about the beginning of ,june4 ,we note that he volunteered the sign1 and1 what is still more remarkable1 that he is sure that ,god will send it in answer to his prayer4 ,why was he thus certain8 ,because he recognised that the impulse to proffer the sign came from ,god4 ,we know little of the mental processes by which a prophet could discriminate between his own thinkings and ,god's speech1 but such discrimination was possible1 or there could have been no ring of confidence in the prophet's ',thus saith the ,lord4' ,not even a ',samuel among them that call upon ,his name' had a right to assume that every asking would certainly have an answer4 ,it is when we ask 'anything according to ,his will' that we know that ',he heareth us1' and are entitled to predict to others the sure answer4 ,it seems a long leap logically from hearing the thunder and seeing the rain rushing down on the harvest field1 to recognising the sin of asking for a king4 ,but the connecting steps are plain4 ,samuel announced the storm1 he asked ,god to send it1 it came at his word2 therefore he was approved of ,god and was ,his messenger2 therefore his words about the desire for a king were ,god's words4 ,again1 ,god sent the tempest2 therefore ,god ruled the elemental powers1 and wielded them so as to affect ,israel1 and therefore it had been folly and sin to wish for another defender4 ,so the result of the thunder-burst was twofold--they 'feared ,jehovah and ,samuel1' and they confessed their sin in desiring a king4 ,they were but rude and sense-bound men1 like children in many respects2 their religion was little more than outward worship and a vague awe2 they needed 'signs' as children need picture-books4 ,the very slightness and superficiality of their religion made their confession easy and swift1 and neither the one nor the other went deep enough to be lasting4 ,the faith that is built on 'signs and wonders' is easily battered down2 the repentance that is due to a thunderstorm is over as soon as the sun comes out again4 ,the shallowness of the contrition in this case is shown by two things1--the request to ,samuel to pray for them1 and the boon which they begged him to ask1 'that we die not4' ,they had better have prayed for themselves1 and they had better have asked for strength to cleave to ,jehovah4 ,they were like ,simon ,magus cowering before ,peter1 and beseeching him1 ',pray ye for me to the ,lord1 that none of the things which ye have spoken may come upon me4' ,that is not the voice of true repentance1 the 'godly sorrow' which works healing and life1 but that of the 'sorrow of the world which worketh death4' ,the real penitent will press the closer to the forgiving ,father1 and his cry will be for purity even more than for pardon4 ,,ii4 ,samuel's closing words are tender1 wise1 and full of great truths4 ,he begins with encouragement blended with reiteration of the people's sin4 ,it is not safe for a forgiven man to forget his sin quickly4 ,the more sure he is that ,god has forgotten1 the more careful he should be to remember it1 for gratitude1 humility and watchfulness4 ,but it should never loom so large before him as to shut out the sunshine of ,god's love1 for no fruits of goodness will ripen in character without that light4 ,it is a great piece of practical wisdom always to keep one's forgiven sin in mind1 and yet not to let it paralyse hopefulness and effort4 ',ye have indeed done all this evil1 444 yet turn not aside from following ,jehovah4' ,that is a truly evangelical exhortation4 ,the memory of past failures is never to set the tune for future service4 ,again1 ,samuel based the exhortation to whole-hearted service of ,jehovah on ,jehovah's faithfulness and great benefits 7vs4 #bb-bd71 ,it is suicidal folly to turn away from ,him who never turns away from us2 it is black ingratitude1 as well as suicidal folly1 to refuse to serve ,him whose mercies encompass us4 ,that divine good pleasure1 which has no source but in ,himself1 flows out like an artesian well1 unceasing4 ,his 'nature and property' is to love4 ,his past is the prophecy of ,his future4 ,he will always be what ,he has been1 and always do what ,he has done4 ,therefore we need not fear1 though we change and are faithless4 ',he cannot deny ,himself4' ,his revealed character would be dimmed if ,he abandoned a soul that clung to ,him4 ,so our faith should1 in some measure1 match ,his faithfulness1 and we should build firmly on the firm foundation4 ,,iii4 ,samuel answers the people's request for his prayers with a wise word1 full of affection1 and also full of dignity and warning1 all the more impressive because veiled4 ,he promises his continued intercession1 but he puts it as a duty which he owes to ,god rather than to them only1 and he thus sufficiently asserts his ,god-appointed office4 ,he promises to do more than pray for them2 namely1 to continue as their ethical and religious guide1 which they had not asked him to be4 ,that at once makes his future position in the monarchy clear4 ,he is still the prophet1 though no longer the judge1 and1 as the future was to show1 he has to direct monarch as well as people4 ,but it also hints to the people that his prayers for them will be of little avail unless they listen to his teaching4 ,whether a ,samuel prays for us or not1 if we do not listen to the voices that bid us serve ,god1 we 'shall be consumed4' ,,saul ,,rejected ',then came the word of the ,lord unto ,samuel1 saying1 #aa4 ,it repenteth ,me that ,i have set up ,saul to be king3 for he is turned back from following ,me1 and hath not performed ,my commandments4 ,and it grieved ,samuel2 and he cried unto the ,lord all night4 #ab4 ,and when ,samuel rose early to meet ,saul in the morning1 it was told ,samuel1 saying1 ,saul came to ,carmel1 and1 behold1 he set him up a place1 and is gone about1 and passed on1 and gone down to ,gilgal4 #ac4 ,and ,samuel came to ,saul3 and ,saul said unto him1 ,blessed be thou of the ,lord3 ,i have performed the commandment of the ,lord4 #ad4 ,and ,samuel said1 ,what meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears1 and the lowing of the oxen which ,i hear8 #ae4 ,and ,saul said1 ,they have brought them from the ,amalekites3 for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen1 to sacrifice unto the ,lore thy ,god2 and the rest we have utterly destroyed4 #af4 ,then ,samuel said unto ,saul1 ,stay1 and ,i will tell thee what the ,lord hath said to me this night4 ,and he said unto him1 ,say on4 #ag4 ,and ,samuel said1 ,when thou wast little in thine own sight1 wast thou not made the head of the tribes of ,israel1 and the ,lord anointed thee king over ,israel8 #ah4 ,and the ,lord sent thee on a journey1 and said1 ,go and utterly destroy the sinners the ,amalekites1 and fight against them until they be consumed4 #ai4 ,wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the ,lord1 but didst fly upon the spoil1 and didst evil in the sight of the ,lord8 #bj4 ,and ,saul said unto ,samuel1 ,yea1 ,i have obeyed the voice of the ,lord1 and have gone the way which the ,lord sent me1 and have brought ,agag the king of ,amalek1 and have utterly destroyed the ,amalekites4 #ba4 ,but the people took of the spoil1 sheep and oxen1 the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed1 to sacrifice unto the ,lord thy ,god in ,gilgal4 #bb4 ,and ,samuel said1 ,hath the ,lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices1 as in obeying the voice of the ,lord8 ,behold1 to obey is better than sacrifice1 and to hearken than the fat of rams4 #bc4 ,for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft1 and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry4 ,because thou hast rejected the word of the ,lord1 ,he hath also rejected thee from being king4'--#a ,,samuel xv4 #aj-bc4 ,again the narrative takes us to ,gilgal1--a fateful place for ,saul1 ,there they 'made ,saul king before the ,lord'2 there he had taken the first step on his dark way of gloomy1 proud self-will1 down which he was destined to plunge so far and fatally4 ,there he had1 in consequence1 received the message of the transference of the kingdom from his house1 though not from himself4 ,now1 flushed with his victory over ,amalek1 he has come there with his troops1 laden with spoil4 ,they had made a swift march from the south where ,amalek dwelt1 passing by ,nabal's ,carmel1 where they had put up some sort of monument of their exploit in a temper of vain-glory1 very unlike the spirit which reared the stone of help at ,eben-ezer2 and apparently they purpose sacrifices and a feast4 ,but ,samuel comes into camp with no look of congratulation4 ,probably the vigorous old man had walked that day from his home1 some fifteen miles off1 and on the way seems to have picked up tidings of ,saul's victory and position1 which ought to have reached him from the king himself1 and would have done so if ,saul's conscience had been clear4 ,the omission to tell him was studied neglect1 which revealed much4 ,samuel had 'cried unto the ,lord all night1' if perchance the terrible sentence might be reversed2 and his cries had not been in vain1 for they had brought him into complete submission1 and had nerved him to do his work calmly1 without a quiver or a pang of personal feeling1 as becomes ,god's prophet4 ,i4 ,we must go back a step beyond this passage to understand it4 ,note1 first1 the command which was disobeyed4 ,the campaign against ,amalek was undertaken by express divine direction through ,samuel's lips4 ,it was the delayed fulfilment of a sentence passed in the times of the ,conquest1 but not executed then4 ,the terrible old usages of that period are brought into play again1 and the whole nation with its possessions is 'devoted'4 ,the word explains the dreadful usage4 ,there are two kinds of devotion to ,god3 that of willing1 and that of unwilling1 men2 the one brings life1 the other1 death4 ,the massacre of the foul nations of ,canaan was thereby made a direct divine judgment1 and removed wholly from the region of ferocious warfare4 ,no doubt1 the whole plane of morals in the earlier revelation is lower than that of the ,new ,testament4 ,if ,jesus has not taught a higher law than was given to 'them of old time1' one large part of ,his gift to men disappears4 ,the wholesale destruction of 'babe and suckling' with the guilty makes us shudder2 and we are meant to feel the difference between the atmosphere of that time and ours4 ,but we are not meant to question the reality of the divine command1 nor ,his right to give it4 ,he slays1 and makes alive4 ,his judgments strike the innocent with the guilty4 ,in many a case1 and often1 the sin is one generation's1 and the bitter fruit another's4 ,the destruction of ,canaanites and ,amalekites does not change its nature because ,god used men to do it2 and the question is not whether the ,israelites were fiercely barbarous in their warfare1 but whether ,god has the right of life and death4 ,we grant all the dreadfulness1 and joyfully admit the distance between such acts and ,jesus ,christ2 but we recognise them as not incongruous with the whole revealed character of the ,god who is justice as well as love1 as parallel in substance1 though different in instrument1 with many of ,his dealings with men1--as the execution of righteous sentence on rank corruption1 and as sweetening the world by its removal4 ,most of the difficulty and repugnance has been caused by forgetting that ,israel was but the sword1 while the hand was ,god's4 ,,ii4 ,note the disobedience4 ,partial obedience is complete disobedience4 ,saul and his men obeyed as far as suited them2 that is to say1 they did not obey ,god at all1 but their own inclinations1 both in sparing the good and in destroying the worthless4 ,what was not worth carrying off they destroyed1--not because of the command1 but to save trouble4 ,this one fault seems but a small thing to entail the loss of a kingdom4 ,but is it so8 ,it was obviously not an isolated act on ,saul's part1 but indicated his growing impatience of the divine control1 exercised on him through ,samuel4 ,he was in a difficult position4 ,he owed his kingdom to the prophet2 and the very condition on which he held it was that of submission to ,samuel's authority4 ,no wonder that his elevation quickened the growth of his masterfulness and gloomy1 impetuous self-will1--traits in his character which showed themselves very early in his reign6 ,no wonder either that such a king1 held in leading-strings by a prophet1 should chafe6 ,the more insignificant the act in itself1 the more significant it may be as a flag of revolt4 ,disobedience which will not do a little thing is great disobedience4 ,nor was this the first time that ,saul had 'kicked1' like another ,saul1 'against the pricks1' ,gilgal had seen a previous instance of his impetuous self-assertion1 masked by apparent deference2 and the inference is fair that the interval between the two pieces of rebellion had been of a piece with them4 ,trivial acts1 especially when repeated1 show deep-seated evil4 ,there may be only a coil of the snake visible1 but that betrays the presence of the slimy folds1 though they are covered from sight among the leaves4 ,the tiny shoot of a plant1 peeping above the ground1 does not augur that the roots are short2 they may run for yards4 ,nor can any act be called small1 of which the motive is disregard of ,god's plain command3 ',he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much4' ,saul had never much religion4 ,he had never heard of ,samuel till that day when he came to consult him about the asses4 ,it was a wonder to his acquaintances to find him 'among the prophets'2 and all his acts of worship have about them a smack of self1 and an exclusive regard to the mere externals of sacrifice1 which imply a shallow notion of religion and a spirit unsubdued by its deeper influences4 ,such a man habitually acts in disregard of ,god's will2 and that is great sin1 though it be manifested in small acts4 ,it is to be remembered1 too1 that the excepting of the best of the spoil from the general destruction1 changed the whole character of the transaction1 and brought it down from the level of a solemn act of divine justice1 of which ,saul and his army were the executors by divine mandate1 to that of a mere cattle-lifting foray1 in which they were but thieves for their own gain4 ,the mingling of personal advantage with any sort of service of ,god1 ruins the whole1 and turns it into mere selfishness4 ,samuel1 in verse #ai1 puts the two sides of this 'evil in the sight of the ,lord' as being disobedience and swooping down on the booty1 like some bird of prey1 ,,iii4 ,note ,saul's excuses4 ,throughout the whole interview he plays a sorry part1 and is evidently cowed by the hated authority and personality of the old man2 while ,samuel1 on his side1 is curt1 stern1 and takes the upper hand1 as becomes ,god's messenger4 ,the relative positions of the two men are the normal ones of their offices1 and explain both ,saul's revolt and the chronic impatience of kings at the interference of prophets4 ,here we have ,saul coming to meet ,samuel with affected heartiness and welcome1 and with the bold lie1 ',i have performed the commandment of the ,lord4' ,that is more than true obedience is quick to say4 ,if ,saul had done it1 he would have been slower to boast of it4 ',those vessels yield the most sound that have the least liquor4' ,he 'doth protest too much'2 and the protestation comes from an uneasy conscience4 ,or did he1 like a great many other men who have no deep sense of the sanctity of every jot and tittle of a divine law1 please himself with the notion that it was enough to keep it approximately1 in the 'spirit' of the precept1 without slavish obedience to the 'letter'8 ,in a later part of the interview 7v4 #bj7 he insists that he has obeyed1 and tries to prove it by dwelling on the points in which he did so1 and gliding lightly over the others4 ',samuel had reason to believe the sheep and oxen above ,saul'2 and there is a tone of almost contempt for the shuffling liar in his quiet question3 ',what meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears1 and the lowing of the oxen which ,i hear8' ,there was no answering that2 so ,saul shifts his ground without a blush or a moment's hesitation4 ',the people spared4' ,it is a new character for him to appear in1--that of a weak ruler who cannot keep his unruly men in order6 ,had he tried to restrain them8 ,if he had1 and had failed1 he was not fit to be a king4 ,if he had not1 he was a coward to shift the blame on to them4 ,how ready men are to vilify themselves in some other direction1 in order to escape the consciousness of sin1 which ,god is seeking to force home on them6 ,no doubt the people were very willing to have a finger in the affair2 but so was he4 ,and if the cattle was their share1 ,agag1 who could be held to ransom1 was his2 and the arrangement suited all round4 ,as to the purpose of sacrificing at ,gilgal1 perhaps that was true2 but if it were1 no doubt the same process of selection1 which had destroyed the worthless and kept the best1 would have been repeated2 and the net result would have been a sacrifice of the least valuable1 and 'the survival of the fittest' in many a pasture and stall4 ,but note ,saul's attitude towards ,jehovah1 betrayed by him in that one word3 'the ,lord thy ,god1' ,no wonder that he had been content with a partial and perfunctory obedience1 if he had no closer sense of connection with ,god than that6 ,there is almost a sneer in it1 too1 as if he had said1 ',what needs all this fuss about saving the cattle8 ,you should be pleased2 for this ,jehovah1 with whom you profess to have special communication1 will be honoured with sacrifice1 and you will share in the feast4' ,if the words do not mean abjuring ,jehovah1 they go very near it1 and1 at all events1 betray the shallowness of ,saul's religion4 ,samuel1 in his answer1 reminds him of his early modesty and self-distrust1 and of the source of his elevation4 ,he then sweeps away the flimsy cobwebs of excuses1 by the curt repetition of the plain1 dreadful terms of ,saul's commission1 and then flashes out the piercing question1 like a sword1 ',wherefore then didst thou not8' ,the reminder of past benefits1 and the reiteration of the plain injunctions which have been broken1 are the way to cut through the poor palliations which men wrap around their sins4 ,it speaks of a very obstinate and gloomy determination that1 in answer1 ,saul should reiterate his protestation of having done as he was bid4 ,he doggedly says over again all that he had said before1 unmoved by the prophet's solemn words4 ,he is steeling his heart against reproof2 and there is only one end to that4 ,sin unacknowledged1 after ,god has disclosed it1 is doubly sin4 ,the heart that answers the touch of ,god's rebukes by sullenly closing more tightly on its evil1 is preparing itself for the blow of the hammer which will crush it4 ',he that being often reproved hardeneth his neck1 shall suddenly be destroyed1 and that without remedy4' ,let us beware of meeting ,god's prophet with shuffling lies about our obedience1 and of opposing to the words which are loving though they pierce1 the armour of impenetrable self-righteousness and conceit4 ,,iv4 ,note the punishment4 ,to the vain talk about honouring ,god by sacrifice1 ,samuel opposes the great principle which was the special message committed to every prophet in ,israel1 and which was repeated all through its history1 side by side with the divinely appointed sacrificial system4 ,in the intensity of his spiritual emotion1 ,samuel speaks in lyric strains1 in the measured parallelism which was the ,hebrew dress of poetry1 and gives forth in words 'which will live for ever' the great truth that ,god delights in obedience more than in sacrifice4 ,whilst1 on the one hand1 he lifts the surrender of the will1 and the consequent submission of the life1 high above all mere ritual1 on the other hand1 by the same process1 he sinks the rebellion of the will and the stubbornness of the nature1 unsubdued either by kindness or threats1 as ,saul was showing his to be1 to the level of actual idolatry4 ',rebellion is divination1 ,and stubbornness is idols and teraphim4' ,then comes the stern sentence of rejection4 ,why was ,saul thus irrevocably set aside8 ,was it not a harsh punishment for such a crime8 ,as we have already remarked1 ,saul's act is not to be judged as an isolated deed1 but as the outcome of a deep tendency in him1 which meant revolt from ,god4 ,it was not because of the single act1 but because of that which it showed him to be1 that he was set aside4 ,the sentence is pronounced1 not because 'thou didst spare ,amalek1' but because 'thou didst reject the word of the ,lord4' ,further1 it is to be remembered that the punishment was but the carrying out of his act4 ,his own hand had cut the bond between him and ,god1 and had disqualified himself for the office which he filled4 ,saul had said1 ',i will reign by myself4' ,god said1 ',be it so6 ,by thyself thou shalt reign4' ,for the consequence of his deposition was not outward change in his royalty4 ,david indeed was anointed but in secret1 so ,samuel consented to honour ,saul before the people4 ,all the external difference was that ,samuel never saw him again1 and he was relieved from the incubus of the prophet's 'interference'2 that is to say1 he ceased to be ,god's king1 and became a phantom1 ruling only by his own will and power1 as he had wished to do4 ,how profound may be the difference while all externals remain unchanged6 ,when we set up ourselves as our own lords1 and shake off ,god's rule1 we cast away ,his sanction and help in all the deeds of our self-will1 however unaltered their outward appearance may remain4 ,but ,god left him to 'walk in his own ways1 and be filled with the fruit of his own devices1' by no irrevocable abandonment1 however the decree of rejection from the kingship was irrevocable4 ,the gates of repentance stood open for him2 and the very sentence that came stern and laconic from ,samuel's lips1 rightly accepted1 might have drawn him in true penitence to a forgiving ,god4 ,his subsequent confession was rejected because it expressed no real contrition2 and the worship which he proceeded to offer1 without the sanction of the prophet's presence1 was as unreal as his protestation of obedience1 and showed how little he had learned the lesson of the great words1 ',to obey is better than sacrifice4' ,,the ,,shepherd-,,king ',and the ,lord said unto ,samuel1 ,how long wilt them mourn for ,saul1 seeing ,i have rejected him from reigning over ,israel6 fill thine horn with oil1 and go1 ,i will send thee to ,jesse the ,beth-lehemite3 for ,i have provided ,me a king among his sons4 #b4 ,and ,samuel said1 ,how can ,i go8 ,if ,saul hear it1 he will kill me4 ,and the ,lord said1 ,take an heifer with thee1 and say1 ,i am come to sacrifice to the ,lord4 #c4 ,and call ,jesse to the sacrifice1 and ,i will show thee what thou shalt do3 and thou shalt anoint unto ,me him whom ,i name unto thee4 #d4 ,and ,samuel did that which the ,lord spake1 and came to ,beth-lehem4 ,and the elders of the town trembled at his coming1 and said1 ,comest thou peaceably8 #e4 ,and he said1 ,peaceably3 ,i am come to sacrifice unto the ,lord3 sanctify yourselves1 and come with me to the sacrifice4 ,and he sanctified ,jesse and his sons1 and called them to the sacrifice4 #f4 ,and it came to pass1 when they were come1 that he looked on ,eliab1 and said1 ,surely the ,lord's anointed is before him4 #g4 ,but the ,lord said unto ,samuel1 ,look not on his countenance1 or on the height of his stature2 because ,i have refused him3 for the ,lord seeth not as man seeth2 for man looketh on the outward appearance1 but the ,lord looketh on the heart4 #h4 ,then ,jesse called ,abinadab1 and made him pass before ,samuel4 ,and he said1 ,neither hath the ,lord chosen this4 #i4 ,then ,jesse made ,shammah to pass by4 ,and he said1 ,neither hath the ,lord chosen this4 #aj4 ,again1 ,jesse made seven of his sons to pass before ,samuel4 ,and ,samuel said unto ,jesse1 ,the ,lord hath not chosen these4 #aa4 ,and ,samuel said unto ,jesse1 ,are here all thy children8 ,and he said1 ,there remaineth yet the youngest1 and1 behold1 he keepeth the sheep4 ,and ,samuel said unto ,jesse1 ,send and fetch him3 for we will not sit down till he come hither4 #ab4 ,and he sent1 and brought him in4 ,now he was ruddy1 and withal of a beautiful countenance1 and goodly to look to4 ,and the ,lord said1 ,arise1 anoint him3 for this is he4 #ac4 ,then ,samuel took the horn of oil1 and anointed him in the midst of his brethren3 and the ,spirit of the ,lord came upon ,david from that day forward4 ,so ,samuel rose up1 and went to ,ramah4'--#a ,,samuel xvi #a-ac4 ,the chief purpose in these verses is to bring out that the choice of ,david was purely ,god's4 ,the most consummate art could have taken no better way of heightening the effect of his first appearance than that adopted in this perfectly unartificial story1 which leads us up a long avenue to where the shepherd-boy stands4 ,first1 we have ,samuel1 with his regrets and objections2 then ,jesse with his seven stalwart sons2 and at last1 when expectation has been heightened by delay and by the minute previous details1 the future king is disclosed1--a stripling with his ruddy locks glistening with the anointing oil1 and his lovely eyes4 ,we shall best catch the spirit by simply following the letter of the story4 ,i4 ,we have ,samuel and his errand to ,bethlehem4 ,after that sad day at ,gilgal1 he and ,saul met no more1 though their homes were but a few miles apart1 and it must have been difficult to avoid each other4 ,samuel yearned over the man whom he had learned to love1 and it must have been pain to him to see the shattering of the vessel which he had formed4 ,however natural his mourning1 and however indicative of his sweet nature1 it was wrong1 because it showed that he had not yet reconciled himself to ,god's purpose1 though his conduct obeyed4 ,the mourning which submits while it weeps1 and which interferes with no duty1 is never rebuked by ,god4 ,he never says1' ,how long dost thou mourn8' unless sorrow has deepened into accusation of ,his providence1 or tears have blinded us to the duty that ensues4 ,but the true cure for overmuch sorrow is work1 and1 for vain regrets after vanished good1 the welcome to the new good which ,god ever sends to fill the empty place4 ,his resources are not exhausted because one man has failed4 ',there are as good fish in the sea as ever came out of it4' ,saul has been rejected1 but a king shall be found2 and ,samuel is to dry his tears and anoint him4 ,he evidently had no thought of a successor to ,saul till this command came2 and when it comes1 how little it tells him6 ,he gets light enough for the next step1 but no more4 ,that is always ,god's way4 ,duty opens by degrees1 and the way to see farther ahead is to go as far as we see4 ,samuel's sorrow and the incomplete command show plainly that he was but an instrument4 ,at every step the view is confuted which makes him a far-seeing statesman who inaugurated and carried through a peaceful revolution4 ,the history1 which is our only source1 tells another story1 and makes ,god the actor1 and the prophet only a tool in ,his hands4 ,if we cut the supernatural out of the story1 the fragments do not hang together1 and no reason is forthcoming why they should be any more true than are the rejected pieces4 ,samuel does not show to advantage in either of the two things mentioned about him here4 ,in neither was he true to his early vow1 ',speak1 for ,thy servant heareth4' ,but there was much reason for his fear1 if once ,god was left out of the account2 for ,saul's ever-wakeful suspicion had become a disease1 and it was not wonderful that he should be on the watch for any act which looked like putting the sentence of deposition into effect4 ,if ever a man lived with a sword hanging by a hair over him1 it was this unhappy king1 who knew that he was dethroned1 and did not know when or by whom the divine rejection would be made visible to all men4 ,but ,samuel had faced worse dangers without a murmur2 and no doubt his alarm now1 which makes him venture all but flatly to refuse to obey1 indicates that1 to some extent1 he had lost his hold of ,god by his indulgence in his sorrow4 ,if he had been true to his high calling1 he would have 'filled his horn1' and gone on ,god's errand1 careless of a hundred ,sauls or a hundred deaths4 ,but it is easy for us1 who have never perilled anything for obedience1 to sit in judgment on him4 ',wherein thou judgest another1 thou condemnest thyself4' ,god judges him mercifully1 and provides a shelter for his weakness1 which he should not have needed4 ,to hide his true errand behind the cloak of the sacrifice was second-best1 and only permitted in consideration of his fear which had a touch of sin in it4 ,he was not1 at the moment1 up to treading the heroic plain path2 and ,god opened an easier one for him4 ,it is sometimes allowable to use an avowed purpose to conceal the real one1 but it is a permission which should be very sparingly used4 ,,ii4 ,we have ,samuel at ,bethlehem1 with ,jesse and his sons4 ,an old man is suddenly seen coming up the hill to the gate of the little city on foot1 driving or leading a heifer1 and carrying a horn in his hand4 ,in such humble fashion did the prophet travel2 but reverential awe met him1 and his long years of noble service surrounded him as with a halo4 ,apparently1 ,bethlehem had not been included in his usual circuits1 and the village elders were somewhat scared by his sudden appearance4 ,their question may give a glimpse into the severity which ,samuel sometimes had to show1 and is a strange testimony to the reality of his power3 ',comest thou peaceably8' ,one old man was no very formidable assailant of a village1 even if he did not come with friendly intent2 but1 if he is recognised as ,god's messenger1 his words are sharper than any two-edged sword1 and his unarmed hand bears weapons mighty to 'pull down strongholds4' ,why should the elders have thought that he came 'with a rod'8 ,because they knew that they and their fellow-villagers deserved it4 ,if men were not dimly conscious of sin1 they would not be afraid of ,god's messenger or of ,god4 ,the narrative does not tell whether or not the sacrifice preceded the review of ,jesse's sons4 ,probably it did1 and the interval between it and the feast was occupied in the interview4 ,it is evident that ,samuel kept the reason of his wish to see ,jesse's sons to himself2 for disclosure would have brought about the danger which he was so anxious to avoid4 ,it appears1 too1 from verse #ac1 that only the family of ,jesse were present4 ,so we have to fancy the wondering little cluster of burly husbandmen with their father surrounding the prophet1 and3 one by one1 bracing themselves to meet his searching gaze4 ,again the choice is emphatically represented as ,god's1 by the mention of ,samuel's hasty conclusion1 from the look of the eldest1 that he was the man4 ,had not ,samuel had enough of kings of towering stature8 ,strange that he should have been in such a hurry to fix on a second edition of ,saul6 ,the most obedient waiters on ,god sometimes outrun ,his intimations1 and they always go wrong when they do4 ,samuel has to learn two lessons1 as he is bidden to repress the too quick thought3 one1 that he is not choosing1 but only registering ,god's choice2 and one1 that the qualifications for ,god's king are inward1 not bodily4 ,in these old days1 the world's monarchs had to be men of thews and sinews1 for power rested on mere brute force3 but ,god's chosen had to rule1 not by the strength of his own arm1 but by leaning on ,god's4 ,the genius of the kingdom determined the principle of selection of its king4 ,samuel does not again attempt to forecast the choice2 but he lets the other six pass1 and1 hearing no inward voice from ,god1 tells ,jesse1 as it would seem1 that the ,lord has not chosen them for whatsoever mysterious purpose was in ,his mind4 ,,iii4 ,we have 'the ,lord's chosen4' ,samuel was staggered by the apparent failure of his errand4 ,god had told him that he had provided a king from this family1 and now they had passed in review before him1 and none was chosen4 ,again he is made to feel his own impotence1 and his question1 ',are here all thy children8' has a touch of bewilderment in it4 ,god seldom shows us ,his choice at first2 and both in thought and practice we get at the precious and the true by a process of exclusion1 having often to reject 'seven' before we find in some all-but-forgotten 'eighth' that which we seek4 ,david's insignificance in ,jesse's eyes was such that his father would never have remembered his existence but for the question1 and his answer is a kind of assurance to the prophet that he need not take the trouble to see the boy1 for he will never do for whatever he may have in view4 ,his youth and occupation put him out of the question4 ,we know1 from the other parts of his story1 that his brothers had no love for him2 nor does his father seem to have had much4 ,probably the lad had the usual lot of genius1--to grow up among uncongenial1 commonplace people1 understanding him little1 and liking him less4 ,it is a hard school2 but where it does not sour1 it makes strong men4 ,his solitary shepherd life taught him many precious lessons1 and1 at any rate1 gave him the priceless gift of solitude1 which is the nurse of poetry1 heroism1 and religion4 ,the glorious night-piece in ,psalm viii41 and its companion day-piece in ,psalm xix41 may bear the impress of the shepherd life2 which is idealised and sanctified for ever in the immortal sweetness of ,psalm xxiii4 ,there were many worse schools for the future king than a solitary shepherd's life on the bare hills round ,bethlehem4 ,the delay of the feast and the pause of idle waiting heighten the expectation with which we look for ,david's coming4 ,when he does come1 what a bright young figure is lovingly painted for us6 ,he is 'ruddy1 and withal fair of eyes1 and goodly to look upon1'--of fair complexion1 with golden hair 7rare among these swarthy ,orientals71 and with lustrous poet's eyes4 ,what a contrast to ,saul's grim face and figure1--like a sunbeam streaming athwart a thunder-cloud seamed with its own lightning6 ,silently the divine voice spoke1 and silently1 as it would seem1 ,samuel poured the oil on the boy's bowed curls4 ,no word of the purpose escaped his lips1 and the awestruck youth was left to wonder for what high destiny he was chosen4 ,one can fancy the looks of his brothers as they bitterly watched the anointing with hearts full of envy1 contempt1 and rage4 ,i ,samuel xvii4 #bh shows what they felt to ,david4 ,what was the use of this enigmatical anointing for an undisclosed purpose8 ,it is ,samuel's last act1 and his last appearance1 except for the mention of ,david's flight to him from the court of ,saul1 and that weird scene of ,saul prophesying and lying naked before ,samuel and ,david for a day and a night4 ,it was therefore the solemn final act of the prophet1--transferring the monarchy2 but it was for ,david the beginning of his training for the throne1 in two ways1 ',the ,spirit of the ,lord came upon ,david from that day forward4' ,there was an actual communication of divine gifts fitting him for his unknown office1 and he was conscious of a new spirit stirring in him4 ,beside this1 the consciousness of a call to unknown tasks would mature him fast1 and bring graver thoughts1 humbler sense of weakness1 and clinging trust in ,god who had laid the burden on him2 and the necessity for repressing his dreams of the future1 in order to do his obscure present duties1 would add patience and self-control to his youthful ardour4 ,what a whirl of thoughts he carried back to his flock1 and how welcome would the solitude be6 ,the great lesson here is the one so continually reiterated in ,scripture1 from ,isaac downwards1 that ,god 'chooses the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty1' and thereby magnifies both the sovereign freedom of ,his choice and the power of ,his ,spirit1 which takes the stripling from the sheepcotes and qualifies him to be the antagonist of the grim ,saul1 and the king of ,israel4 ,there are subsidiary lessons1 especially for young and ardent souls confined for the present to lowly tasks1 and feeling some call to something higher in a dim future4 ,patience1 the faithful doing of to-day's trivial tasks1 the habit of self-repression1 the quiet trust in ,god who opens the way in due time1--these1 and such like1 were the signs that ,david was called to a throne1 and that ,god's ,spirit was preparing him for it4 ,they are the virtues which will best prepare us for whatever the future may have in store for us1 and will be in themselves abundant reward1 whether they draw after them a high position1 which is a heavy burden1 or1 more happily1 leave us in our sheltered obscurity4 ,,the ,,victory ,,of ,,unarmed ,,faith ',and ,david said to ,saul1 ,let no man's heart fail because of him2 thy servant will go and fight with this ,philistine4 #cc4 ,and ,saul said to ,david1 ,thou art not able to go against this ,philistine to fight with him3 for thou art but a youth1 and he a man of war from his youth4 #cd4 ,and ,david said unto ,saul1 ,thy servant kept his father's sheep1 and there came a lion and a bear1 and took a lamb out of the flock2 #ce4 ,and ,i went out after him1 and smote him1 and delivered it out of his mouth3 and when he arose against me1 ,i caught him by his beard1 and smote him1 and slew him4 #cf4 ,thy servant slew both the lion and the bear3 and this uncircumcised ,philistine shall be as one of them1 seeing he hath defied the armies of the living ,god4 #cg4 ,david said moreover1 ,the ,lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion1 and out of the paw of the bear1 ,he will deliver me out of the hand of this ,philistine4 ,and ,saul said unto ,david1 ,go1 and the ,lord be with thee4 #ch4 ,and ,saul armed ,david with his armour1 and he put an helmet of brass upon his head2 also he armed him with a coat of mail4 #ci4 ,and ,david girded his sword upon his armour1 and he assayed to go2 for he had not proved it4 ,and ,david said unto ,saul1 ,i cannot go with these2 for ,i have not proved them4 ,and ,david put them off him4 #dj4 ,and he took his staff in his hand1 and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook1 and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had1 even in a scrip2 and his sling was in his hand3 and he drew near to the ,philistine4 #da4 ,and the ,philistine came on and drew near unto ,david2 and the man that bare the shield went before him4 #db4 ,and when the ,philistine looked about1 and saw ,david1 he disdained him3 for he was but a youth1 and ruddy1 and of a fair countenance4 #dc4 ,and the ,philistine said unto ,david1 ,am ,i a dog1 that thou comest to me with staves8 ,and the ,philistine cursed ,david by his gods4 #dd4 ,and the ,philistine said to ,david1 ,come to me1 and ,i will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air1 and to the beasts of the field4 #de4 ,then said ,david to the ,philistine1 ,thou comest to me with a sword1 and with a spear1 and with a shield3 but ,i come to thee in the name of the ,lord of hosts1 the ,god of the armies of ,israel1 whom thou hast defied4 #df4 ,this day will the ,lord deliver thee into mine hand2 and ,i will smite thee1 and take thine head from thee2 and ,i will give the carcases of the host of the ,philistines this day unto the fowls of the air1 and to the wild beasts of the earth2 that all the earth may know that there is a ,god in ,israel4 #dg4 ,and all this assembly shall know that the ,lord saveth not with sword and spear3 for the battle is the ,lord's1 and ,he will give you into our hands4 #dh4 ,and it came to pass1 when the ,philistine arose1 and came and drew nigh to meet ,david1 that ,david hasted1 and ran toward the army to meet the ,philistine4 #di4 ,and ,david put his hand in his bag1 and took thence a stone1 and slang it1 and smote the ,philistine in his forehead1 that the stone sunk into his forehead2 and he fell upon his face to the earth4 #ej4 ,so ,david prevailed over the ,philistine with a sling and with a stone1 and smote the ,philistine1 and slew him2 but there was no sword in the hand of ,david4 #ea4 ,therefore ,david ran1 and stood upon the ,philistine1 and took his sword1 and drew it out of the sheath thereof1 and slew him1 and cut off his head therewith4 ,and when the ,philistines saw their champion was dead1 they fled4'--#a ,,samuel xvii4 #cb-ea4 ,the scene of ,david's victory has been identified in the present ,wady ,es-,sunt1 which still possesses one of the terebinth-trees which gave it its name of ',elah4' ,at that point it is about a quarter of a mile wide1 and runs nearly east and west4 ,in the centre is 'a deep trench or gulley1 the sides and bed of which are strewn with rounded and water-worn pebbles4' ,this is the 'valley1' or rather 'ravine' of verse #c of this chapter1 which is described by a different word from that for 'vale' in verse #b--the one meaning a much broader opening than the other--and from it came the 'five smooth stones4' ,notice the minute topographical accuracy1 which indicates history1 not legend4 ,the pebble-bed may supply a missile to hit the modern 'giant' of sceptical criticism1 who boasts much after ,goliath's fashion4 ,the two armies lay looking at each other across the valley1 with occasional skirmishes2 and for forty days 7probably a round number7 ,goliath paraded on his own1 the south1 side of the gulley1 shouting out his taunts and challenge with a voice like a bull4 ,many a similar scene in classical and mediaeval warfare confirms the truth of the picture1 so unlike modern battles4 ,the story is1 for all time1 the example of the victory of unarmed faith over the world's utmost might4 ,it is in little the history of the ,church and the type of all battles for ,god4 ,it is a pattern for the young especially4 ,the youthful athlete leaps into the arena1 and overcomes1 not because of his own strength1 but because he trusts in ,god4 ,i4 ,note the glowing youthful enthusiasm which dares the conflict4 ,when the ,spirit of the ,lord left ,saul1 his courage seems to have gone too1 and he is cowed1 like the rest1 by ,goliath4 ,his interview with ,david shows him as timid and unlike his former self1 when he dashed at ,nahash and any odds4 ,now he is hardly to be roused1 even by ,david's contagious boldness1 and is full of objections and precautions4 ,the temper of the two1 as they front each other in ,saul's tent1 shows that the one has lost1 and the other received1 the ,spirit which strengthens4 ,david has become the encourager1 and his cheery words bring some hopefulness to the gloomy1 faint-hearted king4 ,the ,septuagint has a variant reading in verse #cb1 which brings this out and suits the context1 ',let not my lord's heart fail4' ,but1 whether this be adopted or no1 ,david appears as quite unaffected by the terror which had unmanned the army1 and as bringing a buoyant disregard of the enemy1 like a reviving breeze4 ,it was not merely youthful daring1 nor foolish under-estimation of the danger1 which prompted his stimulating words4 ,the ring of true faith is in them1 and they show us how we may surround ourselves with an atmosphere which will keep prevailing faint-heartedness off us1 and make us1 like ,gideon's fleece1 impervious to the chill mists of faithless fear which saturate all around4 ,he who trusts in ,god should be as a pillar of fire1 burning bright in the darkness of terror1 and making a rallying point for weaker hearts4 ,when panic has seized others1 the ,christian soul has the more reason for courage4 ,david conquered the temptation to share in the general cowardice1 before he conquered ,goliath1 and perhaps the former fight was the worse of the two4 ,while ,david is the embodiment of the courage of faith1 ,saul embodies worldly wisdom and calculating prudence4 ,a touch of tenderness blends with his attempt to dissuade the lad from the unequal conflict4 ,he speaks of probabilities1 and1 like all such calculation1 his results are quite right1 only that he has not taken all the forces into account1 and the omission vitiates the conclusion4 ,it is quite true that ,david is but a youth1 and ,goliath a giant and a veteran2 but is that all that is to be said8 ,if it be1 then the lad cannot fight the ,philistine bully2 but if ,saul has made the small omission of leaving out ,god1 that makes a difference4 ,the same mistake is constantly made still1 and so the victories of faith are a constant surprise to the world and to a worldly ,church4 ,david's eager story of his fights with wild beasts is meant both to answer ,saul's objection on his own ground1 by showing him that1 youth as the speaker was1 he had proved his power1 and still more to supply the lacking element in the calculation4 ,so he tells1 first1 how ',i caught him by his beard1 and smote him1 and slew him1' and then at the end brings in the true ground of his confidence3 ',the ,lord that delivered me 444 ,he will deliver4' ,as ,thomas ,fuller says1 ',he made an experimental syllogism1 and from most practical premises 7major a lion1 minor a bear71 inferred the direct conclusion that ,god would give him victory over ,goliath4 ,faith has the right thus to argue from the past to the future1 because it draws from ,god whose resources and patience are equally inexhaustible4 ,an echo of the words comes from ,paul's ',who delivered us from so great a death1 and doth deliver3 in whom we trust that ,he will yet deliver4' ,there is infinite pathos in ,saul's parting blessing4 ',the ,lord be with thee6' is spoken as if from the consciousness that the ,lord had left him1 and that his day for going into battle with the assurance of ,his help was gone for ever4 ,if that softened mood had lasted1 how different his future might have been6 ,if we modestly and boldly show the power of faith in our lives1 we may kindle yearnings in some gloomy hearts1 that would lead them to peace1 if followed out4 ,,ii4 ,the equipment of faith4 ,saul meant to honour as well as to secure ,david by dressing him in his own royal attire1 and by encumbering him by the help of sword and helmet4 ,and ,david was willing to be so fitted out1 for it is no part of the courage of faith to disdain any outward helps4 ,but he soon found that he could not move freely in the unaccustomed armour1 and flung it off1 like a wise man4 ,his motive was partly common sense1 which told him not to choose weapons that his antagonist could handle better than he2 and partly reliance on ,god1 which told him that he was safer with no armour but his shepherd's dress and with only his sling in his hand4 ,so there he stands1 drawn for us with wonderful vividness1 in one hand his staff1 in the other his sling1 both familiar and often used1 and by his side the simple wallet which had held his frugal meal1 and now received the smooth pebbles that he picked up as he passed the gulley to the ,philistine side of the valley4 ,how graphically the contrast is drawn between him and ,goliath1 as the latter conies forth swelling with his own magnificence1 and preceded by his shield-bearer6 ,he was 'brass' all over2 note the kind of amused emphasis with which the word is repeated in the half-satirical and marvellously lifelike portrait of him in verses #e-h2 'brass' here1 'brass' there1 'brass' everywhere2 and1 not content with one shield dangling at his back1 he has a man to carry another in front of him as he struts4 ,david seems to have crossed the ravine1 and to have come close up to ,goliath before he was observed2 and then1 with almost a snort of contempt1 the giant resents the insult of sending such a foe to fight him with such weapons4 ,perhaps he was nearer the truth than he thought1 when he asked if he was a dog2 and any stick will do1 as the proverb says1 to beat that animal1 especially if ,god guards the hand that holds it4 ,the five smooth stones have become the symbol of the insignificant means1 in the world's estimate1 which ,god uses in faithful hands to slay the giants of evil4 ,the weapons of our warfare are not carnal1 but they are mighty4 ,faith unarmed is armed with more than triple steel1 and a sling in its hand is more fatal than a sword4 ,sometimes in kindness and sometimes in malice1 the world tempts us to fight evil with its own weapons1 and to put on its unfamiliar armour4 ,the ,church as a whole1 and individual ,christians1 have often been hampered1 and all but smothered1 in ,saul's harness4 ,the more simply we keep ourselves to the simple methods which the word of ,god enjoins1 and to the simple weapons which ought to be the easiest for a ,christian1 the more likely shall we be to conquer4 ,goliath is not to be encountered with sword and armour which is1 after all1 but a shabby copy of the tons of brass which he wears1 but he does not know what to make of the sling1 and does not see the stone till it crashes his skull in4 ,,iii4 ,note faith's anticipation of victory4 ,the dialogue before the battle has many parallels in classical times and among savage peoples4 ,goliath's bluster is full of contempt of ,david and truculent self-confidence4 ,its coarseness is characteristic1--he will make his boyish antagonist food for vultures and jackals4 ,it is exactly what a bully would say4 ,david's answer throbs with buoyant confidence1 and stands as a stimulating example of the temper in which ,god's soldiers should go out to every fight1 no matter against what odds4 ,it fully recognises the formidable armoury of the enemy1--sword for close quarters1 spear to thrust with1 and javelin to fling from a distance1 every weapon that ingenuity could fashion and trained skill could wield4 ,goliath was a walking arsenal1 and little ,david took count of his weapons as they clanked and flashed4 ,it is no part of faith's triumph to ignore the number and sharpness of the enemy's arms4 ,but faith sees them all1 and keeps unterrified and unashamed of the poor leathern sling and smooth stones4 ,the unarmed hand which grasps ,god's hand should never tremble2 and he who can say ',i come 444 in the name of the ,lord of hosts1' has no need to be afraid of an army of ,goliaths1 though each bristled with swords and spears like a porcupine4 ,the great name on which ,david's faith rested1 'the ,lord of hosts1' appears to have sprung into use in this epoch1 and to have been one precious fruit of its frequent wars4 ,conflict is blessed if it teaches the knowledge of the unseen ,commander who marshals not only men1 but all the forces of the universe and the armies of heaven1 for the defence of ,his servants and the victory of ,his own cause4 ,the fulness of the divine name is learned by degrees1 as our needs impress the various aspects of ,his character2 and the revelation contained in this appellation is the gift of that fierce and stormy time1 a possession for ever4 ,he who defies the armies of ,israel has to reckon with the ,lord of these armies1 whose name proclaims at once ,his eternal1 self-originated1 and self-sustained being1 ,his covenant1 ,his presence with ,his earthly host1 and the infinite ranks of obedient creatures who are ,his soldiers and their allies4 ,that is 'the ,name' in the strength of which we may 'set up our banners' and be sure of victory4 ,note how ,david flings back ,goliath's taunts in his teeth4 ,he is sure that ,god will conquer through him1 and1 though he has no sword1 that he will somehow hack the big head off2 and that it is the host of the ,philistines on whom the vultures and jackals are to feed to-day4 ,his faith sees the victory before the battle is begun1 and trusts1 not in his own weak power1 but only 'in the name of the ,lord4' ,note1 too1 the result which he expects--no glory for himself1 though that came unsought1 when the shrill songs from the women of ,israel met the victors1 but to all the world the proof that ,israel had a ,god1 and to ,israel 7'this assembly'7 the renewed lesson of their true weapons and of their ,almighty ,helper4 ,such utter suppression of self is inseparable from trust in ,god1 and without it no soldier of ,his has a right to expect victory4 ,to fight 'in the name of the ,lord' requires hiding our own name4 ,if we are really going to war for ,him1 and in ,his strength1 we ought to expect to conquer4 ,believe that you will be beaten1 and you will be4 ,trust to ,him to make you 'more than conquerors1' and the trust will bring about its own fulfilment4 ,,iv4 ,observe the contrast in verse #dh between the slow movements of the heavy-armed ,philistine and the quick run of the shepherd1 whose 'feet were as hind's feet' 7,psalm xviii4 #cc74 ,agility and confident alacrity were both expressed4 ,his feet were shod with 'the preparedness of faith4' ,observe1 too1 the impetuous brevity of the account in verse #di1 of the actual fall of ,goliath4 ,the short clauses1 coupled by a series of 'ands1' reproduce the swift succession of events1 which ended the fight before it had begun2 and one can almost hear the whiz of the stone as it crashes into the thick head1 so strangely left unprotected by all the profusion of brass that clattered about him4 ,the vulnerable heel of ,achilles and the unarmed forehead of ,goliath illustrate the truth1 ever forgotten and needing to be repeated1 that1 after all precautions1 some spot is bare1 and that 'there is no armour against fate4' ,the picture of the huge 'man-mountain' fallen upon his face to the earth1 a huddled heap of useless mail1 recalls the words of a psalm1 ',when the wicked1 even mine enemies and my foes1 came upon me to eat up my flesh1 they stumbled and fell' 7,psalm xxvii4 #b74 ,is it fanciful to hear in that triumphant chant an echo of ,goliath's boast about giving his flesh to the fowls and the beasts1 and a vision of the braggart as he tottered and lay prostrate8 ,observe1 too1 the contemptuous reiteration of 'the ,philistine1' which occurs six times in the four verses 7#dh-ea74 ,national feeling speaks in that4 ,there is triumph in the sarcastic repetition of the dreaded name in such a connection4 ,this was what one of the brood had got1 and his fate was an omen of what would befall the rest4 ,the champion of ,israel1 the soldier of ,god1 standing over the dead ,philistine1 all whose brazen armour had been useless and his brazen insolence abased1 and sawing off his head with his own sword1 was a prophecy for the ,israel of that day1 and will be a symbol till the end of time of the true equipment1 the true temper1 and the certain victory1 of all who1 in the name of the ,lord of hosts1 go forth in their weakness against the giants of ignorance1 vice1 and sin4 ',this is the victory that overcometh the world1 even our faith4' ,a ,,soul',s ,,tragedy ',and ,david went out whithersoever ,saul sent him1 and behaved himself wisely3 and ,saul set him over the men of war2 and he was accepted in the sight of all the people1 and also in the sight of ,saul's servants4 #f4 ,and it came to pass as they came1 when ,david was returned from the slaughter of the ,philistine1 that the women came out of all cities of ,israel1 singing and dancing1 to meet ,king ,saul1 with tabrets1 with joy1 and with instruments of musick4 #g4 ,and the women answered one another as they played1 and said1 ,saul hath slain his thousands1 and ,david his ten thousands4 #h4 ,and ,saul was very wroth1 and the saying displeased him2 and he said1 ,they have ascribed unto ,david ten thousands1 and to me they have ascribed but thousands3 and what can he have more but the kingdom8 #i4 ,and ,saul eyed ,david from that day and forward4 #aj4 ,and it came to pass on the morrow1 that the evil spirit from ,god came upon ,saul1 and he prophesied in the midst of the house3 and ,david played with his hand1 as at other times3 and there was a javelin in ,saul's hand4 #aa4 ,and ,saul cast the javelin2 for he said1 ,i will smite ,david even to the wall with it4 ,and ,david avoided out of his presence twice4 #ab4 ,and ,saul was afraid of ,david1 because the ,lord was with him1 and was departed from ,saul4 #ac4 ,therefore ,saul removed him from him1 and made him his captain over a thousand2 and he went out and came in before the people4 #ad4 ,and ,david behaved himself wisely in all his ways2 and the ,lord was with him4 #ae4 ,wherefore1 when ,saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely1 he was afraid of him4 #af4 ,but all ,israel and ,judah loved ,david1 because he went out and came in before them4'--#a ,,samuel xviii4 #e-af4 ,verse #e anticipates verses #ac-af4 ,it is the last verse of a section which interrupts the even flow of the story1 and which is absent from the ,septuagint4 ,verse #f follows immediately on xvii4 #ed in that version4 ,taking that verse as our starting-point1 we have three stages in ,saul's growing hatred and awe of the young champion1 and of ,david's growing influence and reputation4 ,it is deeply tragic to watch the gradual darkening of the once bright light1 side by side with the irresistible increase in brilliance of the new star4 ',he must increase1 but ,i must decrease1' became ,saul's bitter conviction2 but instead of meekly accepting the necessity1 his gloomy spirit struggled against it1 like stormy waves against a breakwater1 and1 like them1 was shivered into foam in the vain effort4 ,i4 ,the first stage was ,saul's jealousy of ,david's fame as a warrior4 ,the returning victorious army was met1 in ,oriental fashion1 by a triumphal chorus of women1 with their shrill songs1 accompanied by the dissonant noises which do duty for music to ,eastern ears4 ,the words of their chant were startlingly and ominously plain-spoken1 and became more emphatic and insulting in ,saul's ears1 because they were sung by two answering bands1 one of which rang out1 ',saul hath slain his thousands1' while the other overtopped them by pealing out still more loudly and exultantly1 ',and ,david his ten thousands4' ,to be brought into comparison with this unknown stripling was bitter enough1 but to be used as a foil to set off his superiority was too much to be borne4 ,there are few men1 holding high places in any walk of life1 who could have stood such a comparison without wincing4 ,suppose a great soldier in our day1 coming home from a successful campaign1 and having his prowess dimmed in every newspaper by the praises lavished on a young lieutenant who had done some brave feat that caught the public fancy--would he be likely to be in a very amiable mood towards either the singers or the object of their triumphal songs8 ,do great authors rejoice in the rising of young reputations that dim theirs8 or do great orators smile when some 'boy' takes the public ear more than they do8 ,poor ,saul had to drink the bitter cup1 which all who love the sweet draught of popular applause have sooner or later to taste2 and we need not think him a monster of badness because he found it bitter4 ,it will be more to the purpose that we take care lest we do the very same thing in our little lives and humble spheres2 for envy and jealousy of those who threaten to out-shine1 or in any way to out-do1 us is not confined to people in high places or with great reputations4 ,the roots of them are in us all1 and the only way to keep them from growing up rank is to think less of our reputation and more of our duty1 to count it a very small matter what men think of us1 and the all-important matter what ,god thinks4 ,saul was moved1 too1 by the consciousness that he had been really deposed by ,jehovah1 and was only a phantom king1 and1 as his angry soliloquy shows1 what troubled him most in the women's song was that it pointed to ,david as likely to come in and rob him1 not only of glory1 but of the kingdom4 ,ever since ,samuel had pronounced his rejection1 his uneasy eyes had been furtively scanning men for his possible supplanter1 and no wonder that his gloomy suspicions focussed themselves on the gallant youth1 who conquered men's hearts and made women's tongues eloquent in his praise4 ,stormy and dark as ,saul's nature had become1 and grave as had been his failure to be worthy of the monarchy1 one cannot but feel the infinite pathos and pity of his life4 ,,ii4 ,the second stage was the attempt on ,david's life4 ,verses #aj and #aa1 which record it1 are not in the ,septuagint1 and the narrative does run more smoothly without them4 ,but if they are retained1 they show how the moody suspicion with which ,saul 'eyed ,david' came to a swift1 murderous climax4 ,he stands as a terrible example of how suspicion and jealousy1 working in a nature utterly without self-control1 transport it into the wildest excesses4 ,in the strange phraseology of verse #i1 'an evil spirit from ,god' laid hold of him1 dominating his personality4 ,the writer of this book felt that ,god was the ultimate cause of all things1 and that all beings were under ,his control2 and his devout recognition of that fact led him to the apparent paradox of tracing an 'evil spirit' to ,god4 ,but we must not be so startled as to overlook the truth that ,saul had prepared the fit abode for that evil spirit by his own indulgence in a whirl of sinful passions and acts1 and that these were punished by their 'natural' consequence4 ,any man who lets his own baser nature have full fling invites the devil4 ,saul had what would now be called a paroxysm of insanity4 ,but perhaps the modern medical phrase is not to be preferred to the old scriptural one4 ,the former is innocent of any explanation of the fact which it designates1 and it may possibly be that insanity is sometimes1 even now1 'possession4' ,at all events1 since science gives no explanation of it1 and a great dim region of consciousness is now being recognised1--'subliminal1' to speak in the new phraseology1--he is a bold man who ventures to deny that possibility4 ,but be that as it may1 what a striking picture is given of ,saul1 worn with passion and swept away by ungovernable impulses1 'prophesying' or 'raving' with wild gestures and uttering wilder sounds2 and of ,david1 young1 calm1 giving forth melodies on his harp and songs from his lips1 that sought to soothe the paroxysms of fury4 ,browning has drawn the picture in immortal words1 which all who can should read4 ,it has been suggested that ,saul did not 'cast' his spear1 but only brandished it in his fierce threat to pin ,david to the wall4 ,but the youthful harper would scarcely have 'avoided out of his presence' for a mere threat and the flourish of a lance2 and a man1 raging mad and madly hostile1 would not be likely to waste breath in mere threats4 ,the attempt was more probably a serious one1 and the spear1 flung by an arm made stronger than ever by insane hatred1 quivered in the wall very near the lithe athlete who had agilely escaped it4 ,envy1 allowed to have its way1 becomes murderous4 ,let us suppress its beginning4 ,a tiger pup can be held in and its claws cut1 but a full-grown tiger cannot4 ,,iii4 ,the third stage is ,saul's getting rid of ,david4 ,the growing awe of him is marked in verses #ab and #ae1 and the word in the latter verse is stronger than that in the former4 ,it is a pathetic picture of the gradual creeping over a strong man of a nameless terror4 ,ever-thickening folds of cold dread1 like a wet mist1 wrap a soul once bright and energetic4 ,and the reason is twofold3 first1 that ,god had left that tempestuous1 rebellious soul because it had left ,him2 and second1 that1 in its desolate solitude1 in which there was no trace of softening or penitence1 that lightning-riven soul knew that the sunshine1 which it had repelled1 was now pouring on ,david4 ,saul's suspicions were hardened into certainties4 ,he was sure now that what his jealousy had whispered1 when the women chanted their chorus1 was grim fact4 ,and he could but helplessly watch his supplanter's steady advance in favour with men and ,god4 ,the two processes of growing darkness and growing light go on side by side in the two men1 and each makes the other more striking by contrast4 ,twice is it repeated that ,saul was in awe of ,david4 ,twice is it repeated that ,jehovah was with ,david1 and that he 'behaved himself wisely1' which last statement includes in the ,hebrew word both the idea of prudence and that of success4 ,so1 on the one hand1 there is a steady growth in all good1 godly1 and happy qualities and experiences2 and on the other1 a tragical increase of darkness and gloom1 godlessness and despair4 ,and yet ,saul had begun so well6 ,and ,saul might have been what ,david was1--companioned by ,god1 prosperous1 and the idol of his people4 ,two souls stand side by side for a moment on the same platform1 with the same divine goodness and love encircling them1 and the one steadily rises1 while the other steadily sinks4 ,how awful are the endless possibilities of progress in either direction that lie open for every soul of man6 ,,jonathan1 ,,the ,,pattern ,,of ,,friendship ',and ,david fled from ,naioth in ,ramah1 and came and said before ,jonathan1 ,what have ,i done8 what is mine iniquity8 and what is my sin before thy father1 that he seeketh my life8 #b4 ,and he said unto him1 ,god forbid2 thou shalt not die3 behold1 my father will do nothing either great or small1 but that he will shew it me3 and why should my father hide this thing from me8 it is not so4 #c4 ,and ,david sware moreover1 and said1 ,thy father certainly knoweth that ,i have found grace in thine eyes2 and he saith1 ,let not ,jonathan know this1 lest he be grieved3 but truly1 as the ,lord liveth1 and as thy soul liveth1 there is but a step between me and death4 #d4 ,then said ,jonathan unto ,david1 ,whatsoever thy soul desireth1 ,i will even do it for thee4 #e4 ,and ,david said unto ,jonathan1 ,behold1 to-morrow is the new moon1 and ,i should not fail to sit with the king at meat3 but let me go1 that ,i may hide myself in the field unto the third day at even4 #f4 ,if thy father at all miss me1 then say1 ,david earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to ,beth-lehem his city3 for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family4 #g4 ,if he say thus1 it is well2 thy servant shall have peace3 but if he be very wroth1 then be sure that evil is determined by him4 #h4 ,therefore thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant2 for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the ,lord with thee3 notwithstanding1 if there be in me iniquity1 slay me thyself2 for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father8 #i4 ,and ,jonathan said1 ,far be it from thee3 for if ,i knew certainly that evil were determined by my father to come upon thee1 then would not ,i tell it thee8 #aj4 ,then said ,david to ,jonathan1 ,who shall tell me8 or what if thy father answer thee roughly8 #aa4 ,and ,jonathan said unto ,david1 ,come1 and let us go out into the field4 ,and they went out both of them into the field4 #ab4 ,and ,jonathan said unto ,david1 ,o ,lord ,god of ,israel when ,i have sounded my father about to-morrow any time1 or the third day1 and1 behold1 if there be good toward ,david1 and ,i then send not unto thee1 and shew it thee2 #ac4 ,the ,lord do so and much more to ,jonathan3 but if it please my father to do thee evil1 then ,i will shew it thee1 and send thee away1 that thou mayest go in peace3 and the ,lord be with thee1 as ,he hath been with my father4'--#a ,,samuel xx4 #a-ac4 ,the friendship of ,jonathan for ,david comes like a breath of pure air in the midst of the heavy-laden atmosphere of hate and mad fury1 or like some clear fountain sparkling up among the sulphurous slag and barren scoriae of a volcano4 ,there is no more beautiful page in history or poetry than the story of the passionate love of the heir to the throne for the young champion1 whom he had so much cause to regard as a rival4 ,what a proof of the victory of love over self is his saying1 ',thou shalt be king over ,israel1 and ,i shall be next unto thee'6 7#a ,samuel xxiii4 #ag74 ,truly did ,david sing in his elegy1 ',thy love to me was wonderful1 passing the love of women'2 for in that old world1 in which the relations between the sexes had not yet received the hallowing and refinement of ,christian times1 much of what is now chiefly found in these was manifested in friendship1 such as that of these two young men4 ,jonathan is the foremost figure in it1 and the nobility and self-oblivion of his love are beautifully brought out1 while ,david's part is rather that of the loved than of the lover4 ,the scene is laid in ,gibeah1 where ,saul kept his court1 and to which all the persons of the story seem to have come back from ,samuel's house at ,kamah4 ,saul's strange subjugation to the hallowing influences of the prophet's presence had been but momentary and superficial2 and it had been followed by a renewed outburst of the old hate1 obvious to ,david's sharpened sight1 though not to ,jonathan4 ,in the interview between them1 ,david is pardonably but obviously absorbed in self1 while ,jonathan bends all his soul to cheer and reassure his friend4 ,there are four turns in the conversation1 in each of which ,david speaks and ,jonathan answers4 ,david's first question presupposes that his friend knows that his death is determined1 and is privy to ,saul's thoughts4 ,if he had been less harassed1 he would have done ,jonathan more justice than to suppose him capable of knowing everything without telling him anything2 but fear is suspicious4 ,he should have remembered that1 when ,saul first harboured murderous purposes1 ,jonathan had not waited to be asked1 but had disclosed the plot to him1 and perilled his own life by his remonstrances with his father4 ,he should have trusted his friend4 ,his question breathes consciousness of innocence of any hostility to ,saul1 but unconsciously betrays some defect in his confidence in ,jonathan4 ,the answer is magnanimous in its silence as to that aspect of the question1 though the subsequent story seems to imply that ,jonathan felt it4 ,he tries to hearten ,david by strong assurances that his life is safe4 ,he does not directly contradict ,david's implication that he knew more than he had told1 but1 without asserting his ignorance1 takes it for granted1 and quietly argues from it the incorrectness of ,david's suspicions4 ,incidentally he gives us1 in the picture of the perfect confidence between ,saul and himself1 an inkling of how much he had to sacrifice to his friendship4 ,wild as was ,saul's fury when aroused1 and narrow as had been his escape from it at an earlier time 7#a ,samuel xiv4 #dd71 there was yet love between them1 and the king made a confidant of his gallant eldest son4 ,they 'were lovely and pleasant in their lives4' ,however gloomy and savage in his paroxysms ,saul was1 the relations between them were sweet4 ,the most self-introverted and solitary soul needs some heart to pour itself out to1 and this poor king found one in ,jonathan4 ,all the harder1 then1 was the trial of friendship when the trusted son had to take the part of the friend whom his father deemed an enemy1 and had the pain of breaking such close ties4 ,how his heart must have been torn asunder6 ,on the one side was the lonely father who clung to him3 on the other1 the hunted friend to whom he clung4 ,it is a sore wrench when kindred are on one side1 and congeniality and the voice of the heart on the other4 ,but there are ties more sacred than those of flesh and blood2 and the putting of them second1 which is sometimes needful in obedience to earthly love or duty1 is always needful if we would rightly entertain our heavenly ,friend4 ,jonathan's soothing assurances did not satisfy ,david1 and he 'sware' in the earnestness of his conviction4 ,david gives a very good reason for his friend's ignorance1 which he has at once believed1 in the suggestion that ,saul had not taken him into his confidence1 out of tenderness to his feelings4 ,their friendship1 then1 was notorious1 and1 indeed1 was an element in ,saul's dread of ,david1 who seemed to have some charm to steal hearts1 and had bewitched both ,saul's son and his daughter1 thus making a painful rift in the family unity4 ,it does not appear how ,david came to be so sure of ,saul's designs4 ,the incident at ,ramah might have seemed to augur some improvement in his mood2 and certainly there could have been no overt acts1 or ,jonathan could not have disputed the suspicions4 ,possibly some whispers may have reached ,david through his wife ,michal1 ,saul's daughter1 or in the course of his attendance on the king1 which he had now resumed1 his quick eye may have noticed ominous signs4 ,at all events1 he is so sure1 that he makes solemn attestation to his friend1 and convinces him that1 in the picturesque phrase which has become so familiar1 ',there is but a step between me and death4' ,such temper was scarcely in accordance with 'the prophecies which went before on' him4 ,if he had been walking by faith1 he would have called ,samuel's anointing to mind1 and have drawn arguments from the victory over ,goliath1 for trust in victory over ,saul1 as he had done for the former from that over the lion and the bear4 ,but faith does not always keep high-water mark1 and we can only too easily sympathise with this momentary ebb of its waters4 ,none the less is it true that ,david's terror was unworthy1 and showed that the strain of his anxious position was telling on his spirit1 and making him not only suspect his earthly friend1 but half forget his heavenly ,one4 ,there was but a step between him and death2 but1 if he had been living in the serenity of trust1 he would have known that the narrow space was as good as a thousand miles1 and that ,saul could not force him across it1 for all his hatred and power4 ,jonathan does not attempt to alter his conviction and probably is obliged to admit the justice of the explanation of his own ignorance and the truth of the impression of ,saul's purposes4 ,but he does what is more to the purpose2 he pledges himself to do whatever ,david desires4 ,it is an unconditional desertion of his father and alliance with ,david2 it is the true voice of friendship or love1 which ever has its delight in knowing and doing the will of the beloved4 ,it answers ,david's thoughts rather than his words4 ,he will not discuss any more whether he or ,david is right2 but1 in any event1 he is his friend's4 ,the touchstone of friendship is practical help and readiness to do what the friend wishes4 ,it is so in our friendships here1 which are best cemented so4 ,it is so in the highest degree in our friendship with the true ,friend and ,lover of us all1 the sweetness and power of our friendship with whom we do not know until we say1 ',whatsoever thou desirest1 ,i will do it1' and so lose the burden of self-will1 and find that ,he does for us what we desire when we make ,his desires our law of conduct4 ,secure of ,jonathan's help1 ,david proposed the stratagem for finding out ,saul's disposition1 which had probably been in his mind all along4 ,it says more for his subtlety than for his truthfulness4 ,with all his nobility1 he had a streak of true ,oriental craft and stood on the moral level of his times and country1 in his readiness to eke out the lion's skin with the fox's tail4 ,it was a shrewd idea to make ,saul betray himself by the way in which he took ,david's absence2 but a lie is a lie1 and cannot be justified1 though it may be palliated1 by the straits of the liar4 ,at the same time it is fair to remember the extremity of ,david's danger and the morality of his age1 in estimating1 not the nature of his action1 but the extent of his guilt in doing it4 ,the same relaxation of the vigour of his faith which left him a prey to fear1 led him to walk in crooked paths1 and the impartial narrative tells of them without a word of comment4 ,we have to form our own estimate of the fitness of a lie to form the armour of a saint4 ,the proposal informs us of two facts1--the custom of having a feast for three days at the new moon1 and that of having an annual family feast and sacrifice1 neither of which is prescribed in the law4 ,i do not here deal with the grave question as to the date of the ceremonial law1 as affected by these and similar phenomena2 but ,i may be allowed the passing remark that the irregularities do not prove the non-existence of the law1 but may be accounted for by supposing that1 in such unsettled times1 it had been loosely observed1 and that many accretions and omissions1 some of them inevitable in the absence of a recognised centre of worship1 had crept in4 ,that is a much less brilliant and much more old-fashioned explanation than the new one1 but perhaps it is none the worse for that4 ,this generation is fond of making 'originality' and 'brilliancy' the tests of truth4 ,david's words in verse #h have a touch of suspicion in them1 in their very appeal for kind treatment1 in their reminder of the 'covenant' of friendship1 as if ,jonathan needed either1 and still more in the bitter request to slay him himself instead of delivering him to ,saul4 ,he almost thinks that ,jonathan is in the plot1 and means to carry him off a prisoner4 ,note1 too1 that he does not say1 ',we made a covenant1' but ',thou hast brought me into' it1 as if it had been the other's wish rather than his4 ,all this was beneath true friendship1 and it hurt ,jonathan1 who next speaks with unusual emotion1 beseeching ,david to clear all this fog out of his heart1 and to believe in the genuineness and depth of his love1 and in the frankness of his speech4 ,true love 'is not easily provoked1' is not soon angry1 and his was true in spite of many obstacles which might have made him as jealous as his father1 and in the face of misconstruction and suspicion4 ,may we not think of a yet higher love1 which bears with our suspicions and faithless doubts1 and ever answers our incredulity by its gentle ',if it were not so1 ,i would have told you'8 ,david is not yet at the end of his difficulties1 and next suggests1 how is he to know ,saul's mind8 ,jonathan takes him out into the privacy of the open country 7they had apparently been in ,gibeah71 and there solemnly calls ,god to witness that he will disclose his father's purposes1 whatever they are4 ,the language is obscure and broken1 whether owing to corruption in the text1 or to the emotion of the speaker4 ,in half-shaped sentences1 which betray how much he felt his friend's doubts1 and how sincere he was1 he invokes evil on himself if he fails to tell all4 ,he then unfolds his ingenious scheme for conveying the information1 on which we do not touch4 ,but note the final words of ,jonathan1--that prayer1 so pathetic1 so unselfish in its recognition of ,david as the inheritor of the kingdom that had dropped from his own grasp1 so sad in its clear-eyed assurance of his father's abandonment1 so deeply imbued with faith in the divine word1 and so resigned to its behests4 ,both in the purity of his friendship and in the strength of his faith and submission1 ,jonathan stands here above ,david1 and is far surer than the latter himself is of his high destiny and final triumph4 ,it was hard for him to believe in the victory which was to displace his own house1 harder still to rejoice in it1 without one trace of bitterness mingling in the sweetness of his love1 hardest of all actively to help it and to take sides against his father2 but all these difficulties his unselfish heart overcame1 and he stands for all time as the noblest example of human friendship1 and as not unworthy to remind us1 as from afar off and dimly1 of the perfect love of the ,firstborn ,son of the true ,king1 who has loved us all with a yet deeper1 more patient1 more self-sacrificing love4 ,if men can love one another as ,jonathan loved ,david1 how should they love the ,christ who has loved them so much6 ,and what sacrilege it is to pour such treasures of affection at the feet of dear ones here1 and to give so grudgingly such miserable doles of heart's love to ,him6 ,,love ,,for ,,hate1 ,,the ,,true ,,quid ,,pro ,,quo ',and the men of ,david said unto him1 ,behold the day of which the ,lord said unto thee1 ,behold1 ,i will deliver thine enemy into thine hand1 that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee4 ,then ,david arose1 and cut off the skirt of ,saul's robe privily4 #e4 ,and it came to pass afterward1 that ,david's heart smote him1 because he had out off ,saul's skirt4 #f4 ,and he said unto his men1 ,the ,lord forbid that ,i should do this thing unto my master1 the ,lord's anointed1 to stretch forth mine hand against him1 seeing he is the anointed of the ,lord4 #g4 ,so ,david stayed his servants with these words1 and suffered them not to rise against ,saul4 ,but ,saul rose up out of the cave1 and went on his way4 #h4 ,david also arose afterward1 and went out of the cave1 and cried after ,saul1 saying1 ,my ,lord the king4 ,and when ,saul looked behind him1 ,david stooped with his face to the earth1 and bowed himself1 #i4 ,and ,david said to ,saul1 ,wherefore hearest thou men's words1 saying1 ,behold1 ,david seeketh thy hurt8 #aj4 ,behold1 this day thine eyes have seen how that the ,lord had delivered thee to-day into mine hand in the cave3 and some bade me kill thee3 but mine eye spared thee2 and ,i said1 ,i will not put forth mine hand against my lord2 for he is the ,lord's anointed4 #aa4 ,moreover1 my father1 see1 yea1 see the skirt of thy robe in my hand3 for in that ,i cut off the skirt of thy robe1 and killed thee not1 know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand1 and ,i have not sinned against thee2 yet thou huntest my soul to take it4 #ab4 ,the ,lord judge between me and thee1 and the ,lord avenge me ,of thee2 but mine hand shall not be upon thee4 #ac4 ,as saith the proverb of the ancients1 ,wickedness proceedeth from the wicked3 but mine hand shall not be upon thee4 #ad4 ,after whom is the king of ,israel come out8 after whom dost thou pursue8 after a dead dog1 after a flea4 #ae4 ,the ,lord therefore be judge1 and judge between me and thee1 and see1 and plead my cause1 and deliver me out of thine hand4 #af4 ,and it came to pass1 when ,david had made an end of speaking these words unto ,saul1 that ,saul said1 ,is this thy voice1 my son ,david8 ,and ,saul lifted up his voice1 and wept4 #ag4 ,and he said to ,david1 ,thou art more righteous than ,i2 for thou hast rewarded me good1 whereas ,i have rewarded thee evil4'--#a ,,samuel xxiv4 #d-ag4 ,a sudden ,philistine invasion had saved ,david1 when hard pressed by ,saul1 and had given him the opportunity of flight to the wild country on the west of the ,dead ,sea1 near the place where ,en-,gedi 7'the ,fountain of the ,wild ,goat'7 sparkles into light on the hill above the weird lake4 ,in these savage gorges ,saul's three thousand men would be of little use against the light-footed outlaw and his troop4 ,the whole district is seamed with ravines1 and these are honeycombed with great caverns1 where dangerous outcasts still lurk and defy capture4 ,travellers go into raptures over the beauty of some of these 'fairy grottoes' draped with maiden-hair fern1 cool and moist1 and blessedly dark after the fierce light outside4 ,in some one of these the beautiful story which makes our lesson occurred4 ,i4 ,we have the scene in the cave4 ,the interior would be black as night to one looking inward with eyes fresh from the blinding glare of such sunlight upon limestone1 but it would hold a glimmering twilight for one looking outward1 with eyes accustomed to the gloom4 ,david and his men1 keeping close to the walls and hiding behind angles1 might well be unobserved by ,saul at the mouth1 and probably never looking in at all4 ,how vividly the whispered eagerness of the outcasts round ,david is reproduced6 ,they think it would be 'tempting ,providence' to let such a chance slip4 ,they put a religious varnish on their advice4 ,it would be almost impious not to kill ,saul1 for here was the hand of ,god evidently fulfilling a prophecy6 ,there may have been some unrecorded prediction of the sort which they seem to quote2 but more probably they are only referring to ,david's designation to the crown1 which they had come to know4 ,it never struck them as possible that it could 'seem good' to a wise man not to cut his enemy's throat when he could do it without danger to himself4 ,so they would watch ,david stealing down quietly to the place where the unconscious king was crouching1 and getting close behind him1 knife in hand4 ,how disgusted they must have been when the blade1 that flashed for a moment in the light at the cave's mouth1 was not buried in ,saul's great back1 but only hacked off the end of his robe spread out behind him6 ,no personal animosity was in ,david4 ,however he had been driven to consort with outlaws1 and to live a kind of freebooter's life1 his natural sweetness was unspoiled1 and was reinforced by solemn veneration for the sanctity of the ,lord's anointing1 which he reverenced all the more because himself had received it4 ,he clambered back to his disappointed men1 and1 as soon as he was up in the dark again1 his chivalry and his religion made him ashamed of his coarse practical jest4 ,the humour of the thing had tempted him to do it2 but it was a rude insult1 which lowered him more than it did ,saul1 and1 like a true man1 he blushes there in the gloom at what he has done4 ,then he has to defend himself to his men for not coming up to their expectations1 and he does it by insisting on the sacredness which still surrounded ,saul as 'the ,lord's anointed4' ,david knew that the unhappy king had been rejected and forsaken by 'the ,spirit of the ,lord1' and that he himself was the true bearer of the regal unction2 but he will not take the law into his own hands1 and still regards ,saul as his 'lord4' ,he sets the example1 much needed by us all1 of leaving ,god to carry out ,his purposes at ,his own time1 and patiently waiting till that time comes4 ,he had hard work to keep his men from rushing down on the king2 but1 having commanded himself1 is able to restrain them4 ,how many virtues may be in exercise in one action6 ,here we have generosity1 clemency1 sensitiveness of conscience1 reverence1 self-abnegation1 patience1 loyalty1 firmness1 sway over lower natures for high ends1--a whole constellation shining star-like in the dark cavern4 ,,ii4 ,we have1 next1 ,david's pathetic remonstrance4 ,saul was alone1 and ,david could easily escape among the cliffs1 if the king summoned his men2 but he risks capture1 in the gush of ancient friendship4 ,his words are full of nobleness1 and his silence is no less so4 ,he has no reproaches1 no anger nor hate4 ,he will not even suppose that ,saul has followed his own impulses in his persecution1 but assumes that he has been led astray by calumnies4 ,he points to the fragment of ,saul's robe in his hand as the disproof of the lie that he had designs against him1 and passionately asserts his innocence now and in all the past4 ,he compares himself to some timid wild thing1 like one of the goats among the cliffs1 and ,saul to a hunter4 ,he solemnly calls ,god to judge between them1 and appeals from the slanders and misjudgings of men to the perfect tribunal of ,god1 to whom he commits his cause4 ,he abjures all intention of striking at ,saul in his own defence4 ,he quotes1 in true ,eastern manner1 a scrap of proverbial wisdom1 which contains the homely truth that character determines action2 for it needs a wicked man to do a wicked thing1 and he implies that he is not wicked1 and that ,saul knows that well enough1--by what has just happened1 if by nothing else4 ,then he puts his own insignificance and the disproportion between him and his ragged band and the imposing force of ,saul in vivid light by his half-humorous and wholly humble description of himself as a 'dead dog1' and a 'flea'2 as harmless as the one1 as hard to catch as the other1 as little important as either4 ,finally1 he reiterates his devout reference of the whole cause to ,god1 and his fixed resolution to take no steps to right himself1 but to leave all to ,him4 ,so ought we to deal with slanders and enmity4 ,the eternal law for us in all opposition and hostility is enshrined in ,david's noble words and deeds4 ,to repay evil with benefits1 to abstain from retaliation when it is in our power1 to keep our tongues from bitter and wounding words1 to appeal to the adversary's better self1 even at the cost of our own 'dignity1'--all that is not easy nor usual among professing ,christians4 ,but it ought to be4 ,david's ,lord1 'when ,he suffered1 threatened not2 but committed ,himself to ,him that judgeth righteously4' ,we are poor followers of ,him1 if ,david surpasses us in patience and magnanimity4 ,it has taken nineteen hundred years to teach us that passive endurance is more heroic than fighting for our own hand1 and that repaying scorn and hate with their like is less noble than meeting them with endless forgiveness4 ,psalm vii4 is all but universally regarded as ,david's1 and as belonging to this period4 ,in it we find a clause1 ',i have delivered him that without cause was mine enemy1' which may fairly be supposed to refer to the scene in the cave1 and we read the same vehement protestations of innocence1 the same figure of himself as a hunted wild animal1 the same appeal to ,god's judgment1 as in his remonstrance with ,saul4 ,the psalm is the poetic echo of our lesson4 ,,iii4 ,we have the momentary melting of ,saul's heart4 ,he breaks into passionate weeping4 ,with that sudden flashing out into vehement emotion1 so characteristic of him throughout1 and1 in these latter days of his life1 so significant of enfeebled self-control1 he recognises ,david's generous forbearance in its contrast to his own hate1 which1 for the moment1 he feels to be causeless4 ,there is a piteous remembrance of the days when ,david soothed him by song1 in his mention of the sweet 'voice1' and some rekindling of ancient love in his calling him ',my son4' ,then follow the sad words which confess the hopelessness of his struggle against the divine purpose1 and his appeal for mercy to his house4 ,the picture may well move solemn thoughts and pity for that scathed and solitary soul1 seeing for a moment1 as by a lightning flash1 the madness of his course1 and yet held so fast in the grip of his dark passions that he cannot shake off their tyranny4 ,two great lessons are taught by that tragic figure of the weeping and yet unchanged king4 ,one is of the power of forbearing gentleness to exorcise hate4 ,the true way to 'overcome evil' is to melt it by fiery coals of gentleness4 ,that is ,god's way4 ,an iceberg may be crushed to powder1 but every fragment is still ice4 ,only sunshine that melts it will turn it into sweet water4 ,love is conqueror1 and the only conqueror1 and its conquest is to transform hate into love4 ,the other lesson is the worthlessness of mere feeling1 which by its very nature passes away1 and1 like unstored rain1 leaves the rock in its obstinate hardness more exposed4 ,saul only increased his guilt by reason of the fleeting glimpse of his folly which he did not follow up2 and our gleams of insight into some sin and madness of ours but add to our responsibility4 ,emotion which does not lead to action hardens the heart1 and adds to our guilt and condemnation4 ,,love ,,and ,,remorse ',and ,david arose1 and came to the place where ,saul had pitched3 and ,david beheld the place where ,saul lay1 and ,abner the son of ,xer1 the captain of his host3 and ,saul lay in the trench1 and the people pitched round about him4 #f4 ,then answered ,david and said to ,ahimelech the ,hittite1 and to ,abishai the son of ,zeruiah1 brother to ,joab1 saying1 ,who will go down with me to ,saul to the camp8 ,and ,abishai said1 ,i will go down with thee4 #g4 ,so ,david and ,abishai came to the people by night3 and1 behold1 ,saul lay sleeping within the trench1 and his spear stuck in the ground at his bolster3 but ,abner and the people lay round about him4 #h4 ,then said ,abishai to ,david1 ,god hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day3 now therefore let me smite him1 ,i pray thee1 with the spear even to the earth at once1 and ,i will not smite him the second time4 #i4 ,and ,david said to ,abishai1 ,destroy him not3 for who can stretch forth his hand against the ,lord's anointed1 and be guiltless8 #aj4 ,david said furthermore1 ,as the ,lord liveth1 the ,lord shall smite him2 or his day shall come to die2 or he shall descend into battle1 and perish4 #aa4 ,the ,lord forbid that ,i should stretch forth mine hand against the ,lord's anointed3 but1 ,i pray thee1 take thou now the spear that is at his bolster1 and the cruse of water1 and let us go4 #ab4 ,so ,david took the spear and the cruse of water from ,saul's bolster2 and they gat them away1 and no man saw it1 nor knew it1 neither awaked3 for they were all asleep2 because a deep sleep from the ,lord was fallen upon them 4444 #ba4 ,then said ,saul1 ,i have sinned3 return1 my son ,david3 for ,i will no more do thee harm1 because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day3 behold1 ,i have played the fool1 and have erred exceedingly4 #bb4 ,and ,david answered and said1 ,behold the king's spear6 and let one of the young men come over and fetch it4 #bc4 ,the ,lord render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness2 for the ,lord delivered thee into my hand today1 but ,i would not stretch forth mine hand against the ,lord's anointed4 #bd4 ,and1 behold1 as thy life was much set by this day in mine eyes1 so let my life be much set by in the eyes of the ,lord1 and let ,him deliver me out of all tribulation4 #be4 ,then ,saul said to ,david1 ,blessed be thou1 my son ,david3 thou shalt both do great things1 and also shalt still prevail4 ,so ,david went on his way1 and ,saul returned to his place4'--#a ,,samuel xxvi #e-ab2 #ba-be4 ,it is fashionable at present to regard this incident and the other instance of ,david's sparing ,saul1 when in his power1 as two versions of one event4 ,but it if not improbable that the hunted outlaw should twice have taken refuge in the same place1 or that his hiding-place should have been twice betrayed4 ,he had but a small choice of safe retreats1 and the ,ziphites had motive for a second betrayal in the fact of the first1 and of its failure to secure ,david's capture4 ,the whole cast of the two incidents is so different that it is impossible to see how the one could have been evolved from the other1 and either they are both true1 or they are both unhistorical1 or1 at best1 are both the product of fancy working on1 and arbitrarily filling up1 a very meagre skeleton of fact4 ,many of the advocates of the identity of the incident at the bottom of the two accounts would accept the latter explanation2 we take the former4 ,saul had three thousand men with him2 ,david had left his little troop 'in the wilderness1' and seems to have come with only his two companions1 ,ahimelech and his own nephew1 ,abishai1 to reconnoitre4 ,he sees1 from some height1 the camp1 with the transport wagons making a kind of barricade in the centre--just as camps are still arranged in ,south ,africa and elsewhere1--and ,saul established therein as in a rude fortification4 ,a bold thought flashes into his mind as he looks4 ,perhaps he remembered ,gideon's daring visit to the camp of ,midian4 ,he will go down1 and not only into the camp1 but 'to ,saul1' through the ranks and over the barrier4 ,what to do he does not say1 but the two fierce fighters beside him think of only one thing as sufficient motive for such an adventure4 ,abishai volunteers to go with him2 no doubt ,ahimelech would have been ready also1 but two were enough1 and three would only have increased risk4 ,so they lay close hid till night fell1 and then stole down through the sleeping ranks with silent movements1 like a couple of ,indians on the war-trail1 climbed the barricade1 and stood at last where ,saul lay1 with his spear1 as the emblem of kingship1 stuck upright at his head1 and a cruse of water for slaking thirst1 if he awoke1 beside him4 ,those who should have been his guards lay sleeping round him1 for a 'deep sleep from ,jehovah was fallen upon them4' ,what a vivid1 strange picture it is1 and how characteristic of the careless discipline of unscientific ,eastern warfare6 ,the tigerish lust for blood awoke in ,abishai4 ,whatever sad1 pitying1 half-tender thoughts stirred in ,david as he looked at the mighty form of ,saul1 with limbs relaxed in slumber1 and perhaps some of the gloom and evil passions charmed out of his face1 his nephew's only thought was1' ,what a fair mark6 what an easy blow6' ,he was brutally eager to strike once1 and truculently sure that his arm would make sure that once would be enough4 ,he was religious too1 after a strange fierce fashion4 ,god-significantly he does not say ',jehovah'2 his religion was only the vague belief in a deity-had delivered ,saul into ,david's hands1 and it would be a kind of sin not to kill him4 ,how many bloody tragedies that same unnatural alliance of religion and murderous hate has varnished over6 ,very beautifully does ,david's spirit contrast with this4 ,abishai represents the natural impulse of us all--to strike at our enemies when we can1 to meet hate with hate1 and do to another the evil that he would do to us4 ,david here1 though he could be fierce and cruel enough sometimes1 and had plenty of the devil in him1 listens to his nobler self1 which listens to ,god1 and1 at a time when everything tempted him to avenge himself1 resists and overcomes4 ,he is here a saint after the ,new ,testament pattern4 ,abishai had1 in effect1 said1 ',thou shalt love thy neighbour1 and hate thine enemy4' ,david's finely-tuned ear heard1 long before they were spoken on earth1 the great ,christian words1 #aa say unto you1 ,love your enemies2 do good to them that hate you4' ,he knew that ,saul had been 'rejected1' but he was ',jehovah's anointed1' and the unction which had rested on that sleeping head lingered still4 ,it was not for ,david to be the executor of ,god's retribution4 ,he left himself and his cause in ,jehovah's hands1 and no doubt it was with sorrow and pitying love1 not altogether quenched by ,saul's mad hate1 that he foresaw that the life which he spared now was certain one day to be smitten4 ,we may well learn the lesson of this story1 and apply it to the small antagonisms and comparatively harmless enmities which may beset our more quiet lives4 ,david in ,saul's 'laager1' ,stephen outside the wall1 alike lead up our thoughts to ,jesus' prayer1' ,father1 forgive them2 for they know not what they do4' ,the carrying off of the spear and the cruse was a couch of almost humour1 and it1 with the ironical taunt flung across the valley to ,abner1 gives relief to the strain of emotion in the story4 ,saul's burst of passionate remorse is morbid1 paroxysmal1 like his fits of fury1 and is sure to foam itself away4 ,the man had no self-control4 ,he had let wild1 ungoverned moods master him1 and was truly 'possessed4' ,one passion indulged had pushed him over the precipice into insanity1 or something like it4 ,let us take care not to let any passion1 emotion1 or mood get the upper hand4 ',that way madness lies4' ',he that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down1 without walls4' ,and let us not confound remorse with repentance ',the sorrow of the world worketh death4' ,saul grovelled in agony that day1 but tomorrow he was raging again with more than the old frenzy of hate4 ,many a man says1 ',i have played the fool1' and yet goes on playing it again when the paroxysm of remorse has stormed itself out4 ,david's answer was by no means effusive1 for he had learned how little ,saul's regrets were to be trusted4 ,he takes no notice of the honeyed words of invitation to return1 and will not this time venture to take back the spear and cruse1 as he had done1 on the previous occasion1 the skirt of ,saul's robe4 ,he solemnly appeals to ,jehovah's righteous judgment to determine his and ,saul's respective 'righteousness and faithfulness4' ,he is silent as to what that judgment may have in reserve for ,saul1 but for himself he is calmly conscious that1 in the matter of sparing ,saul's life1 he has done right1 and expects that ,god will deliver him 'out of all tribulation4' ,that is not self-righteous boasting1 although it does not exactly smack of the ,christian spirit2 but it is faith clinging to the confidence that ,god is 'not unrighteous to forget' his servant's obedience1 and that the innocent will not always be the oppressor's victim4 ,what a strange1 bewildered1 self-contradictory chaos of belief and intention is revealed in poor1 miserable ,saul's parting words6 ,he blesses the man whom he is hunting to slay4 ,he knows that all his wild efforts to destroy him are foredoomed to failure1 and that ,david 'shall surely prevail'2 and yet he cannot give up fighting against the inevitable1--that is1 against ,god4 ,how many of us are doing the very same thing--rushing on in a course of life which we know1 when we are sane1 to be dead against ,god's will1 and therefore doomed to utter collapse some day6 ',and ,saul answered1 ,i am sore distressed2 for the ,philistines make war against me1 and ,god is departed from me4'-#a ,samuel xxviii4 #ae4 ,among all the persons of ,scripture who are represented as having fallen away from ,god and wrecked their lives1 perhaps there is none so impressive as the giant form of the first king of ,israel4 ,huge and black1 seamed and scarred with lightning marks of passions1 moody and suspicious1 devil-ridden and lonely1 doubting his truest friends1 and even his son1 striking blindly in his fury at the gracious1 sunny poet-warrior who shows so bright1 so full of resource1 so nimble1 so generous1 by contrast with the heavy strength of the moody giant1 and ever escapes the javelin that quivers harmlessly in the wall1 with an inevitable destiny hanging over his head1 and at last creeping to 'wizards that peep and mutter1' and dying a suicide1 with his army in full flight and his son dead at his feet--what a course and what an end for the chosen of the ,lord1 on whom the ,spirit of the ,lord came with the anointing oil1 and gave him a new heart for his kingly office4 ,i know not anywhere a sadder story3 and ,i know not where human lips ever poured out a more awful wail--like a ,titan in his rage of pain--than these words of our text4 ,bright hopes and fair promise1 and much that was good and true in performance--all came to this4 ,a few hours more and the 'battle went sore against ,saul1 and the archers hit him1 and he was greatly distressed by reason of the archers4' ,madness1 despair1 defeat1 death1 all were the sequel of1 ',because thou hast rejected the commandment of the ,lord1 the ,lord hath also rejected thee from being king4' ,a true soul's tragedy6 ,let us look together at its course1 and gather the lessons that lie on the surface4 ,we have neither space nor wish here to enter upon the many points of minute interest and curiosity which are in the story4 ,we have to be contented with large outlines4 ,look then ,i4 ,at the bright dawn4 ,the early story gives us many traits of beauty in ,saul's character4 ,not only physical strength but a winning personality are apparent4 ,his modesty and humility when ,samuel salutes him are made plain4 ,and we are distinctly told that as he turned away from ,samuel1 ',god gave him another heart1' by which we are to understand not 'regeneration' but an inspiration1 that equipped him for his office4 ,how many a man finds that sudden elevation ruins him6 ,but often it evokes what is good1 brings an entire change of disposition1 as with ',harry of ,mon-mouth4' ,but it was not only his new responsibility which brought into action powers that had previously been dormant4 ,new circumstances1 no doubt1 did something1 but ,saul's 'new' heart was ,god's gift4 ,the story of the beginning of his reign reveals a very noble and lovable character4 ,we can but mention his modesty in hiding among the stuff1 his disregard of the murmurs of those who would not do homage 7'made as though he had been deaf'71 his return1 as it would seem1 to his home-life and farm-work1 his chivalrous boldness and warlike energy1 which sprung at once to activity on the call of a great exigency in ,jabesh-,gilead1 his humane and sweet repression of the people's desire1 in their first flush of pride in their soldier king1 to slay his enemies1 and his devout acknowledgment that not he but ,god has wrought this salvation4 ,so for the first year of his reign all went well4 ,how much of divine influence a man may have and yet fling it all away6 ,how unreliable a thing mere natural goodness is6 ,how much apparent goodness may coexist with deep-seated evil6 ,how bright a beginning may darken into a tempestuous day6 ,how seeds of evil may lurk in the fairest character6 ,how little one can be judged by part of his life6 ,how it is not the possession1 but the retention1 of goodness and devout impressions that makes a man good4 ,,ii4 ,the gathering clouds4 ,the acts recorded as darkening the fair dawn of ,saul's reign may seem too trivial to deserve the stern retribution that followed them1 but small acts may be great sins4 ,the first of them was his offering sacrifices without authority1 an act which ,samuel stigmatised as wanton1 deliberate disobedience to 'the commandment of the ,lord thy ,god4' ,next came his rash and absurd laying of a curse on any soldier who should eat food before evening1 and his consequent mad determination to kill ,jonathan1 for 'taking a little honey' on the end of his rod4 ,next came his flagrant disobedience to the divine command transmitted to him through ,samuel1 to 'smite ,amalek1 and utterly destroy all that they have1 and spare them not1' ,we shudder at such ferocious extermination1 but we are to remember that ,saul was moved by no pity1 but by mere lust for loot1 and tried to deceive ,god1 in the person of ,his representative ,samuel1 by the lie that the people had coerced him1 and that the motive for preserving the best of the cattle was to sacrifice them to the ,lord4 ,samuel's blaze of indignation gave the world the great word3 ',behold1 to obey is better than sacrifice4' ,putting all these acts together1 we have the sad picture of a character steadily deteriorating4 ,he is growing daily more self-willed and impatient of the restraint of ,god's commanding will4 ,he is chafing at his position as a viceroy1 not an absolute sovereign4 ,he is becoming tyrannical1 careless of his subjects' lives1 intolerant of opposition1 remonstrance1 or advice4 ,the tragedy of his decadence is summed up in ,samuel's stern word3 ',because thou hast rejected the word of the ,lord1 ,he hath also rejected thee from being king4' ,trivial acts may show great and deep-seated evil4 ,a small swelling under the arm-pit is the sign of the plague and the precursor of swift death4 ,the master-sin is disobedience1 self-willed departure from ,god4 ,that disobedience may be as virulently active in a trifle as in a deed that men call great4 ,self-will is the tap root of all sin1 however labyrinthine the outgrowth from it4 ,disobedience honeycombs a soul4 ,the attractive early traits in ,saul's character slowly perhaps but steadily1 disappeared4 ,the fair morning sky was heavy with thunder-clouds by midday1 and they all began with a light fleecy film that none noticed at first4 ,,iii4 ,the long eclipse4 ',an evil spirit from the ,lord troubled him1 and the ,spirit of ,god departed from him4' ,modern psychologists would call ,saul's case an instance of insanity brought about by indulgence in passion and self-will4 ,is there any reason why the deeper1 more religious explanation should not be united with the scientific one8 ,does not ,god work in the working of 'natural' phenomena8 ,what we nowadays call insanity is not very far off from a man who habitually indulges in passionate self will1 and spurns ,god from any authority over his life4 ,what were ,saul's characteristics now8 ,the story tells of bursts of ungovernable fury1 of unslumbering and universal suspicions1 of utter misery1 seeing enemies everywhere and complaining1 ',none of you hath pity upon me1' of ferocious cruelty and gloomy despair1 of paroxysms of agonising but transient remorse4 ,it is an awful picture1 and it grimly teaches lessons that we shall be wise to write deeply on our hearts4 ,what a ruin a man makes of himself6 ,how hideous a godless soul is6 ,what unhappiness is certain if we dismiss ,god from ruling our lives6 ,how useless remorse is unless it leads to repentance6 ,,iv4 ,the stormy sunset4 ,the scene at ,endor makes one's flesh creep4 ,no more tragic picture of failure and despair was ever painted4 ,the greatest dramatists1 whose creations move the terror and pity of the world1 have imagined no more heart-touching figure4 ,it matters very little--nothing at all in fact--either for the dramatic force or for the religious impressiveness of the scene1 whether the woman 'brought up' ,samuel1 or whether she was as much awed as ,saul was1 by the coming up of 'an old man' covered with the well-known 'mantle4' ,the boding prophecy of to-morrow's defeat and death filled yet fuller the cup that had seemed to be already full of all misery4 ,and that collapse of strength in the huddled figure1 prostrate in the witch's den1 may well stand for a prophecy of what will be the upshot at the last of a self-will that boasts of its own power1 and tries to shake off dependence on ,god4 ,,what ,,doest ,,thou ,,here8 ',then said the princes of the ,philistines1 ,what do these ,hebrews here6'--#a ,,samuel xxix4 #c4 ',the word of the ,lord came to him1 and ,he said unto him1 ,what doest thou here1 ,elijah8'--#a ,,kings xix4 #i4 ,i have put these two verses together1 not only because of their identity in form1 though that is striking1 but because they bear upon one and the same subject1 as will appear1 if1 in a word or two1 ,i set each of them in its setting4 ,david was almost at the lowest point of his fortunes when he fled into foreign territory1 and for awhile took service under one of the kings of the ,philistines4 ,he served him faithfully1 and so1 when the last great fight1 in which ,saul lost his life1 was about to be waged between ,philistia and ,israel1 ,david and his men came as a contingent to the army of the former4 ,the ,philistine commanders1 very naturally1 were suspicious of these allies1 just as ,englishmen would have been if1 on the night before ,waterloo1 a brigade of ,frenchmen had deserted and offered their help to fight ,napoleon4 ,so the question ',what do these ,hebrews here8'--amongst our ranks--was an extremely natural one1 and it was answered in the only possible way1 by the subsequent departure of ,david and his men from the unnatural and ill-omened alliance4 ,now1 that suggests to us that ,christian people are out of their places1 even in the eyes of worldly people1 when they are fighting shoulder to shoulder with them in certain causes2 and it suggests the propriety of keeping apart4 ',come ye out from among them1 and be ye separate1 saith the ,lord' ',what do these ,hebrews here8' is a question that ,philistia often asks4 ,but now turn to the other question4 ,elijah had fallen into the mood of depression which so often follows great nervous tension4 ,he had just offered the sacrifice on ,carmel1 and brought all ,israel back to the ,lord1 and ,jezebel had flamed out and threatened his life4 ,the usually undaunted prophet1 in the reaction after his great effort1 was fearful for his life and deserted his work1 flung himself into solitude and shook the dust off his feet against ,israel4 ,was that not just doing what ,i have been saying that ,christian people ought to do--separating himself from the world8 ,in a sense1 yes1 but the voice came1 ',what dost thou here1 ,elijah8' ',go back to your work2 to ,ahab1 to ,jezebel4 ,go back to death if need be4 ,do not shirk your duty on the pretence of separating yourself from the world4' ,so we put the two questions together4 ,they limit one another1 and they suggest the via media1 the course between1 and lead me to say one or two plain things about that duty of ,christian separation from an evil world4 ,i4 ,the first thing that ,i would suggest to you is the inevitable intermingling1 which is the law of ,god1 and therefore can never be broken with impunity4 ,christ's parable about the ,kingdom of ,heaven in the world being like a man that sowed good seed in his field1 which sprung up intermingled with tares1 contains the lesson1 not so much of the purity or nonpurity of the ,church as of the inseparable intertwining in the world of ,christian people with others4 ,the roots are matted together1 and you cannot pull up a tare without danger of pulling up a wheat-stalk that has got interlaced with it4 ,that is but to say that ,society at present1 and the earthly form of the ,kingdom of ,god1 are not organised on the basis of religious affinity1 but upon a great many other things1 such as family1 kindred1 business1 a thousand ties of all sorts which mat men together1 and make it undesirable1 impossible1 contrary to ,god's intention1 that the good people should club themselves together1 and leave the bad ones to rot and stink4 ,the two are meant to be in close contact4 ',let both grow together till the harvest4' ,if any ,christian man were to do as the monks of old did1 fly into solitude to look after his own soul1 then the question which came to ,elijah would be suitable to him1 ',what doest thou here8' ,is there not work enough for you out there1 in that wicked world8 ,is that not the place for you8 ,where is the place for the 'salt'8 ,where the meat is in danger of putrefaction4 ,rub it in6 ,that is what it was meant for4 ',ye are the light of the world4' ,that suggests the picture of a lamp upon a pedestal that it may send out its rays1 but itself remains apart4 ,but the companion metaphor suggests the closest possible contact1 and such contact is duty for us ,christian people4 ,elijah ran away from his work4 ,there are types of ,christian life to-day unwholesomely self-engrossed1 and too much occupied with their own spiritual condition1 to realise and discharge the duty of witnessing in the world4 ,wherever you find a ,christian man--whether he is a monk with bare foot1 and a rope round his brown robe1 and shaven head1 or whether he is in the garb of modern ,protestantism--that tries more to keep himself apart1 in the enjoyment and cultivation of his own religious life1 than to fling himself into the midst of the world's worst evil1 in order to fight and to cure it1 you get a man who is sharing in ,elijah's transgression1 and needs ,elijah's rebuke4 ,the intermingling is inevitable in the present state of things2 and family1 kindred1 business1 social and political movements1 all require that ,christian people should work side by side with men who are not possessors of 'like precious faith4' ,if ever there have been individuals or communities that have tried to traverse that law1 they have developed narrowness and bitterness and stunted growth1 and a hundred evils that we all know4 ,,ii4 ,and now let me say a word about the second thing1 and that is--the imperative separation4 ',what do these ,israelites here8' is the question4 ,much of all our lives lies outside these necessary connections with the world1 of which ,i have been speaking4 ,and the question for each of us is1 ,what do we do when we are left to do as we like8 ,where do we go8 ,when the iron weight fastened by the bit of string is taken off the sapling1 it starts back to its original uprightness4 ,is that what your ,christianity does for you8 ,when you are left to yourself1 when you have done all the work that is required1 and you are free1 where do you turn naturally8 ,it is of no use to lay down special regulations4 ,there has been far too much regulation and red-tape in our ,christianity all along4 ,do not let us put so much stress upon individual acts4 ,let us look at the spirit4 ,whither do ,i turn8 ,what do ,i like to do8 ,who are my chosen companions8 ,what are my recreations8 ,is my life of such a sort as that the world will point to me1 and say1 ',what6 you here ,i a professing ,christian2 what are you doing here8' ,i remember that in the autobiography of ,mr4 ,spurgeon1 there is a story told about what he did when a child1 and living with his grandfather1 the pastor of a little country church4 ,there was a very prominent member of that church who was in the habit of going into the public-house occasionally2 and the small boy stepped into the sanded parlour where this inconsistent man was sitting1 walked up to him1 and said1 ',what doest thou here1 ,elijah8' ,it was the turning-point of the man's life4 ,that is the question that ,i desire us all to ask ourselves--where do we go1 and what sort of lives do we live in the moments when our own voluntary choice determines our action8 ',a man is known by the company he keeps1' says an old ,latin proverb1 and ,i am bound to say that ,i do not think that it is a good sign of the depth of a ,christian professor's religion if he feels himself more at home in the company of people who do not share his religion than in the company of those that do4 ,i do not wish to be strait-laced and narrow1 but ,i do not wish1 either1 to be so broad as to obliterate altogether the distinction between ,christian people and others4 ,the fact of the case is this1 dear friends2 if we are ,christ's servants we have more in common with the most uncongenial ,christians than we have with the most congenial man who is not a ,christian4 ,and if we were nearer our ,master we should feel that it was so4 ',being let go they went to their own company4' ,where do you go when you can make your choice8 ,i am not going to speak in detail about occupations or recreations4 ,i can quite believe that the theatre might be made an instrument of morality4 ,i can quite believe that a race-course might be a perfectly innocent place4 ,i can quite believe that there may be no harm in a dance4 ,all that ,i say is that there are two questions which every ,christian professor ought to ask himself about such subjects4 ,one is1 ,can ,i ask ,god to bless this thing1 and my doing it8 ,and the other is1 ,does this help or hinder my religion8 ,if we will take these two questions with us as tests of conduct and companionship1 ,i do not think that we shall go far wrong1 either in the choice of our companions1 or in the choice of our surroundings of any kind1 or in the choice of our recreations and our occupations4 ,but if we do not1 then ,i am quite sure that we shall go wrong in them all4 ',what communion hath light with darkness8' ',what agreement hath the temple of ,god with idols8 ,come ye out from among them1 and be ye separate1 saith the ,lord4' ,the main question is1 do ,i grasp the aim of life with clearness and decision as being to make myself by ,god's help such a character as ,god has pleasure in8 ,if ,i do ,i shall regulate all these things thereby4 ,,iii4 ,now there is one last suggestion that ,i wish to make1 and that is the double questioning that we shall have to stand4 ,the lords of the ,philistines said1 ',what do these ,hebrews here8' ,they saw the inconsistency1 if ,david and his men did not4 ,they were sharp to detect it1 and ,david and his band did not rise in their opinion1 but decidedly went down1 when they saw them marching there1 in such an unnatural place as 'behind ,achish1' and ready to flesh their swords in the blood of their brethren4 ,so let me tell you1 you will neither recommend your religion nor yourselves to men of the world1 by inconsistently trying to identify yourselves with them4 ,there are a great many professing ,christians nowadays whose mouths are full of the word 'liberality1' and who seem to try to show how absolutely identical with a godless man's a ,god-fearing one's life may be made4 ,do you think that the world respects that type of ,christian1 or regards his religion as the kind of thing to be admired8 ,no2 the question that they fling at such people is the question which ,david was humiliated by having pitched at his head--',what do these ,hebrews here8' ',let them go back to their mountains4 ,this is no place for them4' ,the world respects an out-and-out ,christian2 but neither ,god nor the world respects an inconsistent one4 ,but there is another question1 and another ,questioner--',what doest thou here1 ,elijah8' ,god did not ask ,elijah the question because he did not know the answer2 but because he wished to make ,elijah put his mood into words1 since then ,elijah would understand it a little better1 and1 when he found the tremendous difficulty of making a decent excuse1 would begin to suspect that the conduct that wanted so much glozing was not exactly the conduct fit for a prophet4 ,and so let us think that ,god is looking down upon us1 in all our occupation of our free time1 and that ,he is wishing us to put into words what we are about1 and why we are where we are4 ,what do you think you would say if1 in some of these moments of unnecessary intermingling with questionable things and doubtful people1 you were brought suddenly to this1 that you had to formulate into some kind of plausibility your reason for being there8 ,i am afraid it would be a very lame and ragged set of reasons that many of us would have to give4 ,well6 better that we should now have to answer the question ',what doest thou here8' than that we should have to fail in answering the future question1 after we have done with the world3 ',what didst thou there8' ,dear brethren1 let us cleave to ,christ1 and that will separate us from the world4 ,if we cleave to the world1 that will separate us from ,christ4 ,i do not insist on details of conduct1 but ,i do beseech you1 professing ,christians1 to recognise that you are set in the world in order to grow like your ,master1 and that their tendency to help you to that likeness is the one test of all occupations1 recreations1 and companionships1 by which we may know whether we are in or out of the place that pleases ,him4 ,and if we are in it1 that blessed hope which is held forth in the parable to which ,i have already referred1 will come full of sweetness and of strength to us1 that1 yonder1 men will be grouped according to their moral and religious character2 that the tares will be taken away from the wheat1 and1 that as ,christ says1 ',then shall the righteous flame as the sun in their heavenly ,father's ,kingdom4' ,,the ,,secret ,,of ,,courage ',but ,david encouraged himself in the ,lord his ,god4'--#a ,samuel xxx4 #f4 ,david was at perhaps the very lowest ebb of his fortunes4 ,he had long been a wandering outlaw1 and had finally been driven1 by ,saul's persistent hostility1 to take refuge in the ,philistines' country4 ,he had gathered around himself a band of desperate men1 and was living very much like a freebooter4 ,he had found refuge in a little city of the ,philistines1 far down in the ,south1 from which he and his men had marched as a contingent in the ,philistine army1 which was preparing an attack upon ,saul4 ,but1 naturally1 the ,philistine soldiers doubted their ally1 and he was obliged to take himself and his troops back again to their temporary home4 ,when he came there it was a heap of smoking ruins4 ,everything was gone2 property1 cattle1 wives1 children--and all was desolation4 ,his turbulent followers rose against him1 a mutiny broke out--a dangerous thing amongst such a crew--and they were ready to stone him4 ,and at that moment what did he do8 ,nothing4 ,was he cast down8 ,no4 ,was he agitated8 ,no4 ',but ,david encouraged himself in the ,lord his ,god4' ,now the first thing ,i notice is ,i4 ,the grand assurance which this man gripped fast at such a time4 ,it is not by accident1 nor is it a mere piece of tautology1 that we read 'the ,lord his ,god4' ,for1 if you will remember1 the very keynote of the psalms which are ascribed to ,david is just that expression1 ',my ,god1' ',my ,god4' ,so far as the very fragmentary records of ,jewish literature go1 it would appear as if ,david was the very first of all the ancient singers to grapple that thought that he stood in a personal1 individual relation to ,god1 and ,god to him4 ,and so it was his ,god that he laid hold of at that dark hour4 ,now ,i am not putting too much into a little word when ,i insist upon it that the very essence and nerve of what strengthened ,david1 at that supreme moment of desolation1 was the conviction that welled up in his heart that1 in spite of it all1 he had a grip of ,god's hand as his very own1 and ,god had hold of him4 ,just think of the difference between the attitude of mind and heart expressed in the names that were more familiar to the ,israelitish people1 and this name for ,jehovah4 ',the ,god of ,israel'--that is wide1 general2 and a man might use it and yet fail to feel that it implied that each individual of the community stood by himself in a personal relation to ,god4 ,but ,david penetrated through the broad1 general thought1 and got into the heart of the matter4 ,it was not enough for him1 in his time of need1 to stay himself upon a vague universal goodness1 but he had to clasp to his burdened heart the individualising thought1 'the ,god of ,israel is my ,god4' ,think1 too1 of the contrast of the thoughts and emotions suggested by ',my ,god1' and by 'the ,god of ,abraham1 and of ,isaac1 and of ,jacob4' ,great as that name is1 it carries the mind away back into the past1 and speaks of a historical relation in former days1 which may or may not continue in all its tenderness and sweetness and power into the prosaic present4 ,but when a man feels1 not only 'the ,god of ,jacob is our ,refuge1' but1 'the ,god of ,jacob is my ,god1' then the whole thing flashes up into new power4 ',my sun'--will one man claim property in that great luminary that pours its light down on the whole world8 ,yes4 ',the sun whose beams most glorious are1 ,disdaineth no beholder1' as the old song has it4 ,each man's eye receives the straight impact of its universal beams4 ,it is my sun1 though it be the light that lightens all men that come into the world4 ',my atmosphere'--will one man claim the free1 unappropriated winds of heaven as his8 ,yes1 for they will pour into his lungs2 and yet his brother will be none the poorer4 ,i would not go the length of saying that the living realisation1 in heart and mind1 of this personal possession of ,god is the difference between a traditional and vague profession of religion and a vital possession of religion1 but if it is not the difference1 it goes a long way towards explaining the difference4 ,the man who contents himself with the generality of a ,gospel for the world1 and who can say no more than that ,jesus ,christ died for all1 has yet to learn the most intimate sweetness1 and the most quickening and transforming power1 of that ,gospel1 and he only learns it when he says1 ',who loved me1 and gave ,himself for me4' ,so do not let us be content with saying1 'the ,god of ,israel1' and its many thousands1 or 'the ,god of ,abraham1 and of ,isaac1 and of ,jacob1' who filled the past with ,his lustre1 but let us bring the general good into our own houses1 as men might draw the waters of ,niagara into their homes through pipes1 and let us cry3 ',my ,lord and my ,god6' ',david encouraged himself in the ,lord his ,god4' ,,ii4 ,now note1 secondly1 the sufficiency of this one conviction and assurance4 ,here is one of the many eloquent 'buts' of the ,bible4 ,on the one hand is piled up a black heap of calamities1 loss1 treachery and peril2 and opposed to them is only that one clause3 ',but ,david encouraged himself in the ,lord his ,god4' ,there was only one possession in all the world1 except his body and the clothes that he stood in1 that he could call his own at that moment4 ,everything else was gone2 his property was carried off by raiders1 his home was smouldering embers4 ,but the ,amalekites had not stolen ,god from him4 ,though he could no longer say1 ',my house1 my city1 my possessions1' he could say1 ',my ,god4' ,whatever else we lose1 as long as we have ,him we are rich2 and whatever else we possess1 we are poor as long as we have not ,him4 ,god is enough2 whatever else may go4 ,the ,lord his ,god was the sufficient portion for this man when he stood a homeless pauper4 ,he had lost everything that his heart clung to2 wives1 children2 ,abigail and ,abinoam were captives in the arms of some ,amalekites2 his house was left to him desolate2 his heart was bleeding4 ',but ,david encouraged himself in the ,lord his ,god' and the bleeding heart was stanched1 and the yearning for some one to love and be loved by was satisfied1 when he turned himself from the desolation of earth to the riches in the heavens4 ,he was standing on the edge of possible death1 for his followers were ready to stone him4 ,he had come through many perils in the past1 but he had never been nearer a fatal end than he was at that moment4 ,but the thought of the undying ,friend lifted him buoyantly above the dread of death1 and he could look with an unwinking eye right into the fleshless eye-sockets of the skeleton1 and say1 ',i fear no evil1 for ,thou art with me4' ,so for poverty1 loss1 the blasting of earthly hopes1 the crushing of earthly affections1 the extremity of danger1 and the utmost threatening of death1 here is the sufficient remedy--that one mighty assurance3 ',the ,lord is my ,god4' ,for if ,he is 'the strength of my heart1' ,he will be my portion for ever4' ,he is not poor who has ,god for his1 nor does he wander with a hungry heart who can rest his heart on ,god's2 nor need he fear death who possesses ,god1 and in ,him eternal life4 ,so1 brethren1 in all our changing circumstances1 there is more than enough for us in that sweet1 simple1 strong thought4 ,the end of sorrow 7that is to say1 the purpose thereof7 is to breed in us the conviction that ,god is ours1 to drive us to ,him by lack of all beside2 and the end of sorrow 7that is to say1 the termination thereof7 is the kindling in our hearts of the light of that blessed assurance1 for with ,him we shall fear no evil4 ,you never know the good of the breakwater until the storm is rolling the waves against its outer side4 ,light a little candle in a room1 and you will not see the lightning when it flashes outside1 however stormy the sky1 and seamed with the fiery darts4 ,if we have ,god in our hearts1 we have enough for courage and for strength4 ,i need not remind you1 ,i suppose1 how this darkest moment of ,david's fortunes was the moment at which the darkness broke4 ,three days after this emeute of his turbulent followers1 there came a fugitive into the camp with news that ,saul was dead and ,david was king4 ,so it was not in vain that he had 'strengthened himself in the ,lord his ,god4' ,our 'light affliction which is but for a moment' leads on to a manifestation of the true power of ,god our ,friend1 and to the breaking of the day4 ,,iii4 ,and now the last thing to be noted is the effort by which this assurance is attained and sustained4 ,the words of the original convey even more forcibly than those of our translation the thought of ,david's own action in securing him the hold of ,god as his4 ,he 'strengthened himself in the ,lord his ,god4' ,the ,hebrew conveys the notion of effort1 persistent and continuous2 and it tells us this1 that when things are as black as they were round ,david at that hour--it is not a matter of course1 even for a good man1 that there shall well up in his heart this tranquillising and victorious conviction2 but he has to set himself to reach and to keep it4 ,god will give it1 but ,he will not give it unless the man strains after it4 ,david 'strengthened himself in the ,lord1' and if he had not doggedly set about resisting the pressure of circumstances1 and flinging himself as it were1 by an effort1 into the arms of ,god1 circumstances would have been too strong for him1 and despair would have shrouded his soul4 ,in the darkest moment it is possible for a man to surround himself with ,god's light1 but even in the brightest it is not possible to do so unless he makes a serious effort4 ,that effort must consist mainly in two things4 ,one is that we shall honestly try to occupy our minds1 as well as our hearts1 with the truth which certifies to us that ,god is1 in very deed1 ours4 ,if we never think1 or think languidly and rarely1 about what ,god has revealed to us1 by the word and life and death and intercession of ,jesus ,christ1 concerning ,himself1 ,his heart of love towards us1 and ,his relations to us1 then we shall not have1 either in the time of disaster or of joy1 the blessed sense that ,he is indeed ours4 ,if a man will not think about ,christian truth he will not have the blessedness of ,christian possession of ,god4 ,there is no mystery about the road to the sweetness and holiness and power that may belong to a ,christian4 ,the only way to win them is to be occupied1 far more than most of us are1 with the plain truths of ,god's revelation in ,jesus ,christ4 ,if you never think about them they cannot affect you1 and they will not make you sure that ,god is yours4 ,but we cannot occupy ourselves with these truths unless we have a distinct and resolute purpose running through our lives1 of averting our eyes from the things that might make us lose sight of them and of ,him4 ,david had his choice4 ,he could either1 as a great many of us do1 stand there and look1 and look1 and look1 and see nothing but his disasters1 or he could look past them2 and see beyond them ,god4 ,peter had his choice whether he would look at the water1 or whether he would look at ,jesus ,christ4 ,he chose to look at the water2 'and when he saw the wind boisterous he began to sink'--of course1 and when he looked at ,christ and cried3 ',lord1 save me6' he was held up--equally of course4 ,make the effort not to let the sorrowful things1 or the difficult things1 or the fearful things1 or the joyous things1 in your life1 absorb you1 but turn away1 and1 as the writer of the ,epistle to the ,hebrews says1 in another connection1 'look off unto ,jesus1 the ,author and ,finisher of faith4' ,david had to put constraint upon himself1 to admit any other thoughts into his mind than those that were pressed into it by the facts before his eyes2 but he put on the constraint1 and so he was encouraged because he encouraged himself4 ,there is another thing which we have to make an effort to do1 if we would have the blessedness of this conviction filling and flooding our hearts4 ,for the possession is reciprocal2 we say1 ',my ,god1' and ,he says1 ',my people4' ,unless we yield ourselves to ,him and say1 ',i am ,thine1' we shall never be able to say1 ',thou art mine4' ,we must recognise ,his possession of us2 we must yield ourselves2 we must obey2 we must elect ,him as our chief good1 we must feel that we are not our own1 but bought with a price4 ,and then when we look up into the heavens thus submissive1 thus obedient1 thus owning ,his authority and ,his rights1 as well as claiming ,his love and ,his tenderness1 and cry3 ',my ,father1' ,he will bend down and whisper into our hearts3 ',thou art ,my beloved son4' ,then we shall be 'strong1 and of a good courage1' however weak and timid1 and we shall be rich1 though1 like ,david1 we have lost all things4 ,,at ,,the ,,front ,,or ,,the ,,base ',as his part is that goeth down to the battle1 so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff4'--#a ,samuel xxx4 #bd4 ,david's city of ,ziklag had been captured by the ,amalekites1 while he and all his men who could carry arms were absent1 serving in the army of ,achish1 the ,philistine king of ,gath4 ,on their return they found ruin1 their homes harried1 their wives1 children1 and property carried off4 ,wearied already with their long march1 they set off at once in pursuit of the spoilers1 who had had a long start of them4 ,when they reached the brook ,besor1 two hundred of them were too weary and footsore to ford it1 and so had to be left behind4 ,but these were not useless1 for the heavy baggage was left in their charge1 and the other four hundred were thus enabled to march more lightly1 and therefore more swiftly4 ,they picked up a sick slave1 whom his ,amalekite master had heartlessly abandoned to die on the 'veldt4' ,he was almost dead1 so they fed him1 and when he was able to answer1 questioned him4 ,he undertook to guide ,david and his band1 and thus1 as twilight was beginning to fall and the ,amalekites were 'spread abroad over all the ground1 eating and drinking and feasting because of all the great spoil that they had taken4' the four hundred burst on them1 routed them utterly1 and won back all their goods and much more4 ,then came a quarrel4 ,the four hundred who had gone to the fight insisted that the booty was theirs1 and that the two hundred who had had no hand in winning it should have no share in the distribution4 ,but ,david over-ruled this and laid down a principle of distribution which was adopted as the standing law of ,israel--that the soldiers who were actually in the fight and those who stayed behind guarding the baggage1 looking after 'the base of operations1' should share alike4 ,it was fair that they should do so1 for the two hundred would willingly have been in the thick of battle1 and1 further1 though they did not fight1 they helped the fighters1 and by guarding the heavy baggage contributed to the victory as really as if they had been in the fray and come out of it with swords dripping with ,amalekite blood4 ,i4 ,god's battle requires two forms of service4 ,in ,david's raid1 as in every campaign1 some of the available strength has to be taken to guard the camp1 the place where the supplies are1 the base of operations1 and pickets and detachments have to be left behind all the way1 to keep open the communication4 ,the sword is not more needful than the long train of baggage carts1 and the forwarding of supplies to the front is as indispensable to the conduct of the war as the headlong charge4 ,in every great work there is the same distinction of parts and functions1 all co-operating to produce the effect which seems to be entirely due to that cause which happens to come last in the series4 ,organisation of labour associates many hands in the different stages of the one result4 ,there are very few things in this world which are the product of one simple cause alone4 ,you cannot grow a grain of corn without the seed with its vital germ1 the soil with its mysterious influences1 the sunshine and the rain1 the sower's hand and basket1 the plougher's plough1 and all these1 except the blessed sunshine1 are the results of a series of other causes which lie forgotten1 but are really represented in the issue4 ,if one of them were struck out1 all the rest would be ineffectual4 ,in a great machine all its parts are equally necessary1 and a defect in a cog on a wheel would be as fatal as a flaw in the cylinder or a crack in the mighty shaft4 ,what would become of a ship if the pintle that the rudder works on were away8 ,the effect of a whole orchestra may depend on the coming in of the flute at the right place4 ,so in the work which ,god has given to the ,church to do1 there are the two forms of service1 the direct and the indirect4 ,there are the fighters and the guards of the baggage4 ,and these two are equally necessary4 ,that without which a great work could not have been done is great4 ,when ,luther came out from the ,diet of ,worms1 and a knight clapped him on the shoulder1 and said1 ',well done6 little monk1' he had a share in the memorable deed of that day4 ,the man who gave ,luther a flagon of beer when his lips were dry with speaking there before emperor and cardinals1 was included in the promise to the giver 'of a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple4' ,we have brethren in ,christ who have gone to the front1 hazarding their lives on the high places of the field4 ,their hands will droop if they do not feel that a chain of sympathy stretches between them and us1 for they in their solitude need all the strength which the confidence of a multitude at home feeling with them can give4 ,they are powerfully influenced by the tone of feeling among us4 ,when devotion languishes and faith droops here1 these will generally pass through the same phases among them4 ,when we are strong and bold1 their hearts will be quickened by the pulsations of ours1 and their courage heightened by thoughts of those from whom they come4 ,our disorders1 our heresies1 our struggles are all reproduced on the mission field4 ,an epidemic here travels thither before long1 and the spiritual condition of the ,church at home is one of the most powerful means of determining that of the churches abroad4 ,a blight among our vines soon shows itself in the little gardens just reclaimed from the waste4 ,the fighters need material helps and appliances for their work4 ,the days in which the law for apostles and missionaries was1 ',go forth without purse or scrip1' ended before ,jesus said1 ',go ye into all the world4' ,that condition was solemnly revoked by our ,lord ,himself1 when ,he said1 ',when ,i sent you forth without purse and scrip and shoes1 lacked ye anything8 ,but now he that hath a purse1 let him take it1 and likewise his scrip4' ,the fighters' material wants are now to be met by ,christ's administration of natural means1 even as before they had been met by ,christ's administration of supernatural ones4 ,his messengers cannot live1 do their work1 or extend the kingdom1 but by the help of material appliances4 ,those who 'abide by the stuff' are to organise the commissariat department1 and to see that those who are far ahead1 among the ranks of the foe1 do not want for either food or weapons1 and are not left isolated1 hemmed in by the enemy1 and languishing because they feel that they are forgotten by those who 'live at home at ease4' ,there has always been that division of labour4 ,our ,lord ,himself 'had need of' many humble instruments as helpers4 ,there were the woman who ministered to ,his wants1 the faithful few whose presence and sympathy were joyful to ,him even on the ,mount of ,transfiguration1 and longed for even in the awful solitude of the agony in ,gethsemane1 the sisters of ,bethany whose humble home was ,his last shelter before the ,cross1 the owner of the ,upper ,room1 the sad women who prepared sweet spices1 the ruler who consecrated his new sepulchre in a garden by ,his body4 ,even ,he1 treading the wine-press alone1 needed helpers in the background1 and1 while conquering for us in the awful duel with our enemy1 had humble friends who 'tarried by the stuff4' ,similarly ,paul had his helpers1 on whose names he lovingly lingers and has made immortal1 a ',gaius1 mine host1 and of the whole church1' an ',epaphroditus1 my fellow soldier1 who ministered to my wants1' and therefore was a soldier1 though he did not fight1 an ',onesiphorus1 who oft refreshed me1 and was not ashamed of my chain4' ,but let us remember that these two forms of service which are equally necessary are equally binding on us all1 in the measure of our opportunity and capacity4 ,our performing the indirect is no excuse for our neglecting the direct4 ,the conversion of the world is our business and not to be handed over to any society or missionary4 ,no ,christian can be only and always a non-combatant1 without sin and loss4 ,he is bound to take some share in the actual conflict in one or other of its many parts4 ,,ii4 ,service may be different in kind and one in essence4 ,the determining element in our actions is their motive4 ,not what we work in1 but what we work for1 gives the principle of classification4 ,not the spots on the skin or the colour of the feathers1 but the bony skeleton1 is the basis of zoological classification4 ,it is not the size or binding of a book1 be it quarto or folio or octavo1 be it in leather or cloth or paper covers1 but its subject1 that settles its place in a catalogue4 ,the ,christian motives of love to ,christ1 self-sacrifice1 devotion1 love to men1 make all deeds the same which have these in them in like strength4 ,it matters not whether the copy of a great picture be in oils or an engraving or a photograph1 so long as it is a copy4 ,the smallest piece of indirect ,christian service may be thus elevated to the same plane as the greatest4 ',mere money-giving' may have in it all these qualities1 as truly and in as great a degree1 as the deeds of ,apostles and martyrs4 ,remember how ,peter puts in one category these two forms of service1 as equally flowing from 'the manifold grace of ,god1' and equally to be exercised as 'good stewards' thereof--',if any man speaketh1 speaking as it were the oracles of ,god2 if any man ministereth1 ministering as of the strength which ,god supplieth4' ,remember how ,paul classes all varieties of service as equally 'gifts according to the grace given to us1' and to be exercised in the same spirit whatever are the difference in their forms3 'or ministry1 let us give ourselves to our ministry2 or he that teacheth1 to his teaching3 he that giveth1 let him do it with liberality 444 he that sheweth mercy1 with cheerfulness4' ,let us learn1 then1 how we ought to help ,christian fighters for ,christ--as associating ourselves with them and their work by sympathy and sharing in their spirit and motives4 ,let us learn how loftily we ought to think of the possible sacredness of the most secular forms of help1 and to try thus to consecrate our indirect service4 ,,iii4 ,all work done from the same motive will receive the same reward4 ,none need be startled by the thought that ,christian work is rewarded4 ,essentially1 it is not deeds but character that is rewarded4 ,the 'reward' is the possession of ,god of which such a character is capable1 and the consequent blessedness which fills such a soul1 and cannot but fill it1 and which can be enjoyed by no other4 ,the faithful servant enters into the joy of the ,lord2 the faithful administrator of his ,lord's talents enters on the rule over cities in number the same as the talents4 ,capacity for service is the result of stewardship rightly administered here1 and new opportunities yonder are sure to be provided for new capacities4 ,god's judgment takes little note of that which men's judgment all but exclusively notes4 ,the conspicuousness or success of a man's deeds is nothing to ,him4 ,differences of power are of no account4 ,it is faithfulness that is required in a steward1 and it is all the same whether the stewardship is of millions or of farthings4 ,the saints nearest the glory in heaven will not always be the men whose words or deeds fill the pages of ,church history and resound through the ages4 ,there will be astounding new principles of nearness and comparative remoteness then4 ,christ was repeating what ,david made a law in ,israel1 when ,he said3 ',he that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward4' ,therein ,he recognises the identity in spiritual stature and motive for service1 of the prophet and of his dumb helper1 and assures us that those who1 in widely different ways but under the guidance of the same spirit and motives1 have contributed their respective shares to the one triumphant result shall be associated and equalised in the immortal reward4 ,so remember that what is necessary in our indirect work1 if it is to be thus honoured1 is that it should have our devotion1 and our love to ,jesus and to men1 throbbing in it1 and that it should be accompanied by direct work1 in so far as we have opportunities for that4 ,moneygiving may be made sacred1 and by it1 exercised in the right spirit1 we may 'lay up in store for ourselves a good foundation' and may 'lay hold upon eternal life4' ,,the ,,end ,,of ,,self-,,will ',now the ,philistines fought against ,israel2 and the men of ,israel fled from before the ,philistines1 and fell down slain in mount ,gilboa4 #b4 ,and the ,philistines followed hard upon ,saul and upon his sons2 and the ,philistines slew ,jonathan1 and ,abinadab1 and ,melchi-shua1 ,saul's sons4 #c4 ,and the battle went sore against ,saul1 and the archers hit him2 and he was sore wounded of the archers4 #d4 ,then said ,saul unto his armourbearer1 ,draw thy sword1 and thrust me through therewith2 lest these uncircumsised come and thrust me through1 and abuse me4 ,but his armourbearer would not2 for he was sore afraid4 ,therefore ,saul took a sword1 and fell upon it #e4 ,and when his armourbearer saw that ,saul was dead1 he fell likewise upon his sword1 and died with him4 #f4 ,so ,saul died1 and his three sons1 and his armourbearer1 and all his men1 that same day together4 #g4 ,and when the men of ,israel that were on the other side of the valley1 and they that were on the other side ,jordan1 saw that the men of ,israel fled1 and that ,saul and his sons were dead1 they forsook the cities1 and fled2 and the ,philistines came and dwelt in them4 #h4 ,and it came to pass on the morrow1 when the ,philistines came to strip the slain1 that they found ,saul and his three sons fallen in mount ,gilboa4 #i4 ,and they out off his head1 and stripped off his armour1 and sent into the land of the ,philistines round about1 to publish it in the house of their idols1 and among the people4 #aj4 ,and they put his armour in the house of ,ashtaroth3 and they fastened his body to the wall of ,beth-shan4 #aa4 ,and when the inhabitants of ,jabesh-gilead heard of that which the ,philistines had done to ,saul2 #ab4 ,all the valiant men arose1 and went all night1 and took the body of ,saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of ,beth-shan1 and came to ,jabesh1 and burnt them there4 #ai4 ,and they took their bones1 and buried them under a tree at ,jabesh4 and fasted seven days4'--#a ,samuel xxxi4 #a-ac4 ,the story of ,saul's tragic last days is broken in two by the account1 in chapters xxix4 and xxx41 of ,david's fortunate dismissal from the invading army1 and his exploits against ,amalek4 ,the contrast between the two lives1 so closely intertwined and powerful for good and evil on each other1 reaches its climax at the end of ,saul's4 ,while the one sets in dark thunderclouds1 the other is bright with victory4 ,while the fall of ,saul lays all northern ,israel bleeding at the feet of the enemy1 ,david is sending the spoils of his conquest to the elders of ,judah4 ,saul's headless and dishonoured body hangs rotting in the sun on the walk of ,bethshan1 while ,david sits a conqueror in ,ziklag4 ,the introduction of the brightness of the two preceding chapters is intended to heighten the darkness that broods over this one1 and to deepen the stern teaching of that terrible death4 ,defeat1 desolation1 despair1 attend to his self-dug grave the unhappy king1 whose end teaches us all what comes of self-willed resistance to the law and the ,spirit of ,god4 ,everything else is subordinated in the narrative to the account of his death4 ,next to nothing is said about the battle1 the very site of which is left obscure4 ,we cannot tell whether it was fought down in the plain by the fountain at ,jezreel1 where ,israel was encamped1 according to #a ,samuel xxix4 #a1 or whether both sides manoeuvred and changed their ground1 and the decisive struggle was on the slope of ,gilboa4 ,in any case1 the site was almost identical with that of ,gideon's victory1 but there was no ,gideon in command on that dark day4 ,the language of verse #a seems to imply that the battle was over and the rout begun before the ,israelites reached ,gilboa4 ,if so1 we have to conceive of a short1 hopeless struggle on the plain1 and then a rush to the hills for safety1 in which ,saul and his sons and bodyguard were borne along1 but held together1 closely followed by the 'red pursuing spear' of the conquerors1 fierce with ancestral hate and the memories of defeat4 ,there1 on the hillside1 stands the towering form of ,saul with a little ring of his children and retainers round him1 the words he had heard last night in the sorceress' tent unnerving his arm1 and many a past crime rising before him1 and whispering in his ear1 ',in the battle think on me1 ,and fall thy edgeless sword2 despair and die4' ,there seems to have been a close encounter with some of the pursuers1 and a hand-to-hand fight1 in which ,jonathan and his two brothers fell1 and the rest of the bodyguard were slain or scattered4 ,the prophecy of that mantle-swathed shape last night was in part fulfilled--',to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me4' ,they lay stark at his feet1 and he knew that he would soon join them4 ,the last heart that loved him had ceased to beat in ,jonathan's noble breast1 and his own crimes had slain his sons4 ,who can paint the storm of contending passions in that lonely black soul8 or were they all frozen into the numbness of despair8 ,but whatever else was in his soul1 repentance was not there4 ,he may have been seared by remorse1 but he was not softened by penitence1 and was fierce and proud in despair as he had been in prosperity4 ,the ,revised ,version substitutes 'overtook' for 'hit' in verse #c2 but ,saul's fear 'lest these uncircumcised come' is against that rendering1 and the fact that the enemy did not know of his death till next day 7v4 #h7 is a difficulty in the way of accepting it4 ,the word is literally 'found' and possibly means that the archers recognised him1 and were making for him1 though1 as would appear1 from some cause they missed him in the confusion4 ,the other change in the ,revised ,version1 that of 'greatly distressed' for 'sore wounded' fits the context2 and if it be adopted1 we have the picture of the unwounded but desperate man1 once brave1 but now stricken with a panic which opens his lips for his only word4 ,in grim silence he had met the loss of battle1 sons1 and kingdom2 but the proud sense of personal dignity is strong to the end1 and he fiercely issues his last command1 and embraces death to escape insult4 ,the haughty spirit was unchanged1 crushed but the same1 unsoftened1 and therefore roused to madder defiance of ,god and man4 ,what an awful last saying for 'the anointed of ,jehovah1' and how the overweening self-will and vehemence and passionate pride of his whole life are gathered up in it6 ,his last command is disobeyed by the trembling armour-bearer1 whose very awe makes him disobedient1 ,did ,saul1 at that last moment1 send a thought to an armour-bearer whom he had had in happier days1 and who was to inherit his lost kingdom8 ,the enemy are coming nearer4 ,no time is to be lost if he would escape the savage mutilations and torments which ancient warfare made the portion of captive kings4 ,not another word passes his lips1 but1 in the same grim silence1 he fixes his sword upright in the ground1 and flings himself on its point1 and dies4 ,all through his reign no hand had injured him but his own2 and1 as he lived1 so he died1 his own undoer and his own murderer4 ,suicide1 the refuge of defeated monarchs and praised by heathen moralists as heroic1 was rare in ,israel4 ,saul1 ,ahithophel1 and ,judas are the instances of it4 ,the most rudimentary recognition of the truths taught by the ,old ,testament would prevent it4 ,if ,saul had had any faith in ,god1 any submission1 any repentance1 he could not have finished a life of rebellion by a self-inflicted death1 which was itself the very desperation of rebellion4 ,we have not to pronounce on his fate1 but his act was a sin of the darkest dye4 ,yet note how the narrative abstains from all comment4 ,it neither condemns nor pities1 though a profound sense of the tragic eclipse is audible in that summing up in verse #f3 ',so ,saul died1 and his three sons1 and his armour-bearer1 and all his men 7that is1 immediate followers or escort71 that same day together4' ,and there they all lay1 bloody corpses in the fellowship of death1 on the slopes of ,gilboa4 ,where ,scripture ,is silent1 it is not our part to speak2 but we can scarcely turn from that mighty form1 prone by his own rash act1 without seeking to learn the lesson of his life and fate4 ,saul had many noble and lovable qualities1 such as bravery1 promptitude1 in his earlier days modesty and generosity4 ,all these he had by nature1 but there is no sign that he ever sought to cultivate his moral character1 or to win any grace that did not come naturally to him2 nor is there any reason to suppose that religion had ever any strong hold on him4 ,his whole character may be summed up in ,samuel's words in announcing his rejection3 ',rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft1 and stubbornness is as idolatry4' ,rebellion persisted in1 in spite of all remonstrances and checks1 till it becomes master of the whole man1 is the keynote of his later years4 ,before that baleful influence1 as before some hot poison wind1 all the flowers of good dispositions were burned up1 and the bad stimulated to growth4 ,his early virtues disappeared1 and passed into their opposites4 ,modesty became arrogance1 and a long course of indulgence in self-will developed cruelty1 gloomy suspicion1 and passionate anger1 and left him the victim and slave of his own causeless hate4 ,he who rebels against ,god mars his own character4 ,the miserable later years of ,saul1 haunted and hunted as by a demon by his own indulged and swollen rebellion and unsleeping suspicion1 are an example of the sorrows that ever dog sin2 and1 as he lies there on ,gilboa1 the terrible saying recurs to our memory3 ',he that being often reproved hardeneth his neck1 shall suddenly be destroyed1 and that without remedy4' ,the remainder of the chapter is occupied with three points1 bearing on the solemn tragedy just recorded4 ,first1 we have the disastrous effects of it in the complete loss of the northern territories4 ',the men 444 that were on the other side of the valley' are the tribes to the north of the great plain2 and 'they that were on the other side ,jordan' are probably those on the east bank4 ,so thorough was the defeat1 especially as ,saul and the royal house were slain1 that they abandoned their homes1 and the ,philistines took possession4 ',one sinner destroyeth much good4' ,when ,israel's king was madly rebellious1 ,israel was smitten1 and its inheritance diminished4 ,next we have the insults to the headless corpses4 ,the ,philistines did not know till the following day how complete was their victory4 ,the account in #a ,chronicles x4 adds that ,saul's head was sent to the temple of ,dagon1 probably as a kind of effacing of the shame wrought there by the presence of the ark4 ,the false gods had triumphed1 as their worshippers thought1 and ,saul's death was ,jehovah's defeat4 ,that apparent victory of the idols and the mocking exultation over the bloody trophy and dinted armour are1 to the historian1 not the least bitter consequences of the battle4 ,the last point is the brave midnight march of the men of ,jabesh from their home on the eastern uplands beyond ,jordan1 across the river and up to ,bethshan1 perched on its lofty cliff1 and overlooking the valley of the ,jordan4 ,it was a requital of ,saul's deed in his early bright days1 when1 with his hastily raised levies1 he scattered the ,ammonites4 ,it is one gleam of light amid the stormy sunset4 ,there were men ready to hazard their lives even then1 because of the noblest of ,saul's acts1 which no tyrannical arbitrariness or fierceness of later days had blotted out4 ,so the little band of grateful heroes carried back their ghastly load to ,jabesh1 and burned the mutilated bodies there1 employing an unfamiliar mode1 as we may suppose1 by reason of their mutilation and decomposition1 and then reverently gathering the white bones from the pyre1 and laying them below the well-known tamarisk4 ,saul's one good deed as king sowed seeds of gratitude which flourished again1 when the opportunity came4 ,his many evil ones sowed evil seed which bore fatal fruit2 and both were seen in his end4 ,,expositions ,,of ,,holy ,,scripture ,,alexander ,,maclaren1 ,d4 ,d41 ,litt4 ,d4 ,,second ,,samuel ,,and ,,the ,,books ,,of ,,kings ,,to ,,second ,,kings ,,vii ,,contents ,,the ,,second ,,book ,,of ,,samuel ,,the ,,bright ,,dawn ,,of ,a ,,reign 7#b ,samuel ii4 #a-aa7 ,,one ,,fold ,,and ,,one ,,shepherd 7#b ,samuel v4 #a-ab7 ,,death ,,and ,,life ,,from ,,the ,,ark 7#b ,samuel vi4 #a-ab7 ,,the ,,ark ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,obed-,,edom 7#b ,samuel vi4 #aa7 ,,the ,,promised ,,king ,,and ,,temple-,,builder 7#b ,samuel vii4 #d-af7 ,,david',s ,,gratitude 7#b ,samuel vii4 #ah-bi7 ,,david ,,and ,,jonathan',s ,,son 7#b ,samuel ix4 #a-ac7 ',,more ,,than ,,conquerors ,,through ,,him' 7#b ,samuel x4 #h-ai7 ,,thou ,,art ,,the ,,man 7#b ,samuel xii4 #e-g7 ,,david ,,and ,,nathan 7#b ,samuel xii4 #ac7 ,,god',s ,,banished ,,ones 7#b ,samuel xiv4 #ad7 ,,pardoned ,,sin ,,punished 7#b ,samuel xv4 #a-ab7 ,a ,,loyal ,,vow 7#b ,samuel xv4 #ae7 ,,ittai ,,of ,,gath 7#b ,samuel xv4 #ba7 ,,the ,,wail ,,of ,a ,,broken ,,heart 7#b ,samuel xviii4 #ah-cc7 ,,barzillai 7#b ,samuel xix4 #cd-cg7 ,,david',s ,,hymn ,,of ,,victory 7#b ,samuel xxii4 #dj-ea7 ,,the ,,dying ,,king',s ,,last ,,vision ,,and ,,psalm 7#b ,samuel xxiii4 #a-g7 ,,the ,,royal ,,jubilee 7#b ,samuel xxiii4 #c1 #d7 ,a ,,libation ,,to ,,jehovah 7#b ,samuel xxiii4 #ae-ag7 ,,the ,,first ,,book ,,of ,,kings ,,david ,,appointing ,,solomon 7#a ,,kings i4 #bh-ci7 ,a ,,young ,,man',s ,,wise ,,choice ,,of ,,wisdom 7#a ,kings iii4 #e-ae7 ,,the ,,great ,,gain ,,of ,,godliness 7#a ,kings iv4 #be-cd7 ,,great ,,preparations ,,for ,a ,,great ,,work 7#a ,kings v4 #a-ab7 ,,building ,,in ,,silence 7#a ,kings vi4 #g7 ,,the ,,king ',,blessing' ,,his ,,people 7#a ,,kings viii4 #ea-fc7 ',,the ,,matter ,,of ,a ,,day ,,in ,,its ,,day' 7#a ,kings viii4 #ei7 ,,promises ,,and ,,threatenings 7#a ,kings ix4 #a-i7 ,a ,,royal ,,seeker ,,after ,,wisdom 7#a ,kings x4 #a-ac7 ,,the ,,fall ,,of ,,solomon 7#a ,kings xi4 #d-ac7 ,,the ,,new ,,garment ,,rent 7#a ,kings xi4 #bf-dc7 ,,how ,,to ,,split ,a ,,kingdom 7#a ,kings xii4 #a-ag7 ,,political ,,religion 7#a ,kings xii4 #be-cc7 ,,the ,,record ,,of ,,two ,,kings 7#a ,kings xvi4 #bc-cc7 ,a ,,prophet',s ,,strange ,,providers 7#a ,kings xvii4 #a-af7 ,,elijah ,,standing ,,before ,,the ,,lord 7#a ,kings xvii4 #a7 ,,obadiah 7#a ,kings xviii4 #ab7 ,,the ,,trial ,,by ,,fire 7#a ,kings xviii4 #be-ci7 ,,elijah',s ,,weakness1 ,,and ,,its ,,cure 7#a ,kings xix4 #a-ah7 ,,putting ,,on ,,the ,,armour 7#a ,kings xx4 #aa7 ,,royal ,,murderers 7#a ,kings xxi4 #a-af7 ,,ahab ,,and ,,elijah 7#a ,kings xxi4 #bj7 ,,unpossessed ,,possessions 7#a ,kings xxii4 #c7 ,,ahab ,,and ,,micaiah 7#a ,kings xxii4 #g1 #h7 ,,the ,,second ,,book ,,of ,,kings ,,the ,,chariot ,,of ,,fire 7#b ,kings ii4 #a-aa7 ,,the ,,translation ,,of ,,elijah ,,and ,,the ,,ascension ,,of ,,christ 7#b ,kings ii4 #aa2 ,luke xxiv4 #ea7 ,,elijah',s ,,translation ,,and ,,elisha',s ,,deathbed 7#b ,kings ii4 #ab2 ,kings xiii4 ,,ii7 ,,gentleness ,,succeeding ,,strength 7#b ,kings ii4 #ac-bb7 ,,when ,,the ,,oil ,,flows 7#b ,kings iv4 #f7 ,a ,,miracle ,,needing ,,effort 7#b ,kings iv4 #be-cg7 ,,naaman',s ,,wrath 7#b ,kings v4 #aj1 #aa7 ,,naaman',s ,,imperfect ,,faith 7#b ,kings v4 #ae-bg7 ,,sight ,,and ,,blindness 7#b ,kings vi4 #c-ah7 ',,impossible1--,,only ,i ,,saw ,,it' 7#b ,kings vii4 #a-af7 ,,silent ,,christians 7#b ,kings vii4 #i7 ,,the ,,second ,,book ,,of ,,samuel ,,the ,,bright ,,dawn ,,of ,a ,,reign ',and it came to pass after this1 that ,david enquired of the ,lord1 saying1 ,shall ,i go up into any of the cities of ,judah8 ,and the ,lord said unto him1 ,go up4 ,and ,david said1 ,whither shall ,i go up8 ,and ,he said1 ,unto ,hebron4 #b4 ,so ,david went up thither1 and his two wives also1 ,ahinoam the ,jezreelitess1 and ,abigail1 ,nabal's wife1 the ,carmelite4 #c4 ,and his men that were with him did ,david bring up1 every man with his household3 and they dwelt in the cities of ,hebron4 #d4 ,and the men of ,judah came1 and there they anointed ,david king over the house of ,judah4 ,and they told ,david1 saying1 ,that the men of ,jabesh-gilead were they that buried ,saul4 #e4 ,and ,david sent messengers unto the men of ,jabesh-gilead1 and said unto them1 ,blessed be ye of the ,lord1 that ye have shewed this kindness unto your lord1 even unto ,saul1 and have buried him4 #f4 ,and now the ,lord shew kindness and truth unto you3 and ,i also will requite you this kindness1 because ye have done this thing4 #g4 ,therefore now let your hands be strengthened1 and be ye valiant3 for your master ,saul is dead1 and also the house of ,judah have anointed me king over them4 #h4 ,but ,abner the son of ,ner1 captain of ,saul's host1 took ,ishb-osheth the son of ,saul1 and brought him over to ,mahanaim2 #i4 ,and he made him king over ,gilead1 and over the ,ashurites1 and over ,jezreel1 and over ,ephraim1 and over ,benjamin1 and over all ,israel4 #aj4 ,ish-bosheth ,saul's son was forty years old when he began to reign over ,israel1 and reigned two years4 ,but the house of ,judah followed ,david4 #aa4 ,and the time that ,david was king in ,hebron over the house of ,judah was seven years and six months4'--#b ,,samuel ii4 #a-aa4 ,the last stage of ,david's wanderings had brought him to ,ziklag1 a ,philistine city4 ,there he had been for over a year1 during which he had won the regard of ,achish1 the ,philistine king of ,gath4 ,he had1 at ,achish's request1 accompanied him with his contingent1 in the invasion of ,israel1 which crushed ,saul's house at ,gilboa2 but jealousy on the part of the other ,philistine leaders had obliged his patron to send him back to ,ziklag4 ,he found it a heap of ashes4 ,an ,amalekite raid had carried off all the women and children1 and his soldiers were on the point of mutiny4 ,his fortunes seemed desperate1 but his courage and faith were high1 and he paused not a moment for useless sorrow1 but swept after the robbers1 swooped down on them like a bolt out of the blue1 and scattered them1 recovering the captives and spoil4 ,he went back to the ruins which had been ,ziklag1 and three days after heard of ,saul's death4 ,the lowest point of his fortunes suddenly turned into the highest1 for now the path to the throne was open4 ,but the tidings did not move him to joy4 ,his first thought was not for himself1 but for ,saul and ,jonathan1 whose old love to him shone out again1 glorified by their deaths4 ,swift vengeance from his hand struck ,saul's slayer2 the lovely elegy on the great king and his son eased his heart4 ,then he turned to front his new circumstances1 and this passage shows how a ,god-fearing man will meet the summons to dignity which is duty4 ,it sets forth ,david's conduct in three aspects-his assumption of his kingdom1 his loving regard for ,saul's memory1 and his demeanour in the face of rebellion4 ,i4 ,david was now about thirty years old1 and had had his character tested and matured by his hard experiences4 ,he 'learned in suffering what he taught in song4' ,exile1 poverty1 and danger are harsh but effectual teachers1 if accepted by a devout spirit1 and fronted with brave effort4 ,the fugitive's cave was a good preparation for the king's palace4 ,the throne to which he was called was no soft seat for repose4 ,the ,philistine invasion had torn away all the northern territory4 ,he took the helm in a tempest4 ,what was he to do8 ,ziklag was untenable2 where was he to take his men8 ,he could not stop in the ,philistine territory1 and he saw no way clear4 ,god's servants generally find that their promotion means harder duties and multiplied perplexities4 ',uneasy lies the head that wears a crown4' ,david did what we shall do1 if we are wise--he asked ,god to guide him4 ,how that guidance was asked and given we are not here told2 but the analogy of #a ,samuel xxx4 #g1 #h1 suggests that it was by the ,urim and ,thummim1 interpreted by the high-priest4 ,the form of inquiry seems to have been that a course of action1 suggested by the inquirer1 was decided for him by a ',yes' or a ',no4' ,so that there was the exercise of common-sense and judgment in formulating the proposed course1 as well as that of ,god's direction in determining it4 ,that is how we still get divine direction4 ,bring your own wits to bear on your action1 and then do not obstinately stick to what seems right to you1 but ask ,god to negative it if it is wrong1 and to confirm you in it if it is right4 ,if we humbly ask ,him1 ',am ,i to go1 or not to go8' we shall not be left unanswered4 ,we note the contrast between ,david's submission to ,god's guidance and ,saul's self-willed taking his own way1 in spite of ,samuel4 ,he began right1 and1 in the main1 he continued as he began4 ,self-will is sin and ruin4 ,submission is joy1 and peace1 and success4 ,god's kings are viceroys4 ,they have to rule themselves and the world1 but they have to be ruled by ,his will4 ,if they faithfully continue as ,his servants1 they are masters of all besides4 ,hebron was a good capital for the new king1 for it was a defensible position1 in the centre of his own tribe1 and sacred by association with the patriarchs4 ,established there1 ,david was recognised as king by his fellow-tribesmen1 and by them only4 ,no doubt1 tribal jealousy was partly the cause of this limited recognition1 but probably the confusion incident to the ,philistine victory contributed to it4 ,the result was that1 though ,david's designation by ,samuel to the kingship was universally known1 and his candidature had been popular1 he had seven years of precarious sway over this mere fraction of the nation4 ,we read of no impatience on his part4 ,he let events shape themselves1 or1 rather1 he let ,god shape events4 ,passiveness is not always indolence4 ,there are two ways of compassing our desires4 ,one is that which ,david himself tells us is the 'young lions' way1 of struggling and fighting1 and that often ends in 'lacking and suffering hunger'2 the other is that of waiting on the ,lord1 and that always ends in 'not lacking any good4' ,if we are sure that ,god has promised us anything1 and if ,he does not seem to have yet opened the way to obtaining it1 our 'strength is to sit still4' ,if ,he has given us ,hebron1 we can be patient till ,he please to give us ,jerusalem4 ,,ii4 ,another side of ,david's character comes beautifully out in his treatment of the men of ,jabesh-gilead4 ,that town owed much to ,saul 7#a ,samuel xi471 and its gratitude lasted1 and dared much for him4 ,it was a brave dash that they made across ,jordan to carry off ,saul's corpse from its ignominious exposure2 for it both defied the ,philistines1 and might be construed as hostile to ,david4 ,but his heart was too true to ancient friendship to do anything but glow with admiring sympathy at that exhibition of affectionate remembrance4 ,reconciling death had swept away all memories of ,saul's insane jealousy1 and he owned a brother in every one who showed kindness to the unfortunate king4 ,if the ,jabesh-,gileadites are a pattern of long-memoried gratitude1 ,david's commendation of them is a model of love which survives injuries1 and of forgivingness which forgets them4 ,it was as politic as it was generous4 ,nothing could have been better calculated to attach ,saul's most devoted partisans to him than showing that he honoured their faithful attachment to ,saul1 and nothing could have more clearly defined his own position during his wanderings as being no rebel4 ,the dictates of true policy and those of devout generosity always coincide4 ,it is ever a blunder to be unforgiving1 and mercifulness is always expedient4 ,but ,david did not hide his claim to the allegiance of these true hearts4 ,he called on them to transfer their loyalty to himself1 and he asserted1 not his anointing by ,samuel1 but his recognition by ,judah1 the premier tribe1 as the motive4 ,no doubt the divine appointment is implied1 as it was generally known1 but ,judah's action is put forward as showing the beginning of the realisation of the divine designation4 ,the men of ,jabesh needed to 'be valiant' if they were to acknowledge him2 for it was a far cry to ,hebron1 and the forces of the rival son of ,saul were overrunning the northern districts4 ,we have to take our sides in the age-long and worldwide warfare between ,god's ,king and the pretenders to ,his throne1 and it often wants much courage to do so when surrounded by antagonists4 ,it seems a long way off to the true monarch1 and ,abner's army is a very solid reality1 and very near4 ,but it is safest to take the side of the distant1 rightful king4 ,,iii4 ,david's bearing in the face of opposition and rebellion comes out in verses #h-aa4 ,abner1 ,saul's cousin1 who had been in high position when the stripling from ,bethlehem fought ,goliath1 was not capable of the self-effacement involved in acquiescing in ,david's accession1 though he knew that the ,lord had 'sworn to ,david4' ,so he set up a ',king ,do-nothing' in the person of a weak lad1 the only survivor of ,saul's sons4 ,a strange state of mind that1 which struggles against a recognised divine appointment6 ,but is it only ,abner who knew that he was trying to thwart ,god's will8 ,thousands of us are doing the same1 and the attempt answers as well as it did in his case4 ,the puppet king is named ,ishbosheth in the lesson1 but ,i ,chronicles viii4 #cc and ix4 #ci show that his real name was ,esh-baal4 ,the former word means ',the man of shame'2 the latter1 ',the man of ,baal4' ,the existence of ,baal as an element in names seems to indicate the incompleteness of the emancipation from idolatry in ,saul's time1 and the change will then indicate the keener monotheistic conscience of later days4 ,another explanation is that ,baal 7' ,lord'7 was in these cases used as a name for ,jehovah1 and was 'changed at a later period for the purpose of avoiding what was interpreted then as a compound of the name of the ,phoenician deity ,baal' 7,driver1 ,notes on ,hebrew ,text of the ,books of ,samuel74 ,abner set up his tool in ,mahanaim1 sacred for its associations with ,jacob1 but1 no doubt1 recommended to him rather by its position on the east side of ,jordan1 safe from the attacks of the victorious ,philistines4 ,from that fastness he made raids to recover the territory which the victory at ,gilboa had won for them4 ,first ,gilead1 on the same side of the river as ,mahanaim2 then the territory of the ',ashurites'--probably a scribe's error for ',asherites1' the most northern tribe2 and then1 coming southward1 the great plain1 with its cities1 ,ephraim and ,benjamin1--in fact1 all ,israel except ,judah's country was reconquered for ,saul's house4 ,the account of the distribution of territory between the two monarchies is broken by the parenthesis in verse #aj1 which1 both by its awkward interposition in the middle of a sentence and by its difficult chronological statements1 looks like a late addition4 ,for seven and a half years ,david reigned in ,hebron1 but was rather shut up there than ruling thence4 ,the most noteworthy fact is that he1 soldier as he was1 took no steps to put down ,abner's rebellion4 ,he defended himself when attacked1 but that was all4 ,the three figures of ,david1 ,ishbosheth1 and ,abner point lessons4 ,silent1 still1 trustful1 and therefore patient1 ,david shows us how faith in ,god can lead to possessing one's soul in patience till 'the vision' comes4 ,we may have to wait for it1 but 'it will surely come1' and what is time enough for ,god should be time enough for us4 ,saul's son was a poor1 weak creature1 who would never have thought of resisting ,david but for the stronger will behind him4 ,to be weak is1 in this world full of tempters1 to drift into being wicked4 ,we have to learn betimes to say ',no1' and to stick to it4 ,moral weakness attracts tempters as surely as a camel fallen by the caravan track draws vultures from every corner of the sky4 ,the fierce soldier who fought for his own hand while professing to be moved by loyalty to the dead king1 may stand as a type of the self-deception with which we gloss over our ugliest selfishness with fine names1 and for an instance of the madness which leads men to set themselves against ,god's plans1 and therefore to be dashed in pieces1 as some slim barrier reared across the track of a train would be4 ,to 'rush against the thick bosses of the ,almighty's buckler' does no harm to the buckler1 but kills the insane assailant4 ,,one ,,fold ,,and ,,one ,,shepherd ',then came all the tribes of ,israel to ,david unto ,hebron1 and spake1 saying1 ,behold1 we are thy bone and thy flesh4 #b4 ,also in time past1 when ,saul was king over us1 thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in ,israel3 and the ,lord said to thee1 ,thou shalt feed ,my people ,israel1 and thou shalt be a captain over ,israel4 #c4 ,so all the elders of ,israel came to the king to ,hebron2 and king ,david made a league with them in ,hebron before the ,lord3 and they anointed ,david king over ,israel4 #d4 ,david was thirty years old when he began to reign2 and he reigned forty years4 #e4 ,in ,hebron he reigned over ,judah seven years and six months2 and in ,jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all ,israel and ,judah1 #f4 ,and the king and his men went to ,jerusalem unto the ,jebusites1 the inhabitants of the land2 which spake unto ,david1 saying1 ,except thou take away the blind and the lame1 thou shalt not come in hither3 thinking1 ,david cannot come in hither4 #g4 ,nevertheless1 ,david took the strong hold of ,zion3 the same is the city of ,david4 #h4 ,and ,david said on that day1 ,whosoever getteth up to the gutter1 and smiteth the ,jebusites1 and the lame and the blind1 that are hated of ,david's soul1 he shall be chief and captain4 ,wherefore they said1 ,the blind and the lame shall not come into the house4 #i4 ,so ,david dwelt in the fort1 and called it the city of ,david4 ,and ,david built round about from ,millo and inward4 #aj4 ,and ,david went on1 and grew great1 and the ,lord ,god of hosts was with him4 #aa4 ,and ,hiram king of ,tyre sent messengers to ,david1 and cedar trees1 and carpenters1 and masons3 and they built ,david an house4 #ab4 ,and ,david perceived that the ,lord had established him king over ,israel1 and that ,he had exalted his kingdom for ,his people ,israel's sake4'--#b ,,samuel v4 #a-ab4 ,the dark day on ,gilboa put the ,philistines in possession of most of ,saul's kingdom4 ,only in the south ,david held his ground1 and ,abner had to cross ,jordan to find a place of security for the remnants of the royal house4 ,the completeness of the ,philistine conquest is marked1 not only by ,abner's flight to ,mahanaim1 but by the reckoning that ,david reigned for seven and a half years and ,ishbosheth two2 for these periods must be supposed to have ended very nearly at the same time1 and thus there would be about five years before the invaders were so far got rid of that ,ishbosheth exercised sovereignty over his part of ,israel4 ,it is singular that ,david should have been left unattacked by the ,philistines1 and it is probably to be explained by the friendly relations which had sprung up between ,achish1 king of ,gath1 and him 7#a ,samuel xxix474 ,however that may be1 his power was continually increasing during his reign at ,hebron over ,judah1 and at last ,abner's death and the assassination of the poor phantom king1 ,ishbosheth1 brought about the total collapse of opposition4 ,i4 ,this passage deals first with the submission of the tribes and the reunion of the divided kingdom4 ,a comparison of verse ,i with verse #c shows that a formal delegation of elders from all the tribes which had held by ,ishbosheth1 came to ,hebron with their submission4 ,the account in ,i ,chronicles is a verbatim copy of this one1 with the addition of a glowing picture of the accompanying feasting and joy4 ,it also places much emphasis on the sincerity of ,david's new subjects1 which needed some endorsement2 for loyalty which has been disloyal as long as it durst1 may be suspected4 ,the elders have their mouths full of excellent reasons for recognising ,david's kingship1--he is their brother2 he was their true leader in war1 even in ,saul's time2 he has been appointed by ,god to be king and commander4 ,unfortunately1 it had taken the elders seven and a half years to feel the force of these reasons1 and probably their perceptions would still have remained dull if ,abner and ,ishbosheth had lived4 ,but ,david is both magnanimous and politic1 and neither bloodshed nor reproaches mar the close of the strife4 ,seldom has so formidable a civil war been ended with so complete an amnesty4 ,observe the expression that ,david 'made a league with them444 before the ,lord4' ,the ,israelitish monarch was no despot1 but1 in modern language1 a constitutional king1 between whom and his subjects there was a compact1 which he as well as they had to observe4 ,in what sense was it made 'before the ,lord'8 ,the ark was not at ,hebron1 though the priests were2 and the phrase is at once a testimony to the religious character of the 'league' and to the consciousness of ,god's presence1 apart from the symbol of ,his presence4 ,it points to a higher conception than that which brought the ark to ,ebenezer1 and dreamed that the ark had brought ,god to the army4 ,modern theories of the religious development of the ,old ,testament ask us to recognise these two conceptions as successive4 ,the fact is that they were contemporaneous1 and that the difference between them is not one of time1 but of spiritual susceptibility4 ,who anointed ,david for this third time8 ,apparently the elders1 for priests are not mentioned4 ,samuel had anointed him1 as token of the divine choice and symbol of the divine gifts for his office4 ,the men of ,judah had anointed him1 and finally the elders did so1 in token of the popular confirmation of ,god's choice4 ,so ,david has reached the throne at last4 ,schooled by suffering1 and in the full maturity of his powers1 enriched by the singularly varied experiences of his changeful life1 tempered by the swift alternations of heat and cold1 polished by friction1 consolidated by heavy blows1 he has been welded into a fitting instrument for ,god's purposes4 ,thus does ,he ever prepare for larger service4 ,thus does ,he ever reward patient trust4 ,through trials to a throne is the law for all noble lives in regard to their earthly progress1 as well as in regard to the relation between earth and heaven4 ,but ,david is not only a pattern instance of how ,god trains ,his servants1 but he is a prophetic person2 and in his progress to his kingdom we have dimly1 but really1 shadowed the path by which his ,son and ,lord attains to ,his1--a path thickly strewn with thorns1 and plunging into 'valleys of the shadow of death' compared with which ,david's darkest hour was sunny4 ,the psalms of the persecuted exile have sounding through them a deeper sorrow2 for they 'testified beforehand the sufferings of ,christ4' ',no cross1 no crown1' is the lesson of ,david's earlier life4 ,,ii4 ,we have1 next1 the first victory of the reunited nation4 ,hebron was too far south for the capital of the whole kingdom4 ,jerusalem was more central1 and1 from its position1 surrounded on three sides with steep ravines1 was a strong military post4 ,david's soldier's eye saw its advantages2 and he1 no doubt1 desired to weld the monarchy together by participation in danger and triumph4 ,the new glow of national unity would seek some great exploit1 and would resent as an insult the presence of the ,jebusites in their stronghold4 ,the attack on it immediately follows the recognition of ,david's kingship4 ,it is not necessary here to discuss the difficulties in verses #f-h2 but we note that they give1 first1 the insolent boast of the besieged1 then the twofold answer to it in fact and in word1 and last1 the memorial of the victory in a proverb4 ,apparently the ,jebusites' taunt is best understood as in the margin of the ,revised ,version1' ,thou shalt not come in hither1 but the blind and the lame shall turn thee away1' ,they were so sure that their ravines made them safe1 that they either actually manned their walls with blind men and cripples1 or jeeringly shouted to the enemy across the valley that these would do for a garrison4 ,the other possible meaning of the words as they stand in the ,authorised ,version would make 'the blind and lame' refer to ,david's men1 and the taunt would mean1 ',you will have to weed out your men4 ,it will take sharper eyes and more agile limbs than theirs to clamber up here'2 but the former explanation is the more probable4 ,such braggart speeches were quite in the manner of ancient warfare4 ,verse #g tells what the answer to this mocking shout from the ramparts was1 ,david did the impossible1 and took the city4 ,courage built on faith has a way of making the world's predictions of what it cannot do look rather ridiculous4 ,david wastes no words in answering the taunt2 but it stirs him to fierce anger1 and nerves him and his men for their desperate charge4 ,the obscure words in verse #h1 which he speaks to his soldiers1 do not need the supplement given in the ,authorised ,version4 ,the king's quick eye had seen a practical path for scaling the cliffs up some watercourse1 where there might be projections or vegetation to pull oneself up by1 or shelter which would hide the assailants from the defenders2 and he bids any one who would smite the ,jebusites take that road up1 and1 when he is up1 'smite4' ,he heartens his men for the assault by his description of the enemy4 ,they had talked about 'blind and lame'2 that is what they really are1 or as unable to stand against the ,israelites' fierce and sudden burst as if they were3 and furthermore1 they are' hated of ,david's soul4' ,it is a flash of the rage of battle which shows us ,david in a new light4 ,he was a born captain as well as king2 and here he exhibits the general's power to see1 as by instinct1 the weak point and to hurl his men on it4 ,his swift decision and fiery eloquence stir his men's blood like the sound of a trumpet4 ,the proverb that rose from the capture is best read as in the ,revised ,version3 ',there are the blind and the lame2 he cannot come into the house4' ,the point of it seems to be that1 notwithstanding the bragging ,jebusites1 he did 'come into the house'2 and so its use would be to ridicule boasting confidence that was falsified by events1 as the ,jebusites' had been4 ,it was worth while to record the boast and its end2 for they teach the always seasonable lesson of the folly of over-confidence in apparently impregnable defences4 ,it is a lesson of worldly prudence1 but still more of religion4 ,there is always some 'watercourse' overlooked by us1 up which the enemy may make his way4 ,overestimate of our own strength and its companion folly1 flippant underestimate of the enemy's power1 are1 in all worldly affairs1 the sure precursors of disaster2 and in the ,christian life the only safe temper is that of the man who 'feareth always1' as knowing his own weakness and the strength of his foe1 and thereby is driven to that trust which casts out fear4 ,on the other hand1 ,david's exploit reads us anew the lesson that to the ,christian soldier there is nothing impossible1 with ,jesus ,christ for our ,captain4 ,there are many unconquered fortresses of evil still to be carried by assault1 and they look steep and inaccessible enough2 but there is some way up1 and ,he will show it us4 ,for our own personal struggle with sin1 and for the ,church's conflict with social evils1 this story is an encouragement and a prophecy4 ,jerusalem was captured by a reunited nation with its king at its head4 ,as long as our miserable divisions weaken and disgrace us1 the ,church fights at a disadvantage2 and the hoary fortresses of the foe will not be won till ,judah ceases to vex ,ephraim1 and ,ephraim no more envies ,judah1 but all ,christ's servants in one host1 with the ,king known by each to be with them1 make the assault4 ,,iii4 ,we have1 lastly1 the growth of the kingdom4 ,i pass over topographical questions1 which need not concern us here4 ,the points recorded are ,david's establishment in the stronghold1 his additions to the city1 his increasing greatness and its reason in the presence and favour of 'the ,god of hosts1' the special instance of this in the friendly intercourse with ,hiram of ,tyre and the employment of ,tyrian workmen1 and the recognition of the source and the purpose of his prosperity by the devout king4 ,we see here the conditions of true success1--',the ,lord1 the ,god of hosts1 was with him4' ,we see also the right use of it1--',david perceived that the ,lord had established him king4' ,he was not puffed up into self-importance by his elevation1 but devoutly and clearly saw who had set him in his lofty place4 ,and1 as he traced his royalty to ,god1 so he recognised that he had received it1 not for himself1 but as a trust to be used1 not in self-indulgence1 but for the national good1--'and that ,he had exalted his kingdom for ,his people ,israel's sake4' ,whosoever holds firmly by these two thoughts1 and lives them1 will adorn his position1 whatever it may be1 and will be one of ,god's crowned kings1 however obscure his lot and small his duties4 ,he who lacks them will misuse his gifts and mar his life1 and the more splendid his endowments and the higher his position1 the more conspicuous will be his ruin and the heavier his guilt4 ,,death ,,and ,,life ,,from ,,the ,,ark ',again1 ,david gathered together all the chosen men of ,israel1 thirty thousand4 #b4 ,and ,david arose1 and went with all the people that were with him from ,baale of ,judah1 to bring up from thence the ark of ,god1 whose name is called by the name of the ,lord of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubims4 #c4 ,and they set the ark of ,god upon a new cart1 and brought it out of the house of ,abinadab that was in ,gibeah3 and ,uzzah and ,ahio1 the sons of ,abinadab1 drave the new cart4 #d4 ,and they brought it out of the house of ,abinadab which was at ,gibeah1 accompanying the ark of ,god3 and ,ahio went before the ark4 #e4 ,and ,david and all the house of ,israel played before the ,lord on all manner of instruments made of fir wood1 even on harps1 and on psalteries1 and on timbrels1 and on cornets1 and on cymbals4 #f4 ,and when they came to ,nachon's thrashing-floor1 ,uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of ,god1 and took hold of it2 for the oxen shook it4 #g4 ,and the anger of the ,lord was kindled against ,uzzah2 and ,god smote him there for his error2 and there he died by the ark of ,god4 #h4 ,and ,david was displeased1 because the ,lord had made a breach upon ,uzzah3 and he called the name of the place ,perez-uzzah to this day4 #i4 ,and ,david was afraid of the ,lord that day1 and said1 ,how shall the ark of the ,lord come to me8 #aj4 ,so ,david would not remove the ark of the ,lord unto him into the city of ,david3 but ,david carried it aside into the house of ,obed-edom the ,gittite4 #aa4 ,and the ark of the ,lord continued in the house of ,obed-edom the ,gittite three months3 and the ,lord blessed ,obed-edom1 and all his household4 #ab4 ,and it was told king ,david1 saying1 ,the ,lord hath blessed the house of ,obed-edom and all that pertaineth unto him1 because of the ark of ,god4 ,so ,david went and brought up the ark of ,god from the house of ,obed-edom into the city of ,david with gladness4'-#b ,,samuel vi4 #a-ab4 ,i4 ,the first section 7verses #a-e7 describes the joyful reception and procession4 ,the parallel account in #a ,chronicles states that ,baalah1 or ,baale1 was ,kirjath-jearim4 ,probably the former was the more ancient ,canaanitish name1 and indicates that it had been a ,baal sanctuary4 ,if so1 the presence of the ark there was at once a symbol and an omen1 showing ,jehovah's conquest over the obscene and bloody gods of the land1 and forecasting ,his triumph over all the gods of the nations4 ,every ,baale shall one day be a resting-place of the ark of ,god4 ,the solemn designation of the ark1 as 'called by the ,name1 the name of the ,lord of ,hosts1 that dwelleth between the cherubim1' is significant on this1 its reappearance after so long eclipse1 and1 by emphasising its awful sanctity1 prepares for the incidents which are to follow4 ,the manner of the ark's transport was irregular2 for the law strictly enjoined its being carried by the ,levites by means of bearing-poles resting on their shoulders2 and the copying of the ,philistines' cart1 though a new one was made for the purpose1 indicates the desuetude into which the decencies of worship had fallen in seventy years4 ,in #a ,chronicles1 the singular words in verse #e1 which describe ,david as playing before the ,lord on the very unlikely things for such a purpose1' all manner of instruments of fir wood1' become 'with all their might3 even with songs' which seems much more reasonable4 ,a slight alteration in three letters and the transposition of two would bring our text into conformity with ,i ,chronicles1 and the conjectural emendation is tempting4 ,who ever heard of fir-wood musical instruments8 ,the specified ones which follow were certainly not made of it1 and songs could scarcely fail to be mentioned4 ,at all events1 we see the glad procession streaming out of the little city buried among its woods2 the cart drawn by meek oxen1 and loaded with the unadorned wooden chest1 in the midst2 the two sons or descendants of its faithful custodian honoured to be the teamsters2 the king with the harp which had cheered him in many a sad hour of exile2 and the crowd 'making a joyful noise before the ,lord1' which might sound discord in our ears1 as some lifted up shrill songs1 some touched stringed instruments1 some beat on timbrels1 some rattled metal rods with movable rings1 and some clashed cymbals together4 ,it was a wild scene1 in which there was a dangerous resemblance to the frantic jubilations of idolatrous worship4 ,no doubt there were true hearts in that crowd1 and none truer than ,david's4 ,no doubt we have to beware of applying our ,christian standards to these early times1 and must let a good deal that is sensuous and turbid pass1 as1 no doubt1 ,god let it pass4 ,but confession of sin in leaving the ark so long forgotten would have been better than this tumultuous joy2 and if there had been more trembling in it1 it would not have passed so soon into wild terror4 ,still1 on the other hand1 that rejoicing crowd does represent1 though in crude form1 the effect which the consciousness of ,god's presence should ever have4 ,his felt nearness should be1 as the ,psalmist says1 'the gladness of my joy4' ,much of our modern religion is far too gloomy1 and it is thought to be a sign of devotion and spiritual-mindedness to be sad and of a mortified countenance4 ,unquestionably1 ,christianity brings men into the continual presence of very solemn truths about themselves and the world which may well sober them1 and make what the world calls mirth incongruous4 ',there is no music in the life ,that rings with idiot laughter solely4' ,but the ,man of ,sorrows said that ,his purpose for us was that ',his joy might remain in us1 and that our joy might be full'2 and we but imperfectly apprehend the gospel if we do not feel that its joys 'much more abound' than its sorrows1 and that they even burn brightest1 like the lights on safety-buoys1 when drenched by stormy seas4 ,,ii4 ,the second section contains the dread vindication of the sanctity of the ark1 which changed joy into terror1 and silenced the songs4 ,at some bad place in the rocky and steep track1 the oxen stumbled or were restive4 ,the spot is called in ,samuel 'the threshing-floor of ,nachon1' but in ,chronicles the owner is named ',chidon4' ,as the former word means 'a stroke' and the latter 'destruction1' they are probably not to be taken as proper names1 but as applied to the place after this event4 ,the name given by ,david1 however--,perez-uzzah--proved the more permanent 'to this day4' ,uzzah1 who was driving while his brother went in front to pilot the way1 naturally stretched out his hand to steady his freight1 just as if it had been a sack of corn2 and1 as if he had touched an electric wire1 fell dead1 as the story graphically says1 'by the ark of ,god4' ,what confusion and panic would agitate the joyous singers1 and how their songs would die on their lips6 ,what harm was there in ,uzzah's action8 ,it was most natural1 and1 in one point of view1 commendable4 ,any careful waggoner would have done the same with any valuable article he had in charge4 ,yes2 that was just the point of his error and sin1 that he saw no difference between the ark and any other valuable article4 ,his intention to help was right enough2 but there was profound insensibility to the awful sacredness of the ark1 on which even its ,levitical bearers were forbidden to lay hands4 ,all his life ,uzzah had been accustomed to its presence4 ,it had been one of the familiar pieces of furniture in ,abinadab's house1 and1 no doubt1 familiarity had had its usual effect4 ,do none of us ministers1 teachers1 and others1 to whom the gospel and the worship and ordinances of the ,church have been familiar from infancy1 treat them in the same fashion8 ,many a hand is laid on the ark1 sometimes to keep it from falling1 with more criminal carelessness of its sacredness than ,uzzah showed4 ,note1 too1 how swiftly an irreverent habit of treating holy things grows4 ,the first error was in breaking the commanded order for removal of the ark by the ,levites4 ,once in the cart1 the rest follows4 ,the smallest breach in the feeling of awe and reverence will soon lead to more complete profanation4 ,there is nothing more delicate than the sense of awe4 ,trifled with ever so little1 it speedily disappears4 ,there is far too little of it in our modern religion4 ,perfect love casts out fear and deepens awe which hath not torment4 ,was not the punishment in excess of the sin8 ,we must remember the times1 the long neglect of the ark1 the decay of religion in ,saul's reign1 the critical character of the moment as the beginning of a new era1 when it was all-important to print deep the impression of sanctity1 and the rude material which had to be dealt with2 and we must not forget that ,god1 in ,his punishments1 does not adopt men's ideas of death as such a very dreadful thing4 ,many since have followed in ,david's wake1 and been 'displeased1 because the ,lord broke forth upon ,uzzah'2 but he and they have been wrong4 ,he ought to have known better1 and to have understood the lesson of the solemn corpse that lay there by the ark2 instead of which he gives way to mere terror1 and was 'afraid of the ,lord4' ,david afraid of the ,lord6 ,what had become of the rapturous love and strong trust which ring clear through his psalms8 ,is this the man who called ,god his rock and fortress and deliverer1 his buckler and the horn of his salvation and his high tower1 and poured out his soul in burning words1 which glow yet through all the centuries and the darkness of earth8 ,it was ill for ,david to fall thus below himself1 but well for us that the eclipse of his faith and love should be recorded1 to hearten us1 when the like emotions fall asleep in our souls4 ,his consciousness of impurity was wholesome and sound1 but his cowering before the ark1 as if it were the seat of arbitrary anger1 which might flame out destruction for no discernible reason1 was a woful darkening of his loving insight into the heart of ,god4 ,,iii4 ,the last section 7verses #aj-ab7 gives us the blessings on the house of ,obed-edom and the glad removal of the ark to ,jerusalem4 ,obed-edom is called a ',gittite1' or man of ,gath2 but he does not appear to have been a ,philistine immigrant1 but a native of another ,gath1 a ,levitical city1 and himself a ,levite4 ,there is an ,obededom in the lists of ,david's ,levites in ,chronicles who is probably the same man4 ,he did not fear to receive the ark1 and1 worthily received1 the presence which had been a source of disaster and death to idolaters1 to profanely curious pryers into its secret1 and to presumptuous irreverence1 became a fountain of unbroken blessing4 ,this twofold effect of the same presence is but a symbol of a solemn law which runs through all life1 and is especially manifest in the effects of ,christ's work upon men4 ,everything has two handles1 and it depends on ourselves by which of them we lay hold of it1 and whether we shall receive a shock that kills1 or blessings4 ,the same circumstances of poverty1 or wealth1 or sorrow1 or temptation1 make one man better and another worse4 ,the same presence of ,god will be to one man a joy2 to another1 a terror4 ',what maketh heaven1 that maketh hell4' ,the same gospel received is the fountain of life1 purity1 peace2 and1 rejected or neglected1 is the source of harm and death4 ,jesus ,christ is 'set for the fall and rising again of many4' ,either ,he is the savour of life unto life1 the rock on which we build1 or ,he is the savour of death unto death1 the stone on which we stumble and break our limbs4 ,,the ,,ark ,,of ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,obed-,,edom ',the ark of the ,lord continued in the house of ,obed-edom the ,gittite three months2 and the ,lord blessed ,obed-edom1 and all his household4'-#b ,,samuel vi4#aa4 ,nearly seventy years had elapsed since the capture of the ark by the ,philistines on the fatal field of ,aphek4 ,they had carried it and set it in insolent triumph in the ,temple of ,dagon1 as if to proclaim that the ,jehovah of ,israel was the conquered prisoner of the ,philistine god4 ,but the morning showed ,dagon's stump prone on the threshold4 ,and so the terrified priests got rid of their dangerous trophy as swiftly as they could4 ,from one ,philistine city to another it passed1 and everywhere its presence was marked by disease and calamity4 ,so at last they huddled it into some rude cart1 leaving the draught-oxen to drag it whither they would4 ,they made straight for the ,judaean hills1 and in the first little village were welcomed by the inhabitants at their harvest1 as they saw them coming across the plain4 ,but again death attended the ,presence1 and curiosity1 which was profanity1 was punished4 ,so the villagers were as eager to get rid of the ark as they had been to welcome it1 and they passed it on to the little city of ,kirjath-jearim1'the city of the woods1' as the name means1 or1 as we might say1 ',woodville4' ,and there it lay1 neglected and all but forgotten1 for nearly seventy years4 ,but as soon as ,david was established in his newly-won capital he set himself to reorganise the national worship1 which had fallen into neglect and almost into disuse4 ,the first step was to bring the ark4 ,and so he passed with a joyful company to ,kirjath4 ,but again swift death overtakes ,uzzah with his irreverent hand4 ,and ,david shrinks1 in the consciousness of his impurity1 and bestows the symbol of the awful ,presence in the house of ,obed-edom4 ,as we have already noted1 he was probably not a ,philistine1 as the name ',gittite' at first sight suggests4 ,there is an ,obed-edom in the lists of ,david's ,levites1 who was an inhabitant of another ,gath1 and himself of the tribe of ,levi4 ,he was not afraid to receive the ark4 ,there were no idols1 no irreverent curiosity1 no rash presumption in his house4 ,he feared and served the ,god of the ark1 and so the ,presence1 which had been a source of disaster to the unworthy1 was a source of unbroken blessing to him and to his household4 ,i have been the more particular in this enumeration of the wanderings of the ark and the opposite effects which its presence produced according to the manner of its reception1 because these effects are symbols of a great truth which runs all through human life1 and is most especially manifested in the message and the mission of ,jesus ,christ4 ,let us1 then1 just trace out two or three of the spheres in which we may see the application of this great principle1 which makes life so solemn and so awful1 which may make it so sad or so glad1 so base or so noble4 ,i4 ,first1 then1 note the twofold operation of all ,god's outward dealings4 ,everything that befalls us1 every object with which we come in contact1 all the variety of condition1 all the variations of our experience1 have one distinct and specific purpose4 ,they are all meant to tell upon character1 to make us better in sundry ways1 to bring us closer to ,god1 and to fill us more full of ,him4 ,and that one effect may be produced by the most opposite incidents1 just as in some great machine you may have two wheels turning in opposite ways1 and yet contributing to one resulting motion2 or1 just as the summer and the winter1 with all their antitheses1 have a single result in the abundant harvest4 ,one force attracts the planet to the sun1 one force tends to drive it out into the fields of space2 but the two1 working together1 make it circle in its orbit around its centre4 ,and so1 by sorrow and by joy1 by light and by dark1 by giving and withholding1 by granting and refusing1 by all the varieties of our circumstances1 and by everything that lies around us1 ,god works to prepare us for ,himself and to polish ,his instruments1 sometimes plunging the iron into 'baths of hissing tears1' and sometimes heating it 'hot with hopes and fears1' and sometimes 'battering' it 'with the shocks of doom1' but all for the one purpose--that it may be a polished shaft in ,his quiver4 ,and whilst1 thus1 the most opposite things may produce the same effect1 the same thing will produce opposite effects according to the way in which we take it4 ,there is nothing that can be relied upon to do a man only good2 there is nothing about which we need fear that its mission is only to do evil4 ,for all depends on the recipient1 who can make everything to fulfil the purpose for which ,god has sent him everything4 ,here are two men tried by the same poverty4 ,it beats the one down1 makes him squalid1 querulous1 faithless1 irreligious1 drives him to drink1 crushes him2 and the other man it steadies and quiets and hardens1 and teaches him to look beyond the things seen and temporal to the exceeding riches at ,god's right hand4 ,here are two men tried by wealth2 the gold gets into the one man's veins and makes him yellow as with jaundice1 and kills him1 destroying all that is noble1 generous1 impulsive1 quenching his early dreams and enthusiasms1 closing his heart to sweet charity1 puffing him up with a false sense of ,importance1 and laying upon him the dreadful responsibility of misused and selfishly employed possessions4 ,and the other man1 tried in the same fashion1 out of his wealth makes for himself friends that welcome him into everlasting habitations1 and lays up for himself treasures in heaven4 ,the one man is damned and the other man is saved by their use of the same thing4 ,here are two men subjected to the same sorrows2 the one is absorbed by his selfish regard to his own misery1 blinded to all the blessings that still remain1 made negligent of tasks and oblivious of the plainest duty4 ,and he goes about saying1 ',oh1 if thou hadst been here6' or if1 if something else had happened1 then this would not have happened4 ,and the other man1 passing through the same circumstances1 finds that1 when his props are taken away1 he flings himself on ,god's breast1 and1 when the world becomes dark and all the paths dim about him1 he looks up to a heaven that fills fuller of meek and swiftly gathering stars as the night falls1 and he says1 ',it is the ,lord2 let ,him do what seemeth ,him good4' ,here are two men tried by the same temptation2 it leads the one man away captive 'with a dart through his liver'2 the other man by ,god's grace overcomes it1 and is the stronger and the sweeter and the gentler and the humbler because of the dreadful fight4 ,and so you might go the whole round of diverse circumstances1 and about each of them find the same double result4 ,nothing is sure to do a man good2 nothing necessarily does him hurt4 ,all depends upon the man himself1 and the use he makes of what ,god in ,his mercy sends4 ,two plants may grow in the same soil1 be fed by the same dews and benediction from the heavens1 be shone upon by the same sunshine1 and the one of them will elaborate from all1 sweet juices and fragrance1 and the other will elaborate a deadly poison4 ,so1 my brother1 life is what you and ,i will to make it1 and the events which befall us are for our rising or our falling according as we determine they shall be1 and according as we use them4 ,think1 then1 how solemn1 how awful1 how great a thing it is to stand here a free agent1 able to determine my character and my condition1 surrounded by all these circumstances and the subject of all these wise and manifold divine dealings1 in each of which there lie dormant1 to be evoked by me1 tremendous possibilities of elevation even to the very presence of ,god1 or of sinking into the depths of separation from ,him4 ,the ark of ,god1 that overthrew ,dagon and smote ,uzzah1 was nothing but a fountain of blessing in the household of ,obed-edom4 ,,ii4 ,secondly1 note the twofold operation of ,god's character and presence4 ,the ark was the symbol of a present ,god1 and ,his presence is meant to be the life and joy of all creatures1 and the revelation of ,him is meant to be only for our good1 giving strength1 righteousness1 and peace4 ,but the same double possibility which ,i have been pointing out as inherent in all externals belongs here too1 and a man can determine to which aspect of the many-sided infinitude of the divine nature he shall stand in relation4 ,the glass in stained windows is so coloured as that parts of it cut off1 and prevent from passing through1 different rays of the pure white light4 ,and men's moral natures1 the inclination of their hearts1 and the set of their wills and energies1 cut off1 if ,i may say so1 parts of the infinite1 white light of the many-sided divine character1 and put them into relations only with some part and aspect of that great whole which we call ,god4 ,the man that loves the world1 the man that is living for self1 still more the man that is embruted in the pig-sty of sensuality and vice1 cannot see the ,god whom the pure heart1 which loves ,him and is purified by its faith1 discerns at the centre of all things4 ,but the lower man sees either some very far-off ,awfulness1 in which he hopes vaguely that there is a kind of good nature that will let him off2 or1 if he has been shaken out of that superficial creed1 which is only a creed for men whose consciences have not been touched1 then he can see only a ,god whose love darkens into retribution1 and who is the ,judge and the ,avenger4 ,and no man can say that such a conception is not part of the truth2 but1 alas6 he on whom the form of such a ,god glares has incapacitated himself1 by his misuse of his powers and of ,god's world1 from seeing the beauty of the love of the ,father of us all1 the righteous ,father who in ,christ loves every man4 ,and thus the thought of ,god1 the consciousness of ,his ,presence1 may be like the ark which was its symbol1 either dreadful and to be put away1 or to be welcomed and blessing to be drawn from it4 ,to many of us ,i am sure--though ,i do not know anything about many of you--that thought1' ,thou ,god seest me1' breeds feelings like the uneasy discomfort of a prisoner when he knows that somewhere in the wall there is a spy-hole at which at any moment a warder's eye may be4 ,and to some of us1 blessed be ,his name1 that same thought1 ',thou art near me1' seems to bathe the heart in a sea of sweet rest1 and to bring the assurance of a divine ,companion that cheers all the solitude4 ,and why is the difference8 ,there are two people sitting in one pew2 to the one man the thought of ,god is his ghastliest doubt1 to the other it is his deepest joy4 ,wherefore8 ,and which is it to me8 ,then1 again1 this same duality of aspect attaches to the character and presence of ,god in another way4 ,because1 according to the variety of men's characters1 ,god is obliged to treat them as standing in different relations4 ,he must manifest ,his judgment1 ,his justice1 ,his punitive justice4 ,there is a solemn verse in one of the ,psalms which ,i may quote in lieu of all words of my own of this matter4 ',with the merciful ,thou wilt show ,thyself merciful1 with the pure ,thou wilt show ,thyself pure1 with the froward ,thou wilt show ,thyself froward4' ,the present ,god has to modify ,his dealings according to the characters of men4 ,and so1 dear friends1 for the present life1 and1 as ,i believe1 for the next life in a far more emphatic and awful way1 the same thing makes blessedness and misery1 the same thing makes life and death4 ,the sunshine will kill and wither the slimy plants that grow in the dark recesses of some dripping cave2 and if you take a fish out of the water1 the air clogs its gills and it dies4 ,bring a man1 such as some of you are1 into a close1 constant contact with the consciousness of the divine righteousness and presence1 and you want nothing else to make a hell4 ,the ark of the ,lord will flash out its lightnings and ,uzzah will die4 ,that great ,infinite ,being1 before whom we stand1 holds in ,his right hand blessings beyond count or price1 even the gift of ,himself1 and in ,his left ,his lightnings and ,his arrows4 ,on which hand are you standing8 ,,iii4 ,lastly1 note the twofold operation of ,god's gospel4 ,his dealings1 ,his character and presence1 and1 most markedly and eminently of all1 the gospel that is treasured in ,jesus ,christ and proclaimed amongst us1 have this twofold operation4 ,god sent ,his ,son to be the ,saviour of the world4 ,it was meant that ,his mission and message should only be for life1 and that with ever-increasing abundance4 ,but ,god cannot save men by magic1 nor by indiscriminate bestowment of spiritual blessings4 ,it is not in ,his power to force ,his salvation upon any one1 and whether the ,gospel shall turn out to be a man's salvation or his ruin depends on the man himself4 ,the preaching of the gospel and your contact with it1 if you have ever come into contact with it really and not by mere outward hearing1 leaves no man as it found him4 ,my poor words--and ,god knows how poor ,i feel them to be--leave none of you as they find you2 and that is what makes our meeting together so solemn and awful1 and sometimes weighs one down as with a sense of insufficiency for these things4 ,that twofold operation is seen first in the permanent effects of the ,gospel upon character4 ,if it has been offered to me1 and if ,i accept it1 then blessings beyond all enumeration1 and which none but they who have them fully know1 follow in its wake4 ,received by simple faith in ,jesus ,christ1 ,god's sacrifice for a world's sin1 it brings to us the clear consciousness of pardon1 the calm sense of communion1 the joyful spirit of adoption1 righteousness rooted in our hearts and to be manifested day by day in our lives2 it brings all elevation and strengthening and ennobling for the whole nature1 and is the one power that makes us really men as ,god would have us all to be4 ,rejected or neglected or passed by apparently without our having done anything in regard to it1 what are the issues8 ,what does it do8 ,well1 it does this for one thing1 it turns unconscious worldliness into conscious worldliness4 ,if the offer has been clearly before your minds1 ',christ or the world8' and you have said ',i take the world6' you know that you have made the choice1 and the act will tell on your character4 ,rejection strengthens all the evil motives for rejection1 and adds to the insensibility of the man who has rejected4 ,the ice on our pavements in the winter time1 that melts on the surface in the day and freezes again at night1 becomes dense and slippery beyond all other4 ,and a heart1 like that which beats in some of our bosoms1 that has been melted and then has frozen again1 is harder than ever it was before4 ,hammering that does not break solidifies and makes tougher the thing that is struck4 ,there are no men so hard to get at as men and women1 like multitudes of you1 that have been hammered at by preaching ever since they were children1 and have not yielded their hearts to ,god4 ,the ark has done you hurt if it has not done you good4 ,i do not dwell upon the other solemn thought1 of the harmful results of contact with a gospel which we do not accept1 as exemplified in the increase of responsibility and the consequent increase of condemnation4 ,i only quote ,christ's words1 ',the servant that knew his ,lord's will1 and did it not1 shall be beaten with many stripes4' ,my brother1 ,christ's gospel is never inert1 one thing or other it does for every soul that it reaches4 ,either it softens or it hardens4 ,either it saves or it condemns4 ',this ,child is set for the rise or for the fall of many4' ,jesus ,christ may be for me and for you the ,rock on which we build4 ,if ,he is not1 ,he is the ,stone against which we stumble and break our limbs4 ,jesus ,christ may be for you and for me the ,pillar that gives light by night to those on the one side2 ,he either is that1 or ,he is the ,pillar that sheds darkness and dismay on those on the other4 ,jesus ,christ and ,his ,gospel may be to each of us 'the savour of life unto life'2 ,he either is that1 or ,he is 'the savour of death unto death4' ,oh6 dear friends1 if you have neglected1 turned away1 delayed to receive ,him or have forgotten impressions in the midst of the whirl of daily life1 do not do so any longer4 ,take ,him for yours1 your ,brother1 ,friend1 ,sacrifice1 ,inspirer1 ,lord1 ,aim1 ,end1 ,reward1 and very ,heaven of ,heaven4 ,take ,him for your own by simple trusting2 and say to ,him1 ',arise6 ,o ,lord1 into ,thy rest1 ,thou and the ,ark of ,thy strength4' ,so ,he will come into your hearts and smile ,his gladness as ,he whispers3 ',here will ,i dwell for ever2 this is ,my rest1 for ,i have desired it4' ,,the ,,promised ,,king ,,and ,,temple-,,builder ',and it came to pass that night1 that the word of the ,lord came unto ,nathan1 saying1 #e4 ,go and tell ,my servant ,david1 ,thus saith the ,lord1 ,shalt thou build ,me an house for ,me to dwell in6 #f4 ,whereas ,i have not dwelt in any house since the time that ,i brought up the children of ,israel out of ,egypt1 even to this day1 but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle4 #g4 ,in all the places wherein ,i have walked with all the children of ,israel spake ,i a word with any of the tribes of ,israel1 whom ,i commanded to feed ,my people ,israel1 saying1 ,why build ye not ,me an house of cedar6 #h4 ,now therefore so shalt thou say unto ,my servant ,david1 ,thus saith the ,lord of hosts1 ,i took thee from the sheepcote1 from following the sheep1 to be ruler over ,my people1 over ,israel3 #i4 ,and ,i was with thee whithersoever thou wentest1 and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight1 and have made thee a great name1 like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth4 #aj4 ,moreover ,i will appoint a place for ,my people ,israel1 and will plant them1 that they may dwell in a place of their own1 and move no more2 neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more1 as beforetime1 #aa4 ,and as since the time that ,i commanded judges to be over ,my people ,israel1 and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies4 ,also the ,lord telleth thee that ,he will make thee an house4 #ab4 ,and when thy days be fulfilled1 and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers1 ,i will set up thy seed after thee1 which shall proceed out of thy bowels1 and ,i will establish ,his kingdom4 #ac4 ,he shall build an house for ,my name2 and ,i will establish the throne of ,his kingdom for ever4 #ad4 ,i will be his father1 and ,he shall be my son4 ,if he commit iniquity1 ,i will chasten ,him with the rod of men1 and with the stripes of the children of men3 #af4 ,but ,my mercy shall not depart away from ,him1 as ,i took it from ,saul1 whom ,i put away before thee4 #af4 ,and thine home and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee3 thy throne shall be established for ever4'-#b ,,samuel vii4#d-af4 ,the removal of the ark to ,jerusalem was but the first step in a process which was intended to end in the erection of a permanent ,temple4 ,the time for the next step appeared to ,david to have come when he had no longer to fight for his throne4 ,rest from enemies should lead to larger work for ,god1 else repose will be our worst enemy1 and peace will degenerate into self-indulgent sloth4 ,a devout heart will not be content with personal comfort and dwelling in a house of cedar1 while the ark has but a tent for its abode4 ,there should be a proportion between expenditure on self and on religious objects4 ,how many professing ,christians might go to school to ,david6 ,luxury at home and niggardliness in ,god's work make an ugly pair1 but1 alas6 a common one4 ,nathan approved1 as was natural4 ,but he knew the difference between his own thoughts and 'the word of the ,lord' that came to him1 and1 like a true man1 he went in the morning and contradicted1 by ,god's authority1 his own precipitate sanction of the king's proposal4 ,clearly1 divine communications were unmistakably distinguishable from the recipient's own thoughts4 ,the divine message first negatives the intention to build a house4 ,in #a ,chronicles a positive prohibition takes the place of the question in verse #e1 but that is only a difference of form1 for the question implies a negative answer4 ,from ,david's last words 7#a ,chron4 xxviii4 #c7 we learn that a reason for the prohibition was 'because thou art a man of war1 and hast shed blood4' ,his wars were necessary1 and tended to establish the kingdom1 but their existence showed that the time for building the ,temple had not come1 and there was a certain incongruity in a warrior king rearing a house for the ,god whose kingdom was in its essence peace4 ,the prohibition rests on a deep insight into the nature of ,jehovah's reign1 and draws a broad distinction between ,his worship and the surrounding paganism4 ,but the reason given in the text is very remarkable4 ,god did not desire a permanent ,temple4 ,if we may so say1 ,he preferred the less solid ,tabernacle1 as corresponding better to the simplicity and spirituality of ,his worship4 ,a gorgeous stone ,temple might easily become the sepulchre1 rather than the shrine1 of true devotion4 ,the movable tent answered to the temporary character of the 'dispensation4' ,the more fixed and elaborate the externals of worship1 the more danger of the spirit being stifled by them4 ,the ,old ,testament worship was necessarily ceremonial1 but here is a caveat against the stiffening of ceremonial into stereotyped formalism4 ,the prohibition was accompanied by gracious and far-reaching promises1 designed to assure ,david of ,god's approbation of his motive1 and to open up to him the vision of the future and the wonders that should be4 ,we need say little about the retrospective part of the message 7verses #h1 #i a74 ,god had been the agent in all ,david's past1 had lifted him from the quiet following of his sheep1 had given him rule1 which was but a delegated authority4 ,israel was ',my people1' and therefore he was but an instrument in ,god's hand1 and was not to govern by his own fancies or for his own advantage4 ,every devout man's life is the realisation of a plan of ,god's1 and we sin against ourselves as well as ,him if we do not often let thankful thoughts retrace all the way by which the ,lord our ,god has led us4 ,with verse #i b the prophecy turns to the future4 ,david personally is promised the continuance of ,god's help2 then a permanent1 peaceful possession of the land is promised to the nation1 and finally the perpetuity of the kingdom in the ,davidic line is promised4 ,the prophecy as to the nation1 like all such prophecies1 is contingent on national obedience4 ,the future of the kingdom will stand in blessed contrast with the wild times of the ,judges1 if--and only if--,israel behaves as ',my people' should4 ,but the main point of the prophecy is the promise to ,david's 'seed4' ,in form it attaches itself very significantly to ,david's intention to build a house for ,jehovah4 ,that would invert the true order1 for ,jehovah was about to build a house1 that is1 a permanent posterity1 for ,david4 ,god must first give before man can requite4 ,all our relations to ,him begin with ,his free mercy to us4 ,and our building for ,him should ever be the result of ,his building for us1 and will1 in some humble way1 resemble the divine beneficence by which it has been quickened into action4 ,the very foundation principles of ,christian service are expressed here1 in guise fitted to the then epoch of revelation4 ,but the relation of the two things1 ,god's building and ,solomon's1 is not exhausted by such considerations4 ,the consolidation of the monarchy in ,david's family was an essential preliminary to the rearing of the ,temple4 ,that work needed tranquil times1 abundant resources1 leisure1 and assured dominion4 ,so the prophet goes on to promise that ,david shall be succeeded by his 'seed1' who shall build the ,temple4 ,further1 three great promises are given in reference to ,david's seed1--a perpetual kingdom1 a personal relation of sonship to ,jehovah1 and paternal chastisement1 if necessary1 but no such departure of ,jehovah's mercy as had darkened the close of ,saul's sad reign4 ,then1 finally1 the assurance is reiterated of the perpetuity of ,david's house and throne4 ,the remarkable expression in verse #af1 'established before thee' 7that is1 ,david71 if it is the true reading1 suggests a hint of the life after death1 and conceives of the long-dead king as in some manner cognisant of the fortunes of his descendants4 ,but the ,septuagint reads 'before ,me1' and that reading is confirmed by verses #bf and #bi1 and by ,psalm lxxxix4#cf b4 ,now it is clear that these promises were in part directed to1 and fulfilled in1 ,solomon4 ,but it is as clear that the great promise of an eternal dominion1 which is emphatically repeated thrice1 goes far beyond him4 ,we are obliged to recognise a second meaning in the prophecy1 in accordance with ,old ,testament usage1 which often means by 'seed' a line of successive generations of descendants4 ,but no succession of mortal men can reach to eternal duration4 ,apart from the fact that the kingdom1 in the form in which ,david's descendants ruled over it1 has long since crumbled away1 the large words of the promise must be regarded as inflated and exaggerated1 if by 'for ever' is only meant 'for long generations4' ,a 'seed1' or line of perishable men1 can only last for ever if it closes in a ,person who is not subject to the law of mortality4 ,unless we can with our hearts rejoicingly confess1 ',thou art the ,king of glory1 ,o ,christ6 ,thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom1' we do not pierce to the full understanding of ,nathan's prophecy4 ,all the glorious prerogatives shadowed in it were but partially fulfilled in ,israel's monarchs4 ,their failures and their successes1 their sins and their virtues1 equally declared them to be but shadowy forerunners of ,him in whom all that they at the best imperfectly aimed at and possessed is completely and for ever fulfilled4 ,they were prophetic persons by their office1 and pointed on to ,him4 ,he has built the true ,temple1 in that ,his body is the seat of sacrifice and of revelation1 and the meeting-place of ,god and man1 and inasmuch as through ,him we are built up into a spiritual house for an habitation of ,god4 ,in ,him is fulfilled the great prophecy of ',my ,servant the ,branch1' who 'shall build the ,temple of the ,lord' and 'be a ,priest upon ,his throne4' ,in ,him1 too1 is fulfilled in highest truth the filial relationship4 ,the ,israelitish kings were by office sons of ,god4 ,he is the ,son in ineffable derivation and eternal unity of life with the ,father1 and their communion is in closest oneness of will and mutual interchange of love4 ,in that filial relation lies the assurance of ,christ's everlasting kingdom1 for 'the ,father loveth the ,son1 and hath given all things into ,his hand4' ,the prophecy is echoed in many places of ,scripture1 and is ever taken to refer to a single person4 ,the angel of the annunciation moulded his salutation to the meek ,virgin on it1 when he declared that her ,son 'shall be called the ,son of the ,most ,high3 and the ,lord ,god shall give unto ,him the throne of ,his father ,david3 and ,he shall reign over the house of ,jacob for ever2 and of ,his kingdom there shall be no end4' ,,david',s ,,gratitude ',then went king ,david in1 and sat before the ,lord1 and he said1 ,who am ,i1 ,o ,lord ,god8 and what is my house1 that ,thou hast brought me hitherto8 #ai4 ,and this was yet a small thing in ,thy sight1 ,o ,lord ,god2 but ,thou hast spoken also of ,thy servant's house for a great while to come4 ,and is this the manner of man1 ,o ,lord ,god8 #bj4 ,and what can ,david say more unto ,thee8 for ,thou1 ,lord ,god1 knowest ,thy servant4 #ba4 ,for ,thy word's sake1 and according to ,thine own heart1 hast ,thou done all these great things1 to make ,thy servant know them4 #bb4 ,wherefore ,thou art great1 ,o ,lord ,god3 for there is none like ,thee1 neither is there any ,god besides ,thee1 according to all that we have heard with our ears4 #bc4 ,and what one nation in the earth is like ,thy people1 even like ,israel1 whom ,god went to redeem for a people to ,himself1 and to make ,him a name1 and to do for you great things and terrible1 for ,thy land1 before ,thy people1 which ,thou redeemedst to ,thee from ,egypt1 from the nations and their gods8 #bd4 ,for ,thou hast confirmed to ,thyself ,thy people ,israel to be a people unto ,thee for ever3 and ,thou1 ,lord1 art become their ,god4 #be4 ,and now1 ,o ,lord ,god1 the word that ,thou hast spoken concerning ,thy servant1 and concerning his house1 establish it for ever1 and do as ,thou hast said4 #bf4 ,and let ,thy name be magnified for ever1 saying1 ,the ,lord of hosts is the ,god over ,israel2 and let the house of ,thy servant ,david be established before ,thee4 #bg4 ,for ,thou1 ,o ,lord of hosts1 ,god of ,israel1 hast revealed to ,thy servant1 saying1 ,i will build thee an house3 therefore hath ,thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto ,thee4 #bh4 ,and now1 ,o ,lord ,god1 ,thou art that ,god1 and ,thy words be true1 and ,thou hast promised this goodness unto ,thy servant3 #bi4 ,therefore now let it please ,thee to bless the house of ,thy servant1 that it may continue for ever before ,thee3 for ,thou1 ,o ,lord ,god1 hast spoken it3 and with ,thy blessing let the house of ,thy servant be blessed for ever4'--#b ,,samuel vii4 #ah-bi4 ,god's promise by ,nathan of the perpetuity of the kingdom in ,david's house made an era in the progress of revelation4 ,a new element was thereby added to devout hope1 and a new object presented to faith4 ,the prophecy of the ,messiah entered upon a new stage1 bearing a relation1 as its successive stages always did1 to the history which supplies a framework for it4 ,now1 for the first time1 ,he can be set forth as the king of ,israel2 now the width of the promise1 which at first embraced the seed of the woman1 and then was limited to the seed of ,abraham1 and thereafter to the tribe of ,judah1 is still further limited to the house of ,david4 ,the beam is narrowed as it is focussed into greater brilliance1 and the personal ,messiah begins to be faintly discerned in words which are to have a partial1 preparatory fulfilment1 in itself prophetic1 in the collective ,davidic monarchs whose office is itself a prophecy4 ,this passage is the wonderful burst of praise which sprang from ,david's heart in answer to ,nathan's words4 ,in many of the ,psalms later than this prophecy we find clear traces of that expectation of the personal ,messiah1 which gradually shaped itself1 under divine inspiration1 in ,david1 as contained in ,nathan's message ,but this thanksgiving prayer1 which was the immediate reflection of the astounding new message1 has not yet penetrated its depth nor discovered its rich contents1 but sees in it only the promise of the continuance of kingship in his descendants4 ,we do not learn the fulness of ,god's gracious promises on first hearing them4 ,life and experience and the teaching of ,his ,spirit are needed to enable us to count our treasure1 and we are richer than we know4 ,this prayer is a prose psalm outside the ,psalter4 ,it consists of two parts1--a burst of astonished thanksgiving and a stream of earnest petition1 grasping the divine promise and turning it into a prayer4 ,i4 ,note the burst of thanksgiving 7vs4 #ah-bd74 ,the ark dwelt 'in curtains1' and into the temporary sanctuary went the king with his full heart4 ,the somewhat peculiar attitude of sitting1 while he poured it out to ,god1 has offended some punctilious commentators1 who will have it that we should translate 'remained1' and not 'sat'2 but there is no need for the change4 ,the decencies of public worship may require a posture which expresses devotion2 but individual communion is free from such externals1 and absorbed contemplation naturally disposes of the body so as least to hinder the spirit4 ,the tone of almost bewildered surprise at the greatness of the gift is strong all through the prayer4 ,the man's breath is almost taken away1 and his words are sometimes broken1 and throughout palpitating with emotion4 ,yet there is a plain progress of feeling and thought in them1 and they may serve as a pattern of thanksgiving4 ,note the abrupt beginning1 as if pent-up feeling forced its way1 regardless of forms of devotion4 ,the first emotion excited by ,god's great goodness is the sense of unworthiness4 ',i do not deserve it1' is the instinctive answer of the heart to any lavish human kindness1 and how much more to ,god's6 ',i am not worthy of the least of all the mercies1' springs to the devout lips most swiftly1 when gazing on ,his miracles of bestowing love4 ,he must know little of himself1 and less of ,god1 who is not most surely melted down to contrition1 which has no bitterness or pain in it1 by the coals of loving fire heaped by ,god on his head4 ,the consciousness of unworthiness passes1 in verse #ai1 to adoring contemplation of ,god's astounding mercy1 and especially of the new element in ,nathan's prophecy1--the perpetuity of the ,davidic sovereignty in the dim1 far-off future4 ,thankfulness delights to praise the ,giver for the greatness of ,his gift4 ,faith strengthens its hold of its blessings by telling them over1 as a miser does his treasure4 ,to recount them to ,god is the way to possess them more fully4 ,the difficult close of the verse cannot be discussed here4 ',the law for man' is nearer the literal meaning of the words than 'the manner of men' 7,rev4 ,ver472 and1 unfortunately1 man's manner is not the same as man's law4 ,but the usual explanations are unsatisfactory4 ,we would hazard the suggestion that 'this' means that which ,god has spoken 'of thy servant's house1' and that to call it 'the law for man' is equivalent to an expression of absolute confidence in the authority1 universality1 and certain fulfilment of the promise4 ,the speech of ,god is ever the law for man1 and this new utterance stands on a level with the older law1 and shall rule all mankind4 ,the king's faith not only gazes on the great words of promise1 but sees them triumphant on earth4 ,then in verse #bj comes another bend of the stream of praise4 ,the more full the heart1 the more is it conscious of the weakness of all words4 ,the deepest praise1 like the truest love1 speaks best in silence4 ,it is blessed when1 in earthly relations1 we can trust our dear ones' knowledge of us to interpret our poor words4 ,it is more blessed when1 in our speech to ,god1 we can feel that our love and faith are deeper than our word1 and that ,he does not judge them by it1 but it by them4 ',silence is ,his least injurious praise4' ,here1 too1 we may note the two instances1 in this verse1 of what runs through the whole prayer1--,david's avoidance of using ',i4' ,except in the lowly ',what am ,i8' at the beginning1 it never occurs2 but he calls himself ',david' twice and ',thy servant' ten times1--a striking1 because unconscious1 proof of his lowly sense of unworthiness4 ,but he can say more2 and what he does further say goes yet deeper than his former words4 ,the personal aspect of the promise retreats into the background1 and the ground of all ,god's mercy in ,his 'own heart' fills the thoughts4 ,some previous promise1 perhaps that through ,samuel1 is referred to2 but the great truth that ,god is ,his own motive1 and that ,his love is not drawn forth by our deserts1 but wells up by its own energy1 like a perennial fountain1 is the main thought of the verse4 ,god is self-moved to bless1 and ,he blesses that we may know ,him through ,his gifts4 ,the one thought is the central truth1 level to our apprehension1 concerning ,his nature2 the other is the key to the meaning of all ,his workings4 ,all comes to pass because ,he loves with a self-originated love1 and in order that we may know the motive and principle of ,his acts4 ,we can get no farther into the secret of ,god than that4 ,we need nothing more for peaceful acceptance of ,his providences for ourselves and our brethren4 ,all is from love2 all is for the manifestation of love4 ,he who has learned these truths sits at the centre and lives in light4 ,verse #bb strikes a new note4 ,the effect of ,god's dealing with ,david is to magnify ,his name1 to teach ,his incomparable greatness1 and to confirm by experience ancient words which celebrate it4 ,the thankful heart rejoices in hearsay being changed into personal knowledge4 ',as we have heard1 so have we seen4' ,old truths flash up into new meaning1 and only he who tastes and sees that ,god is good to him to-day really enters into the sweetness of ,his recorded past goodness4 ,note the widening of ,david's horizon in verses #bc and #bd to embrace all ,israel4 ,his blessings are theirs4 ,he feels his own relation to them as the culmination of the long series of past deliverances1 and at the same time loses self in joy over ,israel's confirmation as ,god's people by his kingship4 ,true thankfulness regards personal blessings in their bearing on others1 and shrinks from selfish use of them4 ,note1 too1 the parallel1 if we may call it so1 between ,israel and ,israel's ,god1 in that 'there is none like ,thee1' and by reason of its choice by this incomparable ,jehovah1 no nation on earth is like ',thy people1 even like ,israel4' ,thus steadily does this model of thanksgiving climb up from a sense of unworthiness1 through adoration and gazing on its treasures1 to ,god's unmotived love as ,his impulse1 and men's knowledge of that love as ,his aim1 and pauses at last1 rapt and hushed1 before the solitary loftiness of the incomparable ,god1 and the mystery of the love1 which has intertwined the personal blessings which it celebrates1 with its great designs for the welfare of the people1 whose unique position corresponds to the unapproachable elevation of its ,god4 ,,ii4 ,verses #be to #bi are prayer built on promise and winged by thankfulness4 ,the whole of these verses are but the expansion of 'do as ,thou hast said4' ,but they are not vain repetitions4 ,rather they are the outpourings of wondering thankfulness and faith1 that cannot turn away from dwelling on the miracle of mercy revealed to it unworthy4 ,god delights in the sweet monotony and persistence of such reiterated prayers1 each of which represents a fresh throb of desire and a renewed bliss in thinking of ,his goodness4 ,observe the frequency and variety of the divine names in these verses1--in each1 one1 at least3 ,jehovah ,god 7v4 #be72 ,jehovah of hosts 7v4 #bf72 ,jehovah of hosts1 ,god of ,israel 7v4 #bg72 ,lord ,jehovah 7vs4 #bh1 #bi74 ,strong love delights to speak the beloved name4 ,each fresh utterance of it is a fresh appeal to ,his revealed nature1 and betokens another wave of blessedness passing over ,david's spirit as he thinks of ,god4 ,observe1 also1 the other repetition of ',thy servant1' which occurs in every verse1 and twice in two of them4 ,the king is never tired of realising his absolute subjection1 and feels that it is dignity1 and a blessed bond with ,god1 that he should be ,his servant4 ,the true purpose of honour and office bestowed by ,god is the service of ,god1 and the name of 'servant' is a plea with ,him which ,he cannot but regard4 ,observe1 too1 how echoes of the promise ring all through these verses1 especially the phrases 'establish the house' and 'for ever4' ,they show how profoundly ,david had been moved1 and how he is labouring1 as it were1 to make himself familiar with the astonishing vista that has begun to open before his believing eyes4 ,well is it for us if we1 in like manner1 seek to fix our thoughts on the yet grander 'for ever' disclosed to us1 and if it colours all our look ahead1 and makes the refrain of all our hopes and prayers4 ,but the main lesson of the prayer is that ,god's promise should ever be the basis and measure of prayer4 ,the mould into which our petitions should run is1 ',do as ,thou hast said4' ,because ,god's promise had come to ,david1 'therefore hath ,thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto ,thee4' ,there is no presumption in taking ,god at ,his word4 ,true prayer catches up the promises that have fallen from heaven1 and sends them back again1 as feathers to the arrows of its petitions4 ,nor does the promise make the prayer needless4 ,we know that 'if we ask anything according to ,his will1 ,he heareth us'2 and we know that we shall not receive the promised blessings1 which are according to ,his will1 unless we do ask4 ,let us seek to stretch our desires to the width of ,god's promises1 and to confine our wishes within their bounds4 ,,david ,,and ,,jonathan',s ,,son ',and ,david said1 is there yet any that is left of the house of ,saul1 that ,i may shew him kindness for ,jonathan's sake8 #b4 ,and there was of the house of ,saul a servant whose name was ,ziba4 ,and when they had called him unto ,david1 the king said unto him1 ,art thou ,ziba8 ,and he said1 ,thy servant is he4 #c4 ,and the king said1 ,is there not yet any of the house of ,saul1 that ,i may shew the kindness of ,god unto him8 ,and ,ziba said unto the king1 ,jonathan hath yet a son1 which is lame on his feet4 #d4 ,and the king said unto him1 ,where is he8 ,and ,ziba said unto the king1 ,behold1 he is in the house of ,machir1 the son of ,ammiel1 in ,lo-debar4 #e4 ,then king ,david sent1 and fetched him out of the house of ,machir1 the son of ,ammiel1 from ,lo-debar41 #f4 ,now when ,mephibosheth1 the son of ,jonathan1 the son of ,saul1 was come unto ,david1 he fell on his face1 and did reverence4 ,and ,david said1 ,mephibosheth4 ,and he answered1 ,behold thy servant6 #g4 ,and ,david said unto him4 ,fear not2 for ,i will surely shew then kindness for ,jonathan thy father's sake1 and will restore thee all the land of ,saul thy father3 and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually4 #h4 ,and he bowed himself1 and said1 ,what is thy servant1 that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as ,i am8 #i4 ,then the king called to ,ziba1 ,saul's servant1 and said unto him1 ,i hare given unto thy master's son all that pertained to ,saul and to all his house4 #aj4 ,thou therefore1 and thy sons1 and thy servants1 shall till the land for him1 and thou shalt bring in the fruits1 that thy master's son may have food to eat3 but ,mephibosheth thy master's son shall eat bread alway at my table4 ,now ,ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants4 #aa4 ,then said ,ziba unto the king1 ,according to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servant1 so shall thy servant do4 ,as for ,mephibosheth1 said the king1 he shall eat at my table1 as one of the king's sons4 #ab4 ,and ,mephibosheth had a young son1 whose name was ,micha3 and all that dwelt in the house of ,ziba were servants unto ,mephibosheth4 #ac4 ,so ,mephibosheth dwelt in ,jerusalem3 for he did eat continually at the king's table2 and was lame on both his feet4'--#b ,,samuel ix4#a-ac4 ,this charming idyl of faithful love to a dead friend and generous kindness comes in amid stories of battle like a green oasis in a wilderness of wild rocks and sand4 ,the natural sweetness and chivalry of ,david's disposition1 which fascinated all who had to do with him1 comes beautifully out in it1 and it may well stand as an object lesson of the great ,christian duty of practical mercifulness4 ,i4 ,so regarded1 the narrative brings out first the motives of true kindliness4 ,saul and three of his four sons had fallen on the fatal field of ,gilboa2 the fourth1 the weak ,ishbosheth1 had been murdered after his abortive attempt at setting up a rival kingdom had come to nothing4 ,there were only left ,saul's daughters and some sons by a concubine4 ,so low had the proud house sunk1 while ,david was consolidating his kingdom1 and gaining victory wherever he went4 ,but neither his own prosperity1 nor the absence of any trace of ,saul's legitimate male descendants1 made him forget his ancient oath to ,jonathan4 ,years had not weakened his love1 his sufferings at ,saul's hands had not embittered it4 ,his elevation had not lifted him too high to see the old days of lowliness1 and the dear memory of the self-forgetting friend whose love had once been an honour to the shepherd lad4 ,jonathan's name had been written on his heart when it was impressionable1 and the lettering was as if 'graven on the rock for ever4' ,a heart so faithful to its old love needed no prompting either from men or circumstances4 ,hence the inquiry after 'any that is left of the house of ,saul' was occasioned by nothing external1 but came welling up from the depth of the king's own soul4 ,that is the highest type of kindliness which is spontaneous and self-motived4 ,it is well to be easily moved to beneficence either by the sight of need or by the appeals of others1 but it is best to kindle our own fire1 and be our own impulse to gracious thoughts and acts4 ,we may humbly say that human mercy then shows likest ,god's1 when1 in such imitation as is possible1 it springs in us1 as ,his does in ,him1 from the depths of our own being4 ,he loves and is kind because ,he is ,god4 ,he is ,his own motive and law4 ,so1 in our measure1 should we aim at becoming4 ,but ,david's remarkable language in his questions to ,ziba goes still deeper in unfolding his motives4 ,for he speaks of showing 'the kindness of ,god' to any remaining of ,saul's house4 ,now that expression is no mere synonym for kindness exceeding great1 but it unfolds what was at once ,david's deepest motive and his bright ideal4 ,no doubt1 it may include a reminiscence of the sacred obligation of the oath to ,jonathan1 but it hallows ,david's purposed 'mercy' as the echo of ,god's to him1 and so anticipates the ,christian teaching1 ',be ye merciful1 even as your ,father is merciful4' ,we must receive mercy from ,him before our hearts are softened1 so as to give it to others1 just as the wire must be charged from the electric source before it can communicate the tingle and the light4 ,the best basis for the beneficent service of man is experience of the mercy of ,god4 ,philanthropy has no roots unless it is planted in religion4 ,that is a lesson which this age needs4 ,and the other side of the thought is as true and needful2 namely1 that our 'religion' is not 'pure and undefiled' unless it manifests itself in the service of man4 ,how serene and lofty1 then1 the ideal6 ,how impossible ever to be too forgiving or too beneficent6 ',as your heavenly ,father is1'--that is our pattern4 ,we have not shown our brother all the kindness which we owe him unless we have shown him 'the kindness of ,god4' ,,ii4 ,the progress of the story brings out next the characteristics of ,david's kindliness1 and these may be patterns for us4 ,ziba does not seem to be very communicative1 and appears a rather unwilling witness1 who needs to have the truth extracted bit by bit4 ,he evidently had nothing to do with ,mephibosheth1 and was quite content that he should be left obscurely stowed away across ,jordan in the house of the rich ,machir 7#b ,sam4 xvii4 #bg-bi74 ,lo-debar was near ,mahanaim1 on the eastern side of the river1 where ,ishbosheth's short-lived kingdom had been planted1 and probably the population there still clung to ,saul's solitary representative4 ,there he lived so privately that none of ,david's people knew whether he was alive or dead4 ,perhaps the savage practice of ,eastern monarchs1 who are wont to get rid of rivals by killing them1 led the cripple son of ,jonathan to 'lie low1' and ,ziba's reticence may have been loyalty to him4 ,it is noteworthy that ,ziba is not said to have been sent to bring him1 though that would have been natural4 ,at any rate1 ,mephibosheth came1 apparently dreading whether his summons to court was not his death-warrant4 ,but he is quickly reassured4 ,david again recalls the dear memory of ,jonathan1 which was1 no doubt1 stirred to deeper tenderness by the sight of his helpless son2 but he swiftly passes to practical arrangements1 full of common-sense and grasp of the case4 ,the restoration of ,saul's landed estate implies that it was in ,david's power4 ,it had probably been 'forfeited to the crown1' as we in ,england say1 or perhaps had been 'squatted on' by people who had no right to it4 ,david1 at any rate1 will see that it reverts to its owner4 ,but what is a lame man to do with it8 and will it be wise to let a representative of the former dynasty loose in the territory of ,benjamin1 where ,saul's memory was still cherished8 ,apparently1 ,david's disposition of affairs was prompted partly by consideration for ,mephibosheth1 partly by affection for ,jonathan1 and partly by policy4 ,so ,ziba1 who had not been present1 is sent for1 and installed as overseer of the estate1 to work it for his new master's benefit1 while the owner is to remain at ,jerusalem in ,david's establishment4 ,it was prudent to keep ,mephibosheth at hand4 ,the best way to weaken a pretender's claims was to make a pensioner of him1 and the best way to hinder his doing mischief was to keep him in sight4 ,but we need not suppose that this was ,david's only motive4 ,he gratified his heart by retaining the poor young man beside himself1 and1 no doubt1 sought to win his confidence and love4 ,the recipient of his kindness receives it in characteristic ,eastern fashion1 with exaggerated words of self-depreciation1 which sound almost too humble to be quite sincere4 ,a little gratitude is better than whining professions of un worthiness4 ,and how did ,ziba like his task8 ,the singular remark that he had 'fifteen sons and twenty servants' perhaps suggests that he was a person of some importance2 and the subsequent one that 'all in his house were servants to ,mephibosheth' may imply that neither they nor he quite liked their being handed over thus cavalierly4 ,but1 however that may be1 we may note that common-sense and practical sagacity should guide our mercifulness4 ,kindly impulses are good1 but they need cool heads to direct them1 or they do more harm than good4 ,it is useless to set lame men to work an estate1 even if they get a gift of it4 ,and it is wise not to put untried ones in positions where they may plot against their benefactor4 ,mercifulness does not mean rash trust in its objects4 ,they will often have to be watched very closely to keep them from going wrong4 ,how many most charitable impulses have been so unwisely worked out that they have injured their objects and disappointed their subjects6 ,we may note1 too1 in ,david's kindliness1 that it was prompt to make sacrifice1 if1 as is probable1 he had become owner of the estate4 ,the pattern of all mercy1 who is ,god1 has not loved us with a love which cost ,him nothing4 ,sacrifice is the life-blood of service4 ,,iii4 ,the subsequent history of ,mephibosheth and ,ziba is somewhat enigmatical4 ,usually the former is supposed to have been slandered by the latter1 and to have been truly attached to ,david4 ,but it is at least questionable whether ,ziba was such a villain1 and ,mephibosheth such an injured innocent1 as is supposed4 ,this1 at least1 is plain1 that ,ziba demonstrated attachment to ,david at the time when self-love would have kept him silent4 ,it took some courage to come with gifts to a discrowned king 7#b ,sam4 xvi4 #a-d72 and his allegation about his master has at least this support1 that the latter did not come with the rest of ,david's court to share his fortunes1 and that the dream that he might fish to advantage in troubled waters is extremely likely to have occurred to him4 ,nor does it appear clear that1 if ,ziba's motive was to get hold of the estate1 his adherence to ,david would have seemed1 at that moment1 the best way of effecting it4 ,if we look at the sequel 7xix4 #bd-cj7 ,mephibosheth's excuse for not joining ,david seems almost as lame as himself4 ,he says that ,ziba 'deceived him1' and did not bring him the ass for riding on1 and therefore he could not come4 ,was there only one ass available in ,jerusalem8 and1 when all ,david's entourage were streaming out to ,olivet after him1 could not he easily have got there too if he had wished8 ,his demonstration of mourning looks very like a blind1 and his language to ,david has a disagreeable ring of untruthfulness1 in its extreme professions of humility and loyalty4 ',me thinks the cripple doth protest too much4 ,david evidently did not feel sure about him1 and stopped his voluble utterances somewhat brusquely3 ',why speakest thou any more of thy matters8' ,that is as much as to say1 ',hold your tongue4' ,and the final disposition of the property1 while it gives ,mephibosheth the benefit of the doubt1 yet looks as if there was a considerable doubt in the king's mind4 ,we may take up the same somewhat doubting position4 ,if he requited ,david's kindness thus unworthily1 is it not the too common experience that one way of making enemies is to load with benefits8 ,but no cynical wisdom of that sort should interfere with our showing mercy2 and if we are to take 'the kindness of ,god' for our pattern1 we must let our sunshine and rain fall1 as ,his do1 on 'the unthankful and the evil4' ',,more ,,than ,,conquerors ,,through ,,him' ',and the children of ,ammon came out1 and put the battle in array at the entering in of the gate3 and the ,syrians of ,zoba1 and of ,rehob1 and ,ish-tob1 and ,maacah1 were by themselves in the field4 #i4 ,when ,joab saw that the front of the battle was against him before and behind1 he chose of all the choice men of ,israel1 and put them in array against the ,syrians3 #aj4 ,and the rest of the people he delivered into the hand of ,abishai his brother1 that he might put them in array against the children of ,ammon4 #aa4 ,and he said1 if the ,syrians be too strong for me1 then thou shalt help me3 but if the children of ,ammon be too strong for thee1 then ,i will come and help thee4 #ab4 ,be of good courage1 and let us play the men for our people1 and for the cities of our ,god3 and the ,lord do that which seemeth ,him good4 #ac4 ,and ,joab drew nigh1 and the people that were with him1 unto the battle against the ,syrians3 and they fled before him4 #ad4 ,and when the children of ,ammon saw that the ,syrians were fled1 then fled they also before ,abishai1 and entered into the city4 ,so ,joab returned from the children of ,ammon1 and came to ,jerusalem4 #ae4 ,and when the ,syrians saw that they were smitten before ,israel1 they gathered themselves together4 #af4 ,and ,hadarezer sent1 and brought out the ,syrians that were beyond the river3 and they came to ,helam3 and ,shobach the captain of the host of ,hadarezer went before them4 #ag4 ,and when it was told ,david1 he gathered all ,israel together1 and passed over ,jordan1 and came to ,helam4 ,and the ,syrians set themselves in array against ,david1 and fought with him4 #ah4 ,and the ,syrians fled before ,israel2 and ,david slew the men of seven hundred chariots of the ,syrians1 and forty thousand horsemen1 and smote ,shobach the captain of their host1 who died there4 #ai4 ,and when all the kings that were servants to ,hadarezer saw that they were smitten before ,israel1 they made peace with ,israel1 and served them4 ,so the ,syrians feared to help the children of ,ammon any more4'--#b ,,samuel x4 #h-ai4 ,david's growing power would naturally be regarded by neighbouring states as a menace4 ,success provokes envy1 and in this selfish world strength usually encroaches on weakness1 and weakness dreads strength4 ,so it was quite according to the way of the world that ,david's friendly embassy to the king of ,ammon should be suspected of covering hostile intentions4 ,those who have no kindness in their own hearts are slow to believe in kindness in others4 ',what does he want to get by it8' is the question put by cynical 'shrewd men1' when they see a good man doing a gracious1 self-forgetting act4 ,but the ,ammonite courtiers need not have rejected ,david's overtures so insolently as by shaving half his ambassadors' beards and docking their robes4 ,the insult meant war to the knife4 ,probably it was deliberately intended as a declaration of hostilities1 as it was immediately followed by the preparation of a formidable coalition against ,israel4 ,possibly1 indeed1 the coalition preceded and occasioned the rejection of ,david's conciliatory message4 ,but1 in any case1 the ,ammonite king summoned his ,syrian allies from a number of small states of which we barely know the names1 the chief of which was ,zobah4 ,that state had apparently started into prominence under its king ,hadar-ezer1 as he is called in this chapter1 which is obviously a clerical error for ,hadad-ezer1 as in #b ,samuel viii4 #c1 etc4 ,the name ,hadad occurs again in ,ben-hadad1 and belonged to a ,syrian god2 so that the king of ,zobah's name1 meaning ',hadad is help1' may be taken as the banner flaunted in the face of the army of ,israel1 and as making the war a struggle of the false against the true ,god4 ,the war with the same enemies narrated in #b ,samuel viii4 #c-ac is now generally supposed to be the same as that recorded in the latter part of this passage4 ,it certainly seems more probable that there has been some dislocation of the text1 than that so crushing a defeat as that retold in chapter viii4 should have been followed by a revival of the same coalition within a short time4 ,if1 however1 there was such a revival1 it may remind us of the conditions of all warfare for ,god and goodness1 either in our own lives or in the world4 ,sins and vicious institutions1 once defeated1 have a terrible power of swift recovery4 ,the thorns cut down sprout fast again4 ,let no man say1 ',i have extirpated that sin from my nature1' for1 if he does1 it will surprise him when he is lulled in false security4 ,hadad-ezer is not so easily got rid of4 ,he does not know when he is beaten4 ,david took the bull by the horns1 and did not wait to be attacked4 ,it was good policy to carry the war into the enemies' country1 as it generally is4 ,god's soldiers have to be aggressive1 and there is no better way of losing what they have won than by being contented with it4 ,we must advance if we are not to retrograde4 ,from ,i ,chronicles we learn that the ,ammonites had begun the campaign by besieging ,medeba1 a trans-,jordanic ,israelitish city4 ,the answer of ,joab was to lay siege to ,rabbath1 the capital of ,ammon1 an almost impregnable fastness1 perched on a cliff1 and surrounded on all sides but one by steep ravines4 ,apparently his bold strategy led to the abandonment of the attack on ,medeba1 and to the hurried march of its besiegers to relieve ,rabbath4 ,probably the ,syrian allies had been before ,medeba1 and suddenly appeared in ,joab's rear4 ,their advance led the besieged to attempt a sortie1 so that ,joab was between two fires4 ,it was a difficult position4 ,whichever foe he attacked1 his retreat was cut off1 and another enemy was ready to hurl itself on his rear4 ,there was no time for manoeuvring1 and nothing for it but to face both assailants4 ,so1 without hesitation he made his dispositions4 ,the new-comers1 the ,syrians1 were evidently the more formidable1 and ,joab picked the best men to deal with them under his own command1 while his brother ,abishai was to give account of the ,ammonites1 who were pouring out of ,rabbath4 ,there is sometimes advantage in being ',mr4 ,facing-both-ways4' ,we are often surrounded by allied evils or sins2 for all our vices are kindred1 and help each other1 and all public or social iniquities are in league against the army of righteousness4 ,we have to be many-sided in our attacks on what is wrong1 as well as in our development of what is right4 ,danger woke the best in ,joab1 ,fierce and truculent as he often was1 he had a hero's mettle in him1 and in that dark hour he flamed like a pillar of light4 ,his ringing words to his brother as they parted1 not knowing if they would ever meet again1 are like a clarion call4 ,they extract encouragement out of the separation of forces1 which might have depressed1 and cheerily pledge the two divisions to mutual help4 ,what was to happen1 ,joab1 if the ,syrians were too strong for thee1 and the ,ammonites for ,abishai8 ,that very possible contingency is not contemplated in his words4 ,rash confidence is unwise1 but ,god's soldiers have a right to go into battle not anticipating utter defeat4 ,such expectation is apt to fulfil itself1 and1 on the other hand1 to believe that we shall conquer goes a long way towards making us conquerors4 ,does not ,joab's pledge of mutual help carry in it a lesson applicable to all the divisions of ,god's great army8 ,in the presence of the coalition of evil1 is not the separation of the friends of good1 madness8 ,when bad men unite1 should not good men hold together8 ,the defeat or victory of one is the defeat or victory of all4 ,we serve under the same banner1 and1 instead of shutting up our sympathies within the narrow limits of our own regiment1 and even having a certain satisfaction at the difficulties into which another has got1 we should feel that1 if 'one member suffer1 all the members suffer with it1' and should be ready to help all our fellow-soldiers who need help4 ,self-preservation as well as comradeship1 and1 above all1 loyalty to ,him for whom we fight1 should lead to that2 for1 if ,abishai is crushed1 ,joab will be in sorer peril4 ,his other word is equally pregnant4 ',be of good courage' is an exhortation always in season for ,christ's soldiers1 for1 whatever are their foes1 ',he that is with them is more than they that are with' their enemies4 ,one man with ,christ to back him may always be sure of victory4 ,calculations of probabilities and of resources may often yield occasion for despondency if we calculate only what appears to sense1 but if we bring ,christ into the calculation we shall be of good cheer4 ',the ,lord is my light and my salvation2 whom shall ,i fear8' ,we may note1 too1 the stimulating motive drawn from the thought of what ,israel's army fought for1--',our people1 and the cities of our ,god4' ,patriotism and devotion coalesced1 and1 like two contiguous flames in some duplex lamp1 each made the other burn the brighter4 ,so we may feel that we have the highest good of 'our people1' our brethren1 in view1 and that1 in helping them and warring against evil1 we are fighting for what belongs to ,god4 ,high courage1 the effort to do their very best1 and not to spare blood or life in the fight1 blended nobly in ,joab and his brother with recognition of ,god's supreme determination of the event4 ,nothing can stand before men who live and fight in such a temper as that4 ,the early conquests of ,mohammedanism were secured by just such a blending of courage and submission4 ,these were vulgar and poor1 compared with the victories that would attend a ,church which was animated by these principles in the higher form in which ,christianity presents them4 ,the account of the victory is remarkable4 ,it is surely not by accident that no word is said about fighting4 ,note that it was as ,joab 'drew nigh unto the battle' that the ,syrians fled as if in sudden panic1 and infected the ,ammonites with their terror4 ,we hear nothing of men slain1 or of any actual crossing of swords4 ,contrast verse #ah1 which tells of a real fight4 ,it is1 perhaps1 not pressing omissions too far to suggest that the narrative favours the supposition of a bloodless victory4 ,the dangers that often appal ,christ's servants have a way of often disappearing when they are marched boldly up to4 ,like ghosts1 they vanish when accosted4 ,so ended one campaign4 ,but ,hadad-ezer1 the soul of the coalition1 was not crushed1 and the latter part of the passage tells of his renewed attempt4 ,partial defeat stirs up our foes to stronger struggles4 ,the league was extended to include ,syrian states farther east1 and a still more formidable expedition was fitted out to attack this dangerous upstart king of ,israel1 who was casting his shadow so far4 ,such is always the case4 ,we are never in more danger of fresh assailants than when we have won some victory over evil in ourselves or around us4 ,david repeated his former tactics4 ,not waiting to be attacked1 and to have the soil of ,israel profaned and wasted by enemies1 he crossed ,jordan to meet the would-be invader1 and1 when he met him1 struck hard1 and crushed him and his host1 slew the commander1 and dispersed the thunder-cloud4 ,the coalition broke down4 ,hadad-ezer's tributaries were glad to shake off his yoke and transfer their allegiance to ,david4 ',nothing succeeds like success4' ,the alliances between worldly men banded against ,god's soldiers are held together by self-interest1 and1 when that can be best secured by deserting a man when he is down1 away go all the allies1 tumbling over each other in their haste to be the first to desert and bring feigned submission to the conqueror4 ,the jackals leave the sick lion4 ,the ,syrians had had enough of helping ,ammon1 and ,rabbath might fall without their lifting a finger4 ,so hollow are the world's coalitions against ,god and ,his anointed6 ,,thou ,,art ,,the ,,man ',and ,david said to ,nathan1 ,as the ,lord liveth1 the man that hath done this thing shall surely die2 because he did this thing1 and because he had no pity4 ,and ,nathan said to ,david1 ,thou art the man4'--#b ,,samuel xii4 #e-g4 ,nathan's apologue1 so tenderly beautiful1 takes the poet-king on the most susceptible side of his character4 ,all his history shows him as a man of wonderfully sweet1 chivalrous1 generous1 swiftly compassionate nature4 ,and so1 when he hears the story of a mean1 heartless selfishness1 all that is best in him kindles into a generous indignation1 and flames out into instinctive condemnation4 ',the man that did this thing shall die because he had no pity4' ,and then1 on to that hot fervour of righteous wrath1 comes this dash of cold water1 ',and ,nathan said to ,david1 ,thou art the man4' ,like some keen spear-point1 sharpened almost to invisibility1 this short sentence 7two words in the original7 driven by a strong hand1 goes right through the armour to the very heart4 ,what a collapse there would be in the king when the pointed forefinger of the prophet emphasised and drove home the application6 ,i4 ,this dramatic scene before us may be taken as suggesting first that we are all strangely blind to our own faults4 ,if a man's own sin is held up before him a little disguised1 he says1 ',how ugly it is6' ,and if only for a moment he can be persuaded that it is not his own conduct but some other sinner's that he is judging1 the instinctive condemnation comes4 ,we have two sets of names for vices3 one set which rather mitigates and excuses them1 and another set which puts them in their real hideousness4 ,we keep the palliative set for home consumption1 and liberally distribute the plain-spoken1 ugly set amongst the vices and faults of our friends4 ,the same thing which ,i call in myself prudence ,i call in you meanness4 ,the same thing which you call in yourselves generous living1 you call in your friend filthy sensualism4 ,that which1 to the doer of it1 is only righteous indignation1 to the onlooker is passionate anger4 ,that which1 in the practiser of it1 is no more than a due regard for the interests of his own family and himself in the future1 is1 to the envious lookers-on1 shabbiness and meanness in money matters4 ,that which1 to the liar1 is only prudent diplomatic reticence1 to the listener is falsehood4 ,that which1 in the man that judges his own conduct1 is but 'a choleric word1' is1 in his friend1 when he judges him1 'flat blasphemy4' ,and so we go all round the circle1 and condemn our own vices1 when we see them in other people4 ,so the king who had never thought1 when he stole away ,uriah's one ewe lamb1 and did him to death by traitorous commands1 setting him in the front of the battle1 that he was wanting in compassion1 blazes up at once1 and righteously sentences the other 'man' to death1 'because he had no pity4' ,he had never thought of himself or of his crime as cruel1 as mean1 as selfish1 as heartless4 ,but when he sees a partially disguised picture of it he knows it for the devil's child that it is4 ',o wad some ,power the giftie gie us ,to see oursels as ithers see us6 ,it wad frae mony a blunder free us1' and so it would1 to see ourselves as we see others4 ,we judge our brother and ourselves by two different standards4 ,and that is only one phase of a more general principle1 one case that comes under a yet wider law1 viz4 that we are all blind1 strangely blind1 to our own faults4 ,why that is so ,i do not need to spend time in inquiring1 except for a distinctly practical purpose4 ,let me just remind you how a strong wish for a thing that seems desirable always tends to confuse to a man the plain distinction between right and wrong2 and how passions once excited1 or the animal lusts and desires once kindled in a man1 go straight to their object without the smallest regard to whether that object is to be reached by the breach of all laws1 human and divine1 or not4 ,excite any passion1 and the passion is but a blind propensity towards certain good1 and takes no question or consideration of whether right or wrong is involved at all4 ,and further1 habit familiarises with evil and diminishes our sense of it as evil4 ,a man that has been for half a day in some ill-ventilated room does not notice the poisonous atmosphere2 if you go into it you are half suffocated at first1 and breathe more easily as you get used to it4 ,a man can live amidst the foulest poison of evil2 and1 as the ,styrian peasants get fat upon arsenic1 his whole nature may seem to thrive by the poison that it absorbs4 ,they tell us that the breed of fish that live in the lightless caverns in the bowels of some mountains1 by long disuse have had their eyes atrophied out of them1 and are blind because they have lived out of the light4 ,and so men that live in the love of evil lose the capacity of discerning the evil1 and 'he that walketh in darkness' becomes blind1 blind to his sin1 and blind to all the realities of life4 ,then is it not true1 too1 that many of us systematically and of set purpose1 continually avoid all questions as to the moral nature of our conduct8 ,how many a man and woman who reads these words never sits down to think whether what they have been doing is right or wrong1 because they have deep down in their consciences an uneasy suspicion as to what the answer would be4 ,so1 by reason of fostering passion1 by reason of listening to wishes1 by reason of the habit of wrongdoing1 by reason of the systematic avoidance of all careful investigation of our character and of our conduct1 we lose the power of fairly deciding upon the nature of our own acts4 ,then self-love comes in1 and still another thing tends to blind us4 ,we are all ready to acquiesce in the general indictment1 and so to shirk the particular application of it4 ,that is what people do about all great moral principles that ought to affect conduct1--they admit them in words1 as general truths applying to mankind1 and then hide themselves in the crowd1 and think that they escape the incidence and particular application of the truths4 ,no one of us would1 ,i suppose1 venture in plain words to stand up and say3 ',i am an exception to your general confessions of sin1' and most of us would be ready to unite in the acknowledgment3 ',we have all come short of the glory of ,god1' though in our consciences there has never stirred the faintest movement of self-condemnation even whilst our lips have been uttering the confession4 ,do not shrink away in the crowd1 my brother6 ,come out to the front1 and stand by yourself as ,god sees you1 isolated4 ,look at your own actions2 never mind about other men's4 ,do not content yourselves with saying1' ,we have sinned'2 say1 ',i have sinned against ,thee4' ,god and you are as if alone in the universe4 ',against ,thee1 ,thee only1 have ,i sinned4' ,there are no crowds in ,god's eyes2 ,he deals with single souls4 ,every one of us1--thou1 and thou1 and thou1--must give account of himself to ,god4 ,,ii4 ,in the next place1 let me ask you to think how this story suggests that the true work of ,god's message is to tear down the veil and to show the ugly thing4 ',nathan said unto ,david1 ,thou art the man4' ,it needed a prophet to do that1 with divine authority4 ,nothing less would suffice to get through the thick bosses of the buckler of self-conceit and ignorance which he had to penetrate4 ,as ,god's messenger1 he gathered up1 as ,i said1 into one sharp-pointed1 keen-edged1 steel-bright sentence1 the very spirit of the whole ancient ,law1 which seeks to individualise the sinner1 and to drive home to the conscience the consciousness of wrong-doing4 ,the remarks that ,i have been making1 in the former part of this sermon1 imperfect as they must necessarily be1 may at least serve one or two purposes in reference to this part of my discourse4 ,it seems to me that if what ,i have been saying as to a man's blindness to his own true moral character be at all correct1 there flows from that thought a strong presumption in favour of a divine revelation4 ,we need another than our own voice to lay down the law of conduct1 and to accuse and condemn the breaches of it4 ,conscience is not a wholly reliable guide1 and is neither an impartial nor an all-knowing judge4 ,unconsciousness of evil is not innocence4 ,it is not the purest of women who 'wipes her mouth and says1 ,i have done no harm4' ,my conscience says to me1 ',it is wrong to do wrong'2 but when ,i say to my conscience1 ',yes1 and pray what is wrong8' a large variety of answers is possible4 ,a man may sophisticate his conscience1 or bribe his conscience1 or throttle his conscience1 or sear his conscience4 ,and so the man who is worst1 who1 therefore1 ought to be most chastised by his conscience1 has most immunity from it1 and where1 if it is to be of use1 it ought to be most powerful1 there it is weakest4 ,what then8 ,why this1 then--a standard that varies is not a standard2 we are left with a leaden rule4 ,my conscience1 your conscience1 is like the standard measures which we at present possess1 which by their very names--foot1 handbreadth1 nail1 and the like1 tell us that they were originally but the length of one man's limb4 ,and so your measure of right and wrong1 and another man's measure1 though they may substantially correspond1 yet differ according to your differences of education1 character1 and a thousand other things4 ,so that the individual man's standard needs to be rectified4 ,you have to send all the weights and measures up to the ,tower now and then1 to get them stamped and certified4 ,and1 as ,i believe1 this fluctuation of our moral judgments shows the need for a fixed pattern and firm unchangeable standard1 external to our mutable selves4 ,a light on deck which pitches with the pitching ship is no guide4 ,it must flash from a white pillar founded on a rock and immovable amid the restless waves4 ,our need of such a standard raises a strong presumption that a good ,god will give us what we need1 if ,he can4 ,such a standard ,he has given1 as ,i believe1 in the revelation of ,himself which lies in this book1 and culminates in the life and character of ,jesus ,christ our ,lord4 ,there1 and by that1 we can set our watches4 ,there we can read the law of morality1 and by our deflections from it we can measure the amount of our guilt4 ,but beyond that1 the remarks which ,i have already made in the former part of my sermon may suggest to us1 along with this utterance of the prophet's1 that one indispensable characteristic and certain criterion of a true message and gospel from ,god is that it pierces the conscience and kindles the sense of sin4 ,my dear brethren1 there is a great deal of so-called ,christian teaching1 both from pulpits and books in this day1 which1 to my mind1 is altogether defective by reason of its underestimate of the cardinal fact of sin1 and its consequent failure to represent the fundamental characteristic of the gospel as being deliverance and redemption4 ,i am quite sure that the root of nine-tenths of all the heresies that have ever afflicted the ,christian ,church1 and of the weakness of so much popular ,christianity1 is none other than this failure adequately to recognise the universality and the gravity of the fact of transgression4 ,if a word comes to you1 calls itself ,god's message1 and does not start with man's sin1 nor put in the forefront of its utterances the way by which the dominion of that sin in your own heart can be broken1 and the penalties of that sin in your present and future life can be swept away1 it is condemned1 ipso facto1 as not a gospel from ,god1 or fit for man4 ,o my brother6 it sounds harsh2 but it is the truest kindness1 when ,nathan stands before the king1 and with his flashing eye and stern1 calm voice says1 ',thou art the man4' ,was not that nobler1 truer1 tenderer1 worthier of ,god1 than if he had smoothed ,david down with soft speeches that would not have roused his conscience8 ,is it not the truest benevolence that keeps the surgeon's hand steady whilst his heart is touched by the pain that he inflicts1 as he thrusts his gleaming instrument of tender cruelty into the poisonous sore8 ,and are not ,god's mercy and love manifest for us in this1 that ,he begins all ,his work on us with the grave1 solemn indictment of each soul by itself1 ',thou art the man'8 ',he showed me all the mercy1 ,for ,he taught me all the sin4' ,,iii4 ,lastly1 let me say that ,god accuses us and condemns us one by one that ,he may save us one by one4 ,the meaning of ,nathan's sharp sentence was speedily disclosed when the broken-down king exclaimed1 ',i have sinned against the ,lord1' and when1 with laconic force as great as that which barbed the condemnation1 the prophet stanched the wound with the brief words1 ',and the ,lord hath made to pass the iniquity of thy sin4' ,the intention of the accusation is the extension of the mercy and forgiveness4 ,god1 as the ,apostle puts it1 'hath concluded all in unbelief1 that ,he might have mercy upon all4' ,and now1 mark1 for the carrying out of that divine purpose in regard to us1 and for our possession of the proffered mercy1 the same individualising and isolating process is needful as was needful for the conviction of the sin4 ,god desires to save the world1 but ,god can only save men one at a time4 ,there must be an individual access to ,him for the reception of forgiveness1 as there must be in regard to the conviction of sin1 just as if ,he and ,i were the only two beings in the whole universe4 ,there is no wholesale entrance into ,god's ,church or into ,god's kingdom4 ,god's mercy is not given to crowds1 except as composed of individuals who have individually received it4 ,there must be the personal act of faith2 there must be my solitary coming to ,him4 ,as the old mystics used to define prayer1 so ,i might define the whole process by which men are saved from their sins1 'the flight of the lonely soul to the lonely ,god4' ,my brother1 it is not enough for you to say1 ',we have sinned'2 say1 ',i have sinned4' ,it is not enough that from a gathered congregation there should go up the united litany1 ',lord1 have mercy upon us6 ,christ1 have mercy upon us6 ,lord1 have mercy upon us6' ,you must make the prayer your own3 ',lord1 have mercy upon me6' ,it is not enough that you should believe1 as ,i suppose most of you fancy that you believe1 that ,christ has died for the sins of the whole world4 ,that belief will give you no share in ,his forgiveness4 ,you must come to closer grips with ,him than that2 and you must be able to say1 ',who loved me1 and gave ,himself for me4' ,let us have no running away into the crowd4 ,come out1 and stand by yourselves1 and for yourselves stretch out your own band1 and take ,christ for yourselves4 ,a man may die of starvation in a granary4 ,you may be lost in the midst of this abundance which ,christ has provided for you4 ,and the difference between really possessing salvation and not possessing it1 lies very largely in the difference between saying 'us' and 'me4' ',thou art the man' in regard to the general accusation of sin2 ',thou art the man' in regard to the solemn law which proclaims that 'the soul that sinneth it shall die'2 and1 blessed be ,god1 ',thou art the man' in regard to the great promise that says1 ',if any man thirst1 let him come unto ,me and drink4' ,christ gives you a blank cheque in ,his word3 ',whoso cometh unto ,me1 ,i will in no wise cast out4' ,write thine own name in1 and by thy personal faith in the ,lamb of ,god that died for thee1 thy sins shall pass away2 and all the fulness of ,god shall be thy very own for ever4 ',if thou be wise1 thou shalt be wise for thyself1 and if thou scornest1 thou alone shall bear it4' ,,david ,,and ,,nathan ',and ,david said unto ,nathan1 ,i have sinned against the ,lord4 ,and ,nathan said unto ,david1 ,the ,lord also hath put away thy sin4'--#b ,,samuel xii4 #ac4 ,we ought to be very thankful that ,scripture never conceals the faults of its noblest men4 ,high among the highest of them stands the poet-king4 ,whoever1 for nearly three thousand years1 has wished to express the emotions of trust in ,god1 longing after purity1 aspiration1 and rapture of devotion1 has found that his words have been before him4 ,and this man sins2 black1 inexcusable1 aggravated transgression4 ,you know the shameful story2 ,i need not tell it over again4 ,the ,bible gives it us in all its naked ugliness1 and there are precious lessons to be got out of it2 such1 for instance1 as that it is not innocence that makes men good4 ',this is the man after ,god's own heart6' people sneer4 ,yes6 ,not because saints have a peculiar morality1 and atone for adultery and murder by making or singing psalms1 but because1 having fallen into foul sin1 he learned to abhor it1 and with many tears1 with unconquerable resolution1 with deepened trust in ,god1 set his face once more to press toward the mark4 ,that is a lesson worth learning4 ,and1 again1 ,david was not a hypocrite because he thus fell4 ,all sin is inconsistent with devotion2 but1 thank ,god1 we cannot say how much or how dark the sin must be which is incompatible with devotion1 nor how much evil there may still lurk and linger in a heart of which the main set and aspiration are towards purity and ,god4 ,and1 again1 the worst transgressions are not the passionate outbursts contradictory of the main direction of a life which sometimes come2 but the habitual1 though they be far smaller1 evils which are honey-combing the moral nature4 ,white ants will pick a carcase clean sooner than a lion4 ,and many a man who calls himself a ,christian1 and thinks himself one1 is in far more danger1 from little pieces of chronic meanness in his daily life1 or sharp practice in his business1 than ever ,david was in his blackest evil4 ,but the main lesson of all is that great and blessed one of the possibility of any evil and sin like this black one1 being annihilated and caused to pass away through repentance and confession4 ,it is to that aspect of our text that ,i turn1 and ask you to look with me at the three things that come out of it3 ,david's penitence2 ,david's pardon consequent upon his penitence2 and ,david's punishment1 notwithstanding his penitence and pardon4 ,i4 ,first1 then1 the penitence4 ,what a divine simplicity there is in the words of our text3 ',david said unto ,nathan1 ,i have sinned against the ,lord4' ,that is all4 ,in the original1 two words are enough to revolutionise the man's whole life1 and to alter all his relations to the divine justice and the divine ,friend4 ',i have sinned against the ,lord4' ,not an easy thing to say2 and as the story shows us1 a thing that ,david took a long time to mount up to4 ,remember the narrative4 ,a year has passed since his transgression4 ,what sort of a year has it been8 ,one of the ,psalms tells us1 ',when ,i kept silence my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long2 for day and night ,thy hand was heavy upon me2 my moisture was turned into the drought of summer4' ,there were long months of sullen silence1 in which a clear apprehension and a torturing experience of divine disapprobation1 like a serpent's fang1 struck poison into his veins4 ,his very physical frame seems to have suffered4 ,his heart was as dry as the parched grass upon the steppes4 ,that was what he got by his sin4 ,a moment of turbid animal delight1 and long days of agony2 dumb suffering in which the sense of evil had not yet broken him down into a rain of sweet tears1 but lay1 like a burning consciousness1 within his heart4 ,and then came the prophet with his parable1 so tender1 so ingenious1 so powerful4 ,and the quick flash of generous indignation1 which showed how noble the man was after all1 with which he responded to the picture1 unknowing that it was a picture of his own dastardly conduct1 led on to the solemn words in which ,nathan tore away the veil2 and with a threefold lever1 if ,i may so say1 overthrew the toppling structure of his impenitence4 ,first of all1 and most chiefly1 he seeks to win him to repentance by a picture of ,god's great love and goodness4 ',i have done this and that and the other thing for thee4 ,what hast thou done for ,me8' ,ah1 that is the true beginning4 ,you cannot frighten men into penitence1 you may frighten them into remorse2 and the remorse may or may not lead on to repentance4 ,but bring to bear upon a man's heart the thought of the infinite and perfect love of ,god1 and that is the solvent of all his obstinate impenitence1 and melts him to cry1 ',i have sinned4' ,and along with that element there is the other1 the plain striking away of all disguises from the ugly fact of the sin4 ,the prophet gives it its hideous name1 and that is one element in the process which leads to true repentance4 ,for so strange and subtle are the veils which we cast over our own evils1 that it comes sometimes to us with a shock and a start when some word1 that we know to connote wickedness of the deepest dye1 is applied to them4 ,david had very likely so sophisticated his conscience that1 though he had been writhing under the sense that he was a wrongdoer1 it came to him with a kind of ugly surprise when the naked words 'adultery' and 'murder' were pressed up against his consciousness4 ,and the third element that brought him to his senses1 and to his knees1 was the threatening of punishment1 which is salutary when it follows these other two1 the revelation of a divine love and the unveiling of the essential nature of my own act2 but which without these is but 'the hangman's whip' to which only inferior natures will respond4 ,and these three1 the appeal to ,god's love1 the revelation of his own sin1 the solemn warning of its consequences--these three brought to bear upon ,david's heart1 broke him down into a passion of penitence in which he has only the two words to say1 ',i have sinned against the ,lord4' ,that is all4 ,that is enough4 ,and what is it8 ,it is the recognition--which is essential to all real penitence--that ,i have not merely broken some impersonal law1 or done something that hurts my fellows1 but that ,i have broken the relations which ,i ought to sustain to a living1 loving ,person1 who is ,god4 ,we commit crimes against society1 we commit faults against one another1 we commit sins against ,god1 and the very notion of sin involves1 as its correlative1 the thought of the divine ,lawgiver4 ,so1 dear brethren1 penitence goes deeper than a recognition of demerit and unworthiness4 ,it is more than an acknowledgment of imperfection and breach of morality4 ,it is something different altogether from the acknowledgment that ,i have committed a fault against my fellow4 ,david had done ,bathsheba and ,uriah1 and in them his whole kingdom1 foul wrong1 but1 as he says in ,psalm li41 ',against ,thee1 ,thee only1 have ,i sinned4' ,his account with these is of a less grave character1 but 'against ,thee ,i sinned4' ,and in like manner1 this penitence contains in it the recognition of transgression against a loving ,friend and ,father1 which had been brought home to his mind by all the words of the rebuking prophet1 who was a kind of incarnate conscience for him now4 ,and it contains1 still further1 confession to ,god against whom he had sinned4 ,the first impulse of a man when he dimly discerns how far he has departed from ,god's law1 is that which the old story represents was the first impulse of the first sinners--to hide himself in the trees of the garden4 ,the second impulse is to go to ,him against whom we have sinned1 and who only therefore can deal with the sin in the way of forgiveness1 and to pour it all out before ,him4 ,once an ,apostle1 when he caught a partial glimpse of his own demerit and transgression1 said to the ,master with a natural impulse1 ',depart from me1 for ,i am a sinful man1 ,o ,lord6' ,but ,peter had a deeper sense of his own sin1 and a happier knowledge of what ,christ could do for his sin1 when his brother ,apostle whispering to him in the boat1 ',it is the ,lord1' the traitor ,apostle cast himself into the shallow water and floundered through it anyhow1 to get as close as he could to the ,master's feet4 ,do not go away from ,god because you feel that you have sinned against ,him4 ,where should you go but to your mother's bosom1 and hide your face there1 if you have committed faults against her8 ,where should you go but to ,god if against ,him you have transgressed8 ,look1 my brother1 at your own character and conduct2 measure the deficiencies and imperfections1 the transgressions and faults2 ay6 perhaps with some of you1 the crimes against men and society and human laws2 but see beneath all these a deeper thought2 and stifle not the words that would come to your lips as a relief1 like a surgeon's lancet struck into some foul gathering1 ',i have sinned against the ,lord4' ,,ii4 ,and now1 secondly1 notice with me ,david's pardon consequent upon his repentance4 ,can there be anything more striking--,i do not say dramatic1 for the circumstances are far too serious for terms of art--can there be anything more in the nature of a gospel to us all than that brief dialogue8 ,david said unto ,nathan1 ',i have sinned against the ,lord4' ,and ,nathan said unto ,david1 ',the ,lord also hath put away thy sin4' ,immediate forgiveness1 that is the first lesson that ,i would press upon you4 ,dear brethren1 it is an experience which you may each repeat in your own history at this moment4 ,it needs but the confession in order that the forgiveness should come4 ,at this end of the telephone whisper your confession1 and before it has well passed your lips there comes back the voice sweet as that of angels1 ',the ,lord hath forgiven thy sin4' ,one word1 one motion of a heart aware of1 and hating1 and desiring to escape from1 its evil1 brings with a rush the whole fulness of fatherly and forgiving love into any heart4 ,and that one confession may be the turning-point of a man's life1 and may obliterate all the sinful past1 and may bring him into loving1 reconciled1 harmonious relations with the ,almighty ,judge4 ,learn1 too1 not only the immediacy of the answer and the simplicity of the means1 but learn how thorough and complete ,god's dealing with your sin may be4 ,the original language of my text might be rendered1 ',the ,lord hath caused thy sin to pass away'2 the thought being substantially that of some impediment or veil between man and ,him which1 with a touch of ,his hand1 ,he dissolves as it were into vapour1 and so leaves all the sky clear for ,his warmth and sunshine to pour down upon the heart4 ,we do not need to enter upon theological language in talking about this great gift of forgiveness4 ,it means substantially that howsoever you and ,i have piled up mountain upon mountain1 ,alp upon ,alp1 of our evils and transgressions1 all pass away and become non-existent4 ,another word of the ,old ,testament expresses the same idea when it speaks about sin being 'covered4' ,another word expresses the same idea when it speaks about ,god as 'casting' men's sins 'into the depths of the sea'--all meaning this one thing1 that they no longer stand as barriers between the free flow of ,his love and our poor hearts4 ,he takes away the sense of guilt1 touches the wounded conscience1 and there is healing in ,his hand4 ,as1 according to the old belief1 the sovereign1 by laying his hand upon sufferers from 'the ,king's evil' healed them and cleansed them1 so the touch of ,his forgiving love takes away the sense of guilt and heals the spirit4 ,he removes all the impediments between ,his love and us4 ,his love can now come undisturbed4 ,his deepest and solemnest judgments do not need to come2 and no more does there stand frowning between us and ,him the spectre of our past4 ,people tell us that forgiveness is impossible1 'that whatsoever a man soweth1 that must he also reap'2 that law is law1 and that the consequences cannot be averted4 ,that is all quite true if there is not a ,god4 ,it is not true if there is2 and if there is no ,god1 there is no sin4 ,so if there is a ,god1 there is forgiveness4 ,consequences1 as ,i shall have to show you in a moment1 may still remain1 but pardon may be ours all the same4 ,when you forgive your child1 does it mean that you do not thrash it1 or does it mean that you take it to your heart8 ,and when ,god pardons1 does it mean that ,he waives ,his laws1 or does it mean that ,he lets us come into the whole warmth and sunshine of ,his love8 ,will you go there8 ,forgiveness was to ,jews a thing difficult to apprehend4 ,it was hard for them to understand the harmony of it with the rigid retribution on which their whole system of religion reposed4 ,but you and ,i have come further into the light than ,nathan and ,david had4 ,and ,i have to preach a modification of the words of my text which is not a limitation of them1 but the unveiling of their basis and the surest confirmation of them1 when ,i say ',in ,him'--,jesus ,christ--'we have redemption through ,his blood1 even the forgiveness of sins4' ,the ,new ,testament teaches us that the ,cross of ,christ threw its power back upon former transgressions as well as forward upon future ones2 and that in ,him past ages1 though they knew ,him not1 received remission4 ,christ is the ,medium of the divine forgiveness2 ,christ's ,cross is the ground of the divine pardon2 ,christ's sacrifice is the guarantee for us that the sin which ,he has borne ,he has borne away4 ',by ,his stripes we are healed4' ',wherefore1 men and brethren1 be it known unto you1 that through this ,man is preached unto us the forgiveness of our sins4' ,,iii4 ,third and lastly1 look at the punishment which follows--shall ,i say notwithstanding or because of8--the penitence and the pardon4 ,in ,david's life there came the immediate retribution in kind1 which was signalised as such by the divine message--the death of the child 'who was conceived in sin and shapen in iniquity4' ,but beyond that1 look at ,david's life after his great fall4 ,there was no more brightness in it4 ,his own sin and example of lust loosed the bonds of morality in his household1 and his son followed his example and improved upon it4 ,and from that came ,absalom's murder of his brother1 and from that ,absalom's exile1 and from that ,absalom's rebellion1 and from that ,absalom's death1 which nearly killed his poor old father4 ,and for all the rest of his days his home was troubled1 and his last years ended with the turmoil of a disputed succession before his eyes were closed1 all traceable to this one foul crime4 ,joab was the torment of ,david's later days1 and ,joab's power over him depended upon his having been the instrument of ,uriah's murder2 and so the master of the king1 whose bidding he had done4 ,ahithophel was the brain of ,absalom's conspiracy4 ,his defection struck a sharp arrow into ,david's heart--'mine own familiar friend in whom ,i trusted4' ,he evidently hated the king with fierce hatred4 ,he was ,bathsheba's grandfather2 and we are not going wrong1 ,i think1 in tracing his passionate hatred1 and the peculiar form of insult which he counselled ,absalom to adopt1 to the sense of foul wrong which had been done to his house by ,david's crime4 ,and so all through his days this poor old king had to do what you and ,i have to do--to bear the temporal results of sin4 ',be not deceived1 ,god is not mocked2 for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap4' ,so 'of our pleasant vices the gods make whips to scourge us4' ,and it is in mercy that we have to drink as we have brewed1 that we have to lie upon the beds that we have made2 that in regard to outward consequences1 and in regard to our own hearts and inward history1 we are the architects of our own fortunes1 and cannot escape the penalties of our sins and of our faults4 ,better to have it so than be cursed with impunity6 ,some of you young men are sowing diseases in your bones that will either make you invalids or will kill you before your time4 ,all of us are bearing about with us1 in some measure and sense1 the issues1 which are the punishments1 of our evil4 ,let us thank ,him and take up the praise of the old psalm1 ',thou wast a ,god that forgivest them1 though ,thou tookest vengeance of their inventions4' ,there is either merciful chastisement here1 that we may be parted from our sins1 or there is judgment hereafter4 ,o my brother6 let me beseech you1 do not commit the suicide of impenitence1 but go to ,christ1 in whom all our sins are taken away1 and lay your hands on the head of that great ,sacrifice1 and 'the ,lord shall cause to pass the iniquity of your sin4' ,,god',s ,,banished ,,ones ',god doth devise means1 that ,his banished be not expelled from ,him4' #b ,,samuel xiv4 #ad4 ,david's good-for-nothing son ,absalom had brought about the murder of one of his brothers1 and had fled the country4 ,his father weakly loved the brilliant blackguard1 and would fain have had him back1 but was restrained by a sense of kingly duty4 ,joab1 the astute ,commander-in-chief1 a devoted friend of ,david1 saw how the land lay1 and formed a plan to give the king an excuse for doing what he wished to do4 ,so he got hold of a person who is called 'a wise woman' from the country1 dressed her as a mourner1 and sent her with an ingeniously made-up story of how she was a widow with two sons1 one of whom had killed the other1 and of how the relatives insisted on their right of avenging blood1 and demanded the surrender of the murderer2 by which1 as she pathetically said1 'the coal' that was left her would be 'quenched4' ,the king's sympathy was quickly roused--as was natural in so impulsive and poetic a nature--and he pledged his word1 and finally his oath1 that the offender should be safe4 ,so the woman has him in a trap1 having induced him to waive justice and to absolve the guilty by an arbitrary act4 ,then she turns upon him with an application to his own case1 and bids him free himself from the guilt of double measures and inconsistency by doing with his banished son the same thing--viz4 abrogating law and bringing back the offender4 ,in our text she urges still higher considerations--viz4 those of ,god's way of treating criminals against ,his law1 of whom she says that ,he spares their lives1 and devises means-or1 as the words might perhaps be rendered1 'plans plannings'--by which ,he may bring them back4 ,she would imply that human power and sovereignty are then noblest and likest ,god's when they remit penalties and restore wanderers4 ,i do not further follow the story1 which ends1 as we all know1 with ,absalom's ill-omened return4 ,but the wise woman's saying goes very deep1 and1 in its picturesque form1 may help to bring out more vividly some truths--all-important ones--of which ,i wish to beg your very earnest consideration and acceptance4 ,i4 ,note1 then1 who are ,god's banished ones4 ,the woman's words are one of the few glimpses which we have of the condition of religious thought amongst the masses of ,israel4 ,clearly she had laid to heart the teaching which declared the great1 solemn1 universal fact of sin and consequent separation from ,god4 ,for the 'banished ones' of whom she speaks are no particular class of glaring criminals1 but she includes within the designation the whole human race1 or1 at all events1 the whole ,israel to which she and ,david belonged4 ,there may have been in her words--though that is very doubtful--a reference to the old story of ,cain after the murder of his brother4 ,for that narrative symbolises the consequences of all evil-doing and evil-loving1 in that he was cast out from the presence of ,god1 and went away into a 'land of wandering1' there to hide from the face of the ,father4 ,on the one hand1 it was banishment2 on the other hand1 it was flight4 ,so had ,absalom's departure been1 and so is ours4 ,strip away the metaphor1 dear brethren1 and it just comes to this thought1 which ,i seek to lay upon the hearts of all my hearers now--you cannot be blessedly and peacefully near ,god1 unless you are far away from sin4 ,if you take two polished plates of metal1 and lay them together1 they will adhere4 ,if you put half a dozen tiny grains of sand or dust between them1 they will fall apart4 ,so our sins have come between us and our ,god4 ,they have not separated ,god from us1 blessed be ,his name6 for ,his love1 and ,his care1 and ,his desire to bless1 ,his thought1 and ,his knowledge1 and ,his tenderness1 all come to every soul of man4 ,but they have rent us apart from ,him1 in so far as they make us unwilling to be near ,him1 incapable of receiving the truest nearness and blessedness of ,his presence1 and sometimes desirous to hustle ,him out of our thoughts1 and1 if we could1 out of our world1 rather than to expatiate in the calm sunlight of ,his presence4 ,that banishment is self-inflicted4 ,god spurns away no man1 but men spurn ,him1 and flee from ,him4 ,many of us know what it is to pass whole days1 and weeks1 and years1 as practical ,atheists4 ,god is not in all our thoughts4 ,and more than that1 the miserable disgrace and solitude of a soul that is godless in the world is what many of us like4 ,the ,prodigal ,son scraped all his goods together1 and thought himself freed from a very unwelcome bondage1 and a fine independent youth1 when he went away into 'the far country4' ,it was not quite so pleasant when provisions and clothing fell short1 and the swine's trough was the only table that was spread before him4 ,but yet there are many of us1 ,i fear1 who are perfectly comfortable away from ,god1 in so far as we can get away from ,him1 and who never are aware of the degradation that lies in a soul's having lowered itself to this1 that it had rather not have ,god inconveniently near4 ,away down in the luxurious islands of the ,southern ,sea you will find degraded ,englishmen who have chosen rather to cast in their lot with savages than to have to strain and work and grow4 ,these poor beach-combers of the ,pacific1 not happy in their degradation1 but wallowing in it1 are no exaggerated pictures of the condition1 in reality1 of thousands of us who dwell far from ,god1 and far therefore from righteousness and peace4 ,,ii4 ,notice ,god's yearning over ,his banished ones4 ,the woman in our story hints at1 or suggests1 a parallel which1 though inadequate1 is deeply true4 ,david was ,absalom's father and ,absalom's king2 and the two relationships fought against each other in his heart4 ,the king had to think of law and justice2 the father cried out for his son4 ,the young man's offence had neither altered his relationship nor affected the father's heart4 ,all that is true1 far more deeply1 blessedly true1 in regard to our relation1 the wandering exiles' relation1 to ,god4 ,for1 whilst ,i believe that the highest form of sonship is only realised in the hearts of men who have been made partakers of a new life through ,jesus ,christ1 ,i believe1 just as firmly and earnestly1 that every man and woman on the face of the earth1 by virtue of physical life derived from ,god1 by virtue of a spiritual being1 which1 in a very real and deep sense1 still bears the image of ,god1 and by reason of ,his continued love and care over them1 is a child of ,his4 ,the banished son is still a son1 and is ',his banished one4' ,if there is love--wonderful as the thought is1 and heart-melting as it ought to be--there must be loss when the child goes away4 ,human love would not have the same name as ,god's unless there were some analogy between the two4 ,and though we walk in dark places1 and had better acknowledge that the less we speak upon such profound subjects the less likely we are to err1 yet it seems to me that the whole preciousness of the revelation of ,god in ,scripture is imperilled unless we frankly recognise this--that ,his love is like ours1 delights in being returned like ours1 and is like ours in that it rejoices in presence and knows a sense of loss in absence4 ,if you think that that is too bold a thing to say1 remember who it was that taught us that the father fell on the neck of the returning prodigal1 and kissed him2 and that the rapture of his joy was the token and measure of the reality of his regret1 and that it was the father to whom the prodigal son was 'lost4' ,deep as is the mystery1 let nothing1 dear brethren1 rob us of the plain fact that ,god's love moves all around the worst1 the unworthiest1 the most rebellious in the far-off land1 and 'desires not the death of a sinner1 but rather that he may turn from his iniquity and live4' ,and it is you1 you1 whom ,he wants back2 you whom ,he would fain rescue from your aversion to good and your carelessness of ,him4 ,it is you whom ,he seeks1 according to the great saying of the ,master1 'the ,father seeketh' for worshippers in spirit and in truth4 ,,iii4 ,note the formidable obstacles to the restoration of the banished4 ,the words 'banished' and 'expelled' in our text are in the original the same2 and the force of the whole would be better expressed if the same ,english word was employed as the equivalent of both4 ,we should then see more clearly than the variation of rendering in our text enables us to see1 that the being 'expelled' is no further stage which ,god devises means to prevent1 but that what is meant is that ,he provides methods by which the banished should not be banished--that is1 should be restored to ,himself4 ,now1 note that the language of this 'wise woman1' unconsciously to herself1 confesses that the parallel that she was trying to draw did not go on all fours2 for what she was asking the king to do was simply1 by an arbitrary act1 to sweep aside law and to remit penalty4 ,she instinctively feels that that is not what can be done by ,god1 and so she says that ,he 'devises means' by which ,he can restore ,his banished4 ,that is to say1 forgiveness and the obliteration of the consequences of a man's sin1 and his restoration to the blessed nearness to ,god1 which is life1 are by no means such easy and simple matters as people sometimes suppose them to be4 ,the whole drift of popular thinking to-day goes in the direction of a very superficial and easy gospel1 which merely says1 ',oh1 of course1 of course ,god forgives6 ,is not ,god ,love8 ,is not ,god our ,father8 ,what more do you want than that8' ,ah6 you want a great deal more than that1 my friends4 ,let me press upon you two or three plain considerations4 ,there are formidable obstacles in the way of divine forgiveness4 ,if there are to be any pardon and restoration at all1 they must be such as will leave untouched the sovereign majesty of ,god's law1 and1 untampered with1 the eternal gulf between good and evil4 ,that easygoing gospel which says1 ',god will pardon1 of course6' sounds very charitable and very catholic1 but at bottom it is very cruel4 ,for it shakes the very foundations on which the government of ,god must repose4 ,god's law is the manifestation of ,god's character2 and that is no flexible thing which can be bent about at the bidding of a weak good-nature4 ,i believe that men are right in holding that certainly ,god must pardon1 but ,i believe that they are fatally wrong in not recognising this--that the only kind of forgiveness which is possible for ,him to bestow is one in which there shall be no tampering with the tremendous sanctions of ,his awful law2 and no tendency to teach that it matters little whether a man is good or bad4 ,the pardon1 which many of us seem to think is quite sufficient1 is a pardon that is nothing more noble than good-natured winking at transgression4 ,and oh6 if this be all that men have to lean on1 they are leaning on a broken reed4 ,the motto on the blue cover of the ,edinburgh ,review1 for over a hundred years now1 is true3 ',the judge is condemned when the guilty is acquitted4' ,david struck a fatal blow at the prestige of his own rule1 when he weakly let his son off from penalty4 ,and1 if it were possible to imagine such a thing1 ,god ,himself would strike as fatal a blow at the justice and judgment which are the foundations of ,his throne1 if ,his forgiveness was such as to be capable of being confounded with love which was too weakly indulgent to be righteous4 ,further1 if there are to be forgiveness and restoration at all1 they must be such as will turn away the heart of the pardoned man from his evil4 ,the very story before us shows that it is not every kind of pardon which makes a man better4 ,the scapegrace ,absalom came back unsoftened1 without one touch of gratitude to his father in his base heart1 without the least gleam of a better nature dawning upon him1 and went flaunting about the court until his viciousness culminated in his unnatural rebellion4 ,that is to say1 there is a forgiveness which nourishes the seeds of the crimes that it pardons4 ,we have only to look into our own hearts1 and we have only to look at the sort of people round us1 to be very sure that1 unless the forgiveness that is granted us from the heavens has in it an element which will avert our wills and desires from evil1 the pardon will be very soon needed again1 for the evil will very soon be done again4 ,if there are to be forgiveness and restoration at all1 they must come in such a fashion as that there shall be no doubt whatsoever of their reality and power4 ,the vague kind of trust in a doubtful mercy1 about which ,i have been speaking1 may do all very well for people that have never probed the depths of their own hearts4 ,superficial notions of our sin1 which so many of us have1 are contented with superficial remedies for it4 ,but let a man get a glimpse of his own real self1 and ,i think that he will wish for something a great deal more solid to grip hold of1 than nebulous talk of the kind that ,i have been describing4 ,if once we feel ourselves to be struggling in the black flood of that awful river1 we shall want a firmer hold upon the bank than is given to us by some rootless tree or other4 ,we must clutch something that will stand a pull1 if we are to be drawn from the muddy waters4 ,people say to us1 ',oh1 ,god will forgive1 of course6' ,does this world look like a place where forgiveness is such an easy thing8 ,is there anything more certain than that consequences are inevitable when deeds have been done1 and 'that whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap' and whatsoever he brews that shall he also drink8 ,and is it into a grim1 stern world of retribution like this that people will come1 with their smiling1 sunny gospel of a matter-of-course forgiveness1 upon very easy terms of a slight penitence8 ,brethren1 ,god has to 'devise means1' which is a strong way of saying1 in analogy to the limitations of humanity1 that ,he cannot1 by an arbitrary act of ,his will1 pardon a sinful man4 ,his eternal nature forbids it4 ,his established law forbids it4 ,the fabric of ,his universe forbids it4 ,the good of men forbids it4 ,the problem is insoluble by human thought4 ,the love of ,god is like some great river that pours its waters down its channel1 and is stayed by a black dam across its course1 along which it feels for any cranny through which it may pour itself4 ,we could never save ourselves1 but ',he that might the vengeance best have took1 ,found out the remedy4' ,,iv4 ,and so the last word that ,i have to say is to note the triumphant1 divine solution of these difficulties4 ,the work of ,jesus ,christ1 and the work of ,jesus ,christ alone1 meets all the requirements4 ,it vindicates the majesty of law1 it deepens the gulf between righteousness and sin4 ,where is there such a demonstration of the awful truth that 'the wages of sin is death' as on that ,cross on which the ,son of ,god died for us and for all ',his banished ones'8 ,where is there such a demonstration of the fixedness of the divine law as in that death to which the ,son of ,god submitted ,himself for us all8 ,where do we learn the hideousness of sin1 the endless antagonism between ,god and it1 and the fatal consequences of it1 as we learn them in the sacrifice of our ,lord and ,saviour8 ,where do we find the misery and desolation of banishment from ,god so tragically uttered as in that cry which rent the darkness of eclipse1' ,my ,god6 ,my ,god6 why hast ,thou forsaken ,me8' ,that work of ,christ's is the only way by which it is made absolutely certain that sins forgiven shall be sins abhorred2 and that a man once restored shall cleave to his ,restorer as to his ,life4 ,that work is the only way by which a man can be absolutely certain that there is forgiveness1 in spite of all the accusations of his own conscience2 in spite of all the inexorable working out of penalties in the system of the world which seems to contradict the fond belief2 in spite of all that a foreboding gaze tells1 or ought to tell1 of a judgment that is to follow4 ,brethren1 ,god has devised a means4 ,none else could have done so4 ,i beseech you1 realise these facts that ,i have been trying to bring before you1 and the considerations that ,i have based upon them1 so far as they commend themselves to your hearts and consciences2 and do not be content with acquiescing in them1 but act upon them4 ,we are all exiles from ,god1 unless we have been 'brought nigh by the blood of ,christ4' ,in ,him1 and in ,him alone1 can ,god restore ,his banished ones4 ,in ,him1 and in ,him alone1 can we find a pardon which cleanses the heart1 and ensures the removal of the sin which it forgives4 ,in ,him1 and in ,him alone1 can we find1 not a peradventure1 not a subjective certainty1 but an external fact which proclaims that verily there is forgiveness for us all4 ,i pray you1 dear friends1 do not be content with that half-truth1 which is ever the most dangerous lie1 of divine pardon apart from ,jesus ,christ4 ,lay your sins upon ,his head1 and your hand in the hand of the ,elder ,brother1 who has come to the far-off land to seek us1 and ,he will lead you back to the ,father's house and the ,father's heart1 and you will be 'no more strangers and foreigners1 but fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of ,god4' ,,pardoned ,,sin ,,punished ',and ,it came to pass after this1 that ,absalom prepared him chariots and horses1 and fifty men to run before him4 #b4 ,and ,absalom rose up early1 and stood beside the way of the gate3 and it was so1 that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment1 then ,absalom called unto him1 and said1 ,of what city art thou8 ,and he said1 ,thy servant is of one of the tribes of ,israel4 #c4 ,and ,absalom said unto him4 ,see1 thy matters are good and right2 but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee4 #d4 ,absalom said moreover1 ,oh that ,i were made judge in the land1 that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me1 and ,i would do him justice6 #e4 ,and it was so1 that when any man came nigh to him to do him obeisance1 he put forth his hand1 and took him1 and kissed him4 #f4 ,and on this manner did ,absalom to all ,israel that came to the king for judgment3 so ,absalom stole the hearts of the men of ,israel4 #g4 ,and it came to pass after forty years1 that ,absalom said unto the king1 ,i pray thee1 let me go and pay my vow1 which ,i have vowed unto the ,lord1 in ,hebron4 #h4 ,for thy servant vowed a vow while ,i abode at ,geshur in ,syria1 saying1 ,if the ,lord shall bring me again indeed to ,jerusalem1 then ,i will serve the ,lord4 #i4 ,and the king said unto him1 ,go in peace4 ,so he arose1 and went to ,hebron4 #aj4 ,but ,absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of ,israel1 saying1 ,as soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet1 then ye shall say1 ,absalom reigneth in ,hebron4 #aa4 ,and with ,absalom went two hundred men out of ,jerusalem1 that were called2 and they went in their simplicity1 and they knew not any thing4 #ab4 ,and ,absalom sent for ,ahithophel the ,gilonite1 ,david's counsellor1 from his city1 even from ,giloh1 while he offered sacrifices4 ,and the conspiracy was strong2 for the people increased continually with ,absalom4'--#b ,,samuel xv4 #a-ab4 ,there was little brightness in ,david's life after his great sin4 ,nathan had told him1 even while announcing his forgiveness1 that the sword should never depart from his house2 and this revolt of ,absalom's may be directly traced to his father's disgraceful crime4 ,the solemn lesson that pardoned sin works out its consequences1 so that 'whatsoever a man soweth1 that shall he also reap1' is taught by it4 ,the portion of the story with which we are concerned has two stages1--the slow hatching of the plot1 and its final outburst4 ,i4 ,verses #a to #f give us the preparation of the mine4 ,it takes four years1 during which ,absalom plays all the tricks usual to aspirants for the most sweet voices of the multitude4 ,he seems to have been but a poor creature2 but it does not take much brain to do a great deal of mischief4 ,he was vain1 headstrong1 with a dash of craft and a large amount of ambition4 ,he had no love for his father1 and no ballast of high principle1 to say nothing of religion4 ,he was a spoiled child grown to be a man1 with a child's petulance and unreason1 but a man's passions4 ,he loved his unfortunate sister1 but it was as much wounded honour as love which led him to the murder of his elder brother ,amnon4 ,that crime cleared his way to the throne2 and ,david's half-and-half treatment of him after it1 neither sternly punishing nor freely pardoning1 set the son against the father1 and left a sense of injury4 ,so he became a rebel4 ,the story tells very vividly how he adopted the familiar tactics of pretenders4 ,how old1 and yet how modern1 it reads6 ,we who live in a country where everybody is an 'elector' of some sort1 and candidates are plentiful1 see the same things going on1 in a little different dress1 before our eyes4 ,absalom begins operations by dazzling people with ostentatious splendour4 ,in better days ,samuel had trudged on foot1 driving a heifer before him1 to anoint his father2 and royalty had retained a noble simplicity in the hands of ,saul and ,david4 ,but 'plain living and high thinking' did not suit ,absalom2 and he had gauged the popular taste accurately enough in setting up his chariot with its fifty runners4 ,that was a show something like a king1 and1 no doubt1 much more approved than ,david's simplicity4 ,but it was an evil omen to any one who looked below the surface4 ,when luxury grows1 devotion languishes4 ,the senseless ostentation which creeps into the families of good men1 and is sustained by their weak compliance with their spoiled children's wishes1 does a world of harm4 ,we in ,lancashire have a proverb1 ',clogs1 carriage1 clogs1' which puts into three words the history of three generations1 and is verified over and over again4 ,how well ,absalom has learned the arts of the office-seeker6 ,along with his handsome equipage he shows admirable devotion to the interests of his 'constituents4' ,he is early at the gate1 so great is his appetite for work2 he is accessible to everybody2 he flatters each with the assurance that his case is clear2 he gently drops hints of sad negligence in high quarters1 which he could so soon set right1 if only he were in power2 and he will not have the respectful salutation of inferiors1 but grasps every hard hand1 and kisses each tanned cheek1 with an affectation of equality very soothing to the dupes4 ',electioneering' is much the same all the world over2 and ,absalom has a good many imitators nearer home4 ,there was1 no doubt1 truth in the charge he made against ,david of negligence in his judicial and other duties4 ,ever since his great sin1 the king seems to have been stunned into inaction4 ,the heavy sense of demerit had taken the buoyancy out of him1 and1 though forgiven1 he could never regain the elastic energy of purer days4 ,the psalms which possibly belong to this period show a singular passivity4 ,if we suppose that he was much in the seclusion of his palace1 a heavily-burdened and spirit-broken man1 we can understand how his condition tempted his heartless1 dashing son to grasp at the reins which seemed to be dropping from his slack hands1 and how his passivity gave opportunity for ,absalom's carrying on his schemes undisturbed1 and a colour of reasonableness to his charges4 ,for four years this went on unchecked1 and apparently unsuspected by the king1 who must have been much withdrawn from public life not to have taken alarm4 ,nothing takes the spring out of a man like the humiliating sense of sin4 ,the whole tone of ,david's conduct throughout the revolt is1 ',i deserve it all4 ,let them smite1 for ,god hath bidden them4' ,to this resourceless1 unresisting submission to his enemies1 sin had brought the daring soldier4 ,it is not old age that has broken his courage and spirit1 but the consciousness of his foul guilt1 which weighs on him all the more heavily because he knows that it is pardoned4 ,,ii4 ,the second part of our subject tells of the explosion of the long-prepared mine4 ,it was necessary to hoist the flag of revolt elsewhere than in ,jerusalem1 and some skill is shown in choosing ,hebron1 which had been the capital before the capture of the ,jebusite city1 and in which there would be natural jealousy of the new metropolis4 ,the pretext of the sacrifice at ,hebron1 in pursuance of a vow made by ,absalom in his exile1 was meant to touch ,david's heart in two ways1--by appealing to his devotional feelings1 and by presenting a pathetic picture of his suffering and devout son vowing in the land where his father's wrath had driven him4 ,it is not the first time that religion has been made the stalking-horse for criminal ambition1 nor is it the last4 ,politicians are but too apt to use it as a cloak for their personal ends4 ,absalom talking about his vow is a spectacle that might have made the most unsuspecting sure that there was something in the wind4 ,such a use of religious observances shows more than anything else could do1 the utter irreligion of the man who can make it4 ,a son rebelling against his father is an ugly sight1 but rebellion disguised as religion adds to the ugliness4 ,david suspects nothing2 or1 if he does1 is too broken to resist1 and1 perhaps glad at any sign of grace in his son1 or pleased to gratify any of his wishes1 sends him away with a benediction4 ,what a parting1--the last1 though neither knew it6 ,the plot had spread widely in four years1 and messengers had been sent through all ,israel to summon its adherents to ,hebron4 ,if ,david had been as popular as in his early days1 it would have been impossible for such a widely spread conspiracy to have come so near a head without some faithful soul having been found to tell him of it4 ,but obviously there was much smouldering discontent1 arising1 no doubt1 from such causes as the pressure of taxation1 the gloom that hung over the king1 the partial paralysis of justice1 the transference of the capital1 the weight of wars1 and1 at lowest1 the craving for something new4 ,few reigns or lives set in unclouded brightness4 ,the western horizon is often filled with a bank of blackness4 ,strangely enough1 ,absalom invited two hundred men to accompany him1 who were ignorant of the plot4 ,that looks as if its strength was outside ,jerusalem1 as was natural4 ,these innocents were sufficiently associated with ,absalom to be asked to accompany him1 and1 no doubt1 he expected to secure their complicity when he got them away4 ,unsuspecting people are the best tools of knaves4 ,it is better not to be on friendly terms with ,absalom1 if we would be true to ,david4 ,the last piece of preparation recorded is the summoning of ,abithophel to come and be the brain of the plot4 ,he had been ,david's wisest counsellor1 and is probably the 'familiar friend1 in whom ,i trusted1' whose defection the ,psalmist mourns so bitterly1 and whose treachery was a marvellous foreshadowing of the traitor who dipped in the dish with ,david's ,lord4 ,note that he had already withdrawn from ,jerusalem to his own city1 from which he came at once to ,hebron4 ,absalom could flatter and play the well-worn tricks of a pretender1 but a subtler1 cooler head was wanted now1 and the treacherous son was backed up by the traitor friend4 ',and the conspiracy was strong2 for the people increased continually with ,absalom4' ,what a tragical issue to the joyous loyalty of early days6 ,what a strange madness must have laid hold on the nation to have led them to prefer such a piece of petulance and vanity to their hero-poet-king6 ,what did it mean8 ,the answer is not far to seek1 and it is the great lesson of this story4 ,david's sin was truly repented and freely forgiven1 but not left unpunished4 ,god is too loving to shield men from the natural consequences1 in the physical and social world1 of their sins4 ,the penitent drunkard's hand shakes1 and his constitution is not renewed1 though his spirit is4 ,only1 punishment is changed into discipline1 when the heart rests in the assurance of pardon1 and is accepted as a token of a ,father's love4 ,in every way ,god made of the vice the whip to scourge the sinner1 and ,david1 like us all1 had to drink as he had brewed1 though he was forgiven the sin4 ,a ,,loyal ,,vow ',and the king's servants said unto the king1 ,behold1 thy servants are ready to do whatsoever my lord the king shall appoint4'--#b ,,samuel xv4 #ae4 ,we stand here at the darkest hour of ,king ,david's life4 ,bowed down by the consciousness of his past sin1 and recognising in the rebellion of his favourite son the divine chastisement1 his early courage and buoyant daring seem to have ebbed from him wholly4 ,he is forsaken by the mass of his subjects1 he is preparing to abandon ,jerusalem1 and to flee as an exile1 as he says himself so pathetically1 'whither ,i may4' ,and at that moment of deepest depression there comes one little gleam of consolation and one piece of chivalrous devotion which brightens the whole story4 ,his special retainers1 apparently a bodyguard mostly of foreigners1 rally round him4 ,mostly foreigners1 ,i say1 for these hard words ',cherethites and ,pelethites' most probably mean inhabitants of the island of ,crete1 and ,philistines4 ,and as to six hundred of them1 at all events1 there can be no doubt1 for they are expressly said to be 'men of ,gath who followed after him4' ,at all events1 there was a little nucleus of men1 not his own subjects1 who determined to share his fate1 whatever it was4 ,and the words of my text are their words1 ',behold1 thy servants are ready to do whatsoever the king shall appoint4' ,or1 as the word stands in the original1 in an abrupt1 half-finished sentence1 even more pathetic1 ',according to all that my lord the king shall appoint1 behold thy servants4' ,these men were foreigners1 not bound to render obedience to the king1 but giving it because their hearts were touched4 ,they were loyal amongst rebels1 so many ,abdiels1 'among the faithless1 faithful only' these1 and they avowed their determination to cleave to the sovereign of their choice at a time when his back was at the wall1 and their determination to follow him meant only peril and privation4 ,they were filled with a passionate personal attachment to the king1 and that personal attachment was ready to manifest itself as a willing sacrifice1 as such love always is ready4 ,now surely in all this there is a lesson for us4 ,the heroism of men towards a man1 the uncalculating devotion and magnificent self-sacrifice of which the poorest human soul is capable when touched to fine issues by some heart-love1 are surely not all meant to be lavished on fellow-creatures1 who1 alas6 generally receive the most of them4 ,but these rude ,philistines and ,gittites1 ,goliath's fellow-townsmen1 may preach to us ,christians a lesson4 ,why should not we say as they said1 ',according to all that my ,lord the ,king shall appoint1 behold ,thy servants'8 ,i4 ,so then1 first1 our ,king's will ought to be our will4 ,the obedience that is promised in these words is not the obedience of action only1 but it is the bowing down of the heart4 ,and for us ,christian men there is neither peace nor nobleness in our lives1 except in the measure in which the will of ,jesus ,christ and our wills are accurately conterminous and identical4 ,wheresoever the two coincide1 there is strength for us2 wheresoever they diverge1 there are weakness and certain ruin4 ,these two wills ought to be like two of ,euclid's triangles1 or other geometric figures1 the one laid upon the other1 and each line and curve and angle accurately corresponding and coinciding1 so that the two cover precisely the same ground4 ,christ's will my will2 that is religion4 ,and you and ,i are ,christians just in the measure in which that coincidence of wills is true about us1 and not one hair's-breadth further1 for all our professions4 ,wheresoever my will diverges from ,christ1 in that particular ,i am not ,his man2 and ',christian' simply means ',christ's man4' ,i belong to ,him when ,i think as ,he does1 love as ,he does1 will as ,he does1 accept ,his commandment as the law of my life1 ,his pattern as my example1 ,his providence as sufficient and as good4 ,where we thus yield ourselves to ,him1 there we are strong1 and so far1 and only so far1 have we a right to say that we are the ,king's servants at all4 ,this absolute submission we do render to one another when our hearts are touched2 and the fact that men can and do give it--husbands to wives1 wives to husbands1 children to parents1 friends to one another--the fact that there is the capacity for that giving of one's self away1 lodged deep in our nature1 tells us what we are meant to do with it4 ',whose image and superscription hath it8' ,was it meant that we should thus live in slavish submission even to the dearest loved ones8 ,surely not2 for that is the destruction of individuality4 ,no1 but it was meant that we should lay our wills down at ,christ's feet and say1 ',not my will1 but ,thine1' and ,thine mine because ,i have made it mine by love4 ,then there is rest1 and then we have solved the secret of the world1 and are what our ,lord would have us to be4 ,oh6 do not our relations to our dear ones1 with all that infinite power of self-sacrifice that our love brings with it1 rebuke the partial extent of our surrender to our ,master8 and may we not be ashamed when we contrast the joy that we feel in giving up to those that we love1 and the reluctance with which1 too often1 we obey the ,master's commandments1 and the long years of repining and murmuring before we 'submit1' as we call it1 which too often means accept ,his providences as inevitable1 though not as welcome8 ,to be 'ready to do whatsoever my ,lord the ,king shall choose1' believing that ,his choice is wisdom and kindness for us1 and ,his commandments a blessing and a gift1 is the attitude and temper for us all4 ,is there any other attitude to ,jesus ,christ which corresponds to our relation to ,him1 to what ,he has done for us1 to what we say that ,he is to us8 ,he has the right to us1 because ,he has given us ,himself4 ,he asks nothing from us but that of which ,he has already set us the example4 ',he gave ,himself for us1 as the ,apostle says with emphasis that is often unnoticed4 ',he gave ,himself for us' that ,he might 'purchase us for ,himself4' ,he who would possess another must impart ,himself1 and love1 that yields a whole man to the loved one1 only springs when the loved one mutually yields her whole heart4 ,the ,king does not command from above1 but ,he comes down amongst us1 and ,he says1 ',i gave ,myself for thee2 what givest thou to ,me8' ,o brethren1 let us answer with that brave1 chivalrous old ,gittite3--',as the ,lord liveth1 and as my ,lord the ,king liveth1 surely in what place my ,lord the ,king shall be1 whether in death or life1 even there also will ,thy servant be4' ,,ii4 ,then notice again1 still sticking to our story1 that this yielding up of will1 if it is worth anything1 will become the more intense and fervent when surrounded by rebels4 ,all ,israel1 with that poor feather-headed1 vain ,absalom1 were on the one side1 and ,david and these foreigners were on the other4 ,years of quiet uneventful life would never have brought out such magnificent heroism of devotion and self-surrender1 as was crowded into that one moment of loyalty asserted in the face of triumphant rebels and traitors4 ,in like manner1 the more ,christ's reign is set at nought by the people about us1 and the less they recognise the blessedness and the duty of submission to ,him1 the more strong and unmistakable should be the utterance of our loyalty4 ,we should grasp ,his hand tighter by reason of the storms that may rage round about us4 ,and if we dwell amongst those who1 in any measure1 deny or neglect ,his merciful dominion1 let us see to it that we all the more hoist our colours at our doors1 and stand by them when they are hoisted1 that nobody may mistake under which ,king we serve4 ,you in your places of business1 you young men in your warehouses1 and all of us in our several spheres1 have to come across many people who have no share in our loyalty and offer no allegiance to our ,king4 ,that is the reason for intenser loyalty on our part4 ,never you mind what others say or do2 do not take your orders from them4 ,better be with the handful that rally round ,david than with the crowds that run after ,absalom6 ,better be amongst the few that are faithful than amongst the multitudes that depart6 ,dare to be singular1 if it comes to that2 and at all events remember that your relationship to your ,master is a thing that concerns ,him and you chiefly1 and that you are not to take the pattern of your loyalty1 nor the orders for your lives1 from any lips but ,his own4 ,hush all other voices that would command1 and hush them that you may listen to ,him4 ,it is always difficult enough for ,christian men to ascertain1 in perplexed circumstances1 the clear path of duty2 but it is impossible if1 along with ,his voice1 we let the buzz of the crowd be audible in our ears4 ,there is only one way by which we can hear what our ',lord the ,king appoints1' and that is by making a great stillness in our souls1 and neither letting our own yelping inclinations give tongue1 nor the babble of men round us1 and their notions of life and of what is right1 have influence upon us1 but waiting to hear what ,god the ,lord1 speaking in ,christ the ,king1 has to say to us4 ,and1 remember1 the more rebels there are1 the more need for us to be conspicuously loyal to our ,king4 ,,iii4 ,again1 this complete yielding of ourselves in practical obedience and heart submission to command merits and providences is to be maintained1 whatsoever it may lead to in the way of privation and difficulty4 ,it was no holiday vow1 made upon some parade day1 that these brave foreigners were bringing to their king now1 but it meant 'we are ready to suffer1 starve1 fight1 lose everything1 die if need be1 to be true to thee4' ,and the very thought of the impending danger elevated the men's consciousness1 and made heroes out of very common people4 ,and perhaps that is the best effect of our difficulties and sorrows1 that they strike fire sometimes 7if they are rightly accepted and used7 out of what seems to be only dead1 lumpish matter1 and many a ,christian shoots up into a stature of greatness and nobleness in his sorrow1 who was but a very commonplace creature when all things went well with him4 ,that is the kind of obedience that ,christ delights to accept1 obedience that is ready for anything1 and does not wait to make sure that there is no danger of forfeiting a whole skin and a quiet life1 before it vows itself to service4 ,are we only to be 'fair-weather ,christians1' or are we to be prepared for all the trials and sufferings that may befall us8 ,a ,christianity that does not bring any worldly penalties along with it is not worth much4 ,christians of ,christ's pattern have generally to give up something for their ,christianity4 ,they give up nothing that it is not gain to lose1 nothing that they are not better without1 but they have to surrender much in which other people find great enjoyment1 and which their weaker selves would delight in too4 ,are you ready1 my brother1 for that8 ',ye have not yet resisted unto blood1 striving against sin4' ,the old days of heroism and martyrdom are done with1 as far as we are concerned1 whatever may lie in the future4 ,but do we make willingly and gladly the surrenders and the self-abnegations that are demanded by our loyalty to our ,master8 ,have we ever learned to say about any line of action that our poor1 lower nature grasps at1 and our higher1 enlightened by communion with ,jesus ,christ1 forbids3 ',so did not ,i because of the fear of the ,lord'8 ,we can talk about following ,christ's footsteps2 do you think that if we had stood where these rude soldiers stood1 or had anything as dark in prospect1 as the price of our faithfulness to our ,king1 as they had as the price of faithfulness to theirs1 there would have rung from our lips the utterly sincere vow that sprang joyously from theirs3 ',behold ,thy servants1 ready to do whatever our ,lord the ,king shall appoint'8 ,,iv4 ,a final thought1 which travels beyond my text1 is that such thorough-going obedience1 irrespective of consequences1 is the secret of all blessedness4 ',great peace have they which love ,thy law'3 the peace of conscience2 the peace of ceasing from that which is our worst enemy1 self-will2 the peace of self-surrender2 the peace of feeling '',tis ,his to command2 'tis mine to obey'2 the peace of casting the whole settling of the campaign on the ,king's shoulders1 and of finding our duty restricted to tramping along with cheery heart on the path that ,he has appointed4 ,that is worth having4 ,oh6 if we could cease from self and lay our wills down before ,him1 then we should be quiet4 ,the tranquil heart is the heart which has the law of ,christ within it1 and the true delight of life belongs to those who truly say1 ',i delight to do ,thy will4' ,so yielding1 so obeying1 so submitting1 so surrendering one's self1 life becomes quiet1 and strong1 and sweet4 ,and1 if ,i might so turn the story that we have been considering1 the faithful soldiers who have been true to the ,king when ,his throne was contested1 will march with laurelled heads in ,his triumphant train when ,he comes back after ,his final and complete victory1 and reign with ,him in the true ,city of ,peace1 where ,his will shall be perfectly done by loving hearts1 and all ,his servants shall be kings4 ,,ittai ,,of ,,gath ',and ,ittai answered the king1 and said1 ,as the ,lord liveth1 and as my lord the king liveth1 surely in what place my lord the king shall be1 whether in death or life1 even there also will thy servant be4'--#b ,,samuel xv4 #ba4 ,it was the darkest hour in ,david's life4 ,no more pathetic page is found in the ,old ,testament than that which tells the story of his flight before ,absalom4 ,he is crushed by the consciousness that his punishment is deserved--the bitter fruit of the sin that filled all his later life with darkness4 ,his courage and his buoyancy have left him4 ,he has no spirit to make a stand or strike a blow4 ,if ,shimei runs along the hillside abreast of him1 shrieking curses as he goes1 all he says is3 ',let him curse2 for the ,lord hath bidden him4' ,so1 heartbroken and spiritless1 he leaves ,jerusalem4 ,and as soon as he has got clear of the city he calls a halt1 in order that he may muster his followers and see on whom he may depend4 ,foremost among the little band come six hundred men from ,gath--,philistines--from ,goliath's city4 ,these men1 singularly enough1 the king had chosen as his bodyguard2 perhaps he was not altogether sure of the loyalty of his own subjects1 and possibly felt safer with foreign mercenaries1 who could have no secret leanings to the deposed house of ,saul4 ,be that as it may1 the narrative tells us that these men had 'come after him from ,gath4' ,he had been there twice in the old days1 in his flight from ,saul1 and the second visit had extended over something more than a year4 ,probably during that period his personal attraction1 and his reputation as a brilliant leader1 had led these rough soldiers to attach themselves to his service1 and to be ready to forsake home and kindred in order to fight beside him4 ,at all events here they are1 'faithful among the faithless1' as foreign soldiers surrounding a king often are--notably1 for instance1 the ,swiss guard in the ,french ,revolution4 ,their strong arms might have been of great use to ,david1 but his generosity cannot think of involving them in his fall1 and so he says to them3 ',i am not going to fight2 ,i have no plan4 ,i am going where ,i can4 ,you go back and worship the rising sun4 ,absalom will take you and be glad of your help4 ,and as for me1 ,i thank you for your past loyalty4 ,mercy and peace be with you6' ,it is a beautiful nature that in the depth of sorrow shrinks from dragging other people down with itself4 ,generosity breeds generosity1 and this ,philistine captain breaks out into a burst of passionate devotion1 garnished1 in soldier fashion1 with an unnecessary oath or two1 but ringing very sincere and meaning a great deal4 ,as for himself and his men1 they have chosen their side4 ,whoever goes1 they stay4 ,whatever befalls1 they stick by ,david2 and if the worst come to the worst they can all die together1 and their corpses lie in firm ranks round about their dead king4 ,david's heart is touched and warmed by their outspoken loyalty2 he yields and accepts their service4 ,ittai and his noble six hundred tramp on1 out of our sight1 and all their households behind them4 ,now what is there in all that1 to make a sermon out of8 ,i4 ,first1 look at the picture of that ,philistine soldier1 as teaching us what grand passionate self-sacrifice may be evolved out of the roughest natures4 ,analyse his words1 and do you not hear1 ringing in them1 three things1 which are the seed of all nobility and splendour in human character8 ,first1 a passionate personal attachment2 then1 that love issuing1 as such love always does1 in willing sacrifice that recks not for a moment of personal consequences2 that is ready to accept anything for itself if it can serve the object of its devotion1 and will count life well expended if it is flung away in such a service4 ,and we see1 lastly1 in these words a supreme restful delight in the presence of him whom the heart loves4 ,for ,ittai and his men1 the one thing needful was to be beside him in whose eye they had lived1 from whose presence they had caught inspiration2 their trusted leader1 before whom their souls bowed down4 ,so then this vehement speech is the pure language of love4 ,now these three things1--a passionate personal attachment1 issuing in spontaneous heroism of self-abandonment1 and in supreme satisfaction in the beloved presence1--may spring up in the rudest1 roughest nature4 ,a ,philistine soldier was not a very likely man in whom to find refined and lofty emotion4 ,he was hard by nature1 hardened by his rough trade2 and unconscious that he was doing anything at all heroic or great4 ,something had smitten this rock1 and out of it there came the pure refreshing stream4 ,and so ,i say to you1 the weakest and the lowest1 the roughest and the hardest1 the most selfishly absorbed man and woman among us1 has lying in him and her dormant capacities for flaming up into such a splendour of devotion and magnificence of heroic self-sacrifice as is represented in these words of my text4 ,a mother will do it for her child1 and never think that she has done anything extraordinary2 husbands will do such things for wives2 wives for husbands2 friends and lovers for one another4 ,all who know the sweetness and power of the bond of affection know that there is nothing more gladsome than to fling oneself away for the sake of those whom we love4 ,and the capacity for such love and sacrifice lies in all of us4 ,prosaic1 commonplace people as we are1 with no great field on which to work out our heroisms2 yet we have it in us to love and give ourselves away thus1 if once the heart be stirred4 ,and lastly1 this capacity which lies dormant in all of us1 if once it is roused to action1 will make a man blessed and dignified as nothing else will4 ,the joy of unselfish love is the purest joy that man can taste2 the joy of perfect self-sacrifice is the highest joy that humanity can possess1 and they lie open for us all4 ,and wherever1 in some humble measure1 these emotions of which ,i have been speaking are realised1 there you see weakness springing up into strength1 and the ignoble into loftiness4 ,astronomers tell us that sometimes a star that has shone inconspicuous1 and stood low down in their catalogues as of fifth or sixth magnitude1 will all at once flame out1 having kindled and caught fire somehow1 and will blaze in the heavens1 outshining ,jupiter and ,venus4 ,and so some poor1 vulgar1 narrow nature1 touched by this ,promethean fire of pure love that leads to perfect sacrifice1 will 'flame in the forehead of the morning sky' an undying splendour1 and a light for evermore4 ,brethren1 my appeal to you is a very plain and simple one1 founded on these facts3--,you all have that capacity in you1 and you all are responsible for the use of it4 ,what have you done with it8 ,is there any person or thing in this world that has ever been able to lift you up out of your miserable selves8 ,is there any magnet that has proved strong enough to raise you from the low levels along which your life creeps8 ,have you ever known the thrill of resolving to become the bondservant and the slave of some great cause not your own8 ,or are you1 as so many of you are1 like spiders living in the midst of your web1 mainly intent upon what you can catch by it8 ,you have these capacities slumbering in you4 ,have you ever set a light to that inert mass of enthusiasm that lies within you8 ,have you ever woke up the sleeper8 ,look at this rough soldier of my text1 and learn from him the lesson that there is nothing that so ennobles and dignifies a commonplace nature as enthusiasm for a great cause1 or self-sacrificing love for a worthy heart4 ,,ii4 ,the second remark which ,i make is this3--,these possibilities of love and sacrifice point plainly to ,god in ,christ as their true object4 ',whose image and superscription hath it8' said ,christ1 looking at the ,roman denarius that they brought and laid on ,his palm4 ,if the ,emperor's head is on it1 why1 then1 he has a right to it as tribute4 ,and then ,he went on to say1 ',render1 therefore1 unto ,caesar the things which are ,caesar's1 and unto ,god the things that are ,god's4' ,so there are things that have ,god's image and superscription stamped on them1 and such are our hearts1 our whole constitution and nature4 ,as plainly as the penny had the head of ,tiberius on it1 and therefore proclaimed that he was ,emperor where it was current1 so plainly does every soul carry in the image of ,god the witness that ,he is its owner and that it should be rendered in tribute to ,him4 ,and amongst all these marks of a divine possession and a divine destination printed upon human nature1 it seems to me that none is plainer than this fact1 that we can all of us thus give ourselves away in the abandonment of a profound and all-surrendering love4 ,that capacity unmistakably proclaims that it is destined to be directed towards ,god and to find its rest in ,him4 ,as distinctly as some silver cup1 with its owner's initials and arms engraved upon it1 declares itself to be 'meet for the master's use1' so distinctly does your soul1 by reason of this capacity1 proclaim that it is meant to be turned to ,him in whom alone all love can find its perfect satisfaction2 for whom alone it is supremely blessed and great to lose life itself2 and who only has authority over human spirits4 ,we are made with hearts that need to rest upon an absolute love2 we are made with understandings that need to grasp a pure1 a perfect1 and1 as ,i believe1 paradoxical though it may sound1 a personal ,truth4 ,we are made with wills that crave for an absolute authoritative command1 and we are made with a moral nature that needs a perfect holiness4 ,and we need all that love1 truth1 authority1 purity1 to be gathered into one1 for our misery is that1 when we set out to look for treasures1 we have to go into many lands and to many merchants1 to buy many goodly pearls4 ,but we need ,one of great price1 in which all our wealth may be invested4 ,we need that ,one to be an undying and perpetual possession4 ,there is ,one to whom our love can ever cleave1 and fear none of the sorrows or imperfections that make earthward-turned love a rose with many a thorn1 ,one for whom it is pure gain to lose ourselves1 ,one who is plainly the only worthy recipient of the whole love and self-surrender of the heart4 ,that ,one is ,god1 revealed and brought near to us in ,jesus ,christ4 ,in that great ,saviour we have a love at once divine and human1 we have the great transcendent instance of love leading to sacrifice4 ,on that love and sacrifice for us ,christ builds ,his claim on us for our hearts1 and our all4 ,life alone can communicate life2 it is only light that can diffuse light4 ,it is only love that can kindle love2 it is only sacrifice that can inspire sacrifice4 ,and so ,he comes to us1 and asks that we should just love ,him back again as ,he has loved us4 ,he first gives ,himself utterly for and to us1 and then asks us to give ourselves wholly to ,him4 ,he first yields up ,his own life1 and then ,he says3 ',he that loseth his life for ,my sake shall find it4' ,the object1 the true object1 for all this depth of love which lies slumbering in our hearts1 is ,god in ,christ1 the ,christ that died for us4 ,,iii4 ,and now1 lastly1 observe that the terrible misdirection of these capacities is the sin and the misery of the world4 ,i will not say that such emotions1 even when expended on creatures1 are ever wasted4 ,for however unworthy may be the objects on which they are lavished1 the man himself is the better and the higher for having cherished them4 ,the mother1 when she forgets self in her child1 though her love and self-forgetfulness and self-sacrifice may1 in some respects1 be called but an animal instinct1 is elevated and ennobled by the exercise of them4 ,the patriot and the thinker1 the philanthropist1 ay6 even--although ,i take him to be the lowest in the scale--the soldier who1 in some cause which he thinks to be a good one1 and not merely in the tigerish madness of the battlefield1 throws away his life--are lifted in the scale of being by their self-abnegation4 ,and so ,i am not going to say that when men love each other passionately and deeply1 and sacrifice themselves for one another1 or for some cause or purpose affecting only temporal matters1 the precious elixir of love is wasted4 ,god forbid6 ,but ,i do say that all these objects1 sweet and gracious as some of them are1 ennobling and elevating as some of them are1 if they are taken apart from ,god1 are insufficient to fill your hearts3 and that if they are slipped in between you and ,god1 as they often are1 then they bring sin and sorrow4 ,there is nothing more tragic in this world than the misdirection of man's capacity for love and sacrifice4 ,it is like the old story in the ,book of ,daniel1 which tells how the heathen monarch made a great feast1 and when the wine began to inflame the guests1 sent for the sacred vessels taken from the ,temple of ,jerusalem1 that had been used for ,jehovah's worship2 and 7as the narrative says1 with a kind of shudder at the profanation71 ',they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the ,house of ,god1 which was at ,jerusalem1 and the king and his princes1 his wives and his concubines1 drank in them4 ,they drank wine and praised the gods4' ,so this heart of mine1 which1 as ,i said1 has the ,master's initials and ,his arms engraven upon it1 in token that it is ,his cup1 ,i too often fill with the poisonous and intoxicating draught of earthly pleasure and earthly affections2 and as ,i drink it1 the madness goes through my veins1 and ,i praise gods of my own making instead of ,him whom alone ,i ought to love4 ,ah1 brethren6 we should be our own rebukers in this matter1 and the heroism of the world should put to shame the cowardice and the selfishness of the ,church4 ,contrast the depth of your affection for your household with the tepidity of your love for your ,saviour4 ,contrast the willingness with which you sacrifice yourself for some dear one with the grudgingness with which you yield yourselves to ,him4 ,contrast the rest and the sense of satisfaction in the presence of those whom you love1 and your desolation when they are absent1 with the indifference whether you have ,christ beside you or not4 ,and remember that the measure of your power of loving is the measure of your obligation to love your ,lord2 and that if you are all frost to ,him and all fervour to them1 then in a very solemn sense 'a man's foes shall be they of his own household4' ',he that loveth father or mother more than ,me is not worthy of ,me4' ,and so let me gather all that ,i have been saying into the one earnest beseeching of you that you would bring that power of uncalculating love and self-sacrificing affection which is in you1 and would fasten it where it ought to fix--on ,christ who died on the cross for you4 ,such a love will bring blessedness to you4 ,such a love will ennoble and dignify your whole nature1 and make you a far greater and fairer man or woman than you ever otherwise could be4 ,like some little bit of black carbon put into an electric current1 my poor nature will flame into beauty and radiance when that spark touches it4 ,so love ,him and be at peace2 give yourselves to ,him and ,he will give you back yourselves1 ennobled and transfigured by the surrender4 ,lay yourselves on ,his altar1 and that altar will sanctify both the giver and the gift4 ,if you can take this rough ,philistine soldier's words in their spirit1 and in a higher sense say1 ',whether ,i live ,i live unto the ,lord1 or whether ,i die ,i die unto the ,lord2 living or dying1 ,i am the ,lord's1' ,he will let you enlist in ,his army2 and give you for your marching orders this command and this hope1 ',if any man serve ,me let him follow ,me2 and where ,i am there shall also ,my servant be4' ,,the ,,wail ,,of ,a ,,broken ,,heart ',now ,absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar1 which is in the king's dale2 for he said1 ,i have no son to keep my name in remembrance2 and he called the pillar after his own name3 and it is called unto this day1 ,absalom's ,place4 #ai4 ,then said ,ahimaaz the son of ,zadok1 ,let me now run1 and bear the king tidings1 how that the ,lord hath avenged him of his enemies4 #bj4 ,and ,joab said unto him4 ,thou shalt not bear tidings this day1 but thou shalt bear tidings another day2 but this day thou shalt bear no tidings1 because the king's son is dead4 #ba4 ,then said ,joab to ,cushi1 ,go tell the king what thou hast seen4 ,and ,cushi bowed himself unto ,joab1 and ran4 #bb ,then said ,ahimaaz the ton of ,zadok yet again to ,joab1 ,but howsoever1 let me1 ,i pray thee1 also run after ,cushi4 ,and ,joab said1 ,wherefore wilt thou run1 my son1 seeing that thou hast no tidings ready8 #bc4 ,but howsoever1 said he1 let me run4 ,and he said unto him1 ,run4 ,then ,ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain1 and overran ,cushi4 #bd4 ,and ,david sat between the two gates3 and the watchman went up to the roof over the gate unto the wall1 and lifted up his eyes1 and looked1 and behold a man running alone4 #be4 ,and the watchman cried1 and told the king4 ,and the king said1 ,if he be alone1 there is tidings in his mouth4 ,and he came apace1 and drew near4 #bf4 ,and the watchman saw another man running3 and the watchman called unto the porter1 and said1 ,behold another man running alone4 ,and the king said1 ,he also bringeth tidings4 #bg4 ,and the watchman said1 ,me thinketh the running of the foremost is like the running of ,ahimaaz the son of ,zadok4 ,and the king said1 ,he is a good man1 and cometh with good tidings4 #bh4 ,and ,ahimaaz called1 and said unto the king1 ,all is well4 ,and he fell down to the earth upon his face before the king1 and said1 ,blessed be the ,lord thy ,god1 which hath delivered up the men that lifted up their hand against my lord the king4 #bi4 ,and the king said1 ,is the young man ,absalom safe8 ,and ,ahimaaz answered1 ,when ,joab sent the king's servant1 and me thy servant1 ,i saw a great tumult1 but ,i knew not what it was4 #cj4 ,and the king said unto him1 ,turn aside1 and stand here4 ,and he turned aside1 and stood still4 #ca4 ,and1 behold1 ,cushi came2 and ,cushi said1 ,tidings1 my lord the king3 for the ,lord hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee4 #cb4 ,and the king said unto ,cushi1 ,is the young man ,absalom safe ,i ,and ,cushi answered1 ,the enemies of my lord the king1 and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt1 be as that young man is4 #cc4 ,and the king was much moved1 and went up to the chamber over the gate1 and wept2 and as he went1 thus he said1 ,o my son ,absalom6 ,my son1 my son ,absalom6 would ,god ,i had died for thee1 ,o ,absalom1 my son1 my son6--#b ,,samuel xviii4 #ah-cc4 ,the first verse of this passage and the one preceding it give a striking contrast between the actual and the designed burial-place of ,absalom4 ,the great pit among the sombre trees1 where his bloody corpse was hastily flung1 with three darts through his heart1 and the rude cairn piled over it1 were a very different grave from the ostentatious tomb 'in the king's dale1' which he had built to keep his memory green4 ,this was what all his restless intrigues and unbridled passions and dazzling hopes had come to4 ,he wanted to be remembered1 and he got his wish2 but what a remembrance6 ,that gloomy pit preaches anew the vanity of 'vaulting ambition which o'erleaps itself1' and tells us once more that ,only the actions of the just ,smell sweet1 and blossom in the dust4' ,i4 ,the first picture here shows a glimpse of the battlefield1 and brings before us three men1 each in different ways exhibiting how small a thing ,absalom's death was to all but the heartbroken father1 and each going his own road1 heedless of what lay below the heap of stones4 ,the world goes on all the same1 though death is busy1 and some heart-strings be cracked4 ,the minute details which fill the most part of the story1 lead up to1 and throw into prominence1 ,david's burst of agony at the close4 ,the three men1 ,ahimaaz1 ,joab1 and the ,cushite 7,ethiopian71 are types of different kinds of self-engrossment1 which is little touched by others' sorrows4 ,the first1 ,ahimaaz1 the young priest who had already done good service to ,david as a spy1 is full of the joyous excitement of victory1 and eager to run with what he thinks such good tidings4 ,the word in verse #ai1 'bear tidings1' always implies good news2 and the youthful warrior-priest cannot conceive that the death of the head of the revolt can darken to the king the joy of victory1 ,he is truly loyal1 but1 in his youthful impetuosity and excitement1 cannot sympathise with the desolate father1 who sits expectant at ,mahanaim4 ,right feeling and real affection often fail in sympathy1 for want of putting oneself in another's place2 and1 with the best intentions1 wound where they mean to cheer4 ,a little imagination2 guided by affection1 would have taught ,ahimaaz that the messenger who told ,david of ,absalom's death would thrust a sharper spear into his heart than ,joab had driven into ,absalom's4 ,joab is a very different type of indifference4 ,he is too much accustomed to battle to be much flushed with victory1 and has killed too many men to care much about killing another4 ,he is cool enough to measure the full effect of the news on ,david2 and though he clearly discerns the sorrow1 has not one grain of participation in it4 ,he has some liking for ,ahimaaz1 and so does not wish him to run1 but dissuades him on the ground 7verse #bb1 ,revised ,version7 that he will win no reward4 ,that is the true spirit of the mercenary1 who cannot conceive of a man taking trouble unless he gets paid for it somehow1 and will fight and kill1 all in the way of business1 without the least spark of enthusiasm for a cause4 ,hard stolidity and brutal carelessness shielded him from any 'womanish' tenderness4 ,absalom was dead1 and he had killed him4 ,it was a good thing1 for it had put out the fire of revolt4 ,no doubt ,david would be sorry1 but that mattered little4 ,only it was better for the message to go by some one whose fate was of no consequence4 ,so he picks out 'the ,cushite1' probably an ,ethiopian slave2 and if ,david in his anguish should harm him1 nobody will be hurt but a friendless stranger4 ,the ,cushite gets his orders2 and he too is1 in another fashion1 careless of their contents and effect4 ,without a word1 he bows himself to ,joab1 and runs1 as unconcerned as the paper of a letter that may break a heart4 ,ahimaaz still pleads to go1 and1 gaining leave1 takes the road across the ,jordan valley1 which was probably easier1 though longer2 while the other messenger went by the hills1 which was a shorter and rougher road4 ,,ii4 ,the scene shifts to ,mahanaim1 where ,david had found refuge4 ,he can scarcely have failed to take an omen from the name1 which commemorated how another anxious heart had camped there1 and been comforted1 when it saw the vision of the encamping angels above its own feeble1 undefended tents1 and ,jacob 'called the name of that place ,mahanaim' 7that is1 ',two ,camps'74 ,how the change of scene in the narrative helps its vividness1 and makes us share in the strain of expectancy and the tension of watching the approaching messengers6 ,the king1 restless for news1 has come out to the space between the outer and inner gates1 and planted a lookout on the gate-house roof4 ,the sharp eyes see a solitary figure making for the city1 across the plain4 ,david recognises that1 since he is alone1 he must be a messenger2 and now the question is1 ,what has he to tell8 ,we see him coming nearer1 and share the suspense4 ,then the second man appears2 and clearly something more had happened1 to require two4 ,what was it8 ,they run fast2 but the moments are long till they arrive4 ,the watchman recognises ,ahimaaz by his style of running2 and ,david wistfully tries to forecast his tidings from his character4 ,it is a pathetic effort1 and reveals how anxiously his heart was beating4 ,as soon as ,ahimaaz is within earshot1 though panting with running1 no doubt1 he shouts1 with what breath is left1 the one word1 ',peace6' and then1 at ,david's feet1 tells the victory1 ',blessed be the ,lord thy ,god'2 the triumph was ,jehovah's gift1 and in it ,he had shown ,himself ,david's ,god1 and vindicated ,his servant's trust4 ,but ,ahimaaz is more devout and thankful than ,david4 ,the king has neither praise and thankfulness to ,god nor to man4 ,he has no pleasure in the victory2 no interest in the details of the fight2 no thankfulness for a restored kingdom2 no word of eulogium for his soldiers2 nothing but devouring anxiety for his unworthy son4 ,how chilling to ,ahimaaz1 all flushed with eagerness1 and proud of victory1 and panting with running1 and hungry for some word of praise1 it must have been1 to get for sole answer the question about ,absalom6 ,he shrinks from telling the whole truth1 which1 indeed1 the ,cushite was officially despatched to tell2 but his enigmatic story of a great tumult as he left the field1 of which he did not know the meaning1 was meant to prepare for the bitter news4 ,so he is bid to stand aside1 and no words more vouchsafed to him4 ,a cool reception1 unworthy of ,david6 ,as ,ahimaaz stood there1 neglected1 he would think that the politic ,joab was right after all4 ,the ,cushite must have been close behind him1 for he comes up as soon as the brief conversation is over4 ,a deeper anxiety must have waited his tidings2 for he must have something more to tell than victory4 ,his first words add nothing to ,ahimaaz's information4 ,what1 then1 had he come for8 ,david forebodes evil1 and1 with the monotony of a man absorbed in one anxiety1 repeats verbatim his former question4 ,poor king6 ,he more than half knew the answer1 before it was given4 ,the ,cushite with some tenderness veils the fate of ,absalom in the wish that all the king's enemies may be 'as that young man is4' ,but the veil was thin1 and the attempt to console by reminding of the fact that the dead man was an enemy as well as a son1 was swept away like a straw before the father's torrent of grief4 ,,iii4 ,the sobs of a broken heart cannot be analysed2 and this wail of almost inarticulate agony1 with its infinitely pathetic reiteration1 is too sacred for many words4 ,grief1 even if passionate1 is not forbidden by religion2 and ,david's sensitive poet-nature felt all emotions keenly4 ,we are meant to weep2 else wherefore is there calamity8 ,but there were elements in ,david's mourning which were not good4 ,it blinded him to blessings and to duties4 ,his son was dead2 but his rebellion was dead with him1 and that should have been more present to his mind4 ,his soldiers had fought well1 and his first task should have been to honour and to thank them4 ,he had no right to sink the king in the father1 and ,joab's unfeeling remonstrance1 which followed1 was wise and true in substance1 though rough almost to brutality in tone4 ,sorrow which sees none of the blue because of one cloud1 however heavy and thunderous1 is sinful4 ,sorrow which sits with folded hands1 like the sisters of ,lazarus1 and lets duties drift1 that it may indulge in the luxury of unrestrained tears1 is sinful4 ,there is no tone of ',it is the ,lord6 let ,him do what seemeth ,him good1' in this passionate plaint2 and so there is no soothing for the grief4 ,the one consolation lies in submission4 ,submissive tears wash the heart clean2 rebellious ones blister it4 ,david's grief was the bitter fruit of his own sin4 ,he had weakly indulged ,absalom1 and had probably spared the rod1 in the boy's youth1 as he certainly spared the sword when ,absalom had murdered his brother4 ,his own immorality had loosened the bonds of family purity1 and made him ashamed to punish his children4 ,he had let ,absalom flaunt and swagger and live in luxury1 and put no curb on him2 and here was the end of his foolish softness4 ,how many fathers and mothers are the destroyers of their children to-day in the very same fashion6 ,that grave in the wood might teach parents how their fatal fondness may end4 ,children1 too1 may learn from ,david's grief what an unworthy son can do to stuff his father's pillow with thorns1 and to break his heart at last4 ,but there is another side to this grief4 ,it witnesses to the depth and self-sacrificing energy of a father's love4 ,the dead son's faults are all forgotten and obliterated by death's 'effacing fingers4' ,the headstrong1 thankless rebel is1 in ,david's mind1 a child again1 and the happy old days of his innocence and love are all that remain in memory4 ,the prodigal is still a son4 ,the father's love is immortal1 and cannot be turned away by any faults4 ,the father is willing to die for the disobedient child4 ,such purity and depth of affection lives in human hearts4 ,so self-forgetting and incapable of being provoked is an earthly father's love4 ,may we not see in this disclosure of ,david's paternal love1 stripping it of its faults and excesses1 some dim shadow of the greater love of ,god for ,his prodigals1--a love which cannot be dammed back or turned away by any sin1 and which has found a way to fulfil ,david's impossible wish1 in that it has given ,jesus ,christ to die for ,his rebellious children1 and so made them sharers of ,his own kingdom8 ,,barzillai ',and ,barzillai said unto the king1 ,how long have ,i to live1 that ,i should go up with the king unto ,jerusalem8 #ce4 ,i am this day fourscore years old3 and can ,i discern between good and evil6 can thy servant taste what ,i eat or what ,i drink8 can ,i hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women8 wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king8 #cf4 ,thy servant will go a little way over ,jordan with the king3 and why should the king recompense it me with such a reward8 #cg4 ,let thy servant1 ,i pray thee1 turn back again1 that ,i may die in mine own city1 and be buried by the grave of my father and of my mother4 ,but behold thy servant ,chimham2 let him go over with my lord the king2 and do to him what shall seem good unto thee4'-#b ,,samuel xix4 #cd-cg4 ,to the ,young4 ,people often fancy that religion is only good to die by1 and many exhortations are addressed to the young1 founded on the possibility that an early death may be their lot4 ,that1 no doubt1 is a very solemn consideration1 but it is by no means the sole ground on which such an appeal may or should be rested4 ,to some of you an early death is destined4 ,to the larger number of you will be granted a life protracted to middle age1 and to some of you silver hair will come1 and you may see your children's children4 ,i wish to win you seriously to look forward to the life on earth that is before you1 and to the end to which it is likely to come1 if you be spared in the world long enough4 ,the little picture in these verses is a very beautiful one4 ,david had been fleeing from his rebellious ,absalom1 and his adversity had winnowed his friends4 ,he had crossed the ,jordan to the hill-country beyond1 and there1 while he was lurking with his crown in peril1 and a price on his head1 and old friends dropping from him in their eagerness to worship the rising sun1 this ,barzillai with others brought him seasonable help 7xvii4 #bc71 ,when ,david returned victorious1 ,barzillai met him again4 ,david offered to take him to ,jerusalem and to set him in honour there1 ,the old man answered in the words of our text4 ,now ,i take them for the sake of the picture of old age which they give us4 ,look at them3 the intellectual powers are dimmed1 all taste for the pleasures and delights of sense is gone1 ambition is dead1 capacity for change is departed4 ,what is left8 ,this old man lives in the past and in the future2 the early child-love of the father and mother who1 eighty years ago1 rejoiced over his cradle1 remains fresh2 he cannot 'any more hear the voice of the singing men and women1' but he can hear the tones1 clear over all these years1 of the dear ones whom he first learned to love4 ,the furthest past is fresh and vivid1 and his heart and memory are true to it4 ,also he looks forward familiarly and calmly to the very near end1 and lives with the thought of death4 ,he keeps house with it now4 ,it is nearer to him than the world of living men4 ,in memory is half of his being1 and in hope is the other half4 ,all his hopes are now simplified and reduced to one1 a hope to die and be united again with the dear ones whom he had so long remembered4 ,and so he goes back to his city1 and passes out of the record--an example of a green and good old age4 ,now1 young people1 is not that picture one to touch your hearts8 ,you think in your youthful flush of power and interest1 that life will go on for ever as it has begun1 and it is all but impossible to get you to look forward to what life must come to4 ,i want you to learn from that picture of a calm1 bright old age1 a lesson or two of what life will certainly do to you1 that ,i may found on these certainties the old1 old appeal1 ',remember now thy ,creator in the days of thy youth'4 ,i4 ,life will gradually rob you of your interest in all earthly things4 ,your time of life is full of ebullient feeling1 and sees freshness1 glory1 and beauty everywhere4 ,even the least enthusiastic men are enthusiastic in their early days4 ,you have physical strength1 the keenness of unpalled senses1 the delights of new powers1 the blessedness of mere living4 ,all this springs partly from physical causes1 partly from the novelty of your position4 ,thank ,god6 all young creatures are happy1 and you among the rest4 ,now1 ,i do not ask you to restrain and mortify these things4 ,but ,i do ask you to remember the end4 ,it is as certain that joys will pall1 it is as certain that subjects of interest will be exhausted1 it is as certain that powers will decay1 as that they now are what they are4 ,all these grave1 middle-aged1 careful people round you were like you once4 ,you1 if you live1 will be like them4 ,the spring tints are natural1 but they are transient2 the blossoms are not always on the fruit-trees4 ,think1 then1 of the ,end3 to make you thankful2 to stimulate you2 but also to lead you to take for your object what will never pall4 ,all created things go4 ,only the gospel provides you with a theme which never becomes stale1 with objects which are inexhaustible4 ,here is a lesson for-- 7a7 ,thinkers3 ',knowledge1 it shall vanish away4' 7b7 ,sensualists3 ',man delights me not1 nor woman either4' ,how old was he who said that8 7c7 ,ambitious1 self-advancing men4 ,is it worth your while to devote yourself to transient aims8 ,is it congruous with your dignity as immortal souls8 ,is it innocent or guilty8 ,is the gospel not a thing to live by as well as to die by8 ,,ii4 ,life will certainly rob you of the power to change4 ,barzillai knew that ,david's court was no place for him2 he had been bred on the mountains of ,gilead1 and his habits suited only a simple country life4 ,the court might be better1 but he could not fit into it4 ,but there was his boy ,chimham2 take him1 he was young enough to bend and mould4 ,now this is true in a far loftier way4 ,i need not dwell on the universality of this law1 how it applies to all manner of men1 but ,i use it now in reference only to the gospel and your relation to it4 ,you will never again be so likely to become a ,christian1 if you let these early days pass4 ,you say1 ',i will have my fling1 sow my wild oats1 will wait a little longer1 and then'--and then what8 ,you will find that it is infinitely harder to close with ,christ than it would have been before4 ,while you delay1 you are stiffening into the habit of rejection4 ,custom is one of our mightiest friends or foes4 ,while you delay1 you are doing violence to conscience1 and so weakening that to which the gospel appeals4 ,while you delay1 you are becoming more familiar with the unreceived message and so weakening the power of the gospel4 ,while you delay1 you are adding to the long list of your sins4 ,while you delay1 youth is slipping from you4 ,make a mark with a straw on the clay and it abides2 hammer on the brick with iron and it only breaks4 ,youth is a brief season4 ,it is the season for forming habit1 for receiving impression1 for building up character4 ',the sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold1 therefore shall he beg in harvest and have nothing4' ,your present time is seed time4 ,god forbid that ,i should say that it is impossible1 but ,i do say that it is hard1 for 'a man to be born again when he is old4' ,if you do become ,christ's servant later in life1 your whole condition will be different from what it would have been if you had begun when young to trust and love ,him4 ,think of the difficulty of rooting out habits and memories4 ,think of the horrid familiarity with evil4 ,think of the painful contrition for wasted years1 which must be theirs who are hired at the eleventh hour1 after standing all the day idle4 ,contrast the experience of him who can say1 ',i ,thy servant fear ,god from my youth1' who has been led by ,god's mercy from childhood in the narrow way1 who by early faith in ,christ has been kept in the slippery ways of youth4 ,of the one we can but say1 ',is not this a brand plucked from the burning8' ,the other is 'innocent of much transgression4' ,i have small hope of changing middle-aged and old men4 ,to you ,i turn1 you young men and women1 you children1 and to each of you ,i say1 ',wilt thou not from this time say1 ,my ,father1 ,thou art the guide of my youth8' ,,iii4 ,life will certainly deepen your early impressions4 ,the old ,barzillai dying looks back to his early days4 ,so ,i point the lesson3 ',keep thy heart with all diligence1' and let your early thoughts be bright and pure ones4 ,remember that you will never find any love like a father's and mother's4 ,don't do what will load your memories in after days with sharp reproaches4 ,,iv4 ,life will bring you nearer and nearer to the grave4 ,hope after hope dies out1 and there is nothing left but the hope to die4 ,how beautiful the facing of it so as to become calmly familiar with it1 making it an object of hope1 with bright visions of reunion6 ,how can such an old age so bright and beautiful be secured8 ,surely the one answer is1--by faith in ,jesus ,christ4 ,think of an old ,christian resting1 full of years1 full of memories1 full of hopes1 to whom the stir of the present is nothing1 who has come so near the place where the river falls into the great sea that the sounds on the banks are unheard4 ,it is calm above the cataract1 and though there be a shock when the stream plunges over the precipice1 yet a rainbow spans the fall1 and the river peacefully mingles with the shoreless1 boundless ocean4 ,dear young friends1 'what shall the end be'8 ,it is for yourselves to settle4 ,oh1 take ,christ for your ,lord6 ,then1 though so far as regards the bodily life the 'youths shall faint and be weary1' as regards the true self the life may be one of growing maturity1 and at last you may 'come to the grave as a shock of corn that is fully ripe4' ,trust1 love1 and serve ,jesus1 that thus calm1 thus beautiful1 may be your days here below1 that if you die young you may die ripe enough for heaven1 and that if ,god spares you to 'reverence and the silver hairs1' you may crown a holy life by a peaceful departure1 and1 sitting in the antechamber of death1 may not grieve for the departure of youth and strength and buoyancy and activity1 knowing that 'they also serve who only stand and wait1' and then may shake off the clog and hindrance of old age when you pass into the presence of ,god1 and there1 as being the latest-born of heaven1 may more than renew your youth1 and may enter on a life which weariness and decay never afflict1 but with which immortal youth1 with its prerogatives of endless hope1 of keenest delight1 of unwearying novelty1 of boundless joy1 abides for evermore4 ,,david',s ,,hymn ,,of ,,victory ',for ,thou hast girded me with strength to battle3 them that1 rose up against me hast ,thou subdued under me4 #da4 ,thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies1 that ,i might destroy them that hate me4 #db4 ,they looked1 but there was none to save2 even unto the ,lord1 but ,he answered them not4 #dc4 ,then did ,i beat them as small as the dust of the earth1 ,i did stamp them as the mire of the street1 and did spread them abroad4 #dd4 ,thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my people1 ,thou hast kept me to be head of the heathen3 a people which ,i knew not shall serve me4 #de4 ,strangers shall submit themselves unto me3 as soon as they hear1 they shall be obedient unto me4 #df4 ,strangers shall fade away1 and they shall be afraid out of their close places4 #dg4 ,the ,lord liveth2 and blessed be my rock2 and exalted be the ,god of the rock of my salvation4 #dh4 ,it is ,god that avengeth me1 and that bringeth down the people under me1 #di4 ,and that bringeth me forth from mine enemies3 ,thou also hast lifted me up on high above them that rose up against me3 ,thou hast delivered me from the violent man4 #ej4 ,therefore ,i will give thanks unto ,thee1 ,o ,lord1 among the heathen1 and ,i will sing praises unto ,thy name4 #ea4 ,he is the tower of salvation for ,his king2 and sheweth mercy to ,his anointed1 unto ,david1 and to his seed for evermore4'--#b ,,samuel xxii4 #dj-ea4 ,the ,davidic authorship of this great hymn has been admitted even by critics who are in general too slow to recognise it4 ,one of these says that 'there is no ,israelite king to whom the expressions in the psalm apply so closely as to ,david4' ,the favourite alternative theory that the speaker is the personified nation is hard to accept4 ,the voice of individual trust and of personal experience sounds clear in the glowing words4 ,two editions of the hymn are preserved for us1--in ,psalm xviii4 and #b ,samuel4 ,slight variations exist in the two copies1 which may probably be merely accidental4 ,nothing important depends on them4 ,the text begins with the closing words of a description of ,god's arming the singer for his victories1 and goes on to paint the tumult of battle and the rout of the foe 7verses #dj-dc72 then follows triumphant expectation of future wider victories 7verses #dd-df72 and that leads up to the closing burst of grateful praise 7verses #dg-ea74 ,i4 ,we are not to forget that what is described in verses #dj-dc is a literal fight1 with real swords against very real enemies4 ,we may draw lessons of encouragement from it for our conflict with spiritual wickednesses1 but we must not lose sight of the bloody combat with flesh and blood which the singer had waged4 ,he felt that ,god had braced his armour on him1 had given him the impenetrable 'shield' which he wore on his arm1 and had strengthened his arms to bend the 'bow of steel4' ,we see him in swift pursuit1 pressing hard on the flying foe1 crushing them with his fierce charge1 trampling them under foot4 ',i did beat them small as the dust of the earth4' ,his blows fell like those of a great pestle1 pulverising some substance in a mortar4 ',i did stamp them as the mire of the streets1'--a vivid picture of trampling down the prostrate wretches1 for which ,psalm xviii4 gives the less picturesque variant1 'did cast them out4' ,in their despair the fugitives shriek aloud for ,god's help1 and the ,psalmist has a stern joy in knowing their cries to be unheard4 ,now1 such delight in an enemy's despair and destruction1 such gratification at the vanity of his prayers1 are far away from being ,christian sentiments1 and the gulf is not wholly bridged by the consideration that ,david felt himself to be ,god's ,anointed1 and enmity to him to be1 consequently1 treason against ,god4 ,his feelings were most natural and entirely consistent with the stage of revelation in which he lived4 ,they were capable of being purified into that triumph in the victory of good and the ruin of evil without which there is no vigorous sympathy with ,christ's conflict4 ,they kindle1 by their splendid energy and condensed rapidity1 an answering glow even in readers so far away from the scene as we are4 ,but still they do belong to a lower level of feeling1 and result from a less full revelation than belongs to ,christianity4 ,the light of battle which blazes in them is not the fire which ,jesus longed to kindle on earth4 ,but we may well take a pattern from the stern soldier's recognition that all his victory was due to ,god alone4 ,the strength that he put forth was ,god's gift4 ,it was ,god who subdued the insurgents1 not ,david4 ,the panic which made the foe take to flight was infused into them by ,god4 ,no name but ,jehovah's was to be carved on the trophy reared on the battlefield4 ,the human victor was but the instrument of the divine ,conqueror4 ,such lowly reference of all our power and success to ,him will save us from overweening self-adulation1 and is the surest way to retain the power which ,he gives1 and which is lost most surely when we take the credit of it to ourselves4 ,,ii4 ,the enemies thus far have been from among his own subjects1 but in verses #dd-df a transition is made to victory over 'strangers'2 that is1 foreign nations4 ,the triumph over 'the strivings of my people' heartens the singer to expect that he will be' head of the nations4' ,the other version of the hymn 7,psalm xviii47 reads simply 'the people4' ,the picture of hasty surrender 'as soon as they hear of me' is graphic4 ,his very name conquers4 ',the strangers shall submit themselves unto me' is literally 'shall lie1' or yield feigned obedience4 ,they 'fade away' as if withered by the hot wind of the desert4 ',they shall come limping' 7as the word here used signifies71 as if wounded in the fight1 for which ,psalm xviii4 reads 'trembling4' ,now this vision of extended conquests1 based as it is on past smaller victories1 carries valuable lessons4 ,david here lays hold of the great promises to his house of a wide dominion1 and expects the beginnings of their fulfilment to himself4 ,and he did extend his conquests beyond the territory of ,israel4 ,but we may take the hope as an instance in a particular direction of what should be the issue of all experience of ,god's mercies4 ',to-morrow shall be as this day1 and much more abundant4' ,smaller victories will be followed by greater4 ,our reception of ,god's favouring help should widen our anticipations4 ,our gratitude to ,him should be 'a lively sense of favours to come4' ,progressive victory should be the experience of every believer4 ,we may see1 too1 dimly apparent through the large hope of the ,psalmist-,king1 the prophecy of the worldwide victories of his ,son1 in whom the great promises of a dominion 'from sea to sea1 and from the river unto the ends of the earth1' are fulfilled4 ,,iii4 ,verses #df-ea make a noble close to a noble hymn1 in which the singer's strong wing never flags1 nor the rush of thought and feeling ever slackens4 ,in it1 even more absolutely than in the rest of the psalm1 his victory is all ascribed to ,jehovah4 ,he alone acts1 ,david simply receives4 ,to have learned by experience that' ,he lives1' and is 'my ,rock1' and to gather all the feelings excited by the retrospect of a long life into ',blessed be my ,rock1' is to have reaped and garnered the richest harvest which earth can yield4 ,so at last sings the man whose early years had been full of struggles and privations4 ,a morning of tempest has cleared into sunny evening calm1 as it will with us all if the tempest blows us into our true shelter4 ,this psalm begins with a rapturous heaping together of the precious names of ,god1 as the singer has had them revealed to him by experience4 ,foremost among these stands that one1 'my ,rock1' which is caught up again in this closing burst of thanksgiving4 ,that great ,rock towers unchangeable above fleeting things4 ,the river runs past its base1 the woods nestling at its feet bud1 and shed their pride of foliage1 but it stands the same4 ,david had many a time hid in 'the clefts of the rocks' in his years of wandering1 and the figure is eloquent on his lips4 ,these closing strains gather together once more the main points of the previous verses1 his deliverance from domestic foes1 and his conquests over external enemies4 ,these are wholly ,god's work4 ,true thankfulness delights to repeat its acknowledgments4 ,god does not weary of giving1 we should not weary of praising the ,giver and ,his gifts4 ,we renew our enjoyment of our long-past mercies by reiterating our thankfulness for them4 ,they do not die as long as gratitude keeps their remembrance green4 ,but the ,psalmist's experience impels him to a vow 7verse #ej74 ,he will give thanks to ,god among the nations4 ,god's mercies bind1 and1 if rightly felt1 will joyfully impel1 the receiver to spread ,his name as far as his voice can reach4 ,love is sometimes silent1 but gratitude must speak4 ,the most unmusical voice is tuned to melody by ,god's great blessings received and appreciated1 and they need never want a theme who can tell what the ,lord has done for their souls4 ',then shall444 the tongue of the dumb sing4' ,a dumb ,christian is a monstrosity4 ,we are 'the secretaries of ,his praise1' and have been saved ourselves that we may declare ,his goodness4 ,verse #ea has been supposed by some to be a liturgical addition1 on the ground that1 if ,david were the author1 he would not be likely to name himself thus4 ,but there does not seem to be anything unnatural in his mentioning himself by name in such a connection1 and the reference to his dynasty1 based as it is on ,nathan's promise1 is most fitting4 ,the last thought about his mercies which the humble gratitude of the ,psalmist utters is that they were not given to him for any good in himself1 nor to be selfishly enjoyed1 but that they were bestowed on him because of the place that he filled in the divine purposes1 and belonged to 'his seed' as truly as to himself4 ,so lowly had his prosperity made him4 ,so truly had he sunk himself in his office1 and in the great things that ,god meant to do through him and his house4 ,we know better than ,david did what these were1 and how the promise on which he rested his hopes of the duration of his house is fulfilled in his ,son1 whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom1 and who bears ,god's name to all the nations4 ,,the ,,dying ,,king',s ,,last ,,vision ,,and ,,psalm ',now these be the last words of ,david4 ,david the son of ,jesse said1 and the man who was raised up on high1 the anointed of the ,god of ,jacob1 and the sweet psalmist of ,israel1 said1 #b4 ,the ,spirit of the ,lord spake by me1 and ,his word was in my tongue4 #c4 ,the ,god of ,israel said1 the ,rock of ,israel spake to me1 ,he that ruleth over men must be just1 ruling in the fear of ,god4 #d4 ,and he shall be as the light of the morning1 when the sun riseth1 even a morning without clouds2 as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain4 #e4 ,although my house be not so with ,god2 yet ,he hath made with me an everlasting covenant1 ordered in all things1 and sure3 for this is all my salvation1 and all my desire1 although ,he make it not to grow4 #f4 ,but the sons of ,belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away1 because they cannot be taken with hands3 #g4 ,but the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear2 and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place4'--#b ,,samuel xxiii1 #a-g4 ,it was fitting that 'the last words of ,david' should be a prophecy of the true ,king1 whom his own failures and sins1 no less than his consecration and victories1 had taught him to expect4 ,his dying eyes see on the horizon of the far-off future the form of ,him who is to be a just and perfect ,ruler1 before the brightness of whose presence and the refreshing of whose influence1 verdure and beauty shall clothe the world4 ,as the shades gather round the dying monarch1 the radiant glory to come brightens4 ,he departs in peace1 having seen the salvation from afar1 and stretched out longing hands of greeting toward it4 ,then his harp is silent1 as if the rapture which thrilled the trembling strings had snapped them4 #a4 ,we have first a prelude extending to the middle of verse #c4 ,in it there is first a fourfold designation of the personality of the ,psalmist-prophet1 and then a fourfold designation of the divine oracle spoken through him4 ,the word rendered in verse #a 'saith' is really a noun1 and usually employed with 'the ,lord' following1 as in the familiar phrase 'saith the ,lord4' ,it is used1 as here1 with the genitive of the human recipient1 in ,balaam's prophecy1 on which this is evidently modelled4 ,it distinctly claims a divine source for the oracle following1 and declares1 at the outset1 that these last words of ,david were really the faithful sayings of ,jehovah4 ,the human and divine elements are smelted together4 ,note the description of the human personality4 ,first1 the natural ',david the son of ,jesse1' like ',balaam the son of ,beor' in the earlier oracle4 ,the aged king looks back with adoring thankfulness to his early days and humble birth1 as if he were saying1 ',unto me1 who am less than the least of all saints1 is this grace given1 that ,i should proclaim the coming ,king4' ,then follow three clauses descriptive of what 'the son of ,jesse' had been made by the grace of ,god1 in that he had been raised on high from his low condition of a shepherd boy1 and anointed as ruler1 not only by ,samuel and the people1 but by the ,god of their great ancestor1 whose career had presented so many points of resemblance to his own1 the ,god who still wrought among the nation which bore the patriarch's name1 as ,he had wrought of old2 and that1 besides his royalty1 he had been taught to sing the sweet songs which already were the heritage of the nation4 ,this last designation shows what ,david counted ,god's chief gift to him1--not his crown1 but his harp4 ,it further shows that he regarded his psalms as divinely inspired1 and it proves that already they had become the property of the nation4 ,this first verse heightens the importance of the subsequent oracle by dwelling on the claims of the recipient of the revelation to be heard and heeded4 ,similarly1 the fourfold designation of the divine source has the same purpose1 and corresponds with the four clauses of verse #a1 ',the ,spirit of the ,lord spake in or into me4' ,that gives the ,psalmist's consciousness that in his prophecy he was but the recipient of a message4 ,it wonderfully describes the penetrating power of that inward voice which clearly came to him from without1 and as clearly spoke to him within4 ,words could not more plainly declare the prophetic consciousness of the distinction between himself and the ,voice which he heard in the depths of his spirit4 ,it spoke in him before he spoke his lyric prophecy4 ',his word was upon my tongue4' ,there we have the utterance succeeding the inward voice1 and the guarantee that the ,psalmist's word was a true transcript of the inward voice4 ',the ,god of ,israel said1' and therefore ,israel is concerned in the divine word1 which is not of private reference1 but meant for all4 ',the ,rock of ,israel spake1' and therefore ,israel may trust the ,word1 which rests on ,his immutable faithfulness and eternal being4 ,,ii4 ,the divine oracle thus solemnly introduced and guaranteed must be worthy of such a prelude4 ,abruptly1 and in clauses without verbs1 the picture of the righteous ,ruler is divinely flashed before the seer's inward eye4 ,the broken construction may perhaps indicate that he is describing what he beholds in vision4 ,there is no need for any supplement such as ',there shall be1' which1 however true in meaning1 mars the vividness of the presentation of the ,ruler to the prophet's sight4 ,david sees him painted on the else blank wall of the future4 ,when and where the realisation may be he knows not4 ,what are the majestic outlines8 ,a universal sovereign over collective humanity1 righteous and ,god-fearing4 ,in the same manner as he described the vision of the ,king1 ,david goes on1 as a man on some height telling what he saw to the people below1 and paints the blessed issues of the ,king's coming4 ,it had been night before ,he came1--the night of ignorance1 sorrow1 and sin1--but ,his coming is like one of these glorious ,eastern sunrises without a cloud1 when everything laughs in the early beams1 and1 with tropical swiftness1 the tender herbage bursts from the ground1 as born from the dazzling brightness and the fertilising rain4 ,so all things shall rejoice in the reign of the ,king1 and humanity be productive1 under ,his glad and quickening influences1 of growths of beauty and fruitfulness impossible to it without these4 ,the abrupt form of the prophecy has led some interpreters to construe it as1 ',when a king over men is righteous444 then it is as a morning1' etc4 ,but surely such a platitude is not worthy of being ,david's last word1 nor did it need divine inspiration to disclose to him that a just king is a great blessing4 ,the only worthy meaning is that which sees here1 in words so solemnly marked as a special revelation closing the life of ,david1 'the vision of the future and all the wonder that should be1' when a real ,person should thus reign over men4 ,the explanation that we have here simply the ideal of the collective ,davidic monarchy is a lame attempt to escape from the recognition of prophecy properly so called4 ,it is the work of poetry to paint ideals1 of prophecy to foretell1 with ,god's authority1 their realisation4 ,the picture here is too radiant to be realised in any mere human king1 and1 as a matter of fact1 never was so in any of ,david's successors1 or in the whole of them put together4 ,it either swings in vacuo1 a dream unrealised1 or it is a distinct prophecy from ,god of the reign of the coming ,messiah1 of whom ,david and all his sons1 as anointed kings1 were living prophecies4 ',the ,messianic idea entered on a new stage of development with the monarchy1 and that not as if the history stimulated men's imaginations1 but that ,god used the history as a means of further revelation by ,his prophetic ,spirit4 ,,iii4 ,the difficult verse #e1 whether its first and last clauses be taken interrogatively or negatively1 in its central part bases the assurance of the coming of the king on ,god's covenant 7#b ,samuel vii471 which is glorified as being everlasting1 provided with all requisites for its realisation1 and therefore 'sure1' or perhaps 'preserved1' as if guarded by ,god's inviolable sanctity and faithfulness4 ,the fulfilment of the dying saint's hopes depends on ,god's truth4 ,whatever sense might say1 or doubt whisper1 he silences them by gazing on that great ,word4 ,so we all have to do4 ,if we found our hopes and forecasts on it1 we can go down to the grave calmly1 though they be not fulfilled1 sure that 'no good thing can fail us of all that ,he hath spoken4' ,living or dying1 faith and hope must stay themselves on ,god's word4 ,happy they whose closing eyes see the form of the ,king1 and whose last thoughts are of ,god's faithful promise6 ,happy they whose forecasts of the future1 nearer or more remote1 are shaped by ,his word6 ,happy they who1 in the triumphant energy of such a faith1 can with dying lips proclaim that ,his promises overlap1 and contain1 all their salvation and all their desire6 ,if we read the first and last clauses negatively1 with ,revised ,version and others1 they1 as it were1 surround the kernel of clear-eyed faith1 in the middle of the verse1 with a husk1 not of doubt1 but of consciousness how far the present is from fulfilling the great promise4 ,the poor dying king looks back on the scandals of his later reign1 on his own sin1 on his children's lust1 rebellion1 and tragic deaths1 and feels how far from the ideal he and they have been4 ,he sees little token of growth toward realisation of that promise2 but yet in spite of a stained past and a wintry present1 he holds fast his confidence4 ,that is the true temper of faith1 which calls things that are not as though they were1 and is hindered by no sense of unworthiness nor by any discouragements born of sense1 from grasping with full assurance the promise of ,god4 ,but the consensus of the most careful expositors inclines to take both clauses as questions1 and then the meaning would be1 ',does not my house stand in such a relation to ,god that the righteous king will spring from it8 ,it is1 in this view1 a triumphant question1 expressing the strongest assurance1 and the next clause would then lay bare the foundation of that relation of ,david's house as not its goodness1 but ,god's covenant 7'for ,he hath made'74 ,similarly the last clause would be a triumphant question of certainty1 asserting in the strongest manner that ,god would cause that future salvation for the world1 which was wrapped up in the coming of the king1 and in which the dying man was sure that he should somehow have a share1 dead though he were1 to blossom and grow1 though he had to die as in the winter1 before the buds began to swell4 ,the assurance of immortality1 and of a share in all the blessings to come1 bursts from the lips that are so soon to be silent4 ,,iv4 ,but the oracle cannot end with painting only blessings as flowing from the king's reign4 ,if he is to rule in righteousness and the fear of the ,lord1 then he must fight against evil4 ,if his coming causes the tender grass to spring1 it will quicken ugly growths too4 ,the former representation is only half the truth2 and the threatening of destruction for the evil is as much a part of the divine oracle as the other4 ,strictly1 it is 'wickedness'--the abstract quality rather than the concrete persons who embody it--which is spoken of4 ,may we recall the old distinction that ,god loves the sinner while ,he hates the sin8 ,the picture is vivid4 ,the wicked--and all the enemies of this ,king are wicked1 in the prophet's view--are like some of these thorn-brakes1 that cannot be laid hold of1 even to root them out1 but need to be attacked with sharp pruning-hooks on long shafts1 or burned where they grow4 ,there is a destructive side to the coming of the ,king1 shadowed in every prophecy of him1 and brought emphatically to prominence in his own descriptions of his reign and its final issues4 ,it is a poor kindness to suppress that side of the truth4 ,thorns as well as tender grass spring up in the quickening beams2 and the best commentary on the solemn words which close ,david's closing song is the saying of the ,king himself3 ',in the time of the harvest ,i will say to the reapers1 ,gather up first the tares1 and bind them in bundles to burn them4' ,,the ,,royal ,,jubilee ,footnote3 ,preached on the occasion of ,queen ,victoria's ,diamond ,jubilee4 '444 ,he that ruleth over men must be just1 ruling in the fear of ,god4 #d4 ,and he shall be as the light of the morning1 when the sun riseth1 even a morning without clouds2 as the tender grass springing out of the earth1 by clear shining after rain4'--#b ,,samuel xxiii4 #c1 #d4 ,one of the ,psalms ascribed to ,david sounds like the resolves of a new monarch on his accession4 ,in it the ,psalmist draws the ideal of a king1 and says such things as1 ',i will behave myself wisely1 in a perfect way4 ,i will set no wicked thing before mine eyes4 ,i hate the work of them that turn aside4 ,mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land1 that they may dwell with me4' ,that psalm we may regard as the first words of the king when1 after long1 weary years1 the promise of ,samuel's anointing was fulfilled1 and he sat on the throne4 ,my text comes from what purports to be the last words of the same king4 ,he looks back1 and again the ideal of a monarch rises before him4 ,the psalm1 for it is a psalm1 though it is not in the ,psalter1 is compressed to the verge of obscurity2 and there may be many questions raised about its translation and its bearing4 ,these do not need to occupy us now1 but the words which ,i have selected for my text may1 perhaps1 best be represented to an ,english reader in some such sentence as this--',if 7or when7 one rules over men justly1 ruling in the fear of ,god1 then it shall be as the light of the morning when the sun riseth1 even a morning without clouds4' ,with such a monarch all the interests of his people will prosper4 ,his reign will be like the radiant dawn of a cloudless day1 and his land like the spring pastures when the fresh1 green grass is wooed out of the baked earth by the combined influence of rain and sunshine4 ,david's little kingdom was surrounded by giant empires1 in which brute force1 wielded by despotic will1 ground men down1 or squandered their lives recklessly4 ,but the ,king of ,israel had learned1 partly by the experience of his own reign1 and partly by divine inspiration1 that such rulers are not true types of a monarch after ,god's own heart4 ,this ideal king is neither a warrior nor a despot4 ,two qualities mark him1 ,justice and ,godliness4 ,pharaoh and his like1 oppressors1 were as the lightning which blasts and scorches4 ,the true king was to be as the sunshine that vitalises and gladdens4 ',he shall come down like rain upon the mown grass1 and as showers that water the earth4' ,we do not need to ask the question here1 though it might be very relevant on another occasion1 whether this portraiture is a mere ideal1 floating in vacuo1 or whether it is a direct prophecy of that expected ,messianic king who was to realise the divine ideal of sovereignty4 ,at all events we know that1 in its highest and deepest significance1 the picture of my text has lived and breathed human breath1 in ,jesus ,christ1 who both in ,his character and in ,his influence on the world1 fulfilled the ideal that floated before the eyes of the aged king4 ,i do not need to follow the course of thought in this psalm any farther4 ,you will have anticipated my motive for selecting this text now4 ,it seems to me to gather up1 in vivid and picturesque form1 the thoughts and feelings which to-day are thrilling through an ,empire1 to which the most extended dominion of these warrior kings of old was but a speck4 ,on such an occasion as this ,i need not make any apology1 ,i am sure1 for diverging from the ordinary topics of pulpit address1 and associating ourselves with the many millions who to-day are giving thanks for ,queen ,victoria4 ,my text suggests two lines along which the course of our thoughts may run4 ,the one is the personal character of this ideal monarch2 the other is its effects on his subjects4 ,i4 ,now1 with regard to the former1 the pulpit is1 in my judgment1 not the place either for the discussion of current events or the pronouncing of personal eulogiums4 ,but ,i shall not be wandering beyond my legitimate province1 if ,i venture to try to gather into a few words the reasons1 in the character and public life of our ,queen1 for the thankfulness of this day4 ,our text brings out1 as ,i have said1 two great qualities as those on which a throne is to be established1 ,justice and ,godliness4 ,now1 the ancient type of monarch was the fountain of justice1 in a very direct sense2 inasmuch as it was his office1 not only to pronounce sentence on criminals1 but to give decisions on disputed questions of right4 ,these functions have long ceased to be exercised by our monarchs1 but there is still room for both of those qualities--the ,justice which holds an even balance between parties and strifes1 the ,righteousness which has supreme regard to the primary duties that press alike upon prince and pauper1 and the ,godliness which1 as ,i believe1 is the root from which all righteousness1 as between man and man1 and as between prince and subject1 must ever flow4 ,morality is the garb of religion2 religion is the root of morality4 ,he1 and only he1 will hold an even balance and discharge his obligations to man1 whose life is rooted in1 and his acts under the continual influence of1 the fear of ,god which has in it no torment1 but is the parent of all things good4 ,we shall not be flatterers if we thankfully recognise in our ,sovereign ,lady the presence of both these qualities4 ,i have spoken of the first inaugural words of the ,king of ,israel1 and the resolutions that he made4 ,it is recorded that when1 to the child of eleven years of age1 the announcement was made that she stood near in the line of succession to the throne1 the tremulous young lips answered1 ',it is a great responsibility2 but ,i will be good4' ,and all round the world to-day her subjects attest that the aged monarch has kept the little maiden's vow4 ,contrast that life with the lives of the other women who have sat on the throne of ,england4 ,think of the brilliant ,queen1 whose glories our greatest poets were not ashamed to sing1 with the ,tudor masterfulness in her1 and not a little of the ,tudor grossness and passion1 and remember the blots that stained her glories4 ,think of her sister1 the morbidly melancholy tool of priests1 who goes down the ages branded with an epithet only too sadly earned4 ,think of another woman that ruled over ,england in name1 the weak instrument of base intrigues4 ,and then turn to this life which we are looking upon to-day4 ,think of the nameless scandals1 the hideous immorality of the reigns that preceded hers1 and you will not wonder that every decent man and every modest woman was thankful that1 with the young girl1 there came a breath of purer air into the foul atmosphere4 ,i am old enough to remember hearing1 as a boy1 the talk of my elders as to the probabilities of insurrection if1 instead of our ,queen1 there had come to the throne the brother of her two predecessors4 ,the hopes of those early days have been more than fulfilled4 ,it is not for us to determine the religious character of others1 and that is too sacred a region for us to enter2 but this we may say1 that in all these sixty years of diversified trial1 there has been no act known to us outsiders inconsistent with the highest motive1 the fear of the ,lord2 and some of us who have worshipped in the humble ,highland church where she has bowed have felt that on the throne of ,britain sat a ,christian4 ,nor need we forget how1 from that root of fear of ,god1 there has come that wondrous patience and faithfulness to duty1 the form of ',justice' which is possible for a constitutional monarch4 ,we have little notion of how pressing and numerous and continual the royal duties must necessarily be4 ,they have been discharged1 even when the blow that struck all sunshine out of life left an irrepressible shrinking from pageantry and pomp4 ,joys come2 joys go4 ,duties abide1 and they have been done4 ,nor can we forget1 either1 how the very difficult position of a constitutional monarch1 with the semblance of power and the reality of narrow restrictions1 has been filled4 ,our ,sovereign has never set herself against the will of the people1 expressed by its legitimate representatives1 even when that will may have imposed upon her the sanction of changes which she did not approve4 ,and that is much to say4 ,we have seen young despots whose self-will has threatened to wreck a nation's prosperity4 ,nor can we forget how all the immense influence of position and personality has been thrown on the side of purity and righteousness4 ,even we outsiders know how1 more than once or twice1 she has steadfastly set her face against the admission to her presence of men and women of evil repute1 and has in effect repeated ,david's proclamation against vice and immorality at his accession3 ',he that worketh wickedness shall not dwell within my house4' ,nor must we forget1 either1 the simplicity1 the beauty1 the tenderness of her wedded and family life1 her love of rural quiet1 and of wholesome communion with ,nature1 and her eagerness to take her people into her confidence1 as set forth in the book which1 whatever its literary merits1 speaks of her earnest appreciation of ,nature and her wish for the sympathy of her subjects4 ,then came the bolt from the blue1 that sudden crash that wrecked the happiness of a life4 ,many of us1 ,i have no doubt1 remember that dreary ,december ,sunday morning when1 while the nation was standing in expectation of another calamity from across the ,atlantic1 there flashed through the land the news of the ,prince's death2 thrilling all hearts1 and bringing all nearer to her1 the lonely widow1 than they had ever been in her days of radiant happiness4 ,how pathetically1 silently1 nobly1 devoutly1 that sorrow has been borne1 it is not for us to speak4 ,she has become one of the great company of sad and lonely hearts1 and in her sadness has shown an eager desire to send messages of sympathy to all whom she could reach1 who were in like darkness and sorrow4 ,brethren1 ,i have ventured to diverge so far from the ordinary run of pulpit ministrations because ,i feel that to-day all of us1 whatever may be our political or ecclesiastical relationships and proclivities1 are one in thanking ,god for the monarch whose life has been without a stain1 and her reign without a blot4 ,,ii4 ,now let me say a word as to the other line of thought which my text suggests1 the effect of such a reign on the condition of the subject4 ,now1 of course1 in the narrowly limited domain of that strange creation1 a constitutional monarchy1 there is far less opportunity for the ,sovereign's direct influence on the ,subject than there was in the ancient kingdoms of which ,david was thinking in his psalm4 ,the marvellous progress of ,britain during these sixty years is due1 not to our ,sovereign1 but to a multitude of strenuous workers and earnest thinkers in a hundred different departments1 as well as to the evolution of the gifts that come down to us from our ancient inheritance of freedom4 ,but we shall much mistake if1 for that reason1 we set aside the monarch's character and influence as of no account in the progress1 ,a supposition1 which is a violent one1 may be made which will set this matter in clearer light4 ,suppose that during these sixty years we had had a king on the throne of ,england like some of the kings we have had4 ,the sentiment of loyalty is not now of such a character as that it will survive a vicious sovereign4 ,if we had had such a monarch as ,i have hinted at1 the loyalty of the good would for all these years have been suffering a severe strain1 and the forces that make for evil would have been disastrously strengthened4 ,dangers escaped are unnoticed1 but one twelvemonth of the reign of a profligate would shake the foundations of the monarchy1 and would open the floodgates of vice2 and we should then know how much the nation owed to the ,queen whose life was pure1 and who cast all her influence on the side of 'things that are lovely and of good report4' ,take another supposition4 ,suppose that during these years of wonderful transition1 when the whole aspect of ,english politics and society has been transformed1 we had had a king like ,george ,,iii41 who set his opinion against the nation's will constitutionally expressed4 ,then no man knows with what storm and tumult1 with what strife and injury1 the inevitable transition would have been effected4 ,be sure of this1 that the wise self-effacement of our ,sovereign during these critical years of change is largely the reason why they have been years of peace1 in which the new has mingled itself with the old without revolution or disturbance4 ,it is due to her in a very large degree that ',freedom broadens slowly down ,from precedent to precedent4' ,i need not dilate on the changed ,britain that she looks out upon and rules to-day4 ,i need not speak--there will be many voices to do that1 in not altogether agreeable notes1 for there will be a dash of too much self-complacency in them--about progress in material wealth1 colonial expansion1 the increase of education1 the gentler manners1 the new life that has been breathed over art and literature1 the achievements in science and philosophy1 the drawing together of classes1 the bridging over of the great gulf between rich and poor by some incipient and tentative attempts at sympathy and brotherhood4 ,nor need ,i dwell upon the ecclesiastical signs of the times1 in which1 mingled as they are1 there is at least this one great good1 that never since the early days have so large a proportion of ,christian men been 'seeking after the things that make for peace1' and realising the oneness of all believers who hold the ,headship of ,christ4 ,all this review falls more properly into other hands than mine4 ,only ,i would put in a caution--do not let us mingle self-conceit with our congratulations2 and1 above all1 do not let us 'rest and be thankful4' ,there is much to be done yet4 ,listening ears can catch on every side vague sounds that tell of unrest and of the stirrings into wakefulness of ',the spirit of the years to come1 ,yearning to mix itself with life4' ,i seem to hear all around me the rushing in the dark of a mighty current that is bearing down upon us4 ,great social questions are rapidly coming to the front--the questions of distribution of wealth1 abolition of privilege1 the relations of labour and capital1 and many others are clamant to be dealt with at least1 if not solved4 ,there ,is much to be done before ,jesus ,christ is throned as ,king of ,england4 ,war has to be frowned down2 the brotherhood of man has to be realised1 temperance has to be much more largely practised than it is4 ,i need not go over the catalogue of desiderata1 of agenda--things that have to be done--in the near future4 ,only this ,i would say--,christian men and women are the last people who should be ready to 'rest and be thankful1' for the principles of the ,gospel that we profess1 which have never been applied to the life of nations as they ought to be1 will solve the questions which make the despair of so many in this generation4 ,we shall best express our thankfulness for these past sixty years by each of us taking our part in the great movement which1 in the inevitable drift of things to democracy1 is going to 'cast the kingdom old into another mould1' and which will1 ,i pray1 make our people more of what ,john ,milton long ago called them1 ',god's ,englishmen4' ,we have taught the nations many things4 ,our ,parliament is called the ,mother of ,parliaments4 ,ours is ',the land where1 girt with friends or foes1 ,a man may say the thing he will4' ,it has taught the nations a tempered freedom1 and that a monarchy may be a true republic4 ,may we rise to the height of our privileges and responsibilities1 and teach our subject peoples1 not only mechanics1 science1 law1 free trade1 but a loftier morality1 and the name of ,him by whom kings reign and princes decree justice6 ,we1 members of the free ,churches of ,england1 come seldom under the notice of royalty1 and have little acquaintance with courts1 but we yield to none in our recognition of the virtues and in our sympathy with the sorrows of the ,sovereign ,lady1 the good woman1 who rules these lands1 and we all heartily thank ,god for her to-day1 and pray that for long years still to come the familiar letters ,v4,r4 may stand1 as they have stood to two generations1 as the symbol of womanly purity and of the faithful discharge of queenly duty4 ,a ,,libation ,,to ,,jehovah ',and ,david longed1 and said1 ,oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of ,beth-lehem1 which is by the gate6 #af4 ,and the three mighty men brake through the host of the ,philistines1 and drew water out of the well of ,beth-lehem1 that was by the gate1 and took it and brought it to ,david3 nevertheless he would not drink thereof1 but poured it out unto the ,lord4 #ag4 ,and he said1 ,be it far from me1 ,o ,lord1 that ,i should do this2 is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives8 therefore he would not drink it4 ,these things did these three mighty men4'--#b ,,samuel xxiii4 #ae-ag4 ,david's fortunes were at a low ebb4 ,he was in hiding in his cave of ,adullam1 and a ,philistine garrison held ,bethlehem1 his native place4 ,he was little different from an outlaw at the head of a band of 'broken men1' but there were depths of chivalry and poetry in his heart4 ,sweltering in his cave in the fierce heat of harvest1 he thought of his native ,bethlehem2 he remembered the old days when he had watered his flock at the well by its gate1 or mingled with the people of the little town1 in their evening assemblies round it4 ,the memories of boyhood rose up radiant before him1 and as he was immersed in the past1 the grim present1 the perils that threatened his life1 the savage1 gaunt rocks without a trace of greenness that girded him1 the privations to which he was exposed1 were all forgotten1 and he longed for one more draught of the water that tasted so cool and sweet to memory4 ,three of his 'mighty men1' bound to him by loyal devotion and unselfish love1 were ready to die to win for their chief a momentary gratification4 ,so they slipped away from ,adullam1 'brake through the host of the ,philistines1' and brought back the longed-for draught4 ,david's reception of the dearly-bought1 sparkling gift was due to a noble impulse4 ,the water seemed to him to be dyed with blood1 and to be not water so much as 'lives of men4' ,it had become too precious to be used to satisfy his longing4 ,it would be base self-indulgence to drink what had been won by such self-forgetting devotion4 ,god only had the right to receive what men had risked their lives to obtain1 and therefore he 'poured it out unto the ,lord4' ,the story gleams out of the fierce narratives in which it is embedded1 like a flower blooming on some grim cliff4 ,may we not learn lessons from it8 ,i4 ,david's longing4 ,david1 a fugitive in the cave1 haunted by the 'nostalgia' that made ,bethlehem seem so fair and dear1 may stand for us as an example of the longings and thirsts that sometimes force themselves into consciousness in every soul4 ,below the bustle and strife of daily life1 occupied as it must be with material and often ignoble things1 below the hardness into which the world has compressed men's surface nature1 there lies a yearning for the cool water that rises hard by the gate of our native home4 ,true1 it is with many of us overlaid for the most part by coarser desires1 and may be as unlike our usual dominant longings and aims1 as ,david's tender outbreak of sentiment was to the prevailing tenor of his life1 in those days when he was an outlaw and a freebooter4 ,but the longing1 though often stifled1 is not wholly quenched4 ,it is misinterpreted by the man who is conscious of it1 and far too often he tries to slake the thirst by fiery and drugged liquors which but make it more intense4 ,happy are they who know what it is that their parched palates crave1 and have learned1 while yet the knowledge avails1 to say1 ',my soul thirsteth for ,god1 for the living ,god'6 ',blessed are they who thirst after' the water of the well of ,bethlehem1 'for they shall be filled6' ,,ii4 ,the three heroes' devotion4 ,these three rough soldiers1 lawless and fierce as they were1 had been so mastered by their chief that they were ready to dare anything to pleasure him4 ,who would have looked for such delicacy of feeling and such enthusiastic self-surrender in such men8 ,they stand as grand instances of the height of devotion of which the rudest nature is capable1 when once its love and loyalty to the ,beloved are evoked4 ,how such deeds ennoble the lowest types of character1 and make us think better of men1 and more sadly of the contrast between their habitual characteristics and the possibilities that lie slumbering in their ignoble lives6 ,there are sparks in the hard cold flint1 if only they could be struck out4 ,there is water in the rock1 if only the right hand1 armed with the wonder-working rod1 smites it4 ,let us not judge men too harshly by what they do and are1 but let us try to bring their sleeping possibilities into conscious exercise4 ,let us remember that love and self-sacrifice1 which is the very outcome and natural voice of love1 ennoble the most degraded4 ,but these heroic three may suggest to us a sadder thought4 ,they were ready to die for ,david2 would they have been as ready to die for ,god8 ,these noble emotions of love1 leading to glad flinging away of life to pleasure the beloved1 are freely given to men1 but too often withheld from ,god1 ,we lavish on our beloveds or on our chosen leaders1 a devotion that ought to shame us1 when contrasted with the scantiness of our grudging devotion and self-surrender to ,him4 ,if we loved ,god a tenth part as ardently as we love our wives or husbands or parents or children1 and were willing to do and bear as much for ,him as we are willing to bear for them1 how different our lives would be6 ,we can love utterly1 enthusiastically1 self-forget-tingly1 absorbed in the beloved1 and counting all surrender of self to1 and the sacrifice of life itself for1 him or her a delight4 ,many of us do love men so4 ,do we love ,god so8 ,but these heroic three may suggest another thought4 ,their self-sacrificing love was illustrious2 but there is a nobler1 more wonderful1 more soul-subduing instance of such love4 ,they broke through the ranks of the ,philistines to bring ,david a draught from the well of ,bethlehem4 ,jesus has broken through the ranks of our enemies to bring us the water of which 'if a man drink1 he shall live for ever4' ,if we would see the highest example of self-sacrificing love1 we must turn to look1 not on the instances of it that shine through the ages on the page of history1 and make men thrill as they gaze1 and think better of the human nature that can do such things1 but on the ,christ hanging on the ,cross because ,he loved those who did not love ,him1 and giving ,his life a ransom for sinners4 ,,iii4 ,david's reception of the water4 ,the chivalrous devotion of the three touched an answering chord in their chivalrous chief4 ,his heart filled at the thought of what they had risked1 and revolted from employing what had been thus won for no higher use than to gratify a piece of sentiment in himself4 ,the sparkling water was too sacred to be taken for any baser use than as a libation to ,jehovah4 ,and who can doubt that the three were more fully repaid for their devotion1 as ,david poured it out unto the ,lord1 than if he had drunk it eagerly up8 ,his feeling and his act indicate beautiful delicacy of instinct1 and swiftness of perception of how to requite the devotion of the three4 ,we may separate into its two parts the generous impulse which sprang as one whole in ,david's breast4 ,there was the shrinking from using the water to slake his thirst merely1 and there was the resolve to pour it out as a libation to ,god4 ,both parts of that whole may yield us profitable thoughts4 ,to risk their lives for the water was noble in the three2 to have quaffed it as if it had been drawn like any other water from a well1 would have been ignoble in ,david4 ,there are things that it may be noble to give and ignoble to accept4 ,there are sacrifices which we are not entitled to allow others to make for our sakes4 ,gratifications which can only be procured at the hazard of men's lives are too dearly bought4 ,would not a civilisation1 that draws much of its comforts and appliances from 'sweated industries1' and is languidly amused by seeing men and women performers peril their lives nightly1 and lose them too1 for its gratification1 be the better for copying ,david's recoil from drinking 'the blood of men that went in jeopardy of their lives'8 ,is there not 'blood' on many a woman's ball-dress1 on many an article of luxury1 on many an amusement8 ,there are sacrifices which we have no right to accept from others4 ,the three had no right to risk life for such a purpose1 and ,david would have been selfish if he had drunk the water4 ,do not such thoughts lead us by contrast to ,him who has done what none other can do8 ',none of them can by any means redeem his brother1 nor give his life a ransom for him'2 but ,jesus can and ,jesus does1 and what it would be impossible1 and wrong if it were possible1 for one man to do for another1 ,he has done for us all1 and what it would be base for a man to accept from another if that other could give it1 it is blessed and the beginning of all nobleness of character for us to accept from ,him4 ,david would not drink because the cup seemed to him to be red with blood4 ,jesus offers to us a cup1 not of cold water only but of 'water and blood1' and bids us drink of it and remember ,him4 ,the generous devotion of the three kindled answering emotions in ,david's breast4 ,it would be a churlish soul that was not warmed into some faint replica of such self-sacrifice1 and most of us would be ashamed of ourselves if we were unmoved by such love4 ,but does the supreme example of it affect us as much as the lesser examples of it do8 ,how many of us stand before it like the peaks of the ,alps that front full south1 and lift an unmelted breastplate of snow to the midday sun6 ,how many of us have lived all our lives in presence of ,jesus' infinite love and self-surrender for us each1 and never have felt one transient touch of answering love6 ,the other part of ,david's impulse was to offer to ,god what was too precious for his own use4 ,that is the fitting destination of our most precious and prized possessions4 ,and whatever is thus offered becomes more precious by being offered4 ,the altar sanctifies and enhances the worth of the gift4 ,what we give to ,god is more our own than if we had kept it to ourselves1 and develops richer capacities of ministering to our delight4 ,it is so with our greatest surrender1 the surrender of ourselves4 ,when we give ourselves to ,jesus1 ,he renders us back to ourselves1 far better worth having than before4 ,we are never so much our own as when we are wholly ,christ's4 ,and the same thing is true as to all our riches of mind1 heart1 or worldly wealth4 ,if we wish to taste their most delicate and refined sweetness1 let us give them to ,jesus1 and the touch of ,his hand1 as ,he accepts them and gives them back to us1 will leave a lingering fragrance that nothing else can impart4 ,was not the water from the well of ,bethlehem sweeter to ,david as he poured it out unto the ,lord than if he had greedily gulped it down8 ,,the ,,first ,,book ,,of ,,kings ,,david ,,appointing ,,solomon ',then king ,david answered and said1 ,call me ,bath-sheba4 ,and she came into the king's presence1 and stood before the king4 #bi4 ,and the king sware1 and said1 ,as the ,lord liveth1 that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress1 #cj4 ,even as ,i sware unto thee by the ,lord ,god of ,israel1 saying1 ,assuredly ,solomon thy son shall reign after me1 and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead2 even so will ,i certainly do this day4 #ca4 ,then ,bath-sheba bowed with her face to the earth1 and did reverence to the king1 and said1 ,let my lord king ,david live for ever4 #cb4 ,and king ,david said1 ,call me ,zadok the priest1 and ,nathan the prophet1 and ,benaiah the son of ,jehoiada4 ,and they came before the king4 #cc4 ,the king also said unto them1 ,take with you the servants of your lord1 and cause ,solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule1 and bring him down to ,gihon3 #cd4 ,and let ,zadok the priest and ,nathan the prophet anoint him there king over ,israel3 and blow ye with the trumpet1 and say1 ,god save king ,solomon4 #ce4 ,then ye shall come up after him1 that he may come and sit upon my throne2 for he shall be king in my stead3 and ,i have appointed him to be ruler over ,israel and over ,judah4 #cf4 ,and ,benaiah the son of ,jehoiada answered the king1 and said1 ,amen2 the ,lord ,god of my lord the king say so too4 #cg4 ,as the ,lord hath been with my lord the king1 even so be he with ,solomon1 and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king ,david4 #ch4 ,so ,zadok the priest1 and ,nathan the prophet1 and ,benaiah the son of ,jehoiada1 and the ,cherethites1 and the ,pelethites1 went down1 and caused ,solomon to ride upon king ,david's mule1 and brought him to ,gihon4 #ci4 ,and ,zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle1 and anointed ,solomon4 ,and they blew the trumpet2 and all the people said1 ,god save king ,solomon4'--#a ,,kings i4 #bh-ci4 ,the earlier part of this chapter must be taken into account in order to get the right view of this incident4 ,david's eldest surviving son1 ,adonijah1 had claimed the succession1 and gathered his partisans to a feast4 ,nathan1 alarmed at the prospect of such a successor1 had arranged with ,bathsheba that she should go to ,david and ask his public confirmation of his promise to her that ,solomon should succeed him1 and that then ,nathan should seek an audience while she was with the king1 and1 as independently1 should prefer the same request4 ,the plan was carried out1 and here we see its results4 ,the old king was roused to a flash of his ancient vigour1 confirmed his oath to ,bathsheba1 and promptly cut the ground from under ,adonijah's feet by sending for the three who had remained true to him--,nathan1 ,benaiah1 and ,zadok--and despatching them without a moment's delay to proclaim ,solomon king1 and then to bring him up to the palace and enthrone him4 ,the swift execution of these decisive orders1 and the burst of popular acclamation which welcomed ,solomon's accession1 shattered the nascent conspiracy1 and its supporters scattered in haste1 to preserve their lives4 ,the story may be best dealt with1 for our purpose1 by taking this brief summary and trying to draw lessons from it4 ,i4 ,it points anew the truth that 'whatsoever a man soweth1 that shall he also reap4' ,as ,absalom1 so ,adonijah1 had been spoiled by ,david's over-indulgence 7verse #f71 and having never had his wishes checked1 was now letting his unbridled wishes hurry him into rebellion4 ,nor was that fault of ,david's the only one which brought about the miserable squabbles round his deathbed1 as to who should wear the crown which had not yet fallen from his head4 ,eastern monarchies are familiar with struggles for the crown between the sons of different mothers when their father dies4 ,david had indulged in a multitude of wives1 and his last days were darkened by the resulting intrigues of his sons4 ,no doubt1 too1 ,solomon was disliked by his brethren as the child of ,bathsheba1 and the shame of ,david's crime was an obstacle in his younger son's way4 ,thus1 as ever1 his evil deeds came home to roost1 and the poisonous seed which he had sown grew up and waved1 a bitter harvest1 which he had to reap4 ,repentance and forgiveness did not neutralise the natural consequences of his sin4 ,nor will they do so for us4 ,god often leaves them to be experienced1 that the experience may make us hate the sins the more4 ,,ii4 ,the sad defection to ,adonijah of such tried friends as ,joab and ,abiathar has its lesson4 ,the reason for ,joab's treachery is plain4 ,he had been steadily drifting away from ,david for years4 ,his fierce temper could not brook the king's displeasure on account of his murders of ,abner and ,amasa1 and his slaying of ,absalom had made the breach irreparable4 ,no doubt1 ,david had made him feel that he loved and trusted him no longer2 and his old comrade in many a fight1 ,benaiah1 had stepped into the place which he had once filled4 ,professional rivalry had darkened into bitter bate4 ,joab commanded the native-born ,israelites2 ,benaiah1 the ',cherethites and ,pelethites1' who are now generally regarded as foreign mercenaries4 ,they were ,david's bodyguard1 and were probably as heartily hated by ,joab and the other ,israelite soldiers as they were trusted by ,david4 ,so there were reasons enough for ,joab's abetting an insurrection which would again make him the foremost soldier4 ,he wanted to be indispensable1 and would prop the throne as long as its occupant looked only to him as its defender4 ,besides1 he probably felt that he would have little chance of winning distinction in a kingdom which was to be a peaceful one4 ,abiathar's motives are unexplained1 but if we notice that he had been obliged to acquiesce in the irregular arrangement of putting the high-priest's office into commission1 we can understand that he bore no goodwill to ,zadok1 his colleague1 or to ,david for making the latter so4 ,self was at the bottom of these two renegades' action4 ,the fair fellowship1 which had been made the closer because of dangers and privations faced together1 crumbled away before the disintegrating influences of petty personal jealousies4 ,when once self-regard gets in1 it is like the trickle of water in the cracks of a rock1 which freezes in winter and splits the hardest stone4 ,no common action for a great cause is possible without the suppression of sidelong looks towards private advantage4 ,joab and ,abiathar tarnished a life's devotion and broke sacred bonds1 because they thought of themselves rather than of ,god's will4 ,surely they must have had some pangs as they sat at ,adonijah's feast1 when they thought of the decrepit old king lying in his chamber up on ,zion1 and remembered what he and they had come through together4 ,,iii4 ,we may note the pathetic picture of decaying old age which is seen in ,david4 ,he was not very old in years1 being about seventy1 but he was a worn-out man4 ,his early hardships had told on him1 and now he lay in the inner chamber1 the shadow of himself4 ,his love for ,bathsheba had died down1 as would appear both from her demeanour before him1 and from her ignorance of his intentions as to his successor4 ,she was little or nothing to him now4 ,he seems to have been torpidly unaware of what was going on4 ,the noise of ,adonijah's revels had not disturbed his quiet4 ,he had not even taken the trouble to designate his successor1 though 'the eyes of all ,israel were upon him that he should tell who was to sit on his throne after him' 7v4 #bj74 ,such neglect was criminal in the circumstances1 and brings out forcibly the weary indifference which had crept over him4 ,contrast that picture with the early days of swift energy and eager interest in all things4 ,is this half-comatose old man the ,david who flashed like a meteor and struck swift as a thunderbolt but a few years before8 ,yes1 and a like collapse of power befalls us all1 if life is prolonged4 ,those who most need the lesson will be least touched by it2 but let not the young glory in their strength1 for it soon fades away2 and let them give the vigour of their early days to ,god1 that1 when the years come in which they shall say1 ',i have no pleasure in them1' they may be able1 like ,david1 to look back over a long life and say1 with him1 that the ,lord 'hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity4' ,,iv4 ,we note the flash of fire which blazed up in the dying embers of ,david's life4 ,the old lion could be roused yet1 and could strike when roused4 ,it took much to shake him out of his torpor4 ,nathan's plan of bringing the double influence of ,bathsheba and himself to bear was successful beyond what he had hoped4 ,all that they desired was a formal declaration of ,solomon as successor4 ,they knew that the king's name was still dear enough to all ,israel to ensure that his wish would settle the succession2 and they would have been content to have left the actual entrance of ,solomon on office till after ,david's death1 so sure were they that his word was still a spell4 ,but the old king1 shaking off his languor1 as a lion does the drops from his mane1 goes beyond their wishes1 and strikes one decisive blow as with a great paw1 and no second is needed4 ,without a moment's delay1 he sends for the trusty three1 and bids them act on the instant4 ,so down to ,gihon goes the procession1 with the youthful prince seated on his father's mule1 in token of his accession1 the trusty bodyguard round him with ,benaiah at their head1 and the great prophet ,nathan1 side by side with the high-priest ,zadok1 representing the divine sanction of the solemn act4 ,it would take stronger men than the spoiled ,adonijah and his revellers to upset anything which that determined company resolved to do4 ,the lad is anointed with the holy oil which ,zadok as high-priest had the right to bring forth from the temporary sanctuary4 ,that signified and effected the communication from above of qualifications for the kingly office1 and indicated divine appointment4 ,then out blared the trumpets1 and the glad people shouted ',god save the king6' ,what thoughts filled the young heart of ,solomon as he stood silent there his vision in ,gibeon may partly tell4 ,but the distant roar of acclaim reached ,adonijah and his gang as they sat at their too hasty banquet4 ,they had begun at the wrong end4 ,the feast should have closed1 not inaugurated1 the dash for the crown4 ,they who feast when they should fight are likely to end their mirth with sorrow4 ,david's one stroke was enough4 ,they were as sure as ,nathan and ,bathsheba had been that the declaration of his wish would carry all ,israel with it1 and so they saw that the game was up1 and there was a rush for dear life4 ,the empty banqueting-hall proclaimed the collapse of a rebellion which had no brains to guide it1 and no reason to justify it4 ,let us learn that1 though 'the race is not always to the swift1' promptitude of action1 when we are sure of ,god's will1 is usually a condition of success4 ,life is too short1 and the work to be done too pressing and great1 to allow of dawdling4 ',i made haste1 and delayed not1 but made haste to keep ,thy commandments4' ,let us learn1 too1 from ,adonijah's fiasco1 to see the end of a thing before we commit ourselves to it1 and to have the work done first before we think of the feast4 ,nathan and ,bathsheba and ,david all believed that ,god had willed ,solomon's succeeding to the throne4 ,no doubt1 the reason for their belief was the divine word to ,david through ,nathan 7#b ,samuel vii4 #ab71 which designated a son not yet born as his successor1 and therefore excluded ,adonijah as well as ,absalom4 ,but1 while they believed this1 they did not therefore let ,adonijah work his will1 and leave ,god to carry out ,his purposes4 ,their belief animated their action4 ,they knew what ,god willed1 and therefore they worked strenuously to effect that will4 ,we may bewilder our brains with speculations about the relation between ,god's sovereignty and man's freedom1 but1 when it comes to practical work1 we have to put out the best and most that is in us to prevent ,god's will from being thwarted by rebellious men1 and to ensure its being carried into effect through our efforts1 'for we are ,god's fellow-workers4' ,a ,,young ,,man',s ,,wise ,,choice ,,op ,,wisdom ',in ,gibeon the ,lord appeared to ,solomon in a dream by night3 and ,god said1 ,ask what ,i shall give thee4 #f4 ,and ,solomon said1 ,thou hast shewed unto ,thy servant ,david my father great mercy1 according as he walked before ,thee in truth1 and in righteousness1 and in uprightness of heart with ,thee2 and ,thou hast kept for him this great kindness1 that ,thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne1 as it is this day4 #g4 ,and now1 ,o ,lord my ,god1 ,thou hast made ,thy servant king instead of ,david my father3 and ,i am but a little child3 ,i know not how to go out or come in4 #h4 ,and ,thy servant is in the midst of ,thy people which ,thou hast chosen1 a great people1 that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude4 #i4 ,give therefore ,thy servant an understanding heart to judge ,thy people1 that ,i may discern between good and bad3 for who is able to judge this ,thy so great a people8 #aj4 ,and the speech pleased the ,lord1 that ,solomon had asked this thing4 #aa4 ,and ,god said unto him1 ,because thou hast asked this thing1 and hast not asked for thyself long life2 neither hast asked riches for thyself1 nor hast asked the life of thine enemies2 but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment2 #ab4 ,behold1 ,i have done according to thy words3 lo1 ,i have given thee a wise and an understanding heart2 so that there was none like thee before thee1 neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee4 #ac4 ,and ,i have also given thee that which thou hast not asked1 both riches and honour3 so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days4 #ad4 ,and if thou wilt walk in ,my ways1 to keep ,my statutes and ,my commandments1 as thy father ,david did walk1 then ,i will lengthen thy days4 #ae4 ,and ,solomon awoke2 and1 behold1 ,it was a dream4 ,and he came to ,jerusalem1 and stood before the ark of the covenant of the ,lord1 and offered up burnt offerings1 and offered peace offerings1 and made a feast to all his servants4'--#a ,,kings iii4 #e-ae4 ,the new king was apparently some nineteen or twenty years old on his accession4 ,he stepped at once out of seclusion and idleness to bear the whole weight of the kingdom4 ,the glories of ,david's reign1 his brother ,adonijah's pretensions to the crown1 the smouldering hostility of ,saul's old partisans1 made his position difficult and his throne unsteady4 ,no doubt1 'the weight of too much dignity' pressed on the youth1 and this dream found a point of origin in his waking thoughts4 ,god does not thus reveal ,himself to men who seek ,him not2 and the offer in the vision is but the repetition of what ,solomon felt in many a waking moment of meditation that ,god was saying to him1 and the choice he makes in it is the choice that he had already made4 ,he who seeks wisdom first is already wise4 ,i4 ,note the wide possibilities opened by the divine offer4 ,our narrative brings that gracious offer into connection with ,solomon's lavish sacrifice before the ,tabernacle at ,gibeon4 ',god loveth a cheerful giver' and because these thousand burnt offerings meant devotion and thankfulness1 therefore ,he who lets no man be the poorer for what he gives to ,him1 and is honoured most1 not by our givings to1 but by our takings from ,him1 comes in the quiet night1 and puts the key of all ,his treasures into the young king's hands4 ,in a very real sense this divine voice is but the putting into words of the fact as to every young life4 ,the all but boundless possibilities before every young man and woman give solemnity to their position1 which they too often do not recognise till youth is past4 ,the future lies blank before them1 ready to receive what they choose to write on its page4 ,once written1 it is indelible4 ,they are still free from the limitations of habit and associations4 ,they have still the capacity and the opportunity of choice4 ,there are limits1 of course1 but still it is scarcely exaggeration to say that a man may become almost anything he likes1 if he strongly wills it when young1 and sticks to his resolve4 ,when the liquid iron flows from the blast furnace1 it may be run into any mould2 but it soon cools and hardens1 and obstinately keeps its shape1 in spite of hammers4 ,if young men and women could but see the possibilities of their youth1 and the issues that hang on early choice1 as clearly as they will see them some day1 there would be fewer wasted mornings of life and fewer gloomy sunsets4 ,but the misery is that so many do not choose at all1 but just let things slide1 and allow themselves to be moulded by whatever influence happens to be strongest4 ,for one man who goes wrong by deliberate choice1 with open eyes1 there are twenty who simply drift4 ,unfortunately1 there is more evil than good in the world2 and if a lad takes his colour from his surroundings1 the chances are terribly against his coming to anything high1 noble1 or pure4 ,this world is no place for a man who cannot say ',no4' ,if we are like the weeds in a stream1 and let it decide which way we shall point1 we shall be sure to point downwards4 ,it would do much to secure the choice of the ,good1 if there were a clear recognition by all young persons of the fact that they have the choice to make1 and are really making it unconsciously4 ,if they could be brought1 like ,solomon1 to put their ruling wish into plain words1 many who are not ashamed to yield to unworthy desires would be ashamed to speak them out baldly4 ,let each ask himself1 ',suppose that ,i had to say out what ,i want most1 dare ,i avow before my own conscience1 to say nothing of ,god1 what it is8 ,looked at from a somewhat different point of view1 ,god's offer to ,solomon presupposes ,god's knowledge and approval of his wishes4 ,he does not give blank cheques to those whom ,he cannot trust to fill them up rightly4 ,when ,james and ,john tried to commit ,jesus to a blind promise 'that ,thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall ask of ,thee1' their answer was a question as to what they wished4 ',delight thyself also in the ,lord1 and ,he shall give thee the desires of thine heart4' ,god loves us too well to let us have carte blanche unless our wills run parallel with ,his4 ,he is a foolish and cruel father who promises compliance with all his child's unknown wishes4 ,not such is our ,father's loving discipline4 ,it is to those who 'abide in ,christ1' and have ,him abiding in them1 moulding their longings and prayers1 that the great promise is sealed3 ',ye shall ask what ye will1 and it shall be done unto you4' ,,ii4 ,note next the wise choice of wisdom4 ',had not ,solomon been wise before1 he had not known the worth of wisdom4 ,the dunghill cocks of this world cannot know the price of this pearl2 those that have it know that all other excellencies are but trash and rubbish unto it4' ,solomon's prayer shows the temper with which he entered on his reign4 ,there is no exultation2 his serious and clear-eyed spirit sees in rule a heavy task4 ,he contrasts his inexperienced rawness with the 'truth and righteousness' and veteran maturity of his great predecessor1 and trembles to think that he1 a mere lad1 sits on ,david's throne4 ,but he pleads with ,god that ,he has made him king1 and implies that therefore ,god is bound to fit him for his office4 ,that is the boldness permitted to faith1--to remind ,god of ,his own past acts1 which pledge ,him to give what ,he has put us into circumstances to need4 ,with beautiful humility1 ,solomon dwells on his youth and inexperience1 and on the vastness of the charge laid on him4 ,all these considerations are the motives for his choice of a gift1 and also pleas with ,god to grant his request4 ,he asks for the practical wisdom needed for ruling in these old days1 when the king was judge as well as ruler and captain4 ,was this the highest gift that he could have asked or received8 ,surely the deep longings of his father for communion with ,god were yet better4 ,no doubt the 'wisdom' of the ,book of ,proverbs is religion and morality as well as true thinking1 but the 'understanding heart to judge ,thy people' which ,solomon asked and received is narrower and more secular in its meaning4 ,there is no sign in his biography that he ever had the deep inward devotion of his father4 ,after the poet-psalmist came the prosaic and keen-sighted shrewd man of affairs4 ,the one breathed his ardent soul into psalms1 which feed devotion to-day2 the other crystallised his discernment in 'three thousand proverbs1' and1 though his 'songs were one thousand and five' they touched a lower range1 both of poetry and religious feeling1 than his father's1 as may be expressed by calling them 'songs1' not 'psalms4' ,but though the request is not the highest1 it may well be taken as a pattern by the young4 ,note the view of his position from which it rises4 ,to ,solomon dignity meant duty2 and his crown was not a toy1 but a task4 ,the responsibilities1 not the enjoyments1 of his station were uppermost in his mind4 ,that is the only right view to take4 ,youth is meant to be enthusiastic1 and to feed its aspirations on noble ideals1 and if1 instead of that1 it does as too many do1 especially in countries where wealth abounds1 namely1 regards life as a garden of delights1 or sometimes as a sty where young men may wallow in 'pleasures1' then farewell to all hopes of high achievements or of an honourable career4 ,youthful ideals will fade fast enough2 but alas for the life which had none to begin with6 ,note the sense of insufficiency for his task4 ,youth is prone to be over-confident1 and to think that it can do better than its fathers1 who were as confident in their time4 ,there is a false humility which flattens the spirit and keeps from plain duty2 and there is a true lowliness which feels that the task must be attempted1 though the heart may shrink1 and which impels to prayer for fitness not its own4 ,he who tells ,god his consciousness of impotence1 and asks ,him to supply ,his strength to its weakness and ,his wisdom to its inexperience1 will never shirk work because it is too great1 nor ever fail to find power according to his need4 ,,iii4 ,note ,god's answer4 ,solomon gets his wish1 and much which he had not asked besides4 ,the divine answer is in two parts4 ,first1 the reasons for the large gift2 and second1 the details of the gift4 ,his not wishing material good was the very reason why he obtained it4 ,that is not always so2 for often enough a man whose whole nature is sharpened to one point1 in the intensity of his desire to make money1 will succeed4 ,but what then8 ,he will be none the better1 but the poorer1 for his wealth4 ,but this is always true1--that the people who do not make worldly good their first object are the people who can be most safely trusted with it1 and who get most enjoyment out of it4 ,whether in the precise form of the gift to ,solomon or not1 outward good does attend a life which sets duty before pleasure1 and desires most to be able to do it4 ,all earthly good is exalted by being put second1 and degraded as well as corrupted by being put first4 ,the water lapped up in the palm1 as the soldier marches1 is sweeter than the abundant draughts swilled down by self-indulgence4 ',seek ye first the kingdom of ,god1 444 and all these things shall be added unto you4' ,note the largeness of the gift4 ,when ,god is pleased with a man's prayers1 ,he gives more than was asked1 and so teaches us to be ashamed of the smallness of our expectations1 and widens our desires by ,his overlapping bestowments4 ,first1 ,he gives the wisdom asked4 ,dependence on ,god1 rising from the sense of our own ignorance1 has a wonderful power of bringing illumination1 even as to small matters of practical duty4 ,solomon asked it1 to guide him in his judicial decisions2 and the first case to which it was applied1 when received1 was a miserable quarrel between two disreputable women4 ,a devout heart1 purged from self-conceit1 is often gifted with a piercing wisdom before which the crafty shrewdness of the world is abashed4 ,we cannot be 'wise as serpents' unless we are 'harmless as doves4' ,the world may think such 'wisdom' folly1 but she will be 'justified of her children4' ,is the saying of ,james's ,epistle a reminiscence of ,solomon's dream1 ',if any of you lack wisdom1 let him ask of ,god1 444 and it shall be given him'8 ,then follows the grant of the unasked goods1--riches1 honour1 and length of days4 ,surely we hear an echo of these promises in that magnificent description of ,wisdom in the ,book of ,proverbs3 ',length of days is in her right hand2 in her left hand are riches and honour' ,these and similar gifts may or may not follow our choice of divine wisdom as our truest good ,if we have really chosen it1 we shall regard them as make-weights1 to be thankfully received and rightly used1 but not as indispensable4 ,if we pursue wisdom for the sake of getting these1 we shall lose both it and them4 ,if we have set our desires most earnestly on the most worthy things1 which are ,god's love and a character hallowed by ,his grace1 we shall be rich indeed1 whether what the world calls wealth be ours or no2 and our days will be long enough if in them we have been prepared for the fuller wisdom and undying life of heaven4 ,solomon realised his youthful aspirations4 ,the only way to be sure of getting what we wish1 is to wish what ,god desires to give1--even ,himself1--and to ask it of ,him4 ,solomon1 like many a young man1 outgrew his early 'dream4' ,was he happier or wiser when he was a worn-out voluptuary1 smiling with cynical scorn at his young self1 or when1 with generous enthusiasm1 he felt the solemnity of life and the awfulness of duty1 and asked ,god to help his insufficiency8 ,was not the dream truer and more real than the waking hours of profligacy and unreal 'enjoyment'8 ,,the ,,great ,,gain ,,of ,,godliness ',and ,judah and ,israel dwelt safely1 every man under his vine and under his fig tree1 from ,dan even to ,beer-sheba1 all the days of ,solomon4 #bf4 ,and ,solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots1 and twelve thousand horsemen4 #bg4 ,and those officers provided victual for king ,solomon1 and for all that came unto king ,solomon's table1 every man in his month3 they lacked nothing4 #bh4 ,barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries brought they unto the place where the officers were1 every man according to his charge4 #bi4 ,and ,god gave ,solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much1 and largeness of heart1 even as the sand that is on the sea shore4 #cj4 ,and ,solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country1 and all the wisdom of ,egypt4 #ca ,for he was wiser than all men2 than ,ethan the ,ezrahite1 and ,heman1 and ,chalcol1 and ,darda1 the sons of ,mahol3 and his fame was in all nations round about4 #cb4 ,and he spake three thousand proverbs3 and his songs were a thousand and five4 #cc4 ,and he spake of trees1 from the cedar tree that is in ,lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall3 he spake also of beasts1 and of fowl and of creeping things1 and of fishes4 #cd4 ,and there came of all people to hear the wisdom of ,solomon1 from all kings of the earth1 which had heard of his wisdom4'--#a ,,kings iv4 #be-cd ,the glories of ,solomon's reign kindle the writer of this ,book of ,kings to patriotic enthusiasm1 all the more touching if1 as is probable1 he wrote during ,israel's exile4 ,the fair vision of the past would make the sad present still sadder4 ,but it is not patriotism only which guides his pen2 he recognises that ,solomon's glory was the result of ,solomon's religion1 and by portraying it he would teach the eternal truth that godliness hath 'promise of the life that now is' as well as 'of that which is to come4' ,the passage brings out three characteristics of ,solomon's reign and character3 the peace enjoyed by ,israel during his time1 his wealth1 and his wisdom4 ,i4 ,that beautiful phrase for a time of secure enjoyment of modest1 material good in a simple state of agricultural society1 'dwelt safely1 every man under his vine and under his fig tree' occurs frequently in the ,old ,testament1 and breathes the very essence of a calm life of rural felicity and restful enjoyment of wholesome joys4 ,how different from the feverish ideal predominant in our great cities to-day6 ,which is the nobler and the more likely to yield abiding content and to be the ally of high and serious thought--this antique picture of leisurely1 unambitious lives1 or the scramble for wealth which destroys repose1 and is so busy getting that it has no time either rightly to enjoy1 or nobly to expend1 its wealth8 ,those who have their country's truest prosperity at heart may well sigh for the return of the vanished ideal of ,solomon's days2 and those who would make the most of themselves must in some measure seek to conform their own lives to it4 ,but another view may be taken of this picture of national prosperity4 ,remember the time at which it was painted1--a time when the prosperity of a nation was thought to consist in conquest1 and when the arts of peace were despised4 ,how far beyond his era was the king who set his highest glory in securing for his people tranquil lives on their fertile homesteads1 and condemned the vulgar glory of the conqueror6 ,how far beyond his era was the writer who felt that the fairest page in his book was not that which told of battles and triumphs1 but that which portrayed a peaceful reign1 when swords were turned into ploughshares6 ,the world has not yet learned that the highest function of government is to promote individual prosperity4 ,the vulgar1 wicked notion of 'glory' bewitches the nations still4 ,a ,europe1 armed to the teeth and staggering under the weight of its weapons1 has need to go to school to this old ,hebrew ideal4 ',they didn't know everything down in ,judee1' but they knew that peace has nobler victories than war has4 ,the people who see nothing in the world's history but natural evolution have a hard nut to crack in accounting for the singular fact that the ,jew somehow or other had got hold of a truth to which the most advanced nations to-day have scarcely grown up4 ,,ii4 ,the wealth of ,solomon is illustrated by his large equipment of chariots and horsemen4 ,the older habits of the nation had not favoured the use of either1 and their employment by ,solomon was a sign of growing luxury1 which had the seeds of evil in it4 ,but the novelty was characteristic of the change coming over ,israel in his day1 and of its closer intercourse with other nations4 ,the number of forty thousand for the stalls of the horses is an evident clerical error1 which is corrected in the parallel passage in #b ,chronicles ix4 #be to the more probable number of four thousand4 ,a well-organised staff looked after provisioning the cavalry and chariot horses wherever they were quartered4 ,this one instance of ,solomon's resources should be connected with the other details of these4 ,the intention of all is1 not only to magnify his wealth1 but to bring out the fulfilment of the promise made to him as part of the reward of his prayer for wisdom1 that he should have the inferior good which he had not asked1 'both riches and honour4' ,the principle which the writer of this book would confirm and exemplify is1 that to the man who seeks first the kingdom of ,god and ,his righteousness all these things shall be added4 ,now the whole order of supernatural providences in the ,old ,testament was directed to making material prosperity depend on obedience to ,god4 ,and we cannot assert that the ,new ,testament order has the same purpose in view4 ',prosperity was the blessing of the ,old ,testament2 adversity is the blessing of the ,new4' ,but even in ,old ,testament times outward prosperity did not always follow godliness1 and the problem which has tortured all generations had already been raised1 as the ,book of ,job and ,psalm lxxiii show4 ,undoubtedly1 religion does contribute to prosperity4 ,the natural tendency of the course of life which ,christianity enjoins is to lead to moderate1 modest success in a worldly point of view4 ,not many millionaires owe their millions to the practice of ,christian virtues1 but many a man owes his elevation from poverty to modest competence to the character and habits which his religion has stamped on him4 ,people who get converted in the slums soon get out of the slums4 ,but1 whether ,christianity helps a man to worldly success or not1 it helps him to get all the good out of the world that the world can give4 ,it may1 or may not1 give dainties1 but it will make brown bread sweet4 ,it may1 or may not1 give wealth1 but it will make the 'little that a righteous man hath better than the riches of many wicked4' ,they who know no higher good than earth can yield know not the highest good of earth2 they who put worldly prosperity and treasure second find them far more precious and sweet than when they ranked them as first4 ,,iii4 ,but the crown of ,solomon's gifts was his wisdom4 ,and his elevation of intellectual and moral endowments above material good is as remarkable as his similar elevation of peace above warlike fame1 and suggests the same questions as to the source of ideas so far ahead of what was then the world's point of view4 ,observe that ,solomon's 'wisdom' in all its departments is traced to ,god its giver4 ,observe1 too1 that expression 'largeness of heart1' by which is meant1 not width of quick sympathy or generosity1 but what we should call comprehensive intellect4 ,the 'heart' is the centre of the personal being1 from which thoughts as well as affections flow1 and the phrase here points to thoughts rather than to affections4 ,solomon1 then1 was a many-sided student1 and his 'genius' showed itself in very various forms4 ,he lived before the days of specialists4 ,the region of knowledge was so limited that a man could be master in many departments4 ,nowadays the mass has become so unmanageable that1 to know one subject thoroughly1 we have to be ignorant of many1 like the scholar who had given his life to the study of the ,greek noun1 and1 dying1 lamented that he had not confined himself to the dative case6 ,practical wisdom1 which had its field ,in doing justice between his subjects2 shrewd observation of life1 with wit to discern resemblances and to put wisdom into homely1 short sayings2 poetic sensibility and the gift of melodious speech2 and1 added to these manifold endowments1 interest in1 and rudimentary knowledge of1 natural history and botany1 make the points specified as ,solomon's wisdom4 ',a man so various that he seemed to be ,not one1 but all mankind's epitome1'-- the first and greatest of the few students or philosophers who have sat on thrones4 ,but the main thing to notice is that in ,solomon we see exemplified the normal relation between religion and intellectual power and learning4 ,judge1 artist1 scientist1 and all other thinkers and students1 draw their power from ,god1 and should use it for ,him4 ,and1 on the other hand1 ,solomon's example is a rebuke to those narrow-minded ,christians who look askance at men of learning1 letters1 or science1 as well as to those still more narrow-minded men of intellectual ability who think that science and religion must be sworn foes4 ,if our religion is what it should be1 it will widen our understanding all round4 ',let knowledge grow from more to more1 ,but more of reverence in us dwell4' ,,great ,,preparations ,,for ,a ,,great ,,work ',and ,hiram king of ,tyre sent his servants unto ,solomon2 for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father3 for ,hiram was ever a lover of ,david4 #b4 ,and ,solomon sent to ,hiram1 saying1 #c4 ,thou knowest how that ,david my father could not build an house unto the name of the ,lord his ,god for the wars which were about him on every side1 until the ,lord put them under the soles of his feet4 #d4 ,but now the ,lord my ,god hath given me rest on every side1 so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent4 #f4 ,and1 behold1 ,i purpose to build an house unto the name of the ,lord my ,god1 as the ,lord spake unto ,david my father1 saying1 ,thy son1 whom ,i will set upon thy throne in thy room1 he shall build an house unto ,my name4 #f4 ,now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of ,lebanon2 and my servants shall be with thy servants3 and unto thee will ,i give hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt appoint3 for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the ,sidonians4 #g4 ,and it came to pass1 when ,hiram heard the words of ,solomon1 that he rejoiced greatly1 and said1 ,blessed be the ,lord this day1 which hath given unto ,david a wise son over this great people4 #h4 ,and ,hiram sent to ,solomon1 saying1 ,i have considered the things which thou sentest to me for3 and ,i will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar1 and concerning timber of fir4 #i4 ,my servants shall bring them down from ,lebanon unto the sea3 and ,i will convey them by sea in floats unto the place that thou shalt appoint me1 and will cause them to be discharged there1 and thou shalt receive them3 and thou shalt accomplish my desire1 in giving food for my household4 #aj4 ,so ,hiram gave ,solomon cedar trees1 and fir trees1 according to all his desire4 #aa4 ,and ,solomon gave ,hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat1 for food to his household1 and twenty measures of pure oil3 thus gave ,solomon to ,hiram year by year4 #ab4 ,and the ,lord gave ,solomon wisdom1 as ,he promised him3 and there was peace between ,hiram and ,solomon2 and they two made a league together4--#a ,,kings v4 #a-ab4 ,the building of the ,temple was begun in the fourth year of ,solomon's reign 7#a ,kings vi4 #a74 ,the preparations for so great a work must have taken much time1 so that the arrangement with ,hiram recorded in this passage was probably made very early in the reign4 ,that probability is strengthened if we suppose1 as we must do1 that the embassy from ,hiram mentioned in verse ,i was sent to congratulate ,solomon on his accession4 ,if so1 the latter's proposal to get timber and stones from the ,lebanon would be made at the very commencement of the reign4 ,three years would not be more than enough to get the material ready and transported4 ,great designs need long preparation4 ,raw haste wastes time2 deliberation is as needful before beginning as rapid action is when we have begun4 ,i4 ,verses #c-e set forth very forcibly the motives which impelled the young king to the work1 and may suggest to us the motives which should urge us to diligence in building a better temple than he reared4 ,he begins by reference to his father's foiled wish1 and to the reason why ,david could not build the house4 ,not only was it inappropriate that a warlike king should build it1 but it was impossible that1 whilst his thoughts were occupied and his resources taxed by war1 he should devote himself to such a work4 ,in ,assyria and ,egypt the great warrior kings are the great temple-builders1 but a divine decorum forbade it to be so in ,israel4 ,solomon next thankfully describes his own happier circumstances4 ,observe his designation of ,jehovah in verse #d as 'my ,god1' and compare with verse #c1 where ,he is called ,david's ,god4 ,the son had inherited the divine protection and the father's sense of personal relation to ,jehovah4 ,that is a better legacy than a throne4 ,well had it been for ,solomon if he had held by the faith of his first days of royalty6 ,such a sense of a personal bond of love protecting on the one hand1 and love trusting and obeying on the other1 is the spring of all true service of ,god1 whether it is busied in temple-building or in anything else4 ,we note also the grateful recognition of benefits received1 and the tracing of peace and outward prosperity to ,god's care4 ,there was not a cloud in the sky4 ,the horizon was clear all round1 and it was 'the ,lord my ,god1' who had made this ease for ,solomon4 ,we are often more ready to recognise ,god's hand in sorrows than in joys4 ,when ,he smites1 we try to say ',it is the ,lord6' ,do we try to say it when all things are smooth and bright8 ,the effect of blessings should be thankfulness1 and the proof of thankfulness is service4 ,so ,solomon did not take prosperity as an inducement to selfish luxurious repose1 but heard in it ,god's call to a great task4 ,if all the rich men and all the leisurely women who call themselves ,christians would do likewise1 there would be plenty of workers and of resources for ,christ's service1 which now sorely lacks both4 ,how many of such 'lay up treasure for themselves1 and are not rich toward ,god'6 ,how many fritter away their leisure in vanities1 having time for any amusement or folly1 but none for ,christian service6 ,the man whom ,jesus called ',thou fool6' not the wise king1 is the pattern for a sad number of professing ,christians4 ',thou hast much goods laid up for many years4' ,what then8 ',i purpose to build an house for the name of the ,lord'8 ,by no means4 ',i will build greater barns1 and that will give me something to do1 and then ,i will take mine ease4' ,we note1 too1 that ,solomon was impelled to his great work by the knowledge that ,god had appointed him to do it4 ,the divine word concerning himself1 spoken to his father1 sounded in his ears1 and gave him no rest till he had set about obeying it 7v4 #e74 ,the motives of the great temple-builders of old1 as they themselves expound them in hieroglyphics and cuneiform1 were largely ostentation and the wish to outdo predecessors2 but ,solomon was moved by thankfulness and by obedience to his father's will1 and still more1 to ,god's destination of him4 ,if we would look at our positions and blessings as he looked at his in the fair dawning of his reign1 we should find abundant indications of ,god's will regarding our work4 ,solomon uses a remarkable expression as to the purpose of the ,temple4 ,it is to be 'an house for the name of the ,lord4' ,that is not the same as 'for the ,lord4' ,pagan temples might be intended by their builders for the actual residence of the god1 but ,solomon knew that the heaven of heavens could not contain ,him1 much less this house which he was about to build4 ,we are fairly entitled1 then1 to lay stress on that phrase1 'the ,name4' ,it means the whole self-revelation of ,god1 or1 rather1 the character of ,god as made known by that self-revelation4 ,the ,temple was1 then1 to be the place in which the ,god who fills earth and heaven was to manifest ,himself1 and where ,his servants were to behold and reverence ,him as manifested4 ,the ,shechinah was the symbol1 and in one aspect was a part1 of that self-revelation4 ,however1 in common speech the ,temple was spoken of as the house of ,jehovah4 ,the same thought which is expressed in ,solomon's fuller phrase underlay the expression1--,he dwelt 'not in temples made with hands' but ,his name was set there1 and the structure was reared1 not so much for ,him as that worshippers might there meet ,him4 ,,ii4 ,the rest of the passage deals with ,solomon's request to ,hiram1 and the preparation of the material for the ,temple4 ,solomon's first care was to secure timber and stone4 ,his own dominions can never have been well wooded1 and there are many indications that the great central knot of mountainous land1 which included the greater part of his kingdom1 was comparatively treeless4 ,he therefore proposed to ,hiram to supply timber from the great woods on ,lebanon1 which have now nearly died out1 and offered liberal payment4 ,the parallel account in #b ,chronicles makes ,solomon offer specified quantities of provisions for ,hiram's workmen1 and makes ,hiram accept the terms4 ,verse #aa of this chapter says that the provisions named there were for the ,tyrian king's 'household4' ,this may possibly mean the workmen1 who would be regarded as ,hiram's slaves1 but1 more probably1 'household' means 'court1' and ,solomon had not only to feed the army of workmen1 but to supply as much again for the great establishment which ,hiram kept up4 ,the little slip of seacoast1 with the mountain rising sharply behind1 which made ,hiram's kingdom1 could not grow enough for his people's wants4 ,his country was 'nourished' by ,palestine1 long centuries after this time 7,acts xii4 #bj71 and the same was the case in ,solomon's period4 ,in verse #aa1 the quantity of oil is impossibly small as compared with that of wheat4 #b ,chronicles reads 'twenty thousand' instead of 'twenty1' and the ,septuagint inserts 'thousand' in verse #aa1 which is probably correct4 ,with all his ,oriental politeness and probably real wish to oblige a powerful neighbour1 ,hiram was too true a ,phoenician not to drive a good bargain4 ,he was king of 'a nation of shopkeepers1' and was quite worthy of the position4 ',nothing for nothing' seems to have been his motto1 even with friends4 ,he would love ,solomon1 and send him flowery congratulations1 and talk as if all he had was his ally's1 but when it came to settling terms he knew what his cedars were worth1 and meant to have their value4 ,there are a good many people who get mixed up with religious work1 and talk as if it were very near their hearts1 who have as sharp an eye to their own advantage as he had4 ,the man who serves ,god because he gets paid for it1 does not serve ,him4 ,the ,temple may be built of the timber and stones that he has supplied1 but he sold them1 and did not give them1 therefore he has no part in the building4 ,how different the uncalculating lavishness of ,solomon6 ,he knows no better use for treasures than to expend them on ,god's service1 and 'all for love1 and nothing for reward4' ,that ,is the true temper for ,christian work4 ,he to whom ,christ has given ,himself should give himself to ,christ2 and he who has given himself should and will keep back nothing1 nor seek for cheap ways of serving the ,lord1 ,he who gives all1 be it two mites1 or a fishing-boat and some torn nets1 or great wealth like that which ,solomon found in his father's treasuries and devoted to building the ,temple1 gives much2 and he who gives less than he can gives little4 ,solomon's work was1 after all1 outward work1 and fitter for that early age than the imitation of it would be now4 ,the days for building temples and cathedrals are past4 ,the universal religion hallows not ,gerizim nor ,jerusalem1 but every place where souls seek ,god ,the spiritual religion asks for no shrines reared by men's hands2 for ,jesus ,christ is the true ,temple1 where ,god's name is set1 and where men may behold the manifested ,jehovah1 and meet with ,him4 ,but we have work to do for ,christ1 and a temple to build in our own souls1 and a stone or two to lay in the great ,temple which is being built up through the ages4 ,well for us if we use our resources and our leisure1 for such ends with the same promptitude1 thankful surrender1 and sense of fulfilling ,god's purpose1 as animated the young king of ,israel6 ,,building ,,in ,,silence '4 4 4 ,there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of ,iron heard ,in the house1 while it was in building4'--#a ,,kings vi #g4 ,the ,temple was built in silence4 ,it 'rose like an exhalation4' ',no hammer fell1 no ponderous axes rung1 ,like some tall palm the mystic fabric sprung4' ,perhaps it was merely for convenience of transport and to save time that the stones were dressed in the quarries1 but more probably the silence was due to an instinct of reverence4 ,we may fairly use it as suggesting two thoughts4 ,i4 ,how ,god's house is mostly built in silence4 ',the ,kingdom of ,god cometh not with observation4' 7#a7 ,in reference to its advance in the world4 ,destructive work is noisy1 constructive work is silent4 ,god was in 'the still small voice1' not in the wind or the earthquake or the fire4 ,christ's own career1 how silent it was6 ,drums are loud and empty4 ,the spread of the kingdom was unnoticed by the world's great ones--,caesars1 philosophers1 patricians1 and it silently grew underground4 ,hence may flow-- 7a7 ,an encouragement to those whose work is inconspicuous4 7b7 ,a lesson not to mistake noise and notoriety for spiritual progress4 7c7 ,guidance as to our expectations of the advance of ,christ's kingdom4 ,it will transform society by slow1 often unnoticed1 degrees1 by radical change of individuals' habits4 ,the elevation of humanity will be slow1 like the imperceptible rise of the ,norwegian coast4 ,sudden changes are short-lived changes4 ',lightly come1 lightly go4' ,what matures slowly will last long4 7#b7 ,in reference to its growth in our souls4 ,silence is needed for that4 ,there must be much still communion and quiet reflection4 ,the advance in the ,christian life is variously likened to a battle1 since there are antagonists and struggle is needed to overcome2 and to vegetable or corporeal growth1 which the mysterious indwelling life works without effort and almost without consciousness1 but it is also likened to the erection of a building1 in which there is continuity1 and each successive course of masonry is the foundation for that above it4 ,that work of building is work that must be done in silence4 ,if we are to grow in the grace and knowledge of ,jesus1 we must silently drink in the sunshine and dew1 and so prosperously pass from blade to ear1 and thence to full corn in the ear4 ,surely nothing is more needed in these days of noisy advertisement1 and measurement of the importance of things by the noise that they can make1 than this lesson of the place of silence in ,christian progress1 both for individuals and for the ,christian ,church as a whole4 ,,ii4 ,how ,god's house is built of prepared stones4 ,that is true1 in one view of the matter1 in regard to the ,church on earth1 for there must be the individual act of repentance and faith before a soul is fit to be built into the fabric of the ,church4 ,there is providential training of men for their tasks before these are given to them4 ,but the highest application of the symbol which we venture to find in our text is to the relation between the earthly and the heavenly life4 ,this world is the quarry where the stones are dressed for the ,temple in the heavens4 7a7 ,life is the chipping and hewing4 ,the unnecessary pieces are struck off with heavy mallet and sharp chisel4 ,pain and sorrow are thus explained1 if not wholly1 yet sufficiently to bring about submission and trust4 7b7 ,the ,builder has ,his plan clearly before ,him1 and works accurately to realise it4 ,he perfectly knows what ,he means to build1 and every stroke of the dressing-tool is accurately directed4 ,there are no mistakes made in ,his quarrying4 7c7 ,we may be sure that the prepared stones will be brought to the ,temple site and built into it4 ,there lie gigantic half-hewn pillars in abandoned quarries in ,syria and ,egypt4 ,but no one will ever say of the divine ,temple-,builder3 ,he began to build and was not able to finish4 ,it remains a problem how the old builders managed to transport these huge stones from the quarries to the site1 but we may be sure that the ,architect of the 'house not made with hands1 eternal in the heavens1' knows how to bring every stone that has been prepared here1 to the place prepared for it1 and for which it has been prepared4 ,we may repose on the ,apostle's assurance that ',he that has begun a good work in you will perform it1' or rather on the more sure word of ,jesus ,himself1 ',he that overcometh1 ,i will make him a pillar in the temple of ,my ,god4' ,,the ,,king ',,blessing' ,,his ,,people ,and it was so1 that when ,solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the ,lord1 he arose from before the altar of the ,lord1 from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven4 #ee4 ,and he stood1 and blessed all the congregation of ,israel with a loud voice1 saying1 #ef4 ,blessed be the ,lord1 that hath given rest unto ,his people ,israel1 according to all that ,he promised3 there hath not failed one word of all ,his good promise1 which ,he promised by the hand of ,moses ,his servant4 #eg4 ,the ,lord our ,god be with us1 as ,he was with our fathers3 let ,him not leave us1 nor forsake us3 #eh4 ,that ,he may incline our hearts unto ,him1 to walk in all ,his ways1 and to keep ,his commandments1 and ,his statutes1 and ,his judgments1 which ,he commanded our fathers4 #ei4 ,and let these my words1 wherewith ,i have made supplication before the ,lord1 be nigh unto the ,lord our ,god day and night1 that ,he maintain the cause of ,his servant1 and the cause of ,his people ,israel at all times1 as the matter shall require3 #fj4 ,that all the people of the earth may know that the ,lord is ,god1 and that there is none else4 #fa4 ,let your heart therefore be perfect with the ,lord our ,god1 to walk in ,his statutes1 and to keep ,his commandments1 as at this day4 #fb4 ,and the king1 and all ,israel with him1 offered sacrifice before the ,lord4 #fc4 ,and ,solomon offered a sacrifice of peace-offerings1 which he offered unto the ,lord1 two and twenty thousand oxen1 and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep4 ,so the king and all the children of ,israel dedicated the house of the ,lord4'--#a ,,kings viii4 #ed-fc4 ,the great ceremonial of dedicating the ,temple was threefold4 ,the first stage was setting the ark in its place1 which was the essence of the whole thing4 ,god's presence was the true dedication1 and that was manifested by the bright cloud that filled the sanctuary as soon as the ark was placed there4 ,the second stage was the lofty and spiritual prayer1 saturated with the language and tone of ,deuteronomy1 and breathing the purest conceptions of the character and nature of ,god1 and all aglow with trust in ,him4 ,then followed1 thirdly1 this ',blessing of the ,congregation4' ,the prayer had been uttered by the kneeling king4 ,now he stands up1 and1 with ringing tones that reach to the outskirts of the crowd1 he gathers the spirit of his prayer into two petitions1 preceded by praise for national blessings1 and followed by exhortation to national obedience4 ,a huge sacrifice of unexampled magnitude closes the whole4 ,i4 ,note the thankful retrospect of the nation's past 7verse #ef74 ,solomon 'blessed the congregation' when1 in their name1 he lifted up his voice to bless the ,lord1 prayed that ,god would incline their hearts to keep ,his law1 and would maintain their cause1 and exhorted them to keep their hearts perfect with ,him4 ,we bless each other when we ask ,god to bless1 and when we draw each other nearer ,him4 ,standing there in the new ,temple1 with a united nation gathered before him1 the cloud filling the house1 and peace resting on all his land to its farthest border1 the king looks back on the long road from ,sinai and the desert1 and sums up the whole history in one sentence4 ,the end has vindicated the methods4 ,there had been many a dark time when enemies had oppressed1 and many a hard-fought field had been stained with ,israel's blood2 but all had tended to this calm hour1 when ,israel's multitudes were gathered in worship1 and their unguarded homes were safe4 ,there had been many heroes in the long line4 ',time would fail' him 'to tell of ,gideon1 ,barak1 ,samson1 ,jephthah2 of ,david and ,samuel 444 who 444 turned to flight armies of aliens4' ,one name alone is worthy to be named1--the name of the true ,deliverer and ,monarch4 ,it is the ,lord who 'hath given rest unto ,his people4' ,we look on the past most wisely when we see in it all the working of one mighty ,hand1 and pass beyond the great names of history or the dear names which have made the light of our homes1 to the ever-living ,god1 who works through changing instruments2 and 'the help that is done on earth1 ,he doeth it ,himself4' ,we read the past most truly when we see in all its vicissitudes ,god's unchanging faithfulness1 and recognise that the foes and sorrows which often pressed sore upon us were no breach of ,his faithful promises1 but either ,his loving chastisement for our faithlessness1 or ,his loving discipline meant to perfect our characters4 ,we read the past best from the vantage-ground of the ,temple4 ,from its height we understand the lie of the land4 ,communion with ,god explains much which is else inexplicable4 ,solomon's judgment of ,israel's checkered history will be our judgment of our own when we stand in the higher courts of the heavenly home1 and look from that height upon all the way by which the ,lord our ,god hath led us4 ,in the meantime1 it is often a trial for faith to repeat these words2 but the blessing that comes from believing them true is worth the effort to stifle our tears in order to say them4 ,,ii4 ,note the prayer for obedient hearts 7verses #eg1 #eh74 ,the proper subject-matter of this petition is 'that ,he may incline our hearts to walk in ,his ways1' and ,god's presence is invoked as a means thereto4 ,the deepest desire of a truly religious soul is for the felt nearness of ,god4 ,that goes before all other blessings1 and contains them all4 ,nothing is so needful or so sweet as that ,the presence of ,god is the absence of evil1 the evil both of pain and of sin1 as surely as the rising sun is the routing of night's black hosts4 ',the best of all is1 ,god is with us4' ,the prayer again looks back to the past1 and asks that the ancient experiences may be renewed4 ,the generations of those who trust in ,god are knit together1 and the wonders of old time are capable of repetition to-day4 ,faith can say with deeper meaning than the ,preacher1 ',that which hath been is that which shall be4' ,however varying may be the forms1 the fact of a divine presence and help according to need is invariable1 and they that have gone before have not exhausted the fountain1 which will fill the vessel of the latest comer as it did that of the first4 ,how beautifully the abiding ,god and the fleeting series of 'our fathers' is contrasted6 ,a moment of triumph1 when some work1 like that of building the ,temple1 which has for ages been looked forward to1 and into which the sacrifices and aspirations of a long line of dead toilers are built1 brings strongly before all thoughtful men the continuity of a nation or a ,church1 and the transiency of its individual members4 ,it should suggest the abiding ,god yet more strongly than it does the passing fathers4 ,the mercy remains the same1 while the receivers change4 ,the sunshine and the tree are the same1 though the leaves which glisten and grow in the light have but one summer to live4 ,but ,solomon desires that ,god may be with him and his people for one specific purpose4 ,is it to bring outward prosperity1 or to extend their territory1 or to give them victory8 ,as in his choice in his dream1 so now1 he asks1 not for these things1 but for an inward influence on heart and will4 ,what he wants most for himself and them is moral conformity to ,god's will4 ,all must be right if that be right4 ,the prayer implies that1 without ,god's help1 the heart will wander from the paths of duty4 ,the weakness of human nature1 and the consequent necessity for ,god's grace in order to obedience1 were as deeply felt by the devout men of the ,old ,testament as by ,apostles4 ,they are felt by every man who has honestly tried to measure the sweep and inwardness of ,god's law1 and to realise it in life4 ,we need go but a very short way on the road to discover that temptations to diverge lie so thick on either side1 and that our feet grow weary so soon1 that we shall make but little progress without help from above4 ,the synonyms for the law are worthy of notice4 ,why are there so many of these in the ,old ,testament8 ,for the same reason that there are so many for 'money' in ,english1--because those who made the language thought so much about the thing1 and delighted in it so much4 ,as 'commandments1' it was solemnly imposed by rightful authority1 and obedience was obligatory4 ,the word rendered 'statutes' means something engraved1 or written1 and recalls the tables inscribed by ,god's finger4 ',judgments' are the divine decisions or sentences as to what is right1 and therefore the infallible clue to the else bewildering labyrinth4 ,to obey these commandments1 to read that solemn writing1 and to accept these decisions as our guides1 is man's perfection and blessedness2 and for that ,god's felt presence is indispensable4 ,,iii4 ,note the prayer for ,god's defence 7verses #ei1 #fj74 ,the proper subject-matter of this petition is that ,god would maintain the cause of king and nation2 and it is preceded by a petition that1 to that end1 the preceding prayer may be answered1 and is followed by the desire that thereby the knowledge of ,god may fill the earth4 ,the prayer for outward blessings comes after the prayer for inward heart-obedience4 ,is not that the right order8 ,our prayers need to be prayed for1 and a true desire is not contented with one utterance4 ,to ask that what we have asked may be given is no vain repetition1 nor a sign of weak faith1 or undue anxiety4 ,how bold the figure in asking that the prayer may lie before ,god day and night1 like some suppliant at the foot of ,his throne6 ,note the grand aim of ,god's help of ,israel1--the universal diffusion of ,his name among all the peoples of the earth4 ,solomon understood the divine vocation of ,israel1 and had risen above desiring blessings only for his own or his subjects' sake4 ,later ages fell from that elevation of feeling1 and hugged their special privileges without a thought of the obligations which they involved4 ,god's choice of ,israel was not meant for the exclusion of the ,gentiles1 but as the means of transmitting the knowledge of ,god to them4 ,the one nation was chosen that ,god's grace might fructify through it to all4 ,the fire was gathered into a hearth1 that the whole house might be warmed4 ,but selfishness marred the divine plan1 and ,israel became a nonconductor1 and the privileges selfishly kept became corrupt2 as the miser's corn stored in his barns in famine breeds weevils4 ,christians need no more solemn lesson of what comes from selfishly hoarding spiritual blessings than the fate of ,israel4 ,god hath shined into our hearts1 that we may give to others who sit in the dark the light which we possess2 and if we fail to do so1 the light will darken within us4 ,,iv4 ,the blessing ends with one brief1 all-comprehensive charge to the people1 which seems based1 by its 'therefore1' on the preceding thought of ,jehovah as the only ,god4 ,the only attitude corresponding to ,his sole and supreme ,majesty is the entire devotion of heart1 which leads to thoroughgoing obedience to ,his commandments4 ,the word rendered 'perfect' literally means 'entire' or 'sound1' and here expresses the complete devotion of the whole nature4 ,solomon meant that it should be complete1 in contradistinction to any sidelong glances to idolatry4 ,the principle underlying that 'therefore' is that1 ,god being what ,he is1 our only ,god and refuge1 the only adequate hope and object of our nature1 we should give our whole selves to ,him4 ,we1 too1 are tempted to bring ,him divided hearts1 and to carry some of our love and trust as offerings at other shrines4 ,but if there be 'one ,god1 and none other but ,he1' then to serve ,him with all our heart and strength and mind is the dictate of common sense1 and the only service which ,he can accept1 or which can bring to our else distracted natures peace and satisfaction4 ,his voice to us is1 ',my son1 give ,me thy whole heart4' ,our answer to ,him should ever be that prayer1 ',lord1 444 unite my heart to fear ,thy name4' ,a divided heart is misery4 ,partial trust is distrust4 ',love me all in all1 or not at all1' is the requirement of all deep1 human love2 and shall ,god ask less than men and women ask from and give to one another8 ',,the ,,matter ,,of ,a ,,day ,,in ,,its ,,day' ',at all times1 as the matter shall require4'--#a ,,kings viii4 #ei4 ,i have ventured to diverge from my usual custom1 and take this fragment of a text because1 in the forcible language of the original1 it carries some very important lessons4 ,the margin of our ,bible gives the literal reading of the ,hebrew2 the sense1 but not the vigorous idiom1 of which is conveyed in the paraphrase in our version4 ',at all times1 as the matter shall require1' is1 literally1 'the thing of a day in its day'2 and that is the only limitation which this prayer of ,solomon places upon the petition that ,god would maintain the cause of ,his servants and of ,his people ,israel4 ,the kingly suppliant got a glimpse of very great1 though very familiar1 truths1 and at that hour of spiritual illumination1 the very high-water mark of his relations to ,god--for ,i suppose he was never half as good a man afterwards--he gave utterance to the great thought that ,god's mercies come to us day by day1 according to the exigencies of the moment4 ,now1 ,i think that in the words 'the matter of a day in its day' we may see both a principle in reference to ,god's gifts and a precept in reference to our actions4 ,let us look at these two things4 ,i4 ,a principle in reference to ,god's gifts4 ,of course1 obviously--and ,i need not say more than a word about that--we find it so in regard to the outward blessings that are poured into our lives4 ,we are taught1 if the translation of the ,new ,testament is correct1 to ask1 ',give us this day our daily bread1' and to let to-morrow alone4 ,life comes to us pulsation by pulsation1 breath by breath1 by reason of the continual operation1 in the material world1 of the present ,god's present giving4 ,he does not start us1 at the beginning of our days1 with a fund of physical vitality upon which we thereafter draw1 but moment by moment ,he opens ,his hand1 and lets life and breath and all things flow out to us moment by moment1 for no creature would live for an instant except for the present working of a present ,god4 ,if we only realised how the slow pulsation of the minutes is due to the touch of ,his finger on the pendulum1 and how everything that we have1 and the existence of us who have it1 are results of the continuous welling out from the fountain of life1 of ripple after ripple of the waters1 everything would be more sacred1 and more solemn1 and fuller of ,god than1 alas6 it is4 ,but the true region in which we may best find illustrations of this principle in reference to ,god's gifts is the region of the spiritual and moral bestowments which ,he in ,his love pours upon us4 ,he does not flood us with them3 ,he filters them drop by drop1 for great and good reasons4 ,i only mention three various forms of this one great thought4 ,god gives us gifts adapted to the moment4 ',the matter of a day1' the thing fitted for the instant1 comes4 ,in deepest reality1 all is one gift1 for in truth what ,god gives to us is ,himself2 or1 if you like to put it so1 ,his grace4 ,that little word 'grace' is like a small window that opens out on to a great landscape1 for it gathers up into one encyclopaediacal expression the whole infinite variety of beneficences and bestowments which come showering down upon us4 ,that one gift is1 as the ,apostle puts it in one of his eloquent epithets1 'the manifold grace of ,god1' which word in the original is even more rich and picturesque1 because it means the 'many-variegated' grace--like some rich piece of embroidery glowing with all manner of dyes and gold4 ,so the one gift comes to us manifold1 rich in its adaptation to1 and its exquisite fitness for1 the needs of the moment4 ,the ,rabbis had a tradition that the manna in the wilderness tasted to every man just what each man needed or wished most4 ,it ,is as though in some imperial city on a day of rejoicing1 one found a fountain in the market-place pouring out1 according to the wish of the people1 various costly wines and refreshing drinks1 ,god's gift comes to us with like variety--the 'matter of a day in its day4' ,god never gives us the wrong medicine4 ,in whatever variety of circumstances we stand1 that one infinitely simple and yet infinitely complex gift contains what we specially want at the moment4 ,am ,i struggling8 ,he extends a hand to steady me4 ,am ,i fighting8 ,he is my 'sword and shield1 my buckler1 and the horn of my salvation1 and my high tower4' ,am ,i anxious8 ,he comes into my heart1 and brings with ,him a great peace1 and all waves cease to toss and smooth themselves into a level plain4 ,am ,i glad8 ,he comes to heighten the gladness by some touch of holier joy4 ,am ,i perplexed in mind8 ,if ,i look to ,him1 ',his coming shall be as the morning1' and illumination will be granted4 ,am ,i treading a lonely path8 ,there is ,one by my side who will neither change1 nor fail1 nor die4 ,whatever any man needs1 at the moment that he needs it1 that one great ,gift will supply 'the matter of a day in its day4' ,god gives punctually4 ,many of us may have sometimes sent ,christmas presents to ,india or ,australia some weeks before4 ,some will arrive in time and some will be too late4 ,god's gifts never reach us before the day1 and they never come after the day4 ',the ,lord shall help her1 and that right early1' said the grand psalm4 ,what the ,psalmist was thinking about was1 ,i suppose1 that miraculous intervention when the army of ,sennacherib was smitten in a night4 ,timid and faithless souls in ,jerusalem1 as they looked over the walls and saw the encircling lines of the fierce foes drawing closer and closer round the doomed city1 must have said1 ',our ,lord delayeth ,his coming1' and could not stand the test of their faith and patience1 involved in ,god's apparent indifference to the need of ,his people4 ,to-morrow the assault is to be delivered4 ,to-night ',the ,angel of ,death spread his wings on the blast1 ,and breathed in the face of the foe as he passed'2 and the would-be assailants1 when that to-morrow dawned1 were lying stiff and stark in their tents4 ,god's help comes1 not too soon1 lest we should not know the blessedness of trusting in the dark2 and not too late1 lest we should know the misery of trusting in vain4 ,peter is lying in prison4 ,herod intends1 after the ,passover1 to bring him out to the people4 ,the scaffolding is ready4 ,the first watch of the night passes1 and the second4 ,if once it is fairly light1 escape is impossible4 ,but in the grey dawn the angel touches the sleeper4 ,he wakes while his guards sleep4 ,there is no need for hurry4 ,he who has ,god for his ,deliverer has no occasion to 'go out with haste4' ,so1 with strange and majestic leisureliness1 the escaping prisoner is bid to put on his shoes and gird himself4 ,no doubt1 he cast many a scrutinising glance at the four sleeping legionaries whom a heedless movement might have wakened4 ,when all is ready1 he is led forth through all the wards1 each being a separate peril1 and all made safe to him4 ,the first gate opens1 and the second gate opens1 and the iron gate that leads into the city opens1 and quietly he and the angel go down the street4 ,it is light enough for him to see his way to the house where the brethren are assembled4 ,he gets safe behind ,mary's door before it is light enough for the gaolers to discover his absence1 and for the pursuers to be started in their search4 ,the ,lord did help him1 and that right early--' the matter of a day in its day1' ,we shall find1 if we leave our times in ,his hand1 that the old simple faith has still a talismanic power to quiet us4 ,his time is best1 so be patient1 and be trustful in your patience4 ,again1 ,god gives gifts enough1 and not more than enough4 ,he serves out our rations for spirit as for body1 as they do on shipboard1 where the sailors have to take their pots and plates to the galley every day and for each meal1 and get enough to help them over the moment's hunger4 ,the manna fell morning by morning4 ',he that gathered much had nothing over1 he that gathered little had no lack4' ,so all the variety of our changeful conditions1 besides its purpose of disciplining ourselves and of making character1 has also the purpose of affording a theatre for the display1 if ,i may use such cold language--or rather let me say affording an opportunity for the bestowment--of the infinitely varied1 exquisitely adapted1 punctual1 and sufficient grace of ,god4 ,,ii4 ,but now1 secondly1 a word about the text as containing a precept for our action4 ,let me put what ,i have to say in three plain sentences4 ,first1 take short views of the future4 ,of course1 we have to look ahead1 and in reference to many things to take prudent forecasts1 but how many of us there are who weaken ourselves and spoil to-day by being 'over-exquisite to cast the fashion of uncertain evils'6 ,it is a great piece of practical philosophy1 and ,i am sure that it has much to do with our getting the best out of the present moment1 that we should either take very short or very long views of the future4 ,either ',let the unknown to-morrow ,bring with it what it may1' or look beyond the last of the days into the unseen light of an unsetting sun4 ,if ,i must anticipate1 let me anticipate the ultimate1 the changeless1 the certain2 and let me not condemn my faculty of picturing that which is to come1 to look along the low ranges of earthly life1 and torture myself by imagining all the possibilities of evil of which my condition admits1 as being turned into certainties to-morrow4 ,take 'the matter of a day in its day4' ',sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof4' ,let us make the minute what it ought to be1 then ,god will make the whole what it ought to be4 ,again ,i say1 let us fill each day with discharged duties4 ,if you and ,i do not do the matter of the day in its day1 the chances are that no to-morrow will afford an opportunity of doing it4 ,so there will come upon us all1 if we are unfaithful to this portioning out of tasks to times1 that burden of an irrevocable past1 and of the omitted duties that will stand reproving and condemning before us1 whensoever we turn our eyes to them4 ',it might have been1 and it is not'2 does a sadder speech than that fall from human lips8 ,brethren1 the day1 though it is short1 is elastic2 and no one knows how much of discharged service and accomplished work and fulfilled responsibilities can be crammed into its hours1 until he has earnestly tried to fill each moment with the task which belongs to the moment4 ',the sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold2 therefore shall he beg in harvest and have nothing4' ,if our day is not filled full of work1 some to-morrow will be filled full1 in retrospect1 of thorns and stings4 ,life is short2 'the night cometh when no man can work4' ',i must work the works of ,him that sent me while it is day4' ,lastly1 ,i would say1 keep open a continual communion with ,god1 that day by day you may get what day by day you need4 ,there are hosts of people who call themselves1 and1 in some kind of surface way1 are1 ,christian people1 who seem to think that they get all that they need of the grace of ,god in a lump1 at the beginning of their ,christian career1 and who are living upon past communications and the memory of these1 and are forgetting that they can no more live and be nourished upon past gifts of ,god's grace than upon the dinner that they ate this day last year4 ,we must hang continually upon ,him1 if we are continually to receive from ,his hand4 ,no past blessing will avail for present use4 ,dear friends1 the purpose of this principle1 which ,i have been trying to illustrate in ,god's way of dealing with us1 is that we shall be content to be continually dependent1 and consciously as well as continually dependent1 upon ,him4 ,in the measure in which we keep our hearts open for the perpetual influx of ,his grace1 in that measure shall we be ready for each day as it comes2 for its trials and its joys1 for its possibilities and its duties4 ,this1 too1 must be remembered--that the days bolted together make months2 and the months1 years2 and the years1 life2 and that life as a whole is 'a day'2 and that there is a 'matter' of that day which can only be done in its day4 ,oh that none of us may be the subjects of that sad wail from a ,saviour's heart and a ,saviour's lips1 which lamented1 ',if thou hadst known1 at least1 in this thy day1 the things that belong to thy peace2 but now'--the night has come1 and the darkness of the night1 and--'they are hid from thine eyes6' ,,promises ,,and ,,threatenings ',and it came to pass1 when ,solomon had finished the building of the house of the ,lord1 and the king's house1 and all ,solomon's desire which he was pleased to do4 #b4 ,that the ,lord appeared to ,solomon the second time1 as ,he had appeared unto him at ,gibeon4 #c4 ,and the ,lord said unto him1 ,i have heard thy prayer and thy supplication1 that thou hast made before ,me3 ,i have hallowed this house1 which thou hast built1 to put ,my name there for ever2 and ,mine eyes and ,mine heart shall be there perpetually1 #d4 ,and if thou wilt walk before ,me1 as ,david thy father walked1 in integrity of heart1 and in uprightness1 to do according to all that ,i have commanded thee1 and wilt keep ,my statutes and ,my judgments3 #e4 ,then ,i will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon ,israel for ever1 as ,i promised to ,david thy father1 saying1 ,there shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of ,israel4 #f4 ,but if ye shall at all turn from following ,me1 ye or your children1 and will not keep ,my commandments and ,my statutes which ,i have set before you1 but go and serve other gods1 and worship them3 #g4 ,then will ,i cut off ,israel out of the land which ,i have given them2 and this house which ,i have hallowed for ,my name1 will ,i cast out of ,my sight2 and ,israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people3 #h4 ,and at this house1 which is high1 every one that passeth by it shall be astonished1 and shall hiss2 and they shall say1 ,why hath the ,lord done thus unto this land1 and to this house8 #i4 ,and they shall answer1 ,because they forsook the ,lord their ,god1 who brought forth their fathers out of the land of ,egypt1 and have taken hold upon other gods1 and have worshipped them1 and served them3 therefore hath the ,lord brought upon them all this evil4'-#a ,,kings ix4 #a-i4 ,the successful end of a great work is often the beginning of a great reaction4 ,when the tension is slackened1 the whole nature of the worker is relaxed1 and the temptation to slothful self-indulgence is strong4 ,god knows our frame1 and mercifully times ,his manifestations to the moments of special need4 ,so1 when ,solomon had finished his great task1 'the ,lord appeared the second time1 as ,he had appeared at ,gibeon4' ,there had been no manifest token of approval during all the years of building the ,temple1 for none was needed2 but now there was danger that the finished work might be followed by languor and indifference1 and therefore once more ,god spoke words of stimulus1 both promises and warnings4 ,a solemn alternative is set before the king1 both parts of which are fitted to rouse his energy and inspire him to faithful obedience4 ,the same alternatives are presented to each of us4 ,in verses #c-e ,god promises blessed results from clinging to ,him and keeping ,his statutes2 in verses #f-i ,he mercifully threatens the tragic issues of departure4 ,in applying these to ourselves we must remember that outward prosperity was attached to a devout life more closely in ,israel than it is now4 ,but1 though the form of the blessings dependent on doing ,god's will alters1 the reality remains unaltered4 ,i4 ,the promises to ,solomon are preceded by the assurance that his prayer had been heard4 ,the answer corresponds very beautifully to the petitions4 ,god has 'put ,his name' in the ,temple1 as the descent of the ,glory to rest between the cherubim visibly showed1 and thus has fulfilled ,solomon's petition2 but the answer surpasses the prayer in that the presence of 'the ,name' is promised 'for ever4' ,similarly1 in ,psalm cxxxii41 the answer to the petition ',arise into ,thy rest' transcends the petition which it answers1 and adds the same promise of perpetuity1 ',this is ,my rest for ever4' ,again1 ,solomon had prayed1 'that ,thine eyes may be open towards this house1' and ,god answers with the expanded promise that not ,his eyes only1 but ,his heart shall be there perpetually4 ,he is 'able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think1' and ,he delights to surprise us with over-answers to our prayers4 ,we cannot widen our desires so far but that ,his gifts will stretch beyond them on every side4 ,but the promise of perpetual dwelling in the ,temple is conditional1 as appears in the latter part of ,god's answer1 though no condition is stated at first4 ,the promises to ,solomon individually are all contingent4 ,the all-important 'if' at the beginning of verse #d governs the whole4 ,the divine eulogium on ,david1 which introduces these promises1 suggests how mercifully ,god regards the imperfect lives of ,his servants4 ,that merciful interpretation of conduct is removed by a whole universe from palliation of sin4 ,it affords no ground for our thinking little of our inconsistencies4 ,david's crime was sternly rebuked and sorely punished1 but still his life1 in its main drift and outline1 could be presented as a pattern1 as being marked by integrity of heart and uprightness4 ,the moon shines like a disc of silver1 though its surface is pitted with extinct volcanoes4 ,we may note1 too1 the pregnant description in outline of the elements of a devout life1 as here enjoined on ,solomon4 ,the first requisite is to walk before ,god2 that is1 to nourish a continual consciousness of ,his presence1 and to regulate all actions and thoughts under the thrilling and purifying sense of being 'ever in the great ,taskmaster's eye4' ,only we are not to think of ,him as only a ,taskmaster1 but as a loving ,friend and ,helper4 ,a child is happy in its little work or play when it knows that its father is looking on with sympathy4 ,the sense of ,god's eye being on us should 'make a sunshine in a shady place1' should lighten labour and sweeten care4 ,it is at the root of practical obedience1 as its place in this sequence shows2 for there follow it1 in verse #d1 'integrity of heart and uprightness1' on which again follow obedience to all ,god's commandments4 ,first must come the clear recognition of ,god's relation to us4 ,that recognition will influence our relation to ,him1 bending hearts to love and wills to submit1 and the whole inward being to cleave to ,him4 ,thence1 and only thence1 will issue in the life the streams of practical obedience4 ,it is vain to seek to produce righteous deeds unless our hearts are right1 and it is as vain to labour at making our hearts right unless thoughts of what ,god is to us have purified them4 ,morality is rooted in religion4 ,on the other hand1 no knowledge of the truth about ,god is worth anything unless it touches the hidden man of the heart1 and then passes outward to mould conduct4 ',faith without works is dead4' ,correct theology and glowing emotions lack their consummation if they do not impel to holy and ,god-pleasing living4 ,the reward promised in verse #e is for ,solomon alone4 ,his throne is to be 'established for ever4' ,the duration intended by that expression is therefore not absolutely unlimited1 but equivalent to 'during thy lifetime4' ,solomon could only affect himself by his obedience4 ,the continuance of the kingdom after him depended on his successors4 ,his possession of the throne during his life was the beginning of the fulfilment of the promise to ,david referred to in verse #e1 but it was only the beginning1 and1 like all ,god's promises1 it was contingent on obedience4 ,we receive no outward kingdom if we are servants of ,god2 but1 in deepest truth1 the righteous man is a king1 'lord of himself1 though not of lands4' ,all creatures serve the soul that serves ,god1 and all ,christ's brethren share in ,his royalty4 ,,ii4 ,the second part of this divine utterance is addressed to the whole nation1 as is marked by the 'ye' there compared with the 'thou' in verse #d1 and it lays down for succeeding generations the conditions on which the new ,temple1 that stood glittering in the bright ,eastern sunshine1 should retain its pristine beauty4 ,while the address to ,solomon incited to obedience by painting its blessed consequences1 that to the nation reaches the same end by the opposite path of darkly portraying the ruin that would be caused by departure from ,god4 ,god draws by holding out a hand full of good things1 and ,he no less lovingly drives by stretching out a hand armed with lightnings4 ,a plain declaration of the evils that dog disobedience is as loving as a bright vision of the good that attends on submission4 ,the sternest threatenings of ,scripture are spoken that they may never need to be executed4 ,there is no more foolish misconception of ,christianity than that which calls it harsh because it reveals that 'the wages of sin is death4' ,note that the threatenings come second1 not first4 ,god's heart is averse to smite4 ,to lavish blessing is ,his delight1 and judgment is ',his work1 ,his strange work1' forced on ,him by sin4 ,the special sin against which ,israel was warned was that to which it was specially prone and tempted by its circumstances4 ,when all the nations 'worshipped stocks and stones1' it was hard to 'keep thy faith so pure' as to have no share in the universal bewitchment4 ,so the whole history of the people is one of lapses into idolatry and of chastisements leading to temporary amendment1 until the long1 sharp lesson of the ,captivity eradicated the disposition to be as the nations around4 ,no doubt1 idolatry in its crudest forms is outgrown now in ,western lands1 but sense still craves material embodiment of the unseen1 and still feels the pressure of the material and palpable4 ,hence the earthward direction of so many lives4 ,asthmatical patients often breathe more easily in the slums of a city than in pure mountain air1 and sense-bound men find difficulty in respiration on the heights of a religion which minimises the appeal to sense4 ,the penalty attached to departure from ,god was the loss of the land4 ,israel kept it on a tenure like that of some of our ,english nobility1 who hold their estates on condition of doing some service to the sovereign4 ,of course1 that connection between serving ,god and national prosperity involved continual supernatural intervention1 and cannot be applied entirely to national prosperity now2 but it still remains true that moral and religious corruption saps the foundations of a people's well-being1 and1 when carried far enough1 destroys a people's existence4 ,the solemn threat of becoming 'a proverb and a byword' among all peoples is quoted1 apparently from ,deuteronomy xxviii4 #cg1 and has been only too terribly fulfilled for weary centuries4 ,the promise in verse #c1 that ,god's eyes and heart should be perpetually on the ,temple1 has now the condition attached that ,israel should cleave to the ,lord4 ,otherwise it will be cast out of ,his sight1 and be a mark for scorn and wonder4 ,the vivid representation of a dialogue between passers-by is quoted from ,deuteronomy xxix4 #bd-bf1 where it is spoken in reference to the nation4 ,it carries the solemn thought that ,god's name is made known among the heathen by the punishment of ,his unfaithful people1 not less really1 and sometimes more strikingly1 than by the blessings bestowed on the obedient4 ,if we will not magnify ,him by joyous service1 by rewarding which1 with good ,he can magnify ,himself1 ,he will magnify ,himself on us by retribution1 the more severe as our blessings have been the greater4 ,the lightning-scathed tree1 standing white in the forest1 witnesses to the power of the flash1 as its leafy sisters in their green beauty proclaim the energy of the sunshine4 ,israel has1 perhaps1 been a more convincing witness for ,god1 in its homeless centuries1 than ever it was when at rest in the good land4 ',if ,god spared not the natural branches1 take heed lest ,he also spare not thee4' ,a ,,royal ,,seeker ,,after ,,wisdom ',and when the queen of ,sheba heard of the fame of ,solomon concerning the name of the ,lord1 she came to prove him with hard questions4 #b4 ,and she came to ,jerusalem with a very great train1 with camels that bare spices1 and very much gold1 and precious stones3 and when she was come to ,solomon1 she communed with him of all that was in her heart4 #c4 ,and ,solomon told her all her questions3 there was not any thing hid from the king1 which he told her not4 #d4 ,and when the queen of ,sheba had seen all ,solomon's wisdom1 and the house that he had built1 #e4 ,and the meat of his table1 and the sitting of his servants1 and the attendance of his ministers1 and their apparel1 and his cupbearers1 and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the ,lord2 there was no more spirit in her4 #f4 ,and she said to the king1 ,it was a true report that ,i heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom4 #g4 ,howbeit ,i believed not the words1 until ,i came1 and mine eyes had seen it3 and1 behold1 the half was not told me3 thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which ,i heard4 #h4 ,happy are thy men1 happy are these thy servants1 which stand continually before thee1 and that hear thy wisdom4 #i4 ,blessed be the ,lord thy ,god1 which delighteth in thee1 to set thee on the throne of ,israel3 because the ,lord loved ,israel for ever1 therefore made ,he thee king1 to do judgment and justice4 #aj4 ,and she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold1 and of spices very great store1 and precious stones3 there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of ,sheba gave to king ,solomon4 #aa4 ,and the navy also of ,hiram1 that brought gold from ,ophir1 brought in from ,ophir great plenty of almug trees1 and precious stones4 #ab4 ,and the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the ,lord1 and for the king's house1 harps also and psalteries for singers3 there came no such almug trees1 nor were seen unto this day4 #ac4 ,and king ,solomon gave unto the queen of ,sheba all her desire1 whatsoever she asked1 besides that which ,solomon gave her of his royal bounty4 ,so she turned and went to her own country1 she and her servants4'--#a ,,kings x4 #a-ac4 ,we feel the breath of a new era in the accounts of ,solomon's reign4 ,one most striking peculiarity is the friendly intercourse with the nations around4 ,the horizon has widened1 and1 instead of wars with ,philistines and ,ammon1 we have alliances with ,egypt1 ,tyre1 and1 in the present passage1 with ,sheba1 a district of ,southern ,arabia4 ,the expansion was fruitful of both good and evil4 ,it brought new ideas and much wealth2 but it brought1 too1 luxury and idolatry4 ,still ,israel was meant to be 'a light to lighten the ,gentiles1' and in this picturesque story of the wisdom-seeking queen1 we have the true relation of ,israel to the nations in its purest form4 ,the details of the narrative4 ,interesting as they are1 need not occupy us long4 ,the queen had heard the fame of ,solomon concerning the name of the ,lord1 by which seems to be meant his reputation of being gifted with deep knowledge of the divine character as revealed to him4 ,the questions which occupy earnest souls in all lands and ages were stirring in the heart of this woman-chief4 ,the only way1 in these old days1 to learn the wisdom of the wise1 was to go to them4 ,so the streets of ,jerusalem saw the strange sight of the long train which had come toiling up from ,arabia1 laden with its characteristic produce1 gold and spices and precious stones1 in the enumeration of which is reflected the wonder of the beholders at the unaccustomed procession4 ,but better than all her wealth was the eager woman's thirst for truth4 ,surely it is a very unworthy and unlikely explanation of her 'hard questions' and purpose to suppose that she came only for a duel of wit1--to pose ,solomon with half-playful riddles4 ,the journey was too toilsome1 the gifts too large1 the accent of conviction in her subsequent words too grave1 for that4 ,she was a seeker after truth1 and probably after ,god1 and had known the torture of the eternal questions which rise in the mind1 and1 once having risen1 leave no rest till they are answered4 ,so she came1 though half incredulous1 hoping to find some solution to what 'was in her heart1' and as thirsty for the answer as her country's sands for water4 ,only they who have known the pain of carrying such questions1 like a fire in their bones1 can know the joy which she felt when she found one to whom she could speak them4 ,it is something of a drop to pass from ,solomon's wisdom to the list of the splendours of his household1 and the effect which these produced on the queen2 but the whole account of ,solomon's reign is marked by the same naive blending of wisdom and material wealth4 ,in those days1 outward prosperity was the sign of divine favour4 ,but even in those days they knew that wisdom was 'better than rubies4' ,the two elements were both at their height in ,solomon's reign1 and the lower of them finally got uppermost1 and wrecked him4 ,plain living and high thinking are better than 'wisdom1' which lets itself down to make much of 'the meat of the table1' and a retinue of servants in fine clothes4 ,how many of us would listen much more respectfully to wisdom1 if it lived in a palace1 than in 'dens and caves of the earth'8 ,the queen's words in verses #f to #i are graceful with a woman's tact1 and full of feeling4 ,she confesses that she had come half-doubting1 even though she risked the journey1 and fervently avows how far fame had been unlike itself in this instance1 and had diminished1 and not magnified4 ,then she envies the servants who wait on him1 because they are so near the fountain1 and finally breaks into praise of ,solomon's ,god1 whose love to ,israel was shown in giving it such a king4 ,one does not know whether praise of ,god or compliments to ,solomon were most in her mind4 ,the words scarcely sound as if she had become a worshipper of ,god4 ,he is to her but 'thy ,god4' ,but we may believe that she carried away some seed which grew up4 ,then1 with munificent interchange of gifts1 she and her train glide out of the story1 and we lose them in the dark4 ,the account of the wealth brought by ,hiram's ships comes singularly in1 breaking the narrative of the queen4 ,its insertion seems to indicate some connection between the fleet and her1 and to suggest that ,sheba and ,ophir were near each other 7which would put ,ethiopia1 where some have located it1 out of court71 and that she heard of ,solomon through it4 ,the whole incident may be regarded as an illustration of the spirit that should mark all seekers after truth1 whether earthly or heavenly4 ,this queen had to win a victory over national prejudices1 over the disabilities of her sex1 over the temptations of her station1 to travel far1 and face dangers1 and to incur great cost4 ,it was surely no mere playful errand on which she was bent4 ,she was smitten with the sacred impulse to 'follow knowledge like a sinking star4' ,seldom1 indeed1 have rulers made progresses from their dominions for such an end1 and seldom have two of them met to confer on such subjects4 ,we shall not rightly measure the relative importance of things unless we resolutely set ourselves to look at them with eyes purged from the illusions of sense1 and cleared to see how much better than wealth and all outward good is the possession of truth4 ,all sacrifices made to win it are richly repaid1 and wise investments4 ,even in regard to lower kinds of truth1 to win them is worth the effort of a life2 and1 in regard to the highest kind1 which is the personal ,truth1 he is the wise man who counts all earthly good but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of it4 ,this queen points the path by which all pilgrims of the truth must travel4 ,it is not to be won without effort1 without conquest of prejudices1 repression of weakness1 sacrifices of delights1 and long effort4 ,there must be humility1 which will gladly learn1 if there is ever to be its possession4 ',nor can the man that moulds in idle cell ,unto her happy mansion attain4' ,but in our days1 the easier the attainment1 the less the appreciation4 ,the queen of ,sheba had no books1 and she travelled far to get wisdom4 ,we are flooded with all appliances1 and many of us would not cross the road to get ,solomon's wisdom1 but would do much to be invited to feast at his table1 or to secure some of the queen's camels' load4 ,this story brings out the true ideal of ,israel's relation to the nations4 ,solomon is the embodiment of his people4 ,his reign is marked by largely increased and amicable relations with his neighbours4 ,these were not all wholesome1 and ultimately led to much mischief4 ,but1 while the purely commercial connection with ,tyre was defective1 in that there was no attempt to bring ,hiram and the men who worked for the ,temple to any knowledge of the ,god of the ,temple1 and the relation with ,egypt was more unsatisfactory still1 in that it meant only the importation of corrupting luxuries and the marriage with an ,egyptian princess1 an idolatress1 this relation with the queen of ,sheba was the true one4 ,solomon did in it what ,israel was meant to do for the world4 ,he attracted a seeker from afar1 and imparted to her the wisdom that ,god had given him4 ,he answered the torturing questions and won the confidence of this woman who was groping in the dark1 till he led her by the hand to the light4 ,a bond of friendship knit them together1 and mutual gifts cemented their amity4 ,all this is but the putting into concrete form of ,god's purpose in choosing ,israel for ,his own4 ,it was not meant to retain or to enclose1 but to diffuse1 the light4 ,the world can only get blessing by one man or people getting it first4 ,as well charge the builder of the lighthouse with partiality because he puts the bright lamps in that narrow room1 as find fault with the divine method of making the earth know ,his name4 ,the lighthouse is reared that the beams may stream out over the tossing1 nightly sea4 ,so ,god appointed to ,his people of old their task4 ,so ,he has appointed the same task to ,his ,church to-day4 ,we ought to attract seekers from afar1 to win their frank speech when they come1 to be able to answer their anxious questions1 and to bind them to ourselves in grateful bonds4 ,in these days there are multitudes harassed by the modern forms of the same old1 ever-pressing riddles which burdened this ancient queen's heart2 and that ,church but ill discharges its office which repels rather than draws the seekers1 or has no word of illumination for them if they come4 ,but the highest use to be made of the story is that which ,christ made of it4 ,it stands as a perpetual witness against those who are too blind to see the beauty1 or too careless to be drawn to listen to the wisdom1 of a present ,christ4 ,the sacrifices which men can make for lower objects are the most powerful rebukes of their unwillingness to make sacrifices for the highest1 just as their capacity of love and trust is of their not loving and trusting ,him4 ,the same energy and effort which this queen put forth to reach ,solomon1 and which men eagerly put forth for some temporal good1 would suffice to bring them to the feet of the great ,teacher4 ,her longing for wisdom1 her discernment of the person who could give it1 and her toilsome journey1 rebuke men's indifference to ,christ's gifts1 their failure to recognise ,his sweetness and power to make blessed1 and their laziness and self-indulgence1 which will not take a hundredth part of the pains to secure heaven which they cheerfully expend1 and that often in vain1 to secure earth4 ,will the ',queen of the south' stand alone as witness in that day1 or will there not be many out of other lands1 who1 like her1 stretched out their hands to the dimly descried but yearned-for light1 and came nearer to it1 though they seemed far off1 than many who lived in its full blaze and never cared for it8 ,will it be only ,christ's contemporaries who will be condemned by heathen seekers after ,god1 or will there be many of ourselves1 convicted of stolid indifference to the ,christ who has been beside us all our lives1 and has prayed us 'with much entreaty' and in vain1 to 'receive the gift'8 ,they who find their way to ,him1 and tell ,him all that is in their hearts1 will have all their questions solved4 ,we have not far to go2 for 'a greater than ,solomon is here4' ,if we betake ourselves to ,him1 and learn of ,him1 we too shall find that 'the half was not told us'2 for ,christ possessed is sweeter than all expectation1 however high-pitched it may be1 and to win ,him is the only gain in which there is no disappointment1 either at first or at last4 ,we may all have the blessedness of ,his servants1 'which stand continually before' ,him1 and not only 'hear' but receive into their spirits ,his 'wisdom4' ,,the ,,fall ,,of ,,solomon ',for it came to pass1 when ,solomon was old1 that his wives turned away his heart after other gods3 and his heart was not perfect with the ,lord his ,god1 as was the heart of ,david his father4 #e4 ,for ,solomon went after ,ashtoreth the goddess of the ,zidonians1 and after ,milcom the abomination of the ,ammonites4 #f4 ,and ,solomon did evil in the sight of the ,lord1 and went not fully after the ,lord1 as did ,david his father4 #g4 ,then did ,solomon build an high place for ,chemosh1 the abomination of ,moab1 in the hill that is before ,jerusalem1 and for ,molech1 the abomination of the children of ,ammon4 #h4 ,and likewise did he for all his strange wives1 which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods4 #i4 ,and the ,lord was angry with ,solomon1 because his heart was turned from the ,lord ,god of ,israel1 which had appeared unto him twice1 #aj4 ,and had commanded him concerning this thing1 that he should not go after other gods3 but he kept not that which the ,lord commanded4 #aa4 ,wherefore the ,lord said unto ,solomon1 ,forasmuch as this is done of thee1 and thou hast not kept ,my covenant and ,my statutes1 which ,i have commanded thee1 ,i will surely rend the kingdom from thee1 and will give it to thy servant4 #ab4 ,notwithstanding in thy days ,i will not do it for ,david thy father's sake3 but ,i will rend it out of the hand of thy son4 #ac4 ,howbeit ,i will not rend away all the kingdom2 but will give one tribe to thy son for ,david ,my servant's sake1 and for ,jerusalem's sake which ,i have chosen4'--#a ,,kings xi4 #d-ac4 ,scripture never blinks the defects of its heroes4 ,its portraits do not smooth out wrinkles1 but1 with absolute fidelity1 give all faults4 ,that pitiless truthfulness is no small proof of its inspiration4 ,if these historical books were simply fragments of national records1 owning no higher source than patriotism1 they would never have blurted out the errors and sins of ,david and ,solomon as they do4 ,where else are there national histories of which the very central idea is the laying bare of national sins and chastisements8 or where else are there legends of the people's heroes which tell their sins without apology or reticence8 ,the difference in tone augurs a different origin4 ,the ,old ,testament histories are not written to tell ,israel's glories1 or even1 we may say1 to recount its history1 but to tell ,god's dealings with ,israel1--a very different theme1 and one which finds its material equally in the glories and in the miseries1 which respectively follow its obedience and disobedience4 ,so ,solomon's fall is told in the same frank way as his wisdom and wealth2 for what is of importance is not ,solomon so much as ,god's dealings with ,solomon1 when his heart was turned away4 ,we are told that the narrative of ,solomon's reign is an ideal picture4 ,strange idealising which leaves the ideal king wallowing in a sty of sensuality and an apostate from ,jehovah6 ,here we are simply told of the two things1--his sin1 and the divine judgment which it drew after it4 ,i4 ,verses #d-h tell the black story of ,solomon's apostasy4 ,what was its extent8 ,did he himself take part in idolatrous worship1 or simply1 with the foolish fondness of an old sensualist1 let these foreign women have their shrines8 ,the darker supposition seems correct4 ,the expression that he 'went after other gods' is commonly used to mean actual idolatry2 and his wives could scarcely have been said to have 'turned away his heart1' if all that he did was to wink at1 or even to facilitate1 their worship4 ,but1 on the other hand1 he does not seem to have abandoned ,jehovah's worship4 ,the charge against him is that 'his heart was not perfect1' or wholly devoted to the ,lord1 or1 as verse #f puts it1 that he 'went not fully' after the ,lord4 ,his was a case of halting between two opinions1 or rather1 of trying to hold both at once4 ,he wanted to be a worshipper of ,jehovah and of these idols also4 ,was his apostasy final8 ,yes1 so far as we can gather from the narrative4 ,not only is there no statement of his repentance1 but the silence with which he receives the divine announcement of retribution is suspicious2 and the prophecy of ,ahijah to ,jeroboam1 which obviously comes later in time than the threatenings of the text1 treats the idolatry as still existing 7verse #cc74 ,further1 we learn from #b ,kings xxiii4#ac that the shrines which he built stood till ,josiah's time4 ,if ,solomon had ever abandoned his idolatry1 he would not have left them standing4 ,so we seem to have in him a case of a fall which knew no recovery1 an eclipse which did not pass4 ,the ,book of ,ecclesiastes1 if of his composition1 would somewhat lighten the darkness of such an end2 but his authorship of it is now all but universally given up4 ,so there1 on ,olivet's southern ridge1 right opposite the ,temple1 stood the three altars1 and there the king worshipped2 and1 if he did1 he would have a crowd of imitators4 ,the lessons of such a fall are many4 ,first1 it teaches the destructive effect of yielding to sensual indulgence4 ,solomon's unbridled and monstrous polygamy sapped his manhood and his principle1 darkened his clear spirit1 blinded his keen eye1 and turned a youth of noble aspiration and a manhood of noble accomplishment into an old age without dignity1 reverence1 or calm4 ,all his wisdom was worth little if it could not keep him master of himself4 ,a young man who lets his passions run away with him is less to be condemned than an old sensualist4 ,god means that reason should govern impulses and desires1 and that conscience should govern all and be governed by ,his will4 ,the vessel is sure to be wrecked when the officers are sent below and the mutineers get hold of the helm4 ,second1 it warns us that till the very end of life a fall is possible4 ,this ship went down when the voyage was nearly over4 ,in sight of port it struck1 and that not for want of beacons4 ,what pathetic warning lies in that phrase1 'when ,solomon was old'6 ,after so many years of high aims1 so many temptations overcome1 with such habits of wisdom and kingly nobility1 after such prayers and visions1 he fell2 and1 if he fell1 who can be sure of standing8 ,no length of life spent in holy thoughts and service secures us against the possibility of disastrous fall4 ,only one thing does1--',hold ,thou me up1 and ,i shall be safe6' ,john ,bunyan saw a door opening down to hell hard by the gates of the ,celestial ,city4 ,when a man that has been had in reputation for wisdom and honour shames the record of his life by a great splash of mud on the white page1 near its end1 he seldom returns4 ,an old apostate is usually finally an apostate4 ,third1 may we not venture to see a warning here against marriages in which there is not unity in the deepest things1 and a common faith8 ',when you run in double harness1 take a good look at the other horse4' ,if a young ,christian man or woman enters on such a union with one who is not a ,christian1 it is a great deal more probable that1 in the end1 there will be two unbelievers than that there will be two ,christians4 ,we have nothing to do with pronouncing on ,solomon's final condition1 ,but he stands on the page of this history1 a sad1 enigmatical figure1 a warning to all young people to take heed that the attrition of the world does not rub off the bloom of early religion1 or make them cynically ashamed of the unselfishness of their early desires4 ,there is no sadder sight than an old man whose youthful enthusiasm for goodness and belief in the super-excellency of wisdom have withered1 leaving him a hard worldling or a gross sensualist4 ,better the early days1 when he was obscure and poor1 and believed in wisdom and in the ,god of wisdom1 than the late ones1 when worldly success has spoiled him6 ,,ii4 ,verses #i-ac give the divine retribution announced4 ,the immediate connection of sin and punishment is the teaching intended by this close juxtaposition of these two halves of our narrative4 ,however long the chastisement may be in bursting1 the divine resolve to send it is instantaneously consequent on the crime4 ,the chain that binds departure from ,god with loss of blessing may be of many or few links1 but it is riveted on when the evil is done4 ,how gravely1 as with the voice of an indictment drawn in heaven1 the aggravations of ,solomon's crime are set out1 in that he had sinned against 'the ,lord' who had appeared to him twice 7once in his youthful vision1 and once after the completion of the ,temple71 'and had commanded him concerning' the very sin that he had done4 ,sin is made more heinous by the abundance of ,god's favours and the plainness of ,his commands4 ,if we would remember ,god's appearances to us and for us1 and meditate on ,his revealed will1 we should be more impregnable to the assaults of temptation4 ,we do not learn how the ,lord said this to ,solomon4 ,possibly it was by the same prophet who afterwards announced to ,jeroboam his destiny2 but1 however announced1 it seems to have been received in sullen silence1 and to have wrought no softening nor change4 ,like all ,god's threatenings1 it was spoken that it might not be inflicted4 ,solomon was threatened before the prophet spoke to ,jeroboam2 and if ,solomon had repented1 ,jeroboam would never have been spoken to4 ,but he is too far gone to be stopped1 though he has ,god's own word for it that he is ruining his kingdom by his sin4 ,we have as clear declarations of worse results from ours2 but they do not stop some of us4 ,how strange it is that men will put out their hands to grasp their sins1 even though they have to stretch across the smoke of the pit for them6 ,note how forbearance delays and diminishes retribution4 ,the separation of the kingdom is deferred1 and one tribe is left to the ,davidic house2 probably ,judah is meant1 and ,benjamin is omitted as being small4 ,observe1 too1 how we have a double instance of the law of ,god's providence which visits the father's deeds on the children4 ,the consequences of ,david's goodness fall on ,solomon1 and the consequences of ,solomon's evil fall on ,rehoboam4 ,stated in the language of the secular historian1 that is to say that the consequences of great national virtues or crimes are seldom reaped by the generation that sowed the seed and did the deed1 but take time to mature and work themselves out4 ,stated in the language of ,scripture1 it is1 ',the fathers have eaten sour grapes1 and the children's teeth are set on edge4' ,the separation of the kingdom was not brought about by miracle1 but came in the natural course of things4 ,a people ground down by heavy taxation and forced labour1 to keep up the luxury of a court containing all that disgusting crowd of wives and concubines1 was ripe for revolt1 and when the sceptre fell into the hands of a headstrong fool1 and there was a capable leader on the other side1 discontent soon became rebellion1 and rebellion soon became triumphant4 ,it all flowed as naturally as possible from the same fountain as the idolatry of which it was the punishment2 and so it teaches once more the great truth that 'the world's history is the world's judgment1' and that the so-called 'natural consequences' of our deeds are1 even here and now1 ,god's retribution for our deeds4 ,what a lesson as to ,god's great patience is here6 ,what a solemn glimpse into man's power to counterwork ,god's purpose6 ,so soon after its establishment did the house of ,david prove unworthy1 and the experiment fail4 ,yet that long-suffering purpose is not turned aside1 but persistently and patiently goes on its way1 altering its methods1 but keeping its end unaltered1 bending even sin to minister to its design1 pitying and warning the sinner ere it strikes the blow that the sinner has made needful4 ,behind the figure of ,solomon we see another4 ,the wisest of men fell shamefully1 captured by coarse lust1 and apparently steeled against all remonstrances from ,heaven4 ',a greater than ,solomon is here4' ,the faults of the human kings of ,israel prophesy of the true ,king1 who is to be the substance of which they were but faint shadows1 and whose manhood was stained by no flaw1 nor ,his kingdom ever rent from ,his pure hands4 ,solomon was wise1 but ,christ is ',wisdom4' ,solomon built a ,temple1 but also altars to false gods overtopping it across the valley2 and his ,temple was burned with fire4 ,but ,christ is the true ,temple as well as ,priest and ,sacrifice4 ,solomon was by name 'the peaceful1' and his land had outward rest1 darkened at the last by war and rebellion4 ,but ,christ is the ,prince of ,peace1 and of ,his dominion there shall be no end4 ,solomon is the great example of the sad truth that the loftiest and wisest share in the universal sinfulness4 ,christ is the one flawless ,man1 who makes those who take ,him for their ,king wise and peaceful1 prosperous1 and in due time sinless1 like ,himself4 ,,the ,,new ,,garment ,,bent ',and ,jeroboam1 the son of ,nebat1 an ,ephrathite of ,zereda1 ,solomon's servant1 whose mother's name was ,zeruah1 a widow woman1 even he lifted up his hand against the king4 #bg4 ,and this was the cause that he lifted up his hand against the king3 ,solomon built ,millo1 and repaired the breaches of the city of ,david his father4 #bh4 ,and the man ,jeroboam was a mighty man of valour3 and ,solomon seeing the young man that he was industrious1 he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of ,joseph4 #bi4 ,and it came to pass at that time when ,jeroboam went out of ,jerusalem1 that the prophet ,ahijah the ,shilonite found him in the way2 and he had clad himself with a new garment2 and they two were alone in the field3 #cj4 ,and ,ahijah caught the new garment that was on him1 and rent it in twelve pieces3 #ca4 ,and he said to ,jeroboam1 ,take thee ten pieces3 for thus saith the ,lord1 the ,god of ,israel1 ,behold1 ,i will rend the kingdom out of the hand of ,solomon1 and will give ten tribes to thee3 #cb4 7,but he shall have one tribe for ,my servant ,david's sake1 and for ,jerusalem's sake1 the city which ,i have chosen out of all the tribes of ,israel37 #cc4 ,because that they have forsaken ,me1 and have worshipped ,ashtoreth the goddess of the ,zidonians1 ,chemosh the god of the ,moabites1 and ,milcom the god of the children of ,ammon1 and have not walked in ,my ways1 to do that which is right in ,mine eyes1 and to keep ,my statutes and ,my judgments1 as did ,david his father4 #cd4 ,howbeit ,i will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand3 but ,i will make him prince all the days of his life for ,david ,my servant's sake1 whom ,i chose because he kept ,my commandments and ,my statutes3 #ce4 ,but ,i will take the kingdom out of his ion's hand1 and will give it unto thee1 even ten tribes4 #cf4 ,and unto his son will ,i give one tribe1 that ,david ,my servant may have a light alway before ,me in ,jerusalem1 the city which ,i have chosen ,me to put ,my name there4 #cg4 ,and ,i will take thee1 and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth1 and shalt be king over ,israel4 #ch4 ,and it shall be1 if thou wilt hearken unto all that ,i command thee1 and wilt walk in ,my ways1 and do that is right in ,my sight1 to keep ,my statutes and ,my commandments1 as ,david ,my servant did2 that ,i will be with thee1 and build thee a sure house1 as ,i built for ,david1 and will give ,israel unto thee4 #ci4 ,and ,i will for this afflict the seed of ,david1 but not for ever4 #dj4 ,solomon sought therefore to kill ,jeroboam4 ,and ,jeroboam arose1 and fled into ,egypt1 unto ,shishak king of ,egypt1 and was in ,egypt until the death of ,solomon4 #da4 ,and the rest of the acts of ,solomon1 and all that he did1 and his wisdom1 are they not written in the book of the acts of ,solomon8 #db4 ,and the time that ,solomon reigned in ,jerusalem over all ,israel was forty years4 #dc4 ,and ,solomon slept with his fathers1 and was buried in the city of ,david his father3 and ,rehoboam his son reigned in his stead4'--#a ,,kings xi4 #bf-dc4 ,solomon falls into the background in the last part of the story of his reign1 and his enemies are more prominent than himself4 ,so long as he walked with ,god1 he was of importance for the historian2 but as soon as he forsook ,god1 and was consequently forsaken of ,his wisdom1 he becomes as insignificant as an empty vessel which has once held sweet perfume1 or a piece of carbon through which the electric current has ceased to flow4 ,the sunbeam has left that peak1 and shines on other summits4 ,never was there a sadder eclipse4 ,we are here told first how the instrument for shattering ,solomon's kingdom was shaped by himself4 ,it is the old story of a young man of mark1 attracting the eyes of the king1 being promoted to offices of trust1 which at once stir ambition1 and give prominence and influence which seem to afford a possibility of gratifying it4 ,the passion for building1 so common in ,eastern kings1 and the cause of so much misery to their subjects1 had grown on ,solomon2 and as his later days were harassed by war1 and he had lost the safe defence of ,god's arm1 ,jerusalem had to be enclosed by a wall4 ,his father had been able to leave a 'breach' because the ,lord was a wall round him and his city2 and if ,solomon had kept in his paths1 he would have had no need to add to the fortifications4 ,the preservation of ancestral piety is for nations and individuals a surer protection than the improvement of ancestral outward defences4 ,jeroboam made himself conspicuous by his energy 7for that rather than 'valour' must be the meaning of the word71 and so got promotion4 ,it was natural1 but at the same time dangerous1 to put him in command of the forced labour of his own tribe1 as the narrative shows us was done2 for 'the house of ,joseph' is the tribe of ,ephraim1 to which1 according to the correct translation of verse #bf1 he belonged4 ,in such an office he would be thrown among his kinsmen1 and would at once gain influence and learn to sympathise with their discontent1 or1 at any rate1 to know where the sore places were1 if he ever wanted to inflame them4 ,one can easily fancy the grumblings of the ,ephraimites dragged up to ,jerusalem to the hated labour1 which ,samuel had predicted 7#a ,samuel viii4 #af71 and how facile it would be for the officer in charge to fan discontent or to win friends by judicious indulgence4 ,how long this went on we do not know1 but the fire had smouldered for some time under the unconscious king's very eyes1 when it was fanned into a flame by ,ahijah's breath4 ,that is the second stage in the story1--the spark on the tinder4 ,we have heard nothing of prophets during ,solomon's reign2 but now this man from ,shiloh1 the ancient seat of the ,tabernacle1 meets the ambitious young officer in some solitary spot1 with the message which answered to his secret thoughts and made his heart beat fast4 ,the symbolic action preceding the spoken word1 as usual1 supplied the text1 of which the word was the explanation and expansion4 ,how pathetic is the newness of the garment6 ,unworn1 strong1 and fresh1 it yet is rent in pieces4 ,so the kingdom is so recent1 with such possibilities of duration1 and yet it must be shattered6 ,thus quickly has the experiment broken down6 ,it is little more than a century since ,saul's anointing1 little more than seventy years since the choice of ,david1 and already the fabric1 which had such fair promise of perpetuity1 is ready to vanish away4 ,if we may say so1 that 'new garment' represents the divine disappointment and sorrow over the swift corruption of the kingdom4 ,it was probably merely some loose square of cloth which ,ahijah tore1 with violence proportioned to its newness1 into twelve pieces1 ten of which he thrust into the astonished ,jeroboam's hands4 ,the commentary followed4 ,ahijah's prophecy is substantially the same as the previous threatenings to ,solomon1 which had done no good4 ,their incipient fulfilment in the wars with ,edom and ,syria had been equally futile2 and therefore ,god1 who never strikes without warning1 and never warns without striking if men do not heed1 now drops the message into ears that were only too ready to hear4 ,the seed fell on prepared soil1 and ,jeroboam's half-formed plans would be consolidated and fixed4 ,the scene is like that in which the witches foretell to ,macbeth his dignity4 ,slumbering ambitions are stirred1 and a half-inclined will is finally determined by the glimpse into the future4 ,how easily men are persuaded that ,god speaks1 and how willing they are to obey1 when their inclinations jump with ,heaven's commandments6 ,the prophet's message makes the separation of the kingdoms a direct divine act1 and yet it was the breaking up of a divine institution4 ,god's dealings have to be shaped according to facts1 and ,he changes ,his methods1 and lets the feebleness of ,his creatures and their sins mould ,his august procedure4 ,the divine ,potter1 like mere human artisans1 has ,his spoiled pieces of work1 and1 with infinite resource and patience as infinite1 re-shapes the clay into other forms4 ,the separation of the kingdoms was a divine act1 and yet it is treated often in the later books as a crime and rebellion4 ,god works out ,his purposes through men's deeds1 and their motives determine whether their acts are sins or obedience4 ,a man may be a rebel while he is doing the will of ,god1 if what he does be done at the bidding of his own selfishness4 ,the separation of the kingdoms was ,god's doing1 but it was brought about by the free action of men obeying most secular impulses of political discontent1 and led by a cunning1 self-seeking schemer4 ,note that the prophecy is in three parts4 ,first1 verses #ca-cc announce the punishment1 with the reservation of a dwindled dominion to the ,davidic house1 for the sake of their great ancestor and of ,god's choice of ,jerusalem1 and solemnly charge on the people the idolatry which the king had introduced4 ,the second part 7verses #cd-cf7 postpones the execution of the sentence till after ,solomon's death1 and assigns the same two reasons for this further forbearance4 ,the third part 7verses #cg-ci7 promises ,jeroboam the kingdom1 and lays down the conditions on which the favours promised to ,david and his house may be his4 ,the whole closes with the assurance that the affliction of the seed of ,david is not to be for ever4 ,the punishment was heavy2 for the disruption of the kingdom meant the wreck of all the prosperity of ,solomon's earlier days1 the hopeless weakness of the divided tribes as against the formidable powers that pressed in on them from north and south1 frequent intestine wars1 bitter hatred instead of amity4 ,yet there was another side to it2 for the very failure of the human kings made the ,messianic hope the more bright1 like a light glowing in the deepening darkness1 and tumult and oppression might teach those whom prosperity and peace had only corrupted4 ,the great lesson for us is the ruin which follows on departure from ,god4 ,we do not see national sins followed with equal plainness or swiftness by national judgments2 but the history of ,israel is meant to show on a large scale what is always true1 in the long run1 both for nations and for individuals1 that 'it is an evil thing and a bitter' to depart from the living ,god4 ,mark1 too1 that the judgment is wrought out by perfectly natural causes4 ,the separation follows old lines of cleavage4 ,the strength of ,david's kingdom lay in the south2 and ,ephraim was too powerful a tribe and too proud of its ancient glories1 to acquiesce cheerfully in the pre-eminence of ,judah4 ,the oppression of forced labour and heavy taxation was put forward as the reason for the revolt1 and1 no doubt1 was the reason for the readiness with which the ten tribes rallied to ,jeroboam's flag4 ,there are two ways of writing history4 ,you can either leave ,god out1 or trace all to ,him4 ,the former way calls itself 'scientific' and 'positive4' ,the latter is the ,bible way4 ,perhaps1 if modern history were written on the same principles as the ,books of ,kings1 the divine hand would be as plainly visible1--only it requires an inspired historian to do it4 ,the way of bringing about the judgment for departing from ,god has changed1 but the judgment remains the same to-day as when ,ahijah rent his garment4 ,between verses #ci and #dj we must suppose an attempt at armed rebellion by ,jeroboam4 ,that is implied by the expression that he 'lifted his hand against the king' 7verses #bf1 #bg74 ,that attempt must have been put down by ,solomon4 ,and that it should have been made shows how little ,jeroboam was influenced by religious motives4 ,the prophet's words had set him all afire with ambitious hopes1 and he paid no heed to the distinct assurance that ,solomon was to be 'prince all the days of his life4' ,he stretched out a rash1 self-willed hand to snatch the promised crown1 and broke ,god's commandment even while he pretended to be keeping it4 ,how different ,david's conduct in like circumstances6 ,he took no steps to bring about the fulfilment of ,samuel's promise at his anointing1 but patiently waited for ,god to do as ,he had said1 in ,his own time1 and meantime continued his lowly work4 ,god's time is the best time2 and he who greedily grasps at a premature fulfilment of promised good will have to pay for it by defeat and exile from the modest good that he had4 ,jeroboam's flight to ,egypt brings that ill-omened name on the page for the first time since the ,exodus4 ,it has given occasion to an extraordinary addition to the ,septuagint1 professing to tell his adventures there1--how he was high in ,shishak's favour1 and married a princess4 ,that is apparently pure legend2 but his residence there was important1 as the beginning of ,egypt's interference in ,israel's affairs4 ,it is an old trick of aggressive nations to side with a pretender to the throne of a country which they covet1 and benevolently to strengthen him that he may weaken it4 ,no doubt it was as ,jeroboam's ally that ,shishak invaded ,judah in the fifth year of ,rehoboam1 and plundered the ,temple and the palace4 ,it was a bad beginning for a king of ,israel to be a pensioner of ,egypt4 ,the narrative closes with the sad1 reticent formula which ends each reign1 and in ,solomon's case hides so much that is tragic and dark4 ,this was all that could be said about the end of a career that had begun so nobly4 ,if more had been said1 the record would have been sadder2 and so the pitying narrative casts the veil of the stereotyped summary over the miserable story4 ,there are many instances in history of lives of genius and enthusiasm1 of high promise and partial accomplishment1 marred and flung away1 but none which present the great tragedy of wasted gifts1 and blossoms never fruited1 in a sharper1 more striking form than the life of the wise king of ,israel1 who 'in his latter days' was 'a fool4' ,the goodliest vessel may be shipwrecked in sight of port4 ,solomon was not an old man1 as we count age1 when he died2 for he reigned forty years1 and was somewhere about twenty when he became king4 ,but it was 'when he was old' that he fell1 and that through passion which should have been well under control long before4 ,the sun went down in a thick bank of clouds1 which rose from undrained marshes in his soul1 and stretched high up in the western horizon4 ,his career1 in its glory and its shame1 preaches the great lesson which the ,book of ,ecclesiastes puts into his mouth as 'the conclusion of the whole matter'3 ',fear ,god1 and keep ,his commandments2 for this is the whole duty of man4' ,,how ,,to ,,split ,a ,,kingdom ,and ,rehoboam went to ,shechem3 for all ,israel were come to ,shechem to make him king4 #b4 ,and it came to pass1 when ,jeroboam the son of ,nebat1 who was yet in ,egypt1 heard of it 7for he was fled from the presence of king ,solomon1 and ,jeroboam dwelt in ,egypt72 #c4 ,that they sent and called him4 ,and ,jeroboam and all the congregation of ,israel came1 and spake unto ,rehoboam1 saying1 #d4 ,thy father made our yoke grievous3 now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father1 and his heavy yoke which he put upon us1 lighter1 and we will serve thee4 #f4 ,and he said unto them1 ,depart yet for three days1 then come again to me4 ,and the people departed4 #f4 ,and king ,rehoboam consulted with the old men1 that stood before ,solomon his father while he yet lived1 and said1 ,how do ye advise that ,i may answer this people8 #g4 ,and they spake unto him1 saying1 ,if thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day1 and wilt serve them1 and answer them1 and speak good words to them1 then they will be thy servants for ever4 #h4 ,but he forsook the counsel of the old men1 which they had given him1 and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him1 and which stood before him3 #i4 ,and he said unto them1 ,what counsel give ye that we may answer this people1 who have spoken to me1 saying1 ,make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter8 #aj4 ,and the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him1 saying1 ,thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee1 saying1 ,thy father made our yoke heavy1 but make thou it lighter unto us2 thus shalt thou say unto them1 ,my little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins4 #aa4 ,and now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke1 ,i will add to your yoke3 my father hath chastised you with whips1 but ,i will chastise you with scorpions4 #ab4 ,so ,jeroboam and all the people came to ,rehoboam the third day1 as the king had appointed1 saying1 ',come to me again the third day4 #ac4 ,and the king answered the people roughly1 and forsook the old men's counsel that they gave him2 #ad4 ,and spake to them after the counsel of the young men1 saying1 ,my father made your yoke heavy1 and ,i will add to your yoke3 my father also chastised you with whips1 but ,i will chastise you with scorpions4 #ae4 ,wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people2 for the cause was from the ,lord1 that ,he might perform ,his saying1 which the ,lord spake by ,ahijah the ,shilonite unto ,jeroboam the son of ,nebat4 #af4 ,so when all ,israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them1 the people answered the king1 saying1 ,what portion have we in ,david8 neither have we inheritance in the son of ,jesse3 to your tents1 ,o ,israel3 now see to thine own house1 ,david4 ,so ,israel departed unto their tents4 #ag4 ,but as for the children of ,israel which dwelt in the cities of ,judah1 ,rehoboam reigned over them4'--#a ,,kings xii4 #a-ag4 ,the separation of the kingdom of ,solomon into two weak and hostile states is1 in one aspect1 a wretched story of folly and selfishness wrecking a nation1 and1 in another1 a solemn instance of divine retribution working its designs by men's sins4 ,the greater part of this account deals with it in the former aspect1 and shows the despicable motives of the men in whose hands was the nation's fate2 but one sentence 7verse #ae7 draws back the curtain for a moment1 and shows us the true cause4 ,there is something very striking in that one flash1 which reveals the enthroned ,god1 working through the ignoble strife which makes up the rest of the story4 ,this double aspect of the disruption of the kingdom is the main truth about it which the narrative impresses on us4 ,as to the mere details of the incident1 as a political revolution1 they are in four stages4 ,first come the terms of allegiance offered to the new king4 ,rehoboam goes to ,shechem1 because ',israel was gone' there4 ,the choice of the place is suspicious2 for it was in the tribe of ,ephraim1 and had been for a time the centre of national life2 and its selection at once indicated discontent with the preponderance of ,jerusalem1 and a wish to assert the importance of the central tribes4 ,no doubt1 the choice of the latter city for the capital had caused heart-burning1 even during ,david's time4 ,adopting the reading of the ,revised ,version1 we see another suspicious sign in the recall of ,jeroboam1 and his selection as spokesman2 for he had been in rebellion against ,solomon 7#a ,kings xi4 #bf71 and therefore an exile4 ,probably he had now been the instigator of the discontent of which he became the mouthpiece2 and1 in any case1 his appearance as the leader was all but a declaration of war4 ,his former occupation as superintendent of the forced labour exacted from his own tribe taught him where the shoe pinched1 and the weight of the yoke would not be lessened in his representations4 ,no doubt1 the luxury and splendour of ,solomon's brilliant reign had an under side of oppression1 even though forced labour was not exacted from ,israelites 7#a ,kings ix4 #bb72 but probably the severity was exaggerated in these complaints1 which were plainly the pretext for a revolt of which tribal jealousy was the main cause1 and ,jeroboam's ambition the spark that set light to the train4 ,certainly there was ignoring of the benefits of the peaceful reign1 which had brought security and commerce4 ,but there was enough truth in the complaint to make it plausible and effective for catching the people4 ,had they a right to suspend their allegiance on compliance with their terms8 ,israel was neither a despotism1 nor simply a constitutional monarchy4 ,god appointed the kings1 and had ordained the ,davidic house to the throne2 and therefore this making terms was1 in effect1 asserting independence of ,god's will4 ,jeroboam was scheming for a crown4 ,the people were shaking off their submission to ,god4 ,it is very doubtful if concession would have conciliated them4 ,there is nothing elevated1 not to say religious1 in their motives or acts4 ,then comes ,rehoboam on the scene4 ,the one sensible thing that he did was to take three days to think4 ,whether or no his little finger was thicker than his father's loins1 his head was not half so wise4 ,ecclesiastes1 speaking in ,solomon's name1 reckons it a great evil that he must leave his labour to his successor2 'and who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool8' ,certainly ,rehoboam had little 'wisdom' either of the higher or lower kind4 ,it was the lower kind which the old counsellors of his father gave him1--that wisdom which is mere cunning directed to selfish ends1 and careless of honour or truth4 ',flatter them to-day1 speak them fair1 promise what you do not mean to keep1 and then1 when you are firm in the saddle1 let them feel bit and spur4' ,that was all these grey-headed men had learned4 ,if that was what passed for 'wisdom' in ,solomon's later days1 we need not wonder at revolt4 ,to act on such motives is bad enough1 but to put them into plain words1 and offer them as the rule of a king's conduct1 is a depth of cynical contempt for truth and kingly honour that indicates only too clearly how rotten the state of ,israel was4 ,have we never seen candidates for ,parliament and the like on one side of the water1 and for ,congress1 ,senate1 or ,presidency on the other1 who have gone to school to the old men at ,shechem8 ,the prizes of politicians are often still won by this stale device4 ,the young counsellors differ only in the means of gaining the object4 ,neither set has the least glimmer of the responsibility of the office1 nor ever thinks that ,god has any say in choosing the king4 ,naked1 undisguised selfishness animates both2 only1 as becomes their several ages1 the one set recommends crawling and the other bluster4 ,think of ,saul hiding among the staff1 ,david going back to his sheep after he was anointed1 ,solomon praying for wisdom to guide this people1 and measure the depth of descent to this ignoble scramble for the sweets of royalty6 ,according to ,i ,kings xiv4 #ba1 ,rehoboam was forty-one at this time1 so his contemporaries could not have been very young4 ,but possibly the number in the present text is an error for twenty-one1 which would agree better with the tone of the reference to age here1 and with the rash counsel4 ,note the recurrence1 both in ,rehoboam's question in verse #i and in the young advisers' answer in verse #aj1 of the obnoxious speech of the people4 ,that may be accidental1 but it sounds as if both he and they were keeping their anger warm by repeating the offensive complaint4 ,the ,revised ,version reads1 ',my little finger is thicker1' etc41 and so makes the sentence not a threat1 but the foundation of the following threat in an arrogant and empty assertion of greater power4 ,the fool always thinks himself wiser than the wise dead2 the 'living dog' fancies that his yelp is louder than the roar of 'the dead lion4' ,what can be done with a ,rehoboam who brags that he is better than ,solomon8 ,the threat which follows is inconceivably foolish2 and all the more so because it probably did not represent any definite intention1 and certainly was backed by no force adequate to carry it out4 ,passion and offended dignity are the worst guides for conduct4 ,threats are always mistakes4 ,a sieve of oats1 not a whip1 attracts a horse to the halter4 ,if ,rehoboam had wished to split the kingdom1 he could have found no better wedge than this blustering promise of tyranny4 ,next in this miserable story of imbecility and arrogance comes the answer to the assembly4 ,shechem had seen many an eventful hour1 but never one heavier with important issues than that on which the united ,israel met for the last time1 and there1 in the rich valley with ,ebal and ,gerizim towering above them1 heard the fateful answer of this braggart4 ,a dozen rash words brought about four hundred years of strife1 weakness1 and final destruction4 ,and neither the foolish speaker nor any man in that crowd dreamed of the unnumbered evils to flow from that hour4 ,since issues are so far beyond our sight1 how careful it becomes us to be of motives6 ,angry counsels are always blunders4 ,no nation can prosper when moderate complaints are met by threats1 and 'spirited conduct1' asserting dignity1 is a sign of weakness1 not of strength4 ,for nations and individuals that is true4 ,here the historian draws back the curtain4 ,on earth stand the insolent king and the now mutinous people1 each driving at their ends1 and neither free of sin in their selfishness4 ,a stormy scene of passion1 without thought of ,god1 rages below1 and above sits the ,lord1 working ,his great purpose by men's sin4 ,that divine control does not in the least affect the freedom or the guilt of the actors4 ,rehoboam's disregard of the people's terms was 'a thing brought about of the ,lord1' but it was ,rehoboam's sin none the less4 ,that which1 looked at from the mere human side1 is the sinful result of the free play of wrong motives1 is1 when regarded from the divine side1 the determinate counsel of ,god4 ,the greatest crime in the world's history was at the same time the accomplishment of ,god's most merciful purpose4 ,calvary is the highest example of the truth1 which embraces all lesser instances of the wrath of man1 which ,he makes to praise ,him and effect ,his deep designs4 ,again1 the rending of the kingdom was the punishment of sin1 especially ,solomon's sin of idolatry1 which was closely connected with the extravagant expenditure that occasioned the separation4 ,so the so-called natural consequences of transgression constitute its temporal punishment in part1 and behind all these our eyes should be clear-sighted enough to behold the operative will of ,god4 ,this one piercing beam of light1 cast on that scene of insolence and rebellion1 lights up all history1 and gives the principle on which it must be interpreted1 if it is not to be misread4 ,again1 the punishment of sin1 whether that of a community or of a single person1 is sin4 ,the separation was sin1 on both sides2 it led to much more4 ,it was the consequence of previous departure4 ,so ever the worst result of any sin is that it opens the door1 like a thief who has crept in through a window1 to a band of brethren4 ,lastly1 we have the fierce rejoinder to the empty boast of ,rehoboam1 and the definitive disruption of the nation4 ,jeroboam must have fanned the flame skilfully1 or it would not have burst out so quickly4 ,there is no hesitation1 nor any regret4 ,the ominous cry1 which had been heard before1 in ,sheba's abortive revolt1 answers ,rehoboam with instantaneous and full-throated defiance4 ,rancorous tribal hatred is audible in it4 ,long pent up jealousy and dislike of the dynasty of ,david has got breath at last3 ',to your tents1 ,o ,israel6 now see to thine own house1 ,david6' ,that roar from a thousand voices meant a good deal more than the cowed king's vain threats did4 ,the angry men who raised it1 and were the tools of a crafty conspirator1 the frightened courtiers and king who heard it1 were alike in their entire oblivion of their true ,lord and ,monarch4 ',god was not in all their thoughts4' ,an enterprise begun in disregard of ,him is fated to failure4 ,the only sure foundations of a nation are the fear of the ,lord and obedience to ,his will4 ,if politics have not a religious basis1 the ,lord will blow upon them1 and they will be as stubble4 ,,political ,,religion ',then ,jeroboam built ,shechera in mount ,ephraim1 and dwelt therein2 and went out from thence1 and built ,penuel4 #bf4 ,and ,jeroboam said in his heart1 ,now shall the kingdom return to the house of ,david3 #bg4 ,if this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the ,lord at ,jerusalem1 then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord1 even unto ,rehoboam king of ,judah1 and they shall kill me1 and go again to ,rehoboam king of ,judah4 #bh4 ,whereupon the king took counsel1 and made two calves of gold1 and said unto them1 ,it is too much for you to go up to ,jerusalem3 behold thy gods1 ,o ,israel1 which brought thee up out of the land of ,egypt4 #bi4 ,and he set the one in ,beth-el1 and the other put he in ,dan4 #cj4 ,and this thing became a sin3 for the people went to worship before the one1 even unto ,dan4 #ca4 ,and he made an house of high places1 and made priests of the lowest of the people1 which were not of the sons of ,levi4 #cb4 ,and ,jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month1 on the fifteenth day of the month1 like unto the feast that is in ,judah2 and he offered upon the altar4 ,so did he in ,beth-el1 sacrificing unto the calves that he had made3 and he placed ,in ,beth-el the priests of the high places which he had made4 #cc4 ,so he offered upon the altar which he had made in ,beth-el the fifteenth day of the eighth month1 even in the month which he had devised of his own heart2 and ordained a feast unto the children of ,israel3 and he offered upon the altar1 and burnt incense4--#a ,,kings xii4 #be-cc ,the details of this section need no long elucidation2 for the one fact which it records1 namely1 the establishment of the calf worship in ,israel1 is the main point to consider4 ,as for details1 we need touch them lightly4 ,the 'building' of ,shechem and ,penuel is probably to be understood as 'fortifying'2 for1 in regard to the former town1 we know from the preceding section that it was a town before the disruption1 and the same is probably true of the latter4 ,two fortresses1 one in the heart of his kingdom1 one on the eastern border1 where attack might be expected1 were ,jeroboam's first care4 ,in estimating his conduct1 the fact must be remembered that ,ahijah had promised him ,god's protection and the establishment of his kingdom in his family1 on the sole condition of obedience4 ,if he had believed the prophet1 something else than building strongholds would have been his prime aim4 ,but he evidently thought that promises were all very well1 but thick walls were better4 ,the two things recorded of him are quite of a piece2 and the writer seems1 by putting them thus side by side1 to wish us to note their identity of motive and similarity in character4 ,the establishment of the calf worship was entirely due1 according to this historian1 to dread that religious unity would heal the schism of political duality1 and that ,jeroboam's kingdom and life would be sacrificed to the magnetism which would draw the revolted northern tribes back to render allegiance1 where they went up to worship4 ,the calculation was reasonable3 but why1 in estimating chances1 did ,jeroboam leave out ,god's promise8 ,that should have kept him at ease4 ,the calves and the castles were signs of fear and of slight regard to the prophet's word4 ,no doubt1 when it suited him1 he could vindicate rebellion on the plea of obeying ,god4 ,the plea would have sounded more genuine if he had shown that he trusted ,god4 ,the calves were probably suggested by his ,egyptian experiences1 where he had seen sacred bulls worshipped living1 and mummied dead4 ,but the remembrance of ,aaron and the golden calf was evidently present to him1 as the almost verbal quotation of ,aaron's words shows4 ,if so1 the whole transaction is still more accentuated as a revolt against the ritual of the central sanctuary4 ',the much-calumniated ,aaron is our example4 ,he was mastered by his brother1 but he was right1 and we go back to the old original worship of our fathers4' ,jeroboam was among the first to employ the expedient1 so often resorted to since1 of white-washing old-world criminals1 in order to provide an ancestry for modern heresies4 ,the calves seem to have been doubled simply as a matter of convenience4 ,when once the principle of saving trouble comes in1 in religion1 it generally plays a great part4 ,if it were too much to go to ,jerusalem1 it would soon be too much to go to ,bethel1 and so ,dan must be provided for the north4 ,the calves were symbols of ,jehovah1 not of other gods1 as must be carefully noted4 ,the making of them implied all that followed2 for a god must have shrine and priesthood and sacrifice and festivals4 ,the ,levites refusing to serve1 and probably losing their inheritance1 fled to ,judah1 and a new priesthood was made 'from among all the people' 7,rev4 ,ver471 ,the ,feast of ,tabernacles was retained but its date shifted forward a month1 perhaps because the harvest1 which it closed1 was later in the north1 but evidently with the design of1 as it were1 underscoring the religious separation4 ,the latter part of this passage should perhaps be attached more closely to the next chapter1 and understood as describing the one instance of ,jeroboam's sacrificing which was so grimly interrupted by the denunciation by the anonymous prophet from ,judah4 ,such are the outlines of the facts4 ,what are the lessons taught by them8 ,i4 ,there is that one already mentioned1--the folly and sin of seeking to help ,god to fulfil ,his promises by our poor efforts at making their fulfilment sure to sense4 ,no doubt many of ,his promises are contingent on our activity in material things2 and no man has a right to expect that' his bread shall be given him1' for instance1 unless he contributes the 'sweat of his brow' towards it4 ,but ,jeroboam had had the conditions of safety and stability clearly laid down4 ,they were1 obedience after the pattern of ,david 7#a ,kings xi4 #ch74 ,so there was no need for building ,shechem and ,penuel1 nor for casting calves and serving them4 ,the heavens will stand without our rearing brickwork pillars to hold them up4 ,but it takes much faith to trust ,god's bare word1 and we are all apt to feel safer if we have something for sense to grasp4 ,on the open plain1 ,god guards those who trust ,him more securely than if they lay in cities 'fenced up to heaven4 ',jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls4 444 ,for ,i1 saith the ,lord1 will be unto her a wall of fire round about4' ,,ii4 ,another lesson taught here is the sin of degrading religion to be a mere instrument for securing personal ends4 ,jeroboam has had many followers among politicians1 ,the average 'statesman' looks on all religions as equally true or untrue1 and is ready to be polite to any of them1 if he can carry his measures thereby4 ,the long history of the relations of ,church and ,state in the ,old ,world has been little else than the ,state's hiring and muzzling the ,church for its own advantage1 and the protests of a faithful few against the degradation of ,state patronage and consequent control4 ,in ,england1 ,jeroboam and his calves used to be the favourite shocking example of the sin of schism1 with which ,high ,church orators were fond of pelting ,nonconformists4 ,the true lesson from him and them is precisely the opposite one2 namely1 the weakening of religion1 when it is favoured and endowed by the civil power4 ,the priests of ,bethel1 who were the creatures of ,jeroboam1 were not likely to be his or his successors rebukers4 ,when ,amos the prophet spoke bold words against a king1 it was ,amaziah the priest who gave the shameful counsel1 ',o thou seer1 flee into the land of ,judah1 and prophesy there2 but prophesy no more at ,bethel3 for it is the king's sanctuary4' ,is there no such thing known as a flaming profession of religion1 because it is respectable1 or opens the way to some good position8 ,does nobody pose in public1 especially about election times1 as a liberal supporter of ,churches and a devout ,church-member1 with an eye mainly to votes8 ,do political parties think it a good thing to get the religious people to go for their ticket8 ,or1 to take less base instances1 is there not a whole school who estimate ,christianity mainly as valuable as a social force1 and1 without any deep personal recognition of its loftier aspects1 think it well that it should be generally accepted1 especially by other people1 as it makes them easier to govern1 and cements the social fabric8 ,christianity is something more than social cement4 ,jeroboam's policy was a great success1 as policy4 ,it both united his kingdom and definitively separated it from ,judah4 ,but it was a success purchased at the price of degrading religion into the lackey of a court4 ,samson went to sleep on ,delilah's lap1 and she cut off the clustering locks in which his strength lay4 ,,iii4 ,the true nature of idolatry is brought out in the incident4 ,jeroboam did not draw ,israel away to worship other gods4 ,no charge of that sort is ever made against the calf worship4 ,the images were meant1 just as ,aaron's1 of which they were a reproduction1 was meant1 to be symbols of ,jehovah4 ,the true object of worship was worshipped in a false way4 ,no matter though the image represented ,him1 its worship was idol worship4 ,there is no ground in the narrative for the surmise of ,stanley1--who in this1 as usual1 simply says ditto to ,ewald1--that ,jeroboam's motive was the desire to prevent ,israel's adopting false gods1 and that the calves were a compromise by which he hoped to stem the tide of apostasy to ,baal worship4 ,the single motive stated in the text is policy inspired by fear4 ,jeroboam did not care enough about the worship of ,jehovah to mould his statecraft with the view of conserving it4 ,if he had so cared1 he could not have set up the calves4 ,his doing so is uniformly regarded in ,scripture as idolatry pure and simple2 and though it is clearly distinguished from the worship of false gods1 it is none the less branded as rebellion against ,jehovah4 ,a visible representation of ,jehovah was as much an idol as a similar one of ,baal would have been4 ,it necessarily degraded the conception of ,him4 ,it brought sense into dangerous prominence as an aid to worship4 ,the symbol might at first1 and to the more devout1 be a mere symbol1 and transparent2 but it would soon become opaque1 and from symbol turn embodiment1 and thence pass to being the very deity represented4 ,it is a feat of abstraction impossible for the ordinary man1 to worship before an idol1 and not to worship the idol4 ,the strange1 awful fascination which idolatry exercised is perhaps gone now from the civilised world4 ,but the lesson remains ever in season1 that it is dangerous work to bring in sense as an ally of devotion1 because outward things1 which at first may be only symbols and helps1 are almost certain to become something more4 ,,iv4 ,jeroboam may stand1 finally1 as a type of the men who suppose themselves to be worshipping ,god when they are only following their own wills4 ,all his ceremonial had this damning characteristic1 that it was 'devised of his own heart'2 and so it was himself that was enshrined in his new house of the high places1 and himself to whom the sacrifices were offered4 ,absolute obedience to ,god's will1 whatever perils may seem to attend it1 is true worship4 ,wherever apparent devotion to ,him is mingled with burning incense to our own net1 the mixture ruins the devotion4 ',obedience is better than sacrifice4' ,temptations to take our own way will often appear as the dictates of sound policy1 and to neglect them as culpable carelessness4 ,but such paltering with plain commandments is as ruinous as sinful1 and is not to be atoned for by outward worship4 ,what did ,jeroboam win by his intrusion of self-will into the region which ought to be sacred to perfect obedience8 ,a troubled reign and the destruction of his house after one generation4 ,one more thing he won2 namely1 that terrible epithet1 which becomes almost a part of his name1 ',jeroboam1 the son of ,nebat1 who made ,israel to sin4' ,what a title to be branded on a man's forehead for ever6 ,it is always a mistake to disobey ,god4 ,every sin is a blunder as well as a crime4 ,this only is the safe motto for churches and individuals1 in all the details of worship and of life3 ',lo1 ,i come to do ,thy will1 ,o ,lord1 and ,thy law is within my heart4' ,,the ,,record ,,of ,,two ,,kings ',in the thirty and first year of ,asa king of ,judah began ,omri to reign over ,israel1 twelve years3 six years reigned he in ,tirzah4 #bd4 ,and he bought the hill ,samaria of ,shemer for two talents of silver1 and built on the hill1 and called the name of the city which he built1 after the name of ,shemer1 owner of the hill1 ,samaria4 #be4 ,but ,omri wrought evil in the eyes of the ,lord1 and did worse than all that were before him4 #bf4 ,for he walked in all the way of ,jeroboam the son of ,nebat1 and in his sin wherewith he made ,israel to sin1 to provoke the ,lord ,god of ,israel to anger with their vanities4 #bg4 ,now the rest of the acts of ,omri which he did1 and his might that he shewed1 are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of ,israel8 #bh4 ,so ,omri slept with his fathers1 and was buried in ,samaria3 and ,ahab his son reigned in his stead4 #bi4 ,and in the thirty and eighth year of ,asa king of ,judah began ,ahab the son of ,omri to reign over ,israel3 and ,ahab the son of ,omri reigned over ,israel in ,samaria twenty and two years4 #cj4 ,and ,ahab the son of ,omri did evil in the sight of the ,lord above all that were before him4 #ca4 ,and it came to pass1 as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of ,jeroboam the son of ,nebat1 that he took to wife ,jezebel the daughter of ,ethibaal king of the ,zidonians1 and went and served ,baal1 and worshipped him4 #cb4 ,and he reared up an altar for ,baal in the house of ,baal1 which he had built in ,samaria4 #cc4 ,and ,ahab made a grove2 and ,ahab did more to provoke the ,lord ,god of ,israel to anger than all the kings of ,israel that were before him4'-#a ,,kings xvi4 #bc-cc4 ,jeroboam's son and successor was killed by ,baasha1 ,baasha's son and successor was killed by ,zimri1 who reigned for a week1 and then burned the palace and died in the flames4 ,a struggle for the throne followed between ,omri1 the commander-in-chief1 and ,tibni1 ',tibni died1 and ,omri reigned4' ,so1 in fifty years1 the kingdom that was to relieve ,israel from oppression staggered through seas of blood1 and four kings1 or would-be kings1 died by violence4 ,omri's dynasty lasted about as long1 namely1 through the reigns of four kings1 and was then swept away like the others1 in blood and fire4 ,the text gives a meagre outline of the reigns of himself and his son ,ahab1 of which perhaps the meagreness is the most significant feature4 ,the only fact told of the father is that he built ,samaria1 and his whole reign is summed up in the damning sentence that he 'walked in the way of ,jeroboam4' ,we learn from the ,moabite stone that he waged successful war against that country1 and that it was tributary to ,israel for forty years4 ,in ,micah vi4 #af1 mention is made of the statutes of ,omri1 as if he had given edicts for idolatry4 ,the reign of ,ahab is similarly summarised4 ,his marriage with ,jezebel1 and the flood of ,baal worship which that let loose over the land1 are told with horror1 in preparation for ,elijah's appearance like a dark background that throws up a brilliant figure4 ,the lessons to be drawn from these severely condensed records1 cut down to the bone1 as it were1 are plain4 ,the first of them is1 that when a life is over1 the one thing which lasts1 or is worth thinking about1 is the man's relation to ,god and ,his will4 ,here are twelve years' reign in the one case1 and twenty-two in the other1 all boiled down1 so to speak1 into half a dozen sentences1 and estimated according to one standard only4 ,what has become of all the eager strife1 the joys and sorrows1 the hopes and fears1 that burned so fiercely for awhile8 ,all died down into a handful of grey ashes4 ,and what lies in them like a lump of solid metal that has been melted out of the huge heap of days and deeds that fed the fire8 ,the man's relation to ,god4 ,that abides2 that is recorded2 that determines everything else about him4 ,waving forests that once had sunshine pouring down on their green fronds are represented in a thin seam of coal4 ,our lives will all come down to this at last4 ,how did he stand towards ,god and ,his will is the final question that will be asked about each of us1 and the answer to it is the only thing that concerns the dead--or the living either4 ,men write voluminous biographies of each other4 ,how little their judgments matter to the dead men6 ,praise or blame are equally indifferent to them4 ,but what matters is1 whether ,god will have to record of us what is recorded of these two wretched kings1 or whether ,he will recognise that the main drift of our poor lives was to serve ,him and do ,his will4 ,he was a great scholar2 he made a huge fortune2 he rose to be a peer2 she was a noted beauty1 a leader of fashion1 a queen of society--what will all such epitaphs be worth1 if ,god's finger carves silently below them1 ',he did that which was evil in the sight of the ,lord'8 ,another lesson from these two reigns is the certain widening of the smallest departure from ,god4 ,jeroboam professed to retain the worship of ,jehovah1 and to introduce only a small alteration in setting up a symbol of ,him4 ,he would vehemently have asserted that he was no idolater1 and would have shuddered at the very notion of bowing down to the gods of the nations1 but in less than fifty years a temple to the ,sidonian ,baal rose in ,samaria1 and his worship1 with its foul sensuality1 was corrupting all ,israel4 ,however acute the angle of departure1 the line has only to be prolonged1 and the distance between it and that from which it diverged will be the distance between heaven and hell1 ,let no one say3 ',thus far and no farther will ,i go4' ,there is no stopping at will on that course1 any more than a man sliding down a steeply sloping sheet of smooth ice can pull himself up before he plunges over the edge into the abyss below4 ,that is true as to all departures from ,god and ,his law1 but it is eminently true as to every tampering with the spirituality of worship4 ,jeroboam's symbolism led straight to ,ahab's unblushing pagan worship of the hideous ,sidonian ,baal4 ,the craving for symbolical and sensuous accessories of worship1 which is strong in most ,churches in this aesthetic generation1 is perilous4 ,material aids to worship there must be1 so long as we are in the flesh1 but the fewer and simpler they are the better1 for they are aids which very swiftly become hindrances4 ,another lesson from ,ahab's reign is the need of detachment from entangling alliances1 if we would keep ourselves right with ,god4 ,it was ,israel's calling to be separate from the nations4 ,it was ,israel's temptation either to mix with them1 or to keep aloof from them in contempt and hatred4 ,ahab's marriage with ,jezebel was1 no doubt1 thought by his father a clever stroke of policy1 assuring them of an ally4 ,but it flooded the nation with the cruel and lustful cult of ,baal1 and that finally ruined ,ahab and his house4 ,god's servants can never mingle themselves with ,his enemies without harm1 unless they mingle with them for the purpose of turning them into ,his servants4 ,if we prefer the company of those who do not love ,jesus1 our love to ,him must be faint1 and will soon be fainter4 ,if ,ahab takes ,jezebel for his wife1 ,ahab will soon take ,jezebel's foul god for his god4 ,a ,,prophet',s ,,strange ,,providers ',and ,elijah the ,tishbite1 who was of the inhabitants of ,gilead1 said unto ,ahab1 ,as the ,lord ,god of ,israel liveth1 before whom ,i stand1 there shall not be dew nor rain these years1 but according to my word4 #b4 ,and the word of the ,lord came unto him1 saying1 #c4 ,get thee hence1 and turn thee eastward1 and hide thyself by the brook ,cherith1 that is before ,jordan4 #d4 ,and it shall be1 that thou shalt drink of the brook2 and ,i have commanded the ravens to feed thee there4 #e4 ,so he went and did according unto the word of the ,lord1 for he went and dwelt by the brook ,cherith1 that is before ,jordan4 #f4 ,and the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning1 and bread and flesh in the evening2 and he drank of the brook4 #g4 ,and it came to pass after a while1 that the brook dried up1 because there had been no rain in the land4 #h4 ,and the word of the ,lord came unto him1 saying1 #i4 ,arise1 get thee to ,zarephath1 which belongeth to ,zidon1 and dwell there3 behold1 ,i have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee4 #aj4 ,so he arose and went to ,zarephath4 ,and when he came to the gate of the city1 behold1 the widow woman was there gathering of sticks3 and he called to her1 and said1 ,fetch me1 ,i pray thee1 a little water in a vessel1 that ,i may drink4 #aa4 ,and as she was going to fetch it1 he called to her1 and said1 ,bring me1 ,i pray thee1 a morsel of bread in thine hand4 #ab4 ,and she said1 ,as the ,lord thy ,god liveth1 ,i have not a cake1 but an handful of meal in a barrel1 and a little oil in a cruse3 and1 behold1 ,i am gathering two sticks1 that ,i may go in and dress it for me and my son1 that we may eat it1 and die4 #ac4 ,and ,elijah said unto her1 ,fear not2 go and do as thou hast said3 but make me thereof a little cake first1 and bring it unto me1 and after make for thee and for thy son4 #ad4 ,for thus saith the ,lord ,god of ,israel1 ,the barrel of meal shall not waste1 neither shall the cruse of oil fail1 until the day that the ,lord sendeth rain upon the earth4 #ae4 ,and she went and did according to the saying of ,elijah3 and she1 and he1 and her house1 did eat many days4 #af4 ,and the barrel of meal wasted not1 neither did the cruse of oil fail1 according to the word of the ,lord1 which ,he spake by ,elijah4'-#a ,,kings xvii4 #a-af4 ,the worst times need the best men4 ,the reign of ,ahab brought a great outburst of ,baal worship1 imported by his ,phoenician wife1 which threatened to sweep away every trace of the worship of ,jehovah4 ,the feeble king was absolutely ruled by the strongwilled ,jezebel1 and everything seemed rushing down to ruin4 ,one man arrests the downward movement1 and with no weapon but his word1 and no support but his own dauntless courage1 which was the child of his faith1 works a revolution in ,israel4 ',among them that are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than' ,elijah the ,tishbite4 ,bugged1 stern1 solitary1 he has no commission to reveal new truth4 ,he is not a 'prophet1' like later ones whose words were revelation4 ,little is preserved of his sayings4 ,his task was to reform and restore1 not to advance2 and his endowments of 'spirit and power' corresponded to his work4 ,the striking peculiarities of this heroic figure will appear as we go on with his history4 ,for the present1 we have to consider the three points of this narrative4 ,i4 ,the ,prophet and the ,king4--,the startling suddenness of ,elijah's leap into the arena1 where he appears without preface or explanation1 helps the impression of extraordinary force which his whole career makes4 ,he crashes into the midst of ,ahab's court like a thunderbolt4 ,what did ,jezebel think of this wild man from the other side of ,jordan1 with his long hair and his loose mantle1 who thus fronted ,ahab and her8 ,nothing is told us of his descent2 it is even questionable whether the reading which calls him 'the ,tishbite' is correct4 ,we only know that he was of ,gilead1 and therefore used to a ruder1 freer1 simpler life than that in kings' palaces4 ,the natural conclusion from the narrative is that the prophet and the king had never met before2 and1 if so1 the stern brevity of the threat is even more remarkable4 ,in any case1 the absence of explanation of reasons for the drought1 or of credentials of ,elijah1 or of offers of mercy on condition of repentance1 give a peculiarly grim aspect to the message1 and make it a dangerous one to carry to such a hearer as ,ahab1 stirred up by ,jezebel4 ,when ,god commands us to speak1 no thought of peril must make us dumb4 ,if the 'word of the ,lord' is to sound from our lips with power1 it must first have absolute sway over ourselves4 ,one man with ,god at his back1 who fears nothing1 can work marvels4 ,god's servant is men's master4 ,the vision of ,god's ,presence paled the splendour1 and blunted the perils1 of the court of ,samaria4 ,ahab was but a poor puppet in the sight of eyes that 'saw the ,lord sitting on ,his throne1 high and lifted up4' ,so the very first words of ,elijah lay bare the secret spring of his fiery energy and courage4 ',before whom ,i stand1'--that is the thought to put nerve1 daring1 and disregard of earth into a man4 ,james's comment on this incident assumes that the declaration to ,ahab followed earnest prayer that it might not rain1 and that the 'word' which should end the drought was also prayer4 ,the truest lover of his country or of any men may sometimes have to wish for losses and sorrows4 ,elijah did not open and shut the heavens1 but his prayer had power to move the ,hand that 'openeth and no man shutteth4' ,,ii4 ,the ,prophet and the ,ravens4--,one would like to know how ,elijah made his escape from ,ahab2 but the whole story is marked by sudden appearances and disappearances4 ,he flashes into sight and flames for a moment1 and then is swallowed up in the dark again4 ,the exact position of the brook ,cherith is doubtful4 ,it would seem most natural to look for it across ,jordan1 as safer and more familiar ground to ,elijah than any of the tributaries on the western side4 ,at all events1 somewhere among the savage rocks in some wady with a trickle of water down it1 and rank vegetation that would help to hide him1 he lurked for an indefinite period1 alone with ,god4 ,why did he flee8 ,not only for safety1 but that the period of the drought might be prolonged till it had done its work1 and that the prophet might learn more lessons for his calling4 ,good ,obadiah would have made a place for the chief of the prophets in his caves2 but the man who is to do work like ,elijah's must live in solitude4 ,cherith was part of the training for ,carmel4 ,the flight thither was as much an act of obedient faith as was the appearance before the king4 ,however the necessity of flight was impressed on the prophet1 it was impressed on him as manifestly not his own plan1 but ,god's command2 and though the journey was a weary one1 and the appointed place of refuge inhospitable1 the command was unhesitatingly obeyed4 ,he was not left to wonder how he was to be fed when he got there1 but ,god gave him1 what ,he seldom gives--a previous assurance of miraculous provision1 which obviously met some unspoken thought4 ,we do not usually know how we are to be fed in the solitude till we get there2 but if our doubting hearts object1 ',but1 ,lord1 there is nothing at ,cherith but a brook and some ravens1' ,he sometimes gives us assurance that these will be enough4 ,whether or no1 the duty is the same1--to follow ,god's voice1 whether it take us face to face with ,ahab and ,jezebel or into the wild gorge4 ,note that the same words are employed about the ravens and the widow3 ',i have commanded the444 to feed thee4' ,god has ways of reaching the mysterious animal instinct and the mysterious human will1 and each1 in its own way1 obeys4 ,it is needless to try to pare down the miracle by saying that1 of course1 ravens would haunt the water-courses in drought1 and that the food which they brought might be for their young1 and so on4 ,the daily regularity of the supply takes it out of the natural category1 to say nothing of the remarkable breed which the ravens must have been of1 if they brought their young ones' food within reach and let the prophet take it4 ,people take offence at the abundance of miracles in the lives of ,elijah and ,elisha1 and assert that some of them1 this among the rest1 are for unworthily trivial occasions4 ,but the grave crisis in ,israel is to be taken into account1 which involved the necessity for unusual manifestations of divine power1 and very evident credentials for the prophets2 and the preparation of ,elijah for his tremendous struggle was1 even to our eyes1 surely an adequate end for miracle4 ,how could he doubt that ,god had sent him and would care for him1 with such memories as those of his winged purveyors8 ,how could he doubt future words which should come to him1 when he recalled how marvellously this one had been fulfilled8 ,the silence of the ravine1 the long days and nights of solitude1 the punctual arrival of his food1 would all tend to weld his faith into yet more close-knit strength4 ,if we may so say1 it was worth ,god's while to work miracles1 to make ,elijah4 ,the highest end of creation is the production of ,god-fearing men4 ,all things serve the soul that serves ,god4 ,,iii4 ,the ,prophet and the ,widow4--,the little stream that came down the wady dried up 'after a while'2 and ,elijah1 no doubt1 would wonder what was to be done next1 as he saw it daily sending a thinner thread to ,jordan4 ,but he was not told till the channel was dry1 and the pebbles in its bed bleaching in the sun4 ,god makes us sometimes wait on beside a diminishing rivulet1 and keeps us ignorant of the next step1 till it is dry4 ,patience is an element in strength4 ,it was a far cry from ,cherith to ,zarephath1 right across the kingdom of ,ahab2 and to run for refuge to a dependency of ,zidon1 ,jezebel's country1 looked like putting his head in the lion's mouth4 ,but the same 'command' which the ravens had obeyed had smoothed his way4 ,so he girded up his loins1 and left1 no doubt reluctantly1 the brook for a city4 ,how his heart would bow in adoring thankfulness1 when the first person he saw outside the little 'city' was 'the widow'6 ,he knew her2 did she know him8 ,the natural interpretation of verse #i is that1 at the time when ,god spoke to ,elijah1 he had already 'commanded' the woman4 ,but the despondent tone of her answer seems against that idea2 and perhaps we are to suppose that1 just as the ravens were commanded and knew not by whom1 so this woman received the command1 when she saw the travel-stained and gaunt stranger1 through her womanly impulses of compassion1 not knowing who moved them nor what she did when she sheltered the man whose life was1 at that moment1 the most important in the world4 ,the motions of pity and charity are of ,god1 and ,he commands us to help when ,he sets before us those who need help4 ,the whole incident was a lesson to the prophet4 ,he might well have thought that ,god had sent him to a strange helper in this poor widow with her empty cupboard2 and it must have taken some faith on his part to reassure her with his cheery ',fear not6' ,the prediction of the undiminishing stores demanded as much faith from its speaker as from its hearer4 ,it was a lesson in faith for the woman too4 ,her use of the phrase 'the ,lord thy ,god' may imply some inclination to the worship of ,jehovah1 and so there may have been a little glimmer of faith in her2 but she was full of sorrow and despair1 and yet willing to help the stranger with the 'little water in a vessel1' though the 'morsel of bread in thine hand' was beyond her power4 ,elijah's apparently selfish demand that his wants should be looked after first was a test of her faith4 ,sometimes self-denying duty is made clearly imperative on us1 before we hear the promise which1 believed1 will make it easy4 ,they who have ears to hear the command1 and hearts to obey1 even if it seem to strip them of all1 will soon hear the assurance that secures abundance4 ,the barrel would have been empty by nightfall1 if the meal in it had been used for the woman and her son4 ,the continuance of supply depended on her obedience1 which1 in its turn1 depended on faith in the prophet as a messenger of ,god4 ',there is that scattereth1 and yet increaseth4' ,the use of earthly goods for ,god's service may not be rewarded with the increase of them2 but1 if the barrel is not kept full of meal1 the heart will be kept full of peace1 which is better4 ,no sacrifice for ,god is ever thrown away4 ,he remains in no man's debt4 ,the incident has a further bearing1 as an instance of a divine benediction resting on heathendom4 ,the synagogue at ,nazareth pointed that lesson for us4 ,elijah and the widow both learned that the ,god of ,israel is the ,god of all the earth1 and that ,his prophets have a mission to every race4 ,the woman rebuked1 by her pity and self-denying benevolence1 the prejudices of ,israel2 the prophet foreshadowed1 by his familiar abode with one won from idolatry to the worship of ,god1 the universal aspect of the ,jewish religion1 and its destiny to overleap the narrow bounds of the nation4 ,charity and pity have no geographical limits4 ,much less can the love of ,god and the light of ,his revelation be bounded by any narrower circle than the circumference of the world4 ,,elijah ,,standing ,,before ,,the ,,lord ,and ,elijah the ,tishbite 444 said 444 ,as the ,lord ,god of ,israel liveth1 before whom ,i stand4--#a ,,kings xvii4 #a4 ,this solemn and remarkable adjuration seems to have been habitual upon ,elijah's lips in the great crises of his life4 ,we never find it used by any but himself1 and his scholar and successor1 ,elisha4 ,both of them employ it under similar circumstances1 as if unveiling the very secret of their lives1 the reason for their strength1 and for their undaunted bearing and bold fronting of all antagonism4 ,we find four instances in their two lives of the use of the phrase4 ,elijah bursts abruptly on the stage and opens his mouth for the first time to ,ahab1 to proclaim the coming of that terrible and protracted drought2 and he bases his prophecy on that great oath1 ',as the ,lord liveth1 before whom ,i stand4' ,and again1 when he is sent to confront ,ahab once more at the close of the period1 the same mighty word comes1 ',as the ,lord of ,hosts liveth1 before whom ,i stand1 ,i will surely show myself unto him this day4' ,and then again1 ,elisha1 when he is brought before the three confederate kings1 who taunt1 and threaten1 and flatter1 to try to draw smooth things from his lips1 and get his sanction to their mad warfare1 turns upon the poor creature that called himself the ,king of ,israel with a superb contempt that stayed itself on that same great name and tells him1 ',as the ,lord liveth before whom ,i stand1 were it not that ,i had regard for the ,king of ,judah1 ,i would not look toward you or see you1' ,and lastly1 when the grateful ,naaman seeks to change the whole character of ,elisha's miracle1 and to turn it into the coarseness of a thing done for reward1 once again the temptation is brushed aside with that solemn word1 ',as the ,lord liveth1 before whom ,i stand1 ,i will receive none4' ,so at every crisis where these prophets were brought full front with hostile power2 where a tremendous message was laid upon their hearts and lips to utter2 where natural strength would fail2 where they were likely to be daunted or dazzled by temptations1 by either the sweetness or the terrors of material things1 these two great heroes of the ,old ,covenant1 out of sight the strongest men in the old ,jewish history1 steady themselves by one thought1--,god lives1 and ,i am ,his servant4 ,for that phrase1 'before whom ,i stand1' obviously means chiefly 'whom ,i serve4' ,it is found1 for instance1 in ,deuteronomy1 where the priest's office is thus defined3 ',the sons of ,levi shall stand before the ,lord to minister unto ,him4' ,and in the same way1 it is used in the ,queen of ,sheba's wondering exclamation to ,solomon1 ',blessed are thy servants1 and blessed are the men that stand before thy face continually4' ,so that the consciousness that they were servants of the living ,god was the very secret of the power of these men4 ,this expression1 which thus started to their lips in moments of strain and trial1 lets us see into the very inmost heart of their strength4 ,these two great lives1 which fill so large a apace in the records of the past1 and will be remembered for ever1 were braced and ennobled thus4 ,the same grand thought is available to brace and ennoble our little lives1 that will soon be forgotten but by a loving heart or two1 and yet may be as full of ,god and of ,god's service as those of any of the great of old4 ,we too may use this secret of power1 ',the ,lord liveth1 before whom ,i stand4' ,what thoughts then1 which may tend to lift and invigorate our days1 are included in these words8 ,the first is surely this--,life a constant vision of ,god's presence4 ,how distinct and abiding must the vision of ,god have been1 which burned before the inward eye of the man that struck out that phrase6 ',wherever ,i am1 whatever ,i do1 ,i am before ,him4 ,to my purged eye1 there is the ,apocalypse of heaven1 and ,i behold the great throne1 and the solemn ranks of ministering spirits1 my fellow-servants1 hearkening to the voice of ,his word4' ,no excitement of work1 no strain of effort1 no distraction of circumstances1 no glitter of gold1 no dazzle of earthly brightness1 dimmed that vision for these prophets4 ,in some measure1 it was with them as it shall be perfectly with all one day1 ',his servants serve ,him1 and see ,his face1'--action not interrupting vision1 nor vision weakening action4 ,to preserve thus fresh and unimpaired1 amidst strenuous work and many temptations1 the clear consciousness of being 'ever in the great ,taskmaster's eye1' needs resolute effort and much self-restraint4 ,it is hard to set the ,lord always before us2 but it is possible1 and in the measure in which we do it1 we shall not be moved4 ,how nobly the steadfastness and superiority to all temptations which such a vision gives1 are illustrated by the occasions1 in these prophets' lives1 in which this expression came to their lips6 ,the servant of the ,heavenly ,king speaks from his present intuition4 ,as he speaks1 he sees the throne in the heavens1 and the ,sovereign ,ruler there1 and the sight bears him up from quailing before the earthly monarchs whom he had to beard1 and in connection with whom three out of the four instances of the use of the phrase occur4 ,how small ,ahab and his court must have looked to eyes that were full of the undazzling brightness of the true ,king of ,israel1 and the ordered ranks of ,his attendants6 ,how little the greatness6 ,how tawdry the pomp6 ,how impotent the power1 and how toothless the threats6 ,the poor show of the earthly king paled before that awful vision1 as a dim candle will show black against the sun4 ',i stand before the living ,god1 and thou1 ,o ,ahab6 art but a shadow and a noise4' ,just as we may have looked upon some mountain scene1 where all the highest summits were wrapt in mist1 and the lower hills looked mighty and majestic1 until some puff of wind came and rolled up the curtain that had shrined and hidden the icy pinnacles and peaks that were higher up4 ,and as that solemn white apocalypse rose and towered to the heavens1 we forgot all about the green hills below1 because our eyes beheld the mighty summits that live amongst the stars1 and sparkle white through eternity4 ,my brethren1 here is our defence against being led away by the gauds and shows of earth's vulgar attractions1 or being terrified by the poor terrors of its enmity4 ,go with that talisman in your hand1 ',the ,lord liveth1 before whom ,i stand1' and everything else dwindles down into nothingness1 and you are a free man1 master and lord of all things1 because you are ,god's servants1 seeing all things aright1 because you see them all in ,god1 and ,god in them all4 ,still further1 we may say that this phrase is the utterance and expression of a consciousness that life was echoing with the voice of the divine command4 ,elijah stands before the ,lord1 not only feeling in his thrilling spirit that ,god is ever near him1 but also that ,his word is ever coming forth to him1 with imperative authority4 ,that is the prophet's conception of life4 ,wherever he is1 he hears a voice saying1 ',this is the way1 walk ye in it4' ,every place where he stands is as the very holy place of the oracles of the ,most ,high1 the spot in the innermost shrine where the voice of ,god is audible1 ,all circumstances are the voice of ,god1 commanding or restraining4 ,he is evermore pursued1 nay1 rather upheld and guided1 by an all-embracing law4 ,that law is no mere utterance of cold impersonal duty1--a thought which may make men slaves1 but never makes them good4 ,but it is the voice of the living ,god1 loving and beloved1 whose tender care for ,his children modulates ,his tone1 while ,he commands them for their good4 ,he speaks because ,he loves2 ,his law is life4 ,the heart that hears ,him speak is filled with music4 ,ahab and ,jehoram1 and all the kings of the earth1 may thunder and lighten1 may threaten and flatter1 may command and forbid1 as they list4 ,they and their words are nought to him whose trembling ears have heard1 and whose obedient heart has received1 a higher command1 and to whom1 'across the storm1' comes the deeper voice of the one true ,commander1 whom alone it is a glory absolutely to obey1 even 'the ,lord1 before whom ,i stand4' ,people talk about the consciousness of 'a mission4' ,the important point1 on the settling of which depends the whole character of our lives1 is--,who do you suppose gave you your 'mission'8 ,was it any person at all8 or have you any consciousness that any will but your own has anything to say about your life8 ,these prophets had found ,one whom it was worth while to obey1 whatever came of it1 and whoever stood in the way4 ,may it be so with you and me1 my friend6 ,let us try always to feel that in the commonest things we may hear the command of ,god2 that the trifles of each day--trifles though they be--vibrate and sound with the reverberation of ,his great voice2 that in all the outward circumstances of our lives1 as in all the deep recesses of our hearts1 we may trace the indications and rudiments of ,his will concerning us1 which ,he has perfectly given us in that ,gospel which is 'the law of liberty1' and in ,him who is the ,gospel and the perfect ,law4 ,then quietly1 without bluster or mock-heroics1 or making a fuss about our independence1 we can put all other commands and commanders in their right place1 with the old words1 ',with me it is a very small matter to be judged of you1 or of man's judgment2 ,he that judgeth me1' and ,he that commandeth me1 'is the ,lord1' ,in answer to all the noise about us we can face round like ,elijah1 and say1 ',as the ,lord liveth1 before whom ,i stand4' ,he is my ',imperator1' the ,autocrat and ,commander of my life2 and ,him1 and ,him only1 must ,i serve4 ,what calmness1 what dignity that would put into our lives6 ,the never-ceasing boom of the great ocean1 as it breaks on the beach1 drowns all smaller sounds4 ,those lives are noble and great in which that deep voice is ever dominant1 sounding on through all lesser voices1 and day and night filling the soul with command and awe4 ,then1 still further1 we may take another view of these words4 ,they are the utterance of a man to whom his life was not only bright with the radiance of a divine presence1 and musical with the voice of a divine command1 but was also1 on his part1 full of conscious obedience4 ,no man could say such a thing of himself who did not feel that he was rendering a real1 earnest1 though imperfect obedience to ,god4 ,so1 though in one view the words express a very lowly sense of absolute submission before ,god1 in another view they make a lofty claim for the utterer4 ,he professes that he stands before the ,lord1 girt for ,his service1 watching to be guided by ,his eye1 and ready to run when ,he bids4 ,it is the same lofty sense of communion and consecration1 issuing in authority over others1 which ,elijah's true brother in later days1 ,paul the ,apostle1 put forth when he made known to his companions in shipwreck the will of 'the ,god1 whose ,i am1 and whom ,i serve4' ,we may well shrink from making that claim for ourselves1 when we think of the poor1 perfunctory service and partial consecration which our lives show4 ,but let us rejoice that even we may venture to say1 ',truly ,i am ,thy servant'2 if only we1 like the ,psalmist1 rest the confession on the perfectness of what ,he has done for us1 rather than on the imperfection of what we have done for ,him2 and lay1 as its foundation1 ',thou hast loosed my bonds4' ,then1 though we must ever feel how poor our service1 and how unprofitable ourselves1 how little we deserve the honour1 and how impossible that we should ever earn the least mite of wages2 yet we may1 in all lowliness1 think of ourselves as set free that we may serve1 and lift our eyes1 as the eyes of a servant turn towards his master1 to 'the living ,lord1 before whom we stand4 ,such a life is necessarily a happy life4 ,the one misery of man is self-will1 the one secret of blessedness is the conquest over our own wills4 ,to yield them up to ,god is rest and peace4 ,if we 'stand before ,god1' then that means that our wills are brought into harmony with ,his4 ,and that means that the one poison drop is squeezed out of our lives1 and that sweetness and joy are infused into them4 ,for what disturbs us in this world is not 'trouble' but our opposition to trouble4 ,the true source of all that frets and irritates1 and wears away our lives1 is not in external things1 but in the resistance of our wills to the will of ,god expressed by external things4 ,i suppose that we shall never here bring these wills of ours into perfect correspondence with ,his1 any more than we shall ever1 with our shaking hands and blunt pencils1 draw a perfectly straight line4 ,but if will and heart are brought even to a rude approach to parallelism with ,his1 if we accept ,his voice when ,he takes away1 and obey it when ,he commands1 we shall be quiet and peaceful4 ,we shall be strong and unwearied1 freed from corroding cares and exhausting rebellions1 which take far more out of a man than any work does4 ',thy word was found1 and ,i did eat it4' ,when we thus take ,god's command into our spirits1 and feed upon it with will and understanding1 it becomes1 as the ,psalmist found it1 the 'joy and rejoicing of our hearts4' ,elijah-like1 we shall 'go in the strength of that meat many days4' ,the secret of power and of calm is--yield your will to the loving ,lord1 and stand ever before ,him with1 ',here am ,i1 send me6' ,we may add one more remark to these various views of the significance of this expression1 to which the last instance of its use may help us4 ,here it is3 ',and ,naaman said1 ,i pray thee1 take a blessing of thy servant4 ,but he said1 ,as the ,lord liveth1 before whom ,i stand1 ,i will receive none4' ,the thought1 which made all ,elisha's life bright with the light of ,god's presence1 which filled his ear with the unremitting voice of a ,divine ,law1 which swayed and bowed his will to joyful obedience1 chilled and deadened his desires for all earthly rewards4 ',i am not thy servant4 ,i am ,god's servant4 ,it is not your business to pay my wages4 ,i cannot dishonour my ,master by taking payment from thee for doing ,his work4 ,i look for everything from ,him1 for nothing from thee4' ,and is there not a broad general truth involved there1 namely1 that such a life as we have been describing will find its sole reward where it finds its inspiration and its law8 ,the ,master's approval is the servant's best wages4 ,if we truly feel that 'the ,lord liveth1 before whom we stand1 'we shall want nothing else for our work but ,his smile1 and we shall feel that the light of ,his face is all that we need4 ,that thought should deaden our love for outward things4 ,how little we need to care about any payment that the world can give for anything we do6 ,if we feel1 as we ought1 that we are ,god's servants1 that will lift us clear above the low aims and desires which meet us4 ,how little we shall care for money1 for men's praise1 for getting on in the world6 ,how the things that we fever our souls by pursuing1 and fret our hearts when we lose1 will cease to attract6 ,how small and vulgar the 'prizes' of life1 as people call them1 will appear6 ',the ,lord liveth1 before whom ,i stand1' should be enough for us1 and instead of all these motives to action drawn from the rewards of this world1 we ought to 'labour that1 whether present or absent1 we may be well-pleasing to ,him4' ,not the fading leaves of the victor's wreath1 laurel though they be1 nor the corruptible things as silver and gold1 whereof earth's diadems and rewards are fashioned1 but the incorruptible crown that fadeth not away1 which ,his hand will give1 should fire our hope1 and shine before our faith4 ,not ,naaman's gifts but ,god's approval is ,elisha's reward4 ,not the praise from lips that will perish1 or the 'hollow wraith of dying fame1' but ,christ's ',well done6 good and faithful servant1' should be a ,christian's aim4 ,may we1 brethren1 possess the 'spirit and the power of ,elias'2--the spirit1 in that we know ourselves to be the servants of the living ,god2 and then we shall have some measure of his dauntless power and heroic unworldliness6 ,still better1 may we have the ,spirit of ,him who was 'the ,servant of the ,lord1' diviner in ,his gentle meekness than the fiery prophet in his lonely strength6 ,make yours the mind that was in ,christ1 that you too may say1 ',lo1 ,i come6 in the volume of the book it is written of me1 ,i delight to do ,thy will1 yea1 ,thy law is within my heart4' ,,obadiah ,to the ,young '444 ,i thy servant fear the ,lord from my youth4--#a ,,kings xviii4#ab4 ,this ,obadiah is one of the obscurer figures in the ,old ,testament4 ,we never hear of him again1 for there is no reason to accept the ,jewish tradition which alleges that he was ,obadiah the prophet4 ,and yet how distinctly he stands out from the canvas1 though he is only sketched with a few bold outlines6 ,he is the 'governor over ,ahab's house1' a kind of mayor of the palace1 and probably the second man in the kingdom4 ,but though thus high in that idolatrous and self-willed court1 he has bravely kept true to the ancient faith4 ,neither ,jezebel's flatteries nor her frowns have moved him4 ,but there1 amid apostasy and idolatry he stands1 probably all alone in the court1 a worshipper of ,jehovah4 ,his name is his character1 for it means 'servant of ,jehovah4' ,it was not a light thing to be a worshipper of the ,god of ,israel in ,ahab's court4 ,the feminine rage of the fierce ,sidonian woman1 whom ,ahab obeyed in most things1 burned hot against the enemies of her father's gods1 and hotter1 perhaps1 against any one who thwarted her imperious will4 ,obadiah did both1 in that audacious piece of benevolence when he sheltered the ,lord's prophets--one hundred of them--and saved them from her cruel search4 ,the writer of the book very rightly marks this brave antagonism to the outburst of the queen's wrath as a signal proof of a more than ordinary devotion to the worship and fear of ,jehovah4 ,his firmness and his religion did not prevent his retaining his place of honour and dignity4 ,that says something for ,ahab1 and more perhaps for ,obadiah4 ,most of you believe that you ought to 'fear the ,lord'3 but you are apt to put off1 and so ,i wish to urge on you that you should give your hearts to ,jesus ,christ at once4 ,i4 ,the blessedness of youthful religion4 7a7 ,it guards from many temptations1 and keeps a character innocent of much transgression4 ,think of the dangers that lie thick in the streets of every great city1 and of a lad coming up from a country home of godliness1 where he was surrounded by a mother's love and an atmosphere of purity1 and launched into some lonely lodging1 or some factory or warehouse with many tempters4 ,nothing will be such a help to resistance and victory as to be able to say1 ',so did not ,i because of the fear of the ,lord4' 7b7 ,it will save from remorse4 ,even if a man 'sobers down' after 'sowing his wild oats1' which is a very problematical 'if1' what bitter memories of wasted days1 what polluting memories of filthy ones1 will haunt him6 ,and if he does not sober down1 what then8 ,it is folly to begin life on a wrong tack1 in regard to which the best that you can say is that you do not mean to continue it4 ,if you do not1 then the wise thing is to get at once on to the road on which you do mean to continue1 and to save the weary work of retracing steps and the painful consciousness of having made a false start4 ,are you so sure that you will wish1 or that it will be possible1 to face right about and get on to a new line8 ,fishermen catch lobsters and the like by means of baskets with one opening1 the withes of which are so set that the entrance is easy1 but that a ring of sharp points oppose all attempts at turning back and getting out4 ,the world lays 'pots' of that sort1 and many a young man and woman glides smoothly in1 and finds it impossible to get out4 7c7 ,it usually leads to a deeper and more peaceful and harmonious religion than is attained by those who have given the world the better part of their days1 and have only the last fragment of them to give to ,god4 ,obadiah had feared ,god from his youth1 and that had a good deal to do with his brave stand against ,jezebel4 ,it is a grand thing to enlist habit on the side of godliness4 ,,ii4 ,the foes of youthful religion4 ,there are foes within 4444 the strong self-reliance and bounding life proper to youth1 without which at the opening of the flower1 the bloom would be poor and the fruit little1 444 the power of appeals to the unjaded and physically strong senses1 444 the difficulty at such a stage of life of looking forward and soberly regarding the end4 ,there are foes without 4444the crowds of tempters of both sexes1 men and women who take a devilish pleasure in polluting innocent minds1 444 the companions whose jeers are worse to face than a battery1 444 the inconsistencies of so-called ,christians1 the anti-,christian literature which is peculiarly fascinating to the young1 with its brave show of breaking with mouldy tradition and enthroning reason and emancipating from rusty fetters4 ,,iii4 ,the too probable alternative to youthful religion4 ,it is but too likely that1 if a man does not 'fear the ,lord' from 'his youth1' he will never fear ,him4 ,thank ,god1 there is no time nor condition of life in which the wicked man cannot 'forsake his way1' or 'the unrighteous man his thoughts1' and 'turn to the ,lord' with the assurance that ',he will abundantly pardon4' ,but it is sadly too plain to observation1 and to the experience of some of us1 that obstacles grow with years1 that habits and associations grip with increasing power1 that in all things our natures become less flexible1 the supple sapling becoming gnarled and tough1 that a middle-aged or old man is more inextricably 'tied and bound by the cords of his sins1' than a young one is4 ,sin lies to us by first saying1 ',it is too soon to be religious1' and then it lies to us by saying1 ',it is too late4' ,the inclination diminishes4 ,the ,gospel long heard and long put aside1 loses power4 ,contrast the beauty of a course of life1 begun on the same lines as those on which it ends1 and being like 'the shining light1 that shineth more and more unto the meridian of the day1' with one which gave the greater part of its years to 'the world1 the flesh1 and the devil1' or at least to one's godless self1 and the dregs of it only to ,god4 ,,the ,,trial ,,by ,,fire ',and ,elijah said unto the prophets of ,baal1 ,choose yon one bullock for yourselves1 and dress it first2 for ye are many2 and call on the name of your gods1 but put no fire under4 #bf4 ,and they took the bullock which was given them1 and they dressed it1 and called on the name of ,baal from morning even until noon1 saying1 ,o ,baal1 hear us4 ,but there was no voice1 nor any that answered4 ,and they leaped upon the altar which was made4 #bg4 ,and it came to pass at noon1 that ,elijah mocked them1 and said1 ,cry aloud3 for he is a god2 either he ,is talking1 or he is pursuing1 or he is in a journey1 or peradventure he sleepeth1 and must be awaked4 #bh4 ,and they cried aloud1 and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets1 till the blood gushed out upon them4 #bi4 ,and it came to pass1 when midday was passed1 and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice1 that there was neither voice1 nor any to answer1 nor any that regarded4 #cj4 ,and ,elijah said unto all the people1 ,come near unto me4 ,and all the people came near unto him4 ,and he repaired the altar of the ,lord that was broken down4 #ca4 ,and ,elijah took twelve stones1 according to the number of the tribes of the sons of ,jacob1 unto whom the word of the ,lord came1 saying1 ,israel shall be thy name3 #cb4 ,and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the ,lord3 and he made a trench about the altar1 as great as would contain two measures of seed4 #cc4 ,and he put the wood in order1 and cut the bullock in nieces1 and laid him on the wood1 and said1 ,fill four barrels with water1 and pour it on the burnt sacrifice1 and on the wood4 #cd4 ,and he said1 ,do it the second time4 ,and they did it the second time4 ,and he said1 ,do it the third time4 ,and they did it the third time4 #ce4 ,and the water ran round about the altar2 and he filled the trench also with water4 #cf4 ,and it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice1 that ,elijah the prophet came near1 and said1 ,lord ,god of ,abraham1 ,isaac1 and of ,israel1 let it be known this day that ,thou art ,god in ,israel1 and that ,i am ,thy servant1 and that ,i have done all these things at ,thy word4 #cg4 ,hear me1 ,o ,lord1 hear me3 that this people may know that ,thou art the ,lord ,god1 and that ,thou hast turned their heart back again4 #ch4 ,then the fire of the ,lord fell1 and consumed the burnt sacrifice1 and the wood1 and the stones1 and the dust1 and licked up the water that was in the trench4 #ci4 ,and when all the people saw it1 they fell on their faces3 and they said1 ,the ,lord1 he is the ,god2 the ,lord1 he is the ,god4--#a ,,kings xviii4 #be-ci4 ,the place1 the purpose1 and the actors in this scene1 make it among the grandest in history4 ,a nation1 with its king1 has come together1 at the bidding of one man1 to settle no less a question than whom they shall worship4 ,there1 on the slope of ,carmel1 with the brassy heaven gleaming hard and dry above them1 and the yellow1 burnt-up plain of ,jezreel at their feet1 the expectant people stand4 ,the assembly was a singular proof of ,elijah's ascendency2 for ,ahab's bluster had sunk1 cowed in his presence1 and he had meekly done the prophet's bidding in summoning 'all ,israel' and the eight hundred and fifty ,baal and ,asherah prophets1 for an unexplained purpose4 ,the false priests would come unwillingly2 but they came4 ,then ,elijah takes the command1 and1 though utterly alone1 towers above the crowd in the courage of his undaunted confidence in his message4 ,his words have the ring of authority as he rebukes indecision1 and calls for a clear adhesion to ,baal or ,jehovah4 ,if the people had answered1 the trial by fire would have been needless4 ,but their silence shows that they waver1 and therefore he makes his proposal to them4 ,note that the priests are not consulted1 nor is ,ahab4 ,the former would have had some excuse for shirking the sharp issue2 but the people's assent forced them to accept the ordeal1--reluctantly enough1 no doubt4 ,i4 ,the vain cries to a deaf ,god4 ,it is strange that one of the parties to the test has power to determine its conditions1 especially as ,elijah's prophetic authority was one of the things in dispute2 but it is a sign of the magnetic power which one bold man with absolute confidence in his own convictions exercises over men4 ,the ,baal prophets are given every advantage in priority of action4 ,error is best unmasked by being allowed free opportunity to do its best2 for the more favourable the circumstances of trial1 the more signal the defeat4 ,god's servants must never be suspected of unfair tricks in their controversy with error4 ,they can afford to let it try first4 ,notice the substitution of 'your god1' in the ,revised ,version1 for 'your gods' in the ,authorised ,version4 ,that is obviously right2 for the only question was about one god1--namely1 ,baal4 ,so1 in the early morning1 with all the people gazing at them1 the ,baal priests or prophets begin their attempt4 ,it was easy to prepare the sacrifice1 and lay it on the altar1--though1 no doubt1 it was done sullenly1 with foreboding of the coming exposure4 ,the whole account of the wild invocations of the priests may suggest some of the characteristics of idolatry1 and touch our hearts with pity1 as well as with the sense of its absurdity1 which animated ,elijah's mockery4 ,note1 then1 the vivid picture1 in verse #bg1 of the long hours of vain crying4 ,on the one hand1 we hear the wild chorus echoing among the rocks2 on the other1 we feel the dead silence in the heavens4 ,the monotonous and almost mechanical repetition of the invocation1 prolonged till the syllables have no meaning to the yelling crowd1 is characteristic of the frenzied excitement so common in idolatry4 ,to call such howlings prayer1 degrades the name4 ,they are the very opposite of that sacred communion of a believing soul with the ,god whom it knows1 trusts1 and beseeches with submission4 ,neither knowledge nor trust is in these shrieks1 which seek to propitiate the stern god by repeating his name as a kind of charm4 ,heathenism has no true prayer4 ,wild cries and passionate desires1 flung upwards to an unloved god1 are not prayer2 and that solace and anchor of the troubled soul is wanting in all the dreary lands given up to idolatry4 ,the melancholy persistence of the unanswered cries may stand as a symbol of the tragic obstinacy with which their devotees cling to their vain gods1--a rebuke to us with a more enlightened faith4 ,the silence1 which was the only answer1 is put in strong contrast with the continuous roar of the four hundred and fifty1--so long and loud the hoarse cries here1 so unmoved the stillness in the careless heaven4 ,that1 too1 is typical of heathenism1 which is sad with unavailing cries and ignorant of answers to any4 ,as the day wore on1 and the voices grew hoarse1 and hope declined1 more violent bodily exercise was resorted to1 and the shouting crowd danced 7or1 perhaps1 as the margin says1 'limped1'--a picturesque and contemptuous word for the grotesque contortions around the altar71 as if that might bring the answer4 ,that again is a feature common to all heathenism4 ,no wonder that ,elijah's scorn broke forth vehemently at such a sight4 ,noon was the hour of the sun's greatest power1 and1 since ,baal was probably a solar deity1 it was the hour when1 if ever1 he would spare one of his abundant fiery beams to light the pyre4 ,so ,elijah's taunts came just when they were most biting1 and none can say that they were undeserved4 ,his fiery zeal and his naturally stern character broke out in the bitter irony with which he imagines a variety of undignified positions for ,baal4 ,sarcasm is not the highest weapon1 and the 'spirit of ,elijah' is not the spirit of ,jesus2 but the exposure of the absurdity of idolatry is legitimate1 and even ridicule may have its place in pricking wind-distended bladders4 ,a man throttling a serpent may be excused using anything that comes handy for the purpose4 ,but1 at the same time1 the right attitude for us as ,christians in the presence of that awful fact of idolatry1 is neither contempt nor scientific curiosity1 but pity deep as ,christ's1 and earnest resolve to help our darkened brethren4 ,the taunts stirred to fiercer excitement and more extravagant acts1 as ridicule is wont to do1 and therein proves itself an unreliable instrument of controversy4 ,laughing at a man generally makes him more obstinate4 ,the priests answered ,elijah by savagely gashing their half-naked bodies with knives and lances1--a ready way to make blood come1 but not to bring fire4 ,the frenzy became wilder as the day declined1 and at last1 covered with blood1 hoarse with shouting1 panting with their gymnastics1 they 'prophesied1' having wrought themselves into that state of excitement in which incoherent rhapsodies burst from their lips4 ,what a scene to call worship6 ,that is what millions of men are ready to practise to-day4 ,and all the while there is no voice1 no answer1 no care for them1 in the pitiless sky4 ,the very genius of idolatry is set before us in that tumultuous crowd on ,carmel4 ,,ii4 ,the sacrifice of faith and the answer by fire4 ,we pass from a scene of wild commotion into an atmosphere of sacred calm in verse #cj4 ,the contrast is striking4 ,the fiery fervours of the day are past1 and the sun is sinking behind the top of ,carmel1 and there is much to do before it sets4 ,elijah with his own hands1 as would appear1 repairs a ruined altar among the woods4 ,probably it had been erected for secret worship of ,jehovah by some faithful amid the national apostasy1 when access to ,jerusalem was forbidden them1 and had been destroyed by ,ahab in his crusade against ,jehovah worshippers4 ,the selection of the twelve stones was symbolical of the unbroken unity of the nation1 and was ,elijah's protest against the very existence of the ,northern kingdom1 and its assumption of the name of ',israel' ,the writer explains what was meant1 when he reminds us that ,israel was the name given to ,jacob1 and therefore1 as he would have us infer1 was the common property of all his descendants4 ,judah was a part of ,israel1 and ,israel should be an undivided whole1 uniting in all its tribes in bringing offerings to ,jehovah4 ,it was a daring thing to do before ,ahab's face2 but the weak king was1 for the time1 subjugated by the imperious will and courage of ,elijah4 ,the building of the altar1 with its mute witness to ,god's purpose1 would touch some hearts in the gazing1 silent crowd4 ,the next step was1 of course1 meant to make the miracle more conspicuous by drenching everything with water1 probably brought1 even in that drought1 from the perennial fountain near at hand4 ,perhaps1 too1 the number of barrels was intended1 again1 as symbolical of the twelve tribes4 ,one can fancy the wonder and eagerness of the people1 and the dark frowns of the baffled and exhausted ,baal priests1 as they gradually came out of their frenzy1 and knew that they had lost their opportunity4 ,the tranquil though earnest prayer of the prophet is in sharpest contrast with the meaningless bellowings to ,baal4 ,note in it the solemn invocation4 ,the great ,name1 which all listening to him had deposed from rule over them1 is set in the front2 and the ancestral worship1 as well as the divine gifts and dealings with the patriarchs1 is pleaded with ,god as the reason for ,his answer now4 ,the name of ',israel' instead of the more common ',jacob1' has the same force as in verse #ca4 ,note the substance of the petitions4 ,the deepest desire of a truly devout soul is that ,god would make ,his name known4 ,zeal for ,god's honour and love for men who have gone astray from ,him1 conspire to make that the head and front of ,his true servant's prayers4 ,it is ,god1 not his own credit1 about which ,elijah thinks first4 ,for himself1 all that he desires is to be known as an obedient servant1 and as not having done anything at the bidding of his own will or judgment1 but in accordance with the all-commanding ,voice4 ,clearly we must suppose that in all the ordering of this sublime trial by fire1 ,elijah had been acting 'at ,thy word1' even though we have no other record of the fact4 ,he had no right to expect an answer unless he had been bidden to propose the test4 ,god will honour the drafts which ,he bids us draw on ,him2 but to suspend our own or other people's faith in ,him1 on the issue of some experiment whether ,he will answer prayers1 is not faith1 but rash presumption1 unless it is in obedience to a distinct command4 ,elijah had such a command1 and therefore he could ask ,god to vindicate his action1 and to prove that he was ,god's servant4 ,his last petition is beautiful1 both in its consciousness of power with ,god and recognition of his place as a prophet1 and in its lowly subordination of all personal aims to the restoration of ,israel to the true worship4 ,he asks1 with reiteration which is earnestness and faith1 and therefore the sharpest contrast to the mechanical repetition by ,baal's priests1 that ,god would hear him2 but his sole object in that prayer is1 not that his name may be exalted as a prophet1 or that any good may come to him1 but that the blinded eyes may be opened1 and the hearts1 that have been so sadly led astray1 be brought back to the worship of their fathers' ,god4 ,the whole brief prayer1 in its calm confidence2 its adoring recognition of the name and past dealings of ,jehovah as the ground of trust2 its throbbing of earnest desire for the manifestation of ,his character before men2 its consciousness of personal relation to ,god1 which humbles rather than puffs up2 its beseeching for an answer1 and its closing petition1 which comes round again to its first1 that men may know ,god1 and fasten their hearts on ,him1--may well stand as a pattern of prayer for us4 ,the short prayer of faith does in a moment what all the long day of crying could not do4 ,the language in which the answer is described emulates the rapidity of the swift tongues of fire which licked up sacrifice1 altar1 and water4 ,they were the tokens of acceptance1 reminding of the consuming of the first sacrifices in the ,tabernacle1 and1 like them1 inaugurating a new beginning of the worship of ,god4 ,the burning of the altar1 as well as of the sacrifice1 expressed the acceptance of the people whom it1 by its twelve stones1 symbolised4 ,and the people1 on their part1 were--for the time1 at all events--swept away by the miracle1 and by the force of the prophet's example and authority4 ,short-lived their faith may have been1 as certainly it was superficial2 but the fire had for the time melted their hearts1 and set them flowing in the ancient channels of devotion4 ,the faith that is founded on miracle may be deepened into something better2 but unless it is1 it speedily dies away4 ,the faith that is due to the influence of some strong personality may lead on to an independent faith1 based on personal experience2 but1 unless it does1 it too will perish4 ,we may find a modern reproduction of the test of ,carmel in the impotence of all other schemes and methods of social and spiritual reformation and the power of the ,gospel4 ,in it and its effects ,god answers by fire4 ,let the opposers1 who are so glib in demonstrating the failure of ,christianity1 do the same with their enchantments1 if they can4 ,,elijah',s ,,weakness1 ,,and ,,its ,,cube ',and ,ahab told ,jezebel all that ,elijah had done1 and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword4 #b4 ,then ,jezebel sent a messenger unto ,elijah1 saying1 ,so let the gods do to me1 and more also1 if ,i make not thy life as the life of one of them by to-morrow about this time4 #c4 ,and when he saw that1 he arose1 and went for his life1 and came to ,beersheba1 which belongeth to ,judah1 and left his servant there4 #d4 ,but he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness1 and came and sat down under a juniper tree3 and he requested for himself that he might die2 and said1 ,it is enough3 now1 ,o ,lord1 take away my life2 for ,i am not better than my fathers4 #e4 ,and as he lay and slept under a juniper tree1 behold1 then1 an angel touched him1 and said unto him1 ,arise and eat4 #f4 ,and he looked1 and1 behold1 there was a cake baken on the coals1 and a cruse of water at his head4 ,and he did eat and drink1 and laid him down again4 #g4 ,and the angel of the ,lord came again the second time1 and touched him1 and said1 ,arise and eat2 because the journey is too great for thee4 #h4 ,and he arose1 and did eat and drink1 and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto ,horeb the mount of ,god4 #i4 ,and he came thither unto a cave1 and lodged there1 and1 behold1 the word of the ,lord came to him1 and ,he said unto him1 ,what doest thou here1 ,elijah8 #aj4 ,and he said1 ,i have been very jealous for the ,lord ,god of hosts3 for the children of ,israel have forsaken ,thy covenant1 thrown down ,thine altars1 and slain ,thy prophets with the sword2 and ,i1 even ,i only1 am left3 and they seek my life1 to take it away4 #aa4 ,and ,he said1 ,go forth1 and stand upon the mount before the ,lord4 ,and1 behold1 the ,lord passed by1 and a great and strong wind rent the mountains1 and brake in pieces the rocks before the ,lord2 but the ,lord was not ,in the wind3 and after the wind an earthquake2 but the ,lord was not in the earthquake3 #ab4 ,and after the earthquake a fire1 but the ,lord was not in the fire3 and after the fire a still small voice4 #ac4 ,and it was so1 when ,elijah heard it1 that he wrapped his face in his mantle1 and went out1 and stood in the entering in of the cave4 ,and1 behold1 there came a voice unto him and said1 ,what doest then here1 ,elijah6 #ad4 ,and he said1 ,i have been very jealous for the ,lord ,god of hosts3 because the children of ,israel have forsaken ,thy covenant1 thrown down ,thine altars1 and slain ,thy prophets with the sword2 and ,i1 even ,i only1 am left2 and they seek my life1 to take it away4 #ae4 ,and the ,lord said unto him1 ,go1 return on thy way to the wilderness of ,damascus3 and when thou comest1 anoint ,hazael to be king over ,syria3 #af4 ,and ,jehu the son of ,nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over ,israel3 and ,elisha the son of ,shaphat of ,abel-meholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room4 #ag4 ,and it shall come to pass1 that him that escapeth the sword of ,hazael shall ,jehu slay3 and him that escapeth from the sword of ,jehu shall ,elisha slay4 #ah4 ,yet ,i have left me seven thousand in ,israel1 all the knees which have not bowed unto ,baal1 and every mouth which hath not kissed him4'--#a ,,kings xix4 #a-ah4 ,the miracle on ,carmel cowed1 if it did not convince1 ,ahab1 so that he did not oppose the slaughter of the ,baal prophets2 but ,jezebel was made of sterner stuff1 and her passionate idolatry was proof against even a sign from heaven4 ,obstinacy in error is often a rebuke to tremulous faith in ,god4 ,she fiercely puts her back to the wall1 and defies ,elijah and his ,god4 ,her threat to the prophet has a certain audacity of frankness almost approaching generosity4 ,she will give her victim fair play4 ,this woman is 'magnificent in sin4' ,the ,septuagint prefixes to her oath1 ',as surely as thou art ,elijah and ,i ,jezebel1' which adds force to it4 ,it also reads1 by a very slight change in the ,hebrew1 in verse #c1 'he was afraid1' for 'he saw1'--which is possibly right1 as giving his motive for escape more distinctly4 ,i4 ,we may note1 first1 the prophet's flight 7verses #c-h74 ,beersheba1 on the southern border of the kingdom of ,judah1 was eloquent of memories of the patriarchs1 but though it was nearly a hundred miles from ,jezreel1 ,jezebel's arm was long enough to reach the fugitive there1 and therefore he plunged deeper into the dreary southern desert4 ,he left behind him his servant1 his 'young man1' as the original has it1 whom ,rabbinical tradition identified with the miraculously resuscitated son of the widow of ,zarephath1 and supposed to become afterwards the prophet ,jonah4 ,thus alone but for the company of his own gloomy thoughts1 and wearied with toilsome travel in the sun-smitten waste1 he took shelter under the shadow of a solitary shrub 7the ,hebrew emphatically calls it 'one juniper1' or rather 'broom-plant'71 and there the waves of depression went over him4 ,his complaint is not to be wondered at1 though it was wrong4 ,the very overstrain of the scene on ,carmel brought reaction4 ,the height of the crest of one wave measures the depth of the trough of the next1 and no mortal spirit can keep itself at the sublime elevation reached by ,elijah when alone he fronted and converted a nation4 ,the supposed necessity for flight1 coming so immediately after apparent victory1 showed him how hollow the change in the people was4 ,what had become of all the fervency of their shout1 ',the ,lord1 ,he is the ,god6' if they could leave ,jezebel the power to carry out her threat8 ,solitude and the awful desert increased his gloom4 ,the strong man had become weak1 and it was ebb-tide with him4 ,his prayer was petulant1 impatient1 presumptuous4 ,what right had he to settle what was 'enough'8 ,if he really wished to die1 he could have found death at ,jezreel1 and had no need to travel a hundred miles to seek a grave4 ,he was weary of his work1 and profoundly disappointed by what he hastily concluded was its failure1 and in a fit of faithless despondency he forgot reverence1 submission1 and obedience4 ,if ,elijah can become weak1 and his courage die out1 and his zeal become torpid apathy and cowardly wish to shuffle off responsibility and shirk work1 who shall stand8 ,the lessons of self-distrust1 of the nearness to one another of the most opposite emotions in our weak natures1 of the depth of gloom into which the boldest and brightest servant of ,god may fall as soon as he loses hold of ,god's hand1 never had a more striking instance to point them than that mighty prophet1 sitting huddled together in utter despondency below the solitary retem bush1 praying his foolish prayer for death4 ,the meal to which an angel twice waked him was ,god's answer to his prayer1 telling him both that his life was still needful and that ,god cared for him4 ,perhaps one of ,elijah's reasons for taking to the desert was the thought that he might starve there1 and so find death4 ,at all events1 ,god for the third time miraculously provides his food4 ,the ravens1 the widow of ,zarephath1 an angel1 were his caterers2 and1 instead of taking away his life1 ,god ,himself sends the bread and water to preserve it4 ,the revelation of a watchful1 tender ,providence often rebukes gloomy unbelief and shames us back to faith4 ,we are not told whether the journey to ,horeb was commanded1 or1 like the flight from ,jezreel1 was ,elijah's own doing2 but1 in any case1 he must have wandered in the desert1 to have taken forty days to reach it4 ,,ii4 ,the second stage is the vision at ,horeb 7verses #i-ad74 ,the history of ,israel has never touched ,horeb since ,moses left it1 and it is not without significance that we are once more on that sacred ground4 ,the parallel between ,moses and ,elijah is very real4 ,these two names stand out above all others in the history of the theocracy1 the one as its founder1 the other as its restorer2 both distinguished by special revelations1 both endowed with exceptional force of character and power of the ,spirit2 the one the lawgiver1 the other the head of the prophetic order2 both having something peculiar in their departure1 and both standing together1 in witness of their supremacy in the past1 and of their inferiority in the future1 by ,jesus on the ,mount of ,transfiguration4 ,the associations of the place are marked by the use of the definite article1 which is missed in the ,authorised ,version1--'the cave1' that same cleft in the rock where ,moses had stood4 ,note1 too1 that the word rendered 'lodged' is literally 'passed the night1' and that therefore we may suppose that the vision came to ,elijah in the darkness4 ,that question1 ',what doest thou here8' can scarcely be freed from a tone of rebuke2 but1 like ,christ's to the travellers to ,emmaus1 and many another interrogation from ,god1 it is also put in order to allow of the loaded heart's relieving itself by pouring out all its griefs4 ,god's questions are the assurance of ,his listening ear and sympathising heart4 ,this one is like a little key which opens a great sluice4 ,out gushes a full stream4 ,his forty days' solitude have done little for him4 ,a true answer would have been1 ',i was afraid of ,jezebel4' ,he takes credit for zeal1 and seems to insinuate that he had been more zealous for ,god than ,god had been for ,himself4 ,he forgets the national acknowledgment of ,jehovah at ,carmel1 and the hundred prophets protected by good ,obadiah4 ,despondency has the knack of picking its facts4 ,it is colour-blind1 and can only see dark tints4 ,he accuses his countrymen1 as if he would stir up ,god to take vengeance4 ,how different this weak and sinful wail over his solitude from the heroic mention of it on ,carmel1 when it only nerved his courage ,i 7verse #bb74 ,the divine manifestation which followed is evidently meant to recall that granted to ,moses on the same spot4 ',the ,lord passed by' is all but verbally quoted from ,exodus xxxiv4 #f1 and the truth that had been proclaimed in words to ,moses was enforced by symbol to ,elijah4 ,if the vision was in the night1 as verse #i suggests1 it becomes still more impressive4 ,the fierce wind that roared among the savage peaks1 the shock that made the mountains reel1 and the flashing flames that lighted up the wild landscape1 were all phenomena of one kind1 and at once expressed ,god's lordship over all destructive agencies of nature1 and symbolised the more vehement and disturbing forms of energy1 used by ,him for the furtherance of ,his purposes in the field of history or of revelation4 ,elijah's ministry was of such a sort1 and he had now to learn the limitations of his work1 and the superiority of another type1 represented by the 'sound of gentle stillness4' ,it is the same lesson which ,moses learned there1 when he heard that the ,lord is 'a ,god full of compassion and gracious1 slow to anger1 and plenteous in mercy and truth4' ,it was exemplified in the gentle ,elisha1 the successor of ,elijah4 ,it reached far beyond the time then present1 and was indeed a ,messianic prophecy1 declaring the inmost character of ,him in whom 'the ,lord is1' in an altogether special sense4 ,elijah as a prophet brought no new knowledge1 and uttered no far-reaching predictions2 but he received one of the deepest and clearest prophecies of the gentleness of ,god's highest ,messenger1 and on ,horeb saw afar off what he saw fulfilled on the ,mountain of ,transfiguration4 ,nor is his vision exhausted by its ,messianic reference4 ,it contains an eternal truth for all ,god's servants4 ,storm1 earthquake1 and fire may be ,god's precursors1 and needed sometimes to prepare ,his way2 but gentleness is 'the habitation of ,his throne1' and they serve ,him best1 and are nearest ,him whom they serve1 who are meek in heart and gentle among enemies1 'as a nurse cherisheth her children4' ,love is the victor1 and the sharpest weapons of the ,christian are love and lowliness4 ,the lesson was not at first grasped by ,elijah1 as his repetition of his complaint1 word for word1 with almost dogged obstinacy1 shows4 ,the best of us are slow to learn ,god's lessons1 and a habit of faithless gloom is not soon overcome4 ,it is much easier to get down into the pit than to struggle out of it4 ,,iii4 ,the commission for further service1 which closes the scene1 is a further rebuke to the prophet4 ,he is bidden to retrace his way and to take refuge in the desert lying to the south and east of ,damascus1 where he would be safe from ,jezebel1 and still not far from the scene of his activity4 ,the instructions given to anoint a king of ,syria and one of ,israel were not fulfilled by ,elijah1 but by his successor2 and we have to suppose that further commands were given to him on that subject4 ,the third injunction1 to anoint his successor1 was obeyed at once on his journey1 though ,ahelmeholah1 on ,gilboa1 was dangerously near ,jezreel4 ,the designation of these future instruments of ,god's purpose was at once a sign to ,elijah that his own task was drawing to a close 7having reached its climax on ,carmel71 and that ,god had great designs beyond him and his service4 ,the true conception of our work is that we sire only links in a chain1 and that we can be done without4 ',god removes the workers and carries on the work4' ,to anoint our successor is often a bitter pill2 but self-importance needs to be taken down1 and it is blessed to lose ourselves in gazing into the future of ,god's work1 when we are gone from the field4 ,further1 the commissions met ,elijah's despondency in another way2 for they assured him of the divine judgments on the house of ,ahab1 and of the use of the ,syrian king as a rod to chastise ,israel4 ,he had thought ,god too slow in avenging ,his dishonoured name1 and had been taught the might of gentleness2 but now he also learns the certainty of punishment1 while the enigmatical promise that ,elisha should 'slay' those who escaped the swords of ,hazael and ,jehu dimly points to the merciful energy of that prophet's word1 his only sword1 which shall slay but to revive1 and wound to heal4 ',i have hewed them by the 444 words of my mouth4' ,finally1 the revelation of the seven thousand--a round number1 which expresses the sacredness as well as the numerousness of the elect1 hidden ones--rebukes the hasty assumption of his being left alone1 'faithful among the faithless4' ,god has more servants than we know of4 ,let us beware of feeding either our self-righteousness or our narrowness or our faint-heartedness with the fancy that we have a monopoly of faithfulness1 or are left alone to witness for ,god4 ,,putting ,,on ,,the ,,armour ,and the king of ,israel answered and said4 ,tell him4 ,let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off4'--#a ,,kings xx4 #aa4 ,for the ,young4 ,ahab1 ,king of ,israel1 was but a poor creature1 and1 like most weak characters1 he turned out a wicked one1 because he found that there were more temptations to do wrong than inducements to do right4 ,like other weak people1 too1 he was torn asunder by the influence of stronger wills4 ,on the one side he had a termagant of a wife1 stirring him up to idolatry and all evil1 and on the other side ,elijah thundering and lightning at him2 so the poor man was often reduced to perplexity4 ,once in his lifetime he did behave like a king1 with some flash of dignity4 ,my text comes from that incident4 ,his next neighbour1 and1 consequently1 his continual enemy1 was the king of ,damascus4 ,he had made a raid across the border and was dictating terms so severe as to invite even ,ahab to courageous opposition4 ,his back was at the wall1 and he mustered up courage to say ',no6' ,that provoked a bit of blustering bravado from the enemy1 who sent back a message1 ',the gods do also unto me and more also1 if the dust of ,samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me4' ,and then ,ahab replied in the words of our text4 ,they have a dash of contempt and sarcasm1 all the more galling because of their unanswerable common-sense4 ',the time to crow and clap your wings is after you have fought4 ,samaria is not a heap of dust just yet4 ,threatened men live long4' ,the battle began1 and the bully was beaten2 and for once ,ahab tasted the sweets of success4 ,now1 ,i have nothing more to do with ,ahab and the immediate application of his message1 but ,i wish to apply it to my young friends1 whom ,i have taken it upon me to ask now to listen to two or three homely words to them in this sermon4 ,you are beginning the fight2 some of us old people are getting very near the end of it4 ,and ,i would fain1 if ,i could1 see successors coming to take the places which we shall soon have to vacate4 ,so my message to you1 dear friends1 young men and young women1 is this1 ',let not him that putteth on the harness boast himself as he that putteth it off4' ,i4 ,now1 look for a moment at the general view of life that is implied in this saying thus understood4 ,there is nothing that the bulk of people are more unwilling to do than steadily to think about what life as a whole1 and in its deepest aspects1 is4 ,and that disinclination is strong1 as ,i suppose1 in the average young man or young woman4 ,that comes1 plainly enough1 from the very blessings of your stage of life4 ,unworn health1 a blessed inexperience of failures and limitations1 the sense of undeveloped power within you1 the natural buoyancy of early days1 all tend to make you rather live by impulse than by reflection4 ,and ,i should be the last man in the world to try to damp the noble1 buoyant1 beautiful enthusiasms with which ,nature has provided that we should all begin our course4 ,the world will do that soon enough2 and there is no sadder sight than that of a bitter old man1 who has outlived1 and smiles sardonically at1 his youthful dreams4 ,but ,i do wish to press upon you all this question1 ,have you ever tried to think to yourself1 ',now what1 after all1 is this life that is budding within me and dawning before me--what is it1 in its deepest reality1 and what am ,i to do with it8' ,there are some of us to whom1 so far as we have thought at all1 life presents itself mainly as a shop1 a place where we are to 'buy and sell1 and get gain1' and use our evenings1 after the day's work is over1 for such recreation as suits us4 ,and there are young men among my hearers who1 with the flush of their physical manhood upon them1 and perhaps away from the restraints of home1 and living in gloomy town lodgings1 with no one to look after them1 are beginning to think that life after all is a kind of pigs' trough1 with plenty of foul wash in it for whoso chooses to suck it up--a garden of not altogether pure delights1 a place where a man may gratify the 'lusts of the flesh4' ,but1 dear brethren1 whilst there are many other noble metaphors under which we can set forth the essential character of this mysterious1 tremendous life of ours1 ,i do not know that there is one that ought to appeal more to the slumbering heroism which lies in every human soul1 and to the enthusiasms which1 unless you in your youth cherish1 you will in your manhood be beggared indeed1 than that which this picture of my text suggests4 ,after all1 life is meant to be one long conflict4 ,we are like the fellahin that one sometimes sees in ,eastern lands1 who cannot go out to plough in their fields1 or reap their harvests1 without a gun slung on their backs2 for the condition under which we work in this world is that everything worth doing has to be done at the cost of opposition and antagonism1 and that no noble service or building is possible without brave1 continuous conflict4 ,even upon the lower levels of life that is so4 ,no man learns a science or a trade without having to fight for it4 ,but high above these lower levels1 there is the one on which we all are called to walk1 the high level of duty1 and no man does what his conscience tells him1 or refrains from that which his conscience sternly forbids1 without having to fight for it4 ,we are in the lists and compelled to draw the sword4 ,and if we do not realise this1 that all nobility all greatness1 all wisdom1 all success1 even of the lowest and most vulpine kind1 are won by conflict1 we shall never do anything in the world worth doing4 ,you are a soldier1 whether you will or no1 and life is a fight1 whether you recognise the fact or not4 ,so1 standing at the beginning1 do not fancy that there is opening before you a scene of enjoyment1 or that you are stepping into a world in which you can take your ease1 and come out successfully at the other end4 ,it is not so2 and you will find that out before long4 ,better that you should settle it in your minds at first4 ,when you were born you were enrolled on the roll-call of the regiment2 and now you have to do a man's part in the battle4 ,,ii4 ,note the boastful temper which is sure to be beaten4 ,no doubt there is something inspiring in the spectacle of the young warrior standing there1 chafing at the lists1 eagerly pulling on his gauntlets1 fitting on his helmet1 and longing to be in the thick of the fight4 ,no doubt1 as ,i have already said1 there is something in your early days which makes such buoyant hopes and anticipations of success natural1 and which gives you1 as a great gift1 that expectation of victory4 ,i do not wish to shatter any of your enthusiasms or ideals1 but ,i do wish to suggest a consideration or two that may calm and sober them4 ,so ,i ask1 have you ever estimated1 are you now estimating rightly1 what it is that you have to fight for8 ,to make yourselves pure1 wise1 strong1 self-governing1 ,christlike men1 such as ,god would have you to be4 ,that is not a small thing for a man to set himself to do4 ,you may go into the struggle for lower purposes1 for bread and cheese1 or wealth or fame1 or love1 or the like1 with a comparatively light heart2 but if there once has dawned upon a young soul the whole majestic sweep of possibilities in its opening life1 then the battle assumes an aspect of solemnity and greatness that silences all boasting4 ,have you considered what it is that you have to fight for8 ,have you considered the forces that are arrayed against you8 ',what act is all its thought had been8' ,hand and brain are never paired4 ,there is always a gap between the conception and its realisation4 ,the painter stands before his canvas1 and1 while others may see beauty in it1 he only sees what a small fragment of the radiant vision that floated before his eye his hand has been able to preserve4 ,the author looks on his book and thinks what a poor1 wretched transcript of the thoughts that inspired his pen it is4 ,there is ever this same disproportion between the conception and accomplishment4 ,therefore1 all we old people feel1 more or less1 that our lives have been failures4 ,we set out as you do1 thinking that we were going to build a tower whose top should reach to heaven1 and we are contented if1 at the last1 we have scrambled together some little wooden shanty in which we can live4 ,we thought as you do2 you will come to think as we do4 ,so you had better begin now1 and not go into the fight boasting1 or you will come out of it conscious of being beaten4 ,have you realised how different it is to dream things and to do them8 ,in our dreams we are1 as it were1 working in vacuo4 ,when we come to acts1 the atmosphere offers resistance4 ,it is easy to imagine ourselves victorious in circumstances where things are all going rightly and are bending according to our own desires1 but when we come to the grim world1 where there are things that resist and people are not plastic1 it is a very different matter4 ,you do not yet understand1 as you will some day1 the fatal limitations of power that hem us all round and the obstinate way that circumstances have of not falling in with our wishes4 ,and you have not yet learned how completely and constantly failure accompanies success1 like its shadow4 ,the old ,egyptians had no need to put a skeleton at their tables1 nor the ,romans to set a mocker behind the hero as he rode in triumph up to the ,capitol4 ,the world provides the skeleton at the banquet1 and circumstances supply the mocker to add a dash of failure to all our triumphs4 ,have you ever realised how certainly1 into the brightest and most buoyant and successful lives1 there will come crushing sorrows1 blows as from an unseen hand in the dark1 that fell a man8 ,o friend6 when one thinks of the miseries and the misfortunes1 the sorrows and the losses1 the broken and bleeding hearts that began life buoyant1 elastic1 hopeful1 perhaps boasting1 like you1 there ought to be a sobering tint cast over our brightest visions4 ,i suppose that our colleges are full of students who are going1 to far outstrip their professors1 that every life-school has a dozen lads who have just begun to handle brush and easel1 and are going to put ,raffaelle in the shade4 ,i suppose that every lawyer's office has a budding ,lord ,chancellor or two in it4 ,and ,i suppose that that sharp criticism of us fumblers in the field1 and half-expressed thought1 ',how much better ,i could do it6' belong to youth by virtue of its youth4 ,it is a crude form of undeveloped power1 but it wants a great deal of sobering down1 and ,i am trying now to let out a little of the blood1 and to bring you to a clear conception of the very limited success which is likely to attend you4 ,all we old people1 whose deficiencies and limitations you see so clearly1 had the same dreams1 impossible as it may appear to you1 fifty years ago4 ,we were going to be the men1 and wisdom was going to die with us1 and you see what we have made of it4 ,you will not do much better4 ,have you ever taken stock honestly of your own resources8 ',what king1 going to make war against another king1 sitteth not down first1 and counteth the cost1 whether with his ten thousand he can meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand8' ,boast if you like1 but calculate first1 and boast after that1 if you can4 ,your worst enemy is yourself4 ,when you are counting your resources and saying1 ',i have this1 that1 and the other thing1' do not forget to say1 ',i have a part of me1 that takes all the rest of me all its time to keep it down and prevent it from becoming master4' ,you have traitors in the fortress who are in communication with the enemy outside1 and may go over to him openly in the very crisis of the fight4 ,you have to take that fact into account1 and it ought to suppress boasting whilst you are putting on the harness4 ,you are not old enough to remember1 as some of us do1 the delirious enthusiasm with which1 in the last ,franco-,german war1 the ,emperor and the troops left ,paris1 and how1 as the train steamed out of the station1 shouts were raised1 ',a4 ,berlin6' ,ay6 and they never got farther than ,sedan1 and there an ,emperor and an army were captured4 ,go into the fight bragging1 and you will come out of it beaten4 ,,iii4 ,note the confidence which is not boasting4 ,i can fancy some of you saying1 ',these gloomy views of yours will lead to nothing but absolute despair4 ,you have been telling us that success is impossible2 that we are bound to fight1 and are sure to be beaten4 ,what are we to do8 ,throw up the sponge1 and say1 ,very well6 then ,i may as well have my fling1 and give up all attempts to be any better than my passions and my senses would lead me to be4' ,and if there is nothing more to be said about the fight than has been already said1 that is the conclusion4 ',let us eat and drink1' not only 'for to-morrow we die1' but 'for to-day we are sure to be beaten4' ,but ,i have only been speaking about this self-distrust as preliminary to what is the main thing that ,i desire to urge upon you now1 and it is this3 ,you do not need to be beaten4 ,there is no room for boasting1 but there is room for absolute confidence4 ,you1 young men and women1 standing at the entrance of the amphitheatre where the gladiators fight1 may dash into the arena with the most perfect confidence that you will come out with your shield preserved and your sword unbroken4 ,there is one way of doing it4 ',be of good cheer6 ,i have overcome the world4' ,that was not the boast of a man putting on the harness1 but the calm utterance of the conquering ,christ when ,he was putting it off4 ,he has conquered that you may conquer4 ,remember how the ,apostle1 who has preserved for us that note of triumph at the end of ,christ's life1 has1 like some musician with a favourite phrase1 modulated and varied it in his letter written long after1 when he says1 ',this is the victory that overcometh the world1 even our faith4' ,my dear young friends1 distrust yourselves utterly1 and trust ,jesus ,christ absolutely1 and give yourselves to ,him1 to be ,his servants and soldiers till your lives' end4 ,then you will not be beaten1 for it is written of those who move in the light1 wearing the victor's palm3 ',these are they who overcame by the blood of the ,lamb1 and by the word of ,his testimony4' ,that blood secures our victory in a threefold fashion4 ,by that great death of ,jesus ,christ all our past sins may be forgiven1 and they no longer have power to tyrannise over us4 ,in ,his sacrifice for us there are motives given to us for noble1 grateful1 ,godlike living1 stronger than all the temptations that can arise from our own hearts1 or from the evils around us4 ,and if we put our humble trust in ,him1 then that faith opens the door for the entrance into our hearts1 in simple reality1 of a share in ,his conquering life which will make us victorious over the world1 the flesh1 and the devil4 ',this is the victory that overcometh the world1' and the youngest1 feeblest ,christian who lays his or her hand in ,christ's strong hand1 may look out upon all the embattled antagonisms that front them1 and say1 ',he will cover my head in the day of battle1 and teach my hands to war and my fingers to fight4' ,dear young friends1 people sometimes preach to you that you should be ,christians1 because life is uncertain and death is drawing near1 and after death the judgment4 ,i preach that too2 but the gospel that ,i seek to press upon you now is not merely a thing to die by1 but it is the thing to live by2 and it is the only power by which we shall be sure of overcoming the armies of the aliens4 ,this confidence in ,christ will take away from you no shred of your natural1 youthful1 buoyant elasticity1 but it will save you from much transgression and from bitter regrets4 ,one last word4 ,there is possible a triumph which is not boasting1 for him who puts off the harness4 ,the war-worn soldier has little heart for boasting1 but he may be able to say1 ',i have not been beaten4' ,the best of us1 when we come to the end1 will have to recognise in retrospect failures1 deficiencies1 palterings with evil1 yieldings to temptation1 sins of many sorts1 that will put all boasting out of our thoughts4 ,but1 whilst that is so1 there is sometimes granted to the man1 who has been faithful in his adherence to ,jesus ,christ1 a gleam of sunshine at eventime1 which foretells ,heaven's welcome and ',well done6'1 before it is uttered4 ,he was no self-righteous braggart1 but a very rigid judge of himself1 who1 close by the headsman's block that ended his life1 said3 ',i have fought a good fight2 ,i have finished my course2 ,i have kept the faith4' ',put on the whole armour of ,god1' and when the time comes to put it off1 you will have a peaceful assurance as far removed from despair as it is from boasting4 ,distrust yourselves2 do not underestimate your enemies2 understand that life is warfare2 trust utterly to ,jesus ,christ1 and ,he will see to it that you are not conquered1 will give you the calm confidence of which we have been speaking here1 and a share hereafter in the throne which ,he promises to him that overcometh4 ,if you will trust yourselves to ,him1 and take service in ,his army1 you cannot be too certain of victory4 ,if you fling yourself into the battle in your own strength1 with however high a hope1 and fight without the ,captain for your ally1 you cannot escape defeat4 ,,royal ,,murderers ',and it came to pass after these things1 that ,naboth the ,jezreelite had a vineyard1 which was in ,jezreel1 hard by the palace of ,ahab king of ,samaria4 #b4 ,and ,ahab spake unto ,naboth1 saying1 ,give me thy vineyard1 that ,i may have it for a garden of herbs1 because it is near unto my house3 and ,i will give thee for it a better vineyard than it2 or1 if it seem good to thee1 ,i will give thee the worth of it in money4 #c4 ,and ,naboth said to ,ahab1 ,the ,lord forbid it me1 that ,i should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee4 #d4 ,and ,ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which ,naboth the ,jezreelite had spoken to him3 for he had said1 ,i will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers4 ,and he laid him down upon his bed1 and turned away his face1 and would eat no bread4 #e4 ,but ,jezebel his wife came to him1 and said unto him4 ,why is thy spirit so sad1 that thou eatest no bread8 #f4 ,and he said unto her1 ,because ,i spake unto ,naboth the ,jezreelite1 and said unto him1 ,give me thy vineyard for money3 or else1 if it please thee1 ,i will give thee another vineyard for it3 and he answered1 ,i will not give thee my vineyard4 #g4 ,and ,jezebel his wife said unto him1 ,dost thou now govern the kingdom of ,israel8 arise1 and eat bread1 and let thine heart be merry3 ,i will give thee the vineyard of ,naboth the ,jezreelite4 #h4 ,so she wrote letters in ,ahab's name1 and sealed them with his seal1 and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city1 dwelling with ,naboth4 #i4 ,and she wrote in the letters1 saying1 ,proclaim a fast1 and set ,naboth on high among the people3 #aj4 ,and set two men1 sons of ,belial1 before him1 to bear witness against him1 saying1 ,thou didst blaspheme ,god and the king4 ,and then carry him out1 and stone him1 that he may die4 #aa4 ,and the men of his city1 even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city1 did as ,jezebel had sent unto them1 and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them4 #ab4 ,they proclaimed a fast1 and set ,naboth on high among the people4 #ac4 ,and there came in two men1 children of ,belial1 and sat before him3 and the men of ,belial witnessed against him1 even against ,naboth1 in the presence of the people1 saying1 ,naboth did blaspheme ,god and the king4 ,then they carried him forth out of the city1 and stoned him with stones1 that he died4 #ad4 ,then they sent to ,jezebel1 saying1 ,naboth is stoned1 and is dead4 #ae4 ,and it came to pass1 when ,jezebel heard that ,naboth was stoned1 and was dead1 that ,jezebel said to ,ahab1 ,arise1 take possession of the vineyard of ,naboth the ,jezreelite1 which he refused to give thee for money2 for ,naboth is not alive1 but dead4 #af4 ,and it came to pass1 when ,ahab heard that ,naboth was dead1 that ,ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of ,naboth the ,jezreelite1 to take possession of it4'-#a ,,kings xxi4 #a-af4 ,there are three types of character in this story1 all bad1 but in different ways4 ,ahab is wicked and weak2 ,jezebel1 wicked and strong2 the elders of ,jezreel1 wicked and subservient4 ,amongst them they commit a great crime1 which was the last drop in the full cup of the king's sins1 and brought down ,god's judgment on him and his house4 ,i4 ,we have to look at the weakly wicked ,ahab4 ,his wish for ,naboth's vineyard was a mere selfish whim4 ,he was willing to give more for it than it was worth4 ,it suited his convenience for a kitchen-garden4 ,in the true spirit of an ,eastern despot1 he expected everything to yield to his caprice1 and did not think that a subject had any rights4 ,what business has a poor man with sentiment8 ,naboth is to go1 and a handful of silver will set all right4 ,samuel's warning of what a king would be and do was fulfilled4 ,this highhanded interference with private rights was what ,israel's revolt had led to4 ,the sturdy ,naboth was influenced not only by love for the bit of land which his fathers had cultivated for more years than ,ahab had reigned days1 but by obedience to the law of ,god2 and he was not afraid to show himself a ,jehovah worshipper1 by his solemn appeal to 'the ,lord1' as well as by the fact of his refusal4 ,the brusque1 flat refusal shows that some independence was left in the nation4 ,the weak rage and childish sulking of ,ahab are very characteristic of a feeble and selfish nature1 accustomed to be humoured and not thwarted4 ,these fits of temper seem to have been common with him2 for he was in one at the end of the preceding chapter1 as he is now4 ,the 'bed' on which he flung himself is probably the couch for reclining on at table1 and1 if so1 the picture of his passion is still more vivid4 ,instead of partaking of the meal1 he turns his face to the wall1 and refuses food4 ',no meat will down with him for want of a salad1 because wanting ,naboth's vineyard for a garden of herbs4' ,as he lies there1 like a spoiled child1 all because he could not get his own way1 he may serve for an example of the misery of unbridled selfishness and unregulated desires4 ,an acre or two of land was a small matter to get into such a state about1 and there are few things that are worth a wise or a strong man's being so troubled4 ,hezekiah might 'turn his face to the wall' in the extremity of sickness and earnestness of prayer2 but ,ahab in doing it is only a poor1 feeble creature who has weakly set his heart on what is not his1 and weakly whimpers because he cannot have it4 ,to be thus at the mercy of our own ravenous desires1 and so utterly miserable when they are thwarted1 is unworthy of manhood1 and is sure to bring many a bitter moment2 for there are more disappointments than gratifications in store for such a one4 ,we may learn from ,ahab1 too1 the certainty that weakness will darken into wickedness4 ,such a mood as his always brings some ,jezebel or other to suggest evil ways of succeeding4 ,in this wicked world there are more temptations to sin than helps to virtue1 and the weak man will soon fall into some of the abundant traps laid for him4 ,unless we have learned to say ',no' with much emphasis1 because we are 'strong in the ,lord1' we shall fall4 ',this did not ,i because of the fear of the ,lord4' ,to be weak is to be miserable1 and any sin may come from it4 ,,ii4 ,jezebel is a type of a different sort of wickedness4 ,she is wicked and strong4 ,notice how she takes the upper hand at once1 in her abrupt question1 not without a spice of scorn2 and note how ,ahab answers1 bemoaning himself1 putting in the forefront his fair proposal1 and making ,naboth's refusal ruder than it really had been1 by suppressing its reason4 ,then out flashes the imperious will of this masterful princess1 who had come from a land where royalty was all-powerful1 and who had no restraints of conscience4 ,she darts a half-contemptuous question at ,ahab1 to stir him to action2 for nothing moves a weak man so much as the fear of being thought weak4 ',dost thou govern8' implies1 ',if thou dost1 thou mayest trample on a subject4' ,it should mean1 ',if thou dost1 thou must jealously guard the subject's rights4' ,what a proud consciousness of her power speaks in that ',i will give thee the vineyard'6 ,it is like ,lady ,macbeth's ',give me the dagger6' ,no more is said4 ,she can keep her own counsel1 and ,ahab suspects that some violence is to be used1 which he had better not know4 ,so1 again1 his weakness leads him astray4 ,he does not wish to hear what he is willing should be done1 if only he has not to do it4 ,so feeble men hoodwink conscience by conniving at evils which they dare not perpetrate1 and then enjoying their fruits1 and saying1 ',thou canst not say ,i did it4' ,jezebel had ,ahab's signet1 the badge of authority1 which she probably got from him for her unspoken purpose4 ,her letter to the elders of ,jezreel speaks out1 with cynical disregard of decency1 the whole ugly conspiracy4 ,it is direct1 horribly plain1 and imperative4 ,there is a perfect nest of sins hissing and coiled together in it4 ,hypocrisy calling religion in to attest a lie1 subornation of evidence1 contempt for the poor tools who are to perjure themselves1 consciousness that such work will only be done by worthless men1 cool lying1 ferocity1 and murder1--these are a pretty company to crowd into half a dozen lines4 ,most detestable of all is the plain speaking which shows her hardened audacity and conscious defiance of all right4 ,to name sin by its true name1 and then to do it without a quiver1 is a depth of evil reached by few men1 and perhaps fewer women4 ,the plot gives a colour of legality1 which is probably often unobserved by readers4 ,naboth was to be accused of treason3 'renouncing ,god and the king'2 and that was1 according to the law of ,moses1 a charge which1 if proved1 merited capital punishment4 ,but it is ,satan accusing sin for ,jezebel1 the ,baal worshipper1 who had done her best to root out the name of ,jehovah1 to accuse ,naboth of departing from ,god4 ,much highhanded oppression must have gone before such outspoken contempt of justice2 and1 if ,ahab represents the fatal connection of weakness and wickedness1 ,jezebel is an instance of the fatal audacity with which a strong character may come1 by long indulgence in self-willed gratification of its own desires1 to trample down all obstacles and go crashing through all laws1 human and divine4 ,the climax of sin is to see a deed to be sinful1 and to do it all the same4 ,such a pre-eminence in evil is not reached at a bound1 but it can be reached2 and every indulgence in passion1 and every gratifying of desire against which conscience protests1 is a step toward it4 ,therefore1 if we shrink from such a goal1 let us turn away from the paths that lead to it4 ',no mortal man is supremely foul all at once4' ,therefore resist the beginnings of evil4 ,elijah was strong by natural temperament1 and so was ,jezebel4 ,but the strength of the prophet was hallowed by obedience1 and1 like some great river1 poured blessings where it flowed4 ,jezebel's strength was lawless1 and foamed itself away in fury1 like some devastating torrent that spreads ruin whithersoever it bursts out4 ',be strong' is good advice1 but it needs the supplement1 ',let all your deeds be done in charity1' and the foundation1' ,be strong in the ,lord1 and in the power of ,his might4' ,,iii4 ,the last set of actors in this pitiful tragedy are the subserviently wicked elders4 ,the narrative sets their slavish compliance in a strong light4 ,it puts emphasis on the tie between them and ,naboth1 in that they 'dwelt in his city1' and so should have had neighbourly feeling4 ,it lays stress on their cowardly motive and their complete execution of orders1 both by reiterating that they acted 'as ,jezebel had sent' and 'as it was written1' and by taking the letter clause by clause1 in the narrative of the shameful parody of justice which they acted4 ,it suggests both their eagerness to do her pleasure1 and her impatient waiting1 in her palace1 by the message sent in hot haste as soon as the brave peasant proprietor was dead4 ',it is ill sitting at ,rome and striving with the ,pope1' as the proverb has it4 ,no doubt these cowards were afraid for their own necks1 and were too near the royal tigress to venture disobedience4 ,but their swift1 unremonstrating1 and complete obedience indicates the depth of degradation and corruption to which they and the nation had sunk1 and the terror exercised by their upstart king and his ,sidonian wife4 ,cowardice is always contemptible1 and wickedness is always odious2 but when the two come together1 and a man has no other reason for his sin than ',i was afraid1' each makes the other blacker4 ,israel had cast off the fear of the ,lord1 which would have preserved it from the ignoble terror of men1 and the consequence was that it trembled before an angry1 unscrupulous woman4 ,it had revolted from ,rehoboam and his foolish bluster about whips and scorpions1 and the consequence was a worse slavery4 ,if we fear ,god1 we need have no other fear4 ,the sun puts out a fire4 ,if we rebel against ,him1 we do not become free1 but fall under a heavy yoke4 ,it is never prudent to do wrong4 ,the worst consequences of resistance to powerful evil are easier to bear than those of compliance1 though it may seem the safer4 ,better be lying dead beneath a heap of stones1 like the sturdy ,naboth1 who could say ',no' to a king1 than be one of his stoners1 who killed their innocent neighbour to pleasure ,jezebel6 ,her indecent triumph at the success of the plot1 and her utter callousness1 are expressed in her words to ,ahab1 in which the main point is the taking possession of the vineyard4 ,the death of its owner is told with exultation1 as being nothing but the sweeping aside of an obstacle4 ,ahab asks no questions as to how this opportune clearing away of hindrance came about4 ,he knew1 no doubt1 well enough that there had been foul play2 but that does not matter to him1 and such a trifle as murder does not slacken his glad haste to get his new toy4 ,there was other red on the vines than their clustering grapes1 as he soon found out1 when ,elijah's grim figure1 like an embodied conscience1 met him there4 ,whoever reaches out to grasp a fancied good by breaking ,god's law1 may get his good1 but he will get more than he expected along with it1--even an accusing voice that prophesies evil4 ,elijah strides among the leafy vines in the field bought by crime4 ,ahab meant to make it a garden of pot-herbs4 ',surely the bitter wormwood of divine revenge grew abundantly therein4' ,,ahab ,,and ,,elijah ',and ,ahab said to ,elijah1 ,hast thou found me1 ,o mine enemy6'--#a ,,kings xxi4 #bj4 ,the keynote of ,elijah's character is force-the force of righteousness4 ,the ,new ,testament1 you remember1 speaks of the 'power of ,elias4' ,the outward appearance of the man corresponds to his function and his character4 ,gaunt and sinewy1 dwelling in the desert1 feeding on locusts and wild honey1 with a girdle of camel's skin about his loins1 he bursts into the history1 amongst all that corrupt state of society1 with the force of a hammer that ,god's hand wields4 ,the whole of his career is marked by this one thing1--the strength of a righteous man4 ,and then1 on the other hand1 this ,ahab2--the keynote of his character is the weakness of wickedness1 and the wickedness of weakness4 ,think of him4 ,weakly longing--as idle and weak minds in lofty places always do--after something that belongs to somebody else2 with all his gardens1 coveting the one little herb-plot of the poor ,naboth2 weak and worse than womanly1 turning his face to the wall and weeping when he cannot get it2 weakly desiring to have it1 and yet not knowing how to set about accomplishing his wish2 and then--as is always the case1 for there are always tempters everywhere for weak people--that beautiful fiend by his side1 like the other queen in our great drama1 ready to screw the feeble man that she is wedded to1 to the sticking-place1 and to dare anything to grasp that on which the heart was set4 ,and so the deed is done3 ,naboth safe stoned out of the way2 and ,ahab goes down to take possession6 ,the lesson of that is1 my friend1--,weak dallying with forbidden desires is sure to end in wicked clutching at them4 ,young men1 take care6 ,you stand upon the beetling edge of a great precipice1 when you look over1 from your fancied security1 at a wrong thing2 and to strain too far1 and to look too fixedly1 leads to a perilous danger of toppling over and being lost6 ,if you know that a thing cannot be won without transgression1 do not tamper with hankerings for it4 ,keep away from the edge1 and 'shut your eyes from beholding vanity4' ,but my business now is rather with the consequences of this apparently successful sin1 than with what went before it4 ,the king gets the crime done1 shuffles it off himself on to the shoulders of his ready tools in the little village1 goes down to get his toy1 and gets it--but he gets ,elijah along with it1 which was more than he reckoned on4 ,when1 all full of impatience and hot haste to solace himself with his new possession1 he rushes down to seize the vineyard1 he finds there1 standing at the gate1 waiting for him--black-browed1 motionless1 grim1 an incarnate conscience--the prophet whom he had not seen for years1 the prophet that he had last seen on ,carmel1 bearding alone the servants of ,baal1 and executing on them the solemn judgment of death2 and there leaps at once to his lip1 ',hast thou found me1 ,o mine enemy8' ,i4 ,i find here1 in the first place1 this broad principle3 ,pleasure won by sin is peace lost4 ,it does not need that there should be a rebuking prophet standing by to work out that law4 ,god commits the execution of it to the natural operations of our own consciences and our own spirits4 ,here is the fact in men's natures on which it partly depends3 when sin is yet tempting us1 it is loved2 when sin in done1 it is loathed4 ,action and reaction1 as the mechanicians tell us1 are equal and contrary4 ,the more violent the blow with which we strike upon the forbidden pleasure1 the further back the rebound after the stroke4 ,when sin tempts--when there hangs glittering before a man the golden fruit which he knows that he ought not to touch--then1 amidst the noise of passion or the sophistry of desire1 conscience is silenced for a little while4 ,no man sins without knowing that it is wrong1 without knowing that in the long run it is a mistake2 but at the instant1 in the delirium of yielding1 as in moments of high physical excitement1 he is blind and deaf1 deaf to the voice of reason1 blind to the sight of consequences4 ,conscience and consequence are alike lost sight of4 ,like a mad bull1 the man that is tempted lowers his head and shuts his eyes1 and rushes right on4 ,the moment that the sin is done1 that moment the passion or desire which tempted to it is satiated1 and ceases to exist for the time4 ,it is gone as a motive4 ,like some savage beast1 being fed full1 it lies down to sleep4 ,there is a vacuum left in the heart1 the noise is stilled1 and then--and then--conscience begins to speak4 ,or1 to take another image1 the passion1 the desires1 the impulses that lead us to do wrong things--they are like a crew that mutiny1 and take for a moment the wheel from the steersman and the command from the captain1 but then1 having driven the ship on the rocks1 the mutineers get intoxicated1 and lie down and sleep4 ,passion fulfils itself1 and expires4 ,the desire is satisfied1 and it turns into a loathing4 ,the tempter draws us to him1 and then unveils the horrid face that lies beneath the mask4 ,when the deed is done and cannot be undone1 then comes satiety2 then comes the reaction of the fierce excitement1 the hot blood begins to flow more slowly2 then rises up in the heart conscience2 then rises up in majesty in the soul reason2 then flashes and flares before the eye the vivid picture of the consequences4 ,his 'enemy' has found the sinner4 ,he has got the vineyard--ay1 but ,elijah is there1 and his dark and stern presence sucks all the brightness and the sunniness out of the landscape2 and ,naboth's blood stains the leaves of ,naboth's garden6 ,there is no sin which is not the purchase of pleasure at the price of peace4 ,now1 you will say that all that is true in regard to the grosser forms of transgression1 but that it is not true in regard to the less vulgar and sensual kinds of crime4 ,of course it is most markedly observable with regard to the coarsest kind of sins2 but it is as true1 though perhaps not in the same degree--not in the same prominent1 manifest way at any rate--in regard to every sin that a man does4 ,there is never an evil thing which--knowing it to be evil--we commit1 which does not rise up to testify against us4 ,as surely as 7in the words of our great philosopher poet7 'lust dwells hard by hate1' and as surely as to-night's debauch is followed by to-morrow's headache1 so surely--each after its kind1 and each in its own region--every sin lodges in the human heart the seed of a quick-springing punishment1 yea1 is its own punishment4 ,when we come to grasp the sweet thing that we have been tempted to seize1 there is a serpent that starts up amongst all the flowers4 ,when the evil act is done--opposite of the prophet's roll--it is sweet in the lips1 but oh6 it is bitter afterwards4 ',at the last it biteth like a serpent1 and stingeth like an adder6' ,then1 you may say again1 ',all that is very much exaggerated4 ,that is not the sort of feeling which men that go on persistently doing wrong things1 cherish4 ,they live quietly and contentedly enough4 ,there are no bands in their death1 and their strength is firm4' ,all that would be true if men's consciences kept sensitive in the midst of men's sins1 but they do not2 and so it cannot be that every transgression has thus its quick result in loss of peace4 ,i grant you at once that it is quite possible for men to sin away the delicacy and susceptibility of their consciences4 ,i dare say there are people here now who1 after they have done a wrong thing1 go on very quietly1 with no knowledge of those agonies that ,i have been speaking about1 with scarcely ever a prick of conscience for their sin4 ,but what then8 ,i did not say that all sin purchased pleasure by inflictions of agony2 but ,i do say1 that all sin purchases pleasure by loss of peace4 ,the silence of a seared conscience is not peace4 ,for peace you want something more than that a conscience shall be dumb4 ,for peace you want something more than that you shall be able to live without the daily sense and sting of sin4 ,you want not only the negative absence of pain1 but the positive presence of a tranquillising guest in your heart--that conscience of yours testifying with you1 blessing you in its witness1 and shedding abroad rest and comfort4 ,it is easy to kill a conscience--after a fashion at least4 ,it is easy to stifle it4 ,it is easy to come to that depth of wrongdoing that one gets used to it1 and does it without caring4 ,but oh6 that cold vacuum1 that dead absence in such a spirit of all healthy self-communing1 that painful suspicion1 ',if ,i look into myself1 and be quiet for a little while1 and take stock of my own character1 and see what ,i am1 the balance will be on the wrong side1'--that is not peace4 ,as the old historian says about the ,roman armies that marched through a country1 burning and destroying every living thing1 ',they make a solitude1 and they call it peace4' ,and so men do with their consciences4 ,they stifle them1 sear them1 forcibly silence them1 somehow or other2 and then1 when there is a dead stillness in the heart1 broken by no voice of either approbation or blame1 but doleful like the unnatural quiet of a deserted city1 then they call that peace1 and the man's uncontrolled passions and unbridled desires dwell solitary in the fortress of his own spirit6 ,you may almost attain to that4 ,do you think it is a goal to be set before you as an ideal of human nature8 ,the loss of peace is certain--the presence of agony is most likely--from every act of sin4 ,and so1 it is not only a crime that men commit when they do wrong1 but it is a blunder4 ,sin is not only guilt1 but it is a mistake4 ',the game is not worth the candle1' according to the ,french proverb4 ,the thing that you buy is not worth the price you pay for it4 ,sin is like a great forest-tree that we may sometimes see standing up green in its leafy beauty1 and spreading a broad shadow over half a field2 but when we get round on the other side1 there is a great dark hollow in the very heart of it1 and corruption is at work there4 ,it is like the poison-tree in travellers' stories1 tempting weary men to rest beneath its thick foliage1 and insinuating death into the limbs that relax in the fatal coolness of its shade4 ,it is like the apples of ,sodom1 fair to look upon1 but turning to acrid ashes on the unwary lips4 ,it is like the magician's rod that we read about in old books4 ,there it lies2 and if1 tempted by its glitter1 or fascinated by the power that it proffers you1 you take it in your hand1 the thing starts into a serpent with erected crest and sparkling eye1 and plunges its quick barb into the hand that holds it1 and sends poison through all the veins4 ,do not touch it1 my brother6 ,every sin buys pleasure at the price of peace4 ,elijah is always waiting at the gate of the ill-gotten possession4 ,,ii4 ,in the second place1 ,sin is blind to its true friends and its real foes4 ',hast thou found me1 ,o mine enemy8' ,elijah was the best friend that ,ahab had in his kingdom4 ,and that ,jezebel there1 the wife of his bosom1 whom he loved and thanked for this new toy1 she was the worst foe that hell could have sent him4 ,ay1 and so it is always4 ,the faithful rebuker1 the merciful inflicter of pain1 is the truest friend of the wrongdoer4 ,the worst enemy of the sinful heart is the voice that either tempts it into sin1 or lulls it into self-complacency4 ,and this is one of the most certain workings of evil desires in our spirits1 that they pervert for us all the relations of things1 that they make us blind to all the moral truths of ,god's universe4 ,sin is blind as to itself1 blind as to its own consequences1 blind as to who are its friends and who are its foes1 blind as to earth1 blind as to another world1 blind as to ,god4 ,the man who walks in the 'vain show' of transgression1 whose heart is set upon evil1--he fancies that ashes are bread1 and stones gold 7as in the old fairy story72 and1 on the other hand1 he thinks that the true sweet is the bitter1 and turns away from ,god's angels and ,god's prophets1 with1 ',hast thou found me1 ,o mine enemy8' ,that is the reason1 my friend1 of not a little of the infidelity that haunts this world--that sin1 perverted and blinded1 stumbles about in its darkness1 and mistakes the face of the friend for the face of the foe4 ,god sends you in mercy a conscience to prick and sting you that you may be kept right2 and you think that it is your enemy4 ,god sends in ,his mercy the discipline of life1 pains and sorrows1 to draw us away from the wrong1 to make us believe that the right in this world and the next is life1 and that holiness is happiness for evermore4 ,and then1 when1 having done wrong1 ,god's merciful messenger of a sharp sorrow finds us out1 we say1 ',hast thou found me1 ,o mine enemy8' and begin to wonder about the mysteries of ,providence1 and how it comes that there is evil in the creation of a good ,god4 ,why1 physical evil is the best friend of the man that is subject to moral evil4 ,sorrow is the truest blessing to a sinner4 ,the best thing that can befall any of us is that ,god shall not let us alone in any wrong course1 without making us feel ,his rod1 without hedging up our way with thorns1 and sending us by ,his grace into a better one4 ,there is no mystery in sorrow4 ,there is a mystery in sin2 but sorrow following on the back of sin is the true friend1 and not the enemy1 of the wrong-doing spirit4 ,and then1 again1 ,god sends us a gospel full of dark words about evil4 ,it deals with that fact of sin1 as no other system ever did4 ,there is no book like the ,bible for these two things1--for the lofty notion that it has about what man may be and ought to be2 and for the low notion that it has of what man is4 ,it does not degrade human nature1 because it tells us the truth about human nature as it is4 ,its darkest and bitterest sayings about transgression1 they are veiled promises1 my brother4 ,it does not make the consequences of sin which it writes down4 ,you and ,i make them for ourselves1 and it tells us of them4 ,did the lighthouse make the rock that it stands on8 ,is it to be blamed for the shipwreck8 ,if a man will go full tilt against the thing that he knows will ruin him1 what is the right name for him who hedges it up with a prickly fence of thorns1 and puts a great light above it1 and writes below1 ',if thou comest here thou diest'8 ,is that the work of an enemy8 ,and yet that is why people talk about the gloomy views of the gospel1 about the narrow spirit of ,christianity1 about the harsh things that are here6 ,the ,bible did not make hell4 ,the ,bible did not make sin the parent of sorrow4 ,the ,bible did not make it certain that 'every transgression and disobedience' should reap its 'just recompense of reward4' ,we are the causes of their coming upon ourselves2 and the ,bible but proclaims the end to which the paths of sin must lead1 and beseechingly calls to us all1 ',turn ye1 turn ye6 why will ye die8' ,and yet when it comes to you1 how many of you turn away from it1 and say1 ',it is mine enemy'6 ,how many shrink from its merciful knife1 that cuts into all the wounds of the festering spirit6 ,how many of you feel as if 'the truth that is in ,jesus' was a hard and bitter truth2 when all the while its very heart's blood is love1 and the very secret of its message is the tenderest compassion1 the most yearning sympathy1 for every soul amongst us6 ,ay1 and more than that3--sin makes us fancy that ,god ,himself is our enemy2 and sin makes that thought of ,god that ought to be most blessed and most sweet to us1 the terror of our souls4 ,you have the power1 my friend1 by your own wrongdoing1 of perverting the whole universe1 and1 worst of all1 of distorting the image of the merciful ,father1 of the loving ,god4 ,god loves4 ,god is the ,father4 ,god watches over us4 ,god will not let us alone when we transgress1 ,god in ,his love has appointed that sin shall breed sorrow4 ,but we--we do wrong2 and then1 for ,god's ,providence1 and ,god's ,gospel1 and ,god's ,son1 and ,god ,himself1 there rises up in our hearts a hostile feeling1 and we think that ,he is turned to be our enemy1 and fights against us6 ,but oh6 ,he only fights against us that we may submit to1 and love1 ,him4 ,will you1 then1 have it that ,god's highest mercy should be your greatest sorrow1 that your truest friend should be your worst foe8 ,you can make the choice4 ,to you ,god and ,his truth are like that ark of ,his covenant which to ,dagon and the ,philistines was a curse1 but to the house of ,obededom was a blessing4 ,he and ,his gospel are to you like that pillar that was darkness and trouble to the hosts of the ,egyptians1 but light by night to ,his children4 ,to you1 my brother1 the gospel may be either 'the savour of life unto life1 or the savour of death unto death6' ,if ,he comes to you with rebuke1 and meets you when you are at the very door of your sin1 and busy with your transgression1--usher ,him in1 and thank ,him1 and bless ,him for words of threatening1 for merciful severity1 for conviction of sin2--because conviction of sin is the work of the ,comforter2 and all the threatenings and all the pains that follow and track1 like swift hounds1 the committer of evil1 are sent by ,him who loves too wisely not to punish transgression1 and loves too well to punish without warning1 and desires only when ,he punishes that we should turn from our evil way1 and escape the condemnation4 ,an enemy1 or a friend1--which is ,god in ,his truth to you8 ,,iii4 ,lastly1 the sin which mistakes the friendly appeal for an enemy1 lays up for itself a terrible retribution4 ,elijah comes to ,jezreel and prophesies the fall of ,ahab4 ,the next peal1 the next flash1 fulfil the prediction4 ,there1 where he did the wrong1 he suffered4 ,in ,jezreel1 ,ahab died4 ,in ,jezreel1 ,jezebel died4 ,that plain was the battlefield for the subsequent discomfiture of ,israel4 ,over and over again there encamped upon it the hosts of the spoilers4 ,over and over again its soil ran red with the blood of the children of ,israel2 and at last1 in the destruction of the kingdom1 ,naboth was avenged and ,god's word fulfilled4 ,the threatened evil was foretold that it might lead the king to repentance1 and that thus it might never need to be more than a threat4 ,but1 though ,ahab was partially penitent1 and partially listened to the prophet's voice1 yet for all that1 he went on in his evil way4 ,therefore the merciful threatening becomes a stern prophecy1 and is fulfilled to the very letter4 ,so1 when ,god's message comes to us1 friends1 if we listen not to it1 and turn not to its gentle rebuke1 ,oh6 then we gather up for ourselves an awful futurity of judgment1 when threatening will darken into punishment1 and the voice that rebuked will swell into the voice of final condemnation4 ,when a man fancies that ,god's prophet is his enemy1 and dreams that his finding him out is a calamity and a loss1 that man may be certain that something worse will find him out some day4 ,his sins will find him out1 and that is worse than the prophet's coming4 ,my friend1 picture to yourself this--a human spirit shut up1 with the companionship of its forgotten and dead transgressions4 ,there is a resurrection of acts as well as of bodies4 ,think what it will be for a man to sit surrounded by that ghastly company1 the ghosts of his own sins6--and as each forgotten fault and buried badness comes1 silent and sheeted1 into that awful society1 and sits itself down there1 think of him greeting each with the question1 ',thou too8 ,what6 are ye all here8 ,hast thou found me1 ,o mine enemy8' and from each bloodless spectral lip there tolls out the answer1 the knell of his life1 ',i have found thee1 because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the ,lord4' ,ah1 my friend6 if that were all we had to say1 it might well stiffen us into stony despair4 ,thank ,god--thank ,god6 such an issue is not inevitable4 ,christ speaks to you4 ,christ is your ,friend4 ,he loves you1 and ,he speaks to you now--speaks to you of your danger1 but in order that you may never rush into it and be engulfed by it2 speaks to you of your sin1 but in order that you may say to ,him1 ',take ,thou it away1 ,o merciful ,lord'2 speaks to you of justice1 but in order that you may never sink beneath the weight of ,his stroke2 speaks to you of love1 in order that you may know1 and fully know1 the depth of ,his graciousness4 ,when ,he says to you1 ',i love thee2 love thou ,me3 ,i have died for thee2 trust ,me1 live by ,me1 and live for ,me1 'will you not say to ,him1 ',my ,friend1 my ,brother1 my ,lord1 and my ,god'8 ,,unpossessed ,,possessions ',and the king of ,israel said unto his servants1 ,know ye that ,ramoth in ,gilead is ours1 and we be still1 and take it not out of the hand of the king of ,syria8'--#a ,,kings xxii4 #c4 ,this city of ,ramoth in ,gilead was an important fortified place on the eastern side of the ,jordan1 and had1 many years before the date of our text1 been captured by its northern neighbours in the kingdom of ,syria4 ,a treaty had subsequently been concluded and broken a war followed thereafter1 in which ,ben-hadad1 ,king of ,syria1 had bound himself to restore all his conquests4 ,he had not observed that article of peace1 and the people of ,israel had not been strong enough to enforce it until the date of our text2 but then1 backed up by a powerful alliance with ,jehoshaphat of ,judah1 they determined to make a dash to get back what was theirs1 but whilst theirs was also not theirs4 ,now1 ,i have nothing more to do with ,ahab and ,jehoshaphat1 but ,i wish to turn the words of my test1 and the thoughts that may come from them1 into a direction profitable to ourselves4 ',know ye that ,ramoth in ,gilead is ours8' and yet it had to be got out of the hands of the ,king of ,syria4 ,i4 ,what is ours and not ours4 ,every ,christian man has large tracts of unannexed territory1 unattained possibilities1 unenjoyed blessings1 things that are his and yet not his4 ,how much more of ,god you and ,i have a right to than we have the possession of6 ,the ocean is ours1 but only the little pailful that we carry away home to our own houses is of use to us4 ,the whole of ,god is mine if ,i am ,christ's1 and a dribble of ,god is all that comes into the lives of most of us4 ,how much inward peace is ours8 ,it is meant that there should never pass across a ,christian's soul more than a ripple of agitation1 which may indeed ruffle and curl the surface2 but deep down there should be the tranquillity of the fathomless ocean1 unbroken by any tempests1 and yet not stagnant1 because there is a vital current running through it1 and every drop is being drawn upward to the surface and the sunlight4 ,there may be a peace in our hearts deep as life2 a tranquillity which may be superficially disturbed1 but is never thoroughly1 and down in its depths1 broken4 ,and yet1 let some little petty annoyance come into our daily life1 and what a pucker we are in6 ,then we forget all about the still depths in which we ought to be living2 and fears and hopes and loves and ambitions disturb our souls1 just as they do the spirits of the men that do not profess to have any holdfast in ,god4 ,the peace of ,god is ours2 but1 ah6 in how sad a sense it is true that the peace of ,god is not ours6 ,what 'heights'--for ,ramoth means 'high places'--what heights of consecration there are which are ours according to the divine purpose and according to the fulness of ,god's gift6 ,it is meant1 and it is possible1 and well within the reach of every ,christian soul1 that he or she should live1 day by day1 in the continual and utter surrender of himself or herself to the will of ,god1 and should say1 ',i do the little ,i can do1 and leave the rest with ,thee'2 and should say again1 ',all is right that seems most wrong1 ,if it be ,his sweet will4' ,but instead of this absolute submission and completeness and joyfulness of surrender of ourselves to ,him1 what do we find8 ,reluctance to obey1 regret at providences1 ,self dominant or struggling hard against the partial domination of the will of ,god in our hearts4 ,the mind which was in ,jesus ,christ1 who was able to say1 ',it is written of ,me1 lo6 ,i come to do ,thy will1 ,o ,lord6' is ours by virtue of our being ,christians2 but1 alas6 in practical realisation how sadly it is not ours6 ,what noble possibilities of service1 what power in the world1 are bestowed on ,christ's people6' ,all power is given unto ,me in heaven and in earth1' says ,he4 ',and ,he breathed on them1 and said1 ,as ,my ,father hath sent ,me1 even so send ,i you4' ,the divine gift to the ,christian community1 and to the individuals that compose it--for there are no gifts given to the community1 but to the individuals that make it up--is of fulness of power for all their work4 ,and yet look how1 all through the ages1 the ,church has been beaten by the corruption of the world2 and how to-day many of us are standing1 either utterly careless and callous about the diseases that we have the medicine to cure1 or in desperation looking about for other healing for the social and moral condition of the community than that which is granted to us in ,jesus ,christ4 ',know ye that ,ramoth in ,gilead is ours1 and we be still1 and take it not out of the hands of the ,king of ,syria8' ,there is ever so much in the world which belongs to our ,master1 and therefore belongs to us1 and which the ,church is bound to lay its hand upon and claim for its own and for its ,lord's4 ,for remember1 brethren1 that all the gifts at which ,i have been glancing--and ,i might have largely increased the catalogue--all these spiritual endowments of peace1 and safety1 and purity1 and joy1 of religious elevation1 and consecration1 and power for service1 and the like--are ours by a threefold title and charter4 ,god's purpose1 which is nothing less for every one of us than that we should be 'filled with all the fulness of ,god1' and that ,he should 'supply all our need1 according to ,his riches in glory1'--that is the first of the parchments on which our title depends4 ,and the second title-deed is ,christ's purchase2 for the efficacy of ,his death and the power of ,his triumphant life have secured for all who trust ,him the whole fulness of this divine gift4 ,and the third of our claims and titles is the influence of that ,holy ,spirit whom ,jesus ,christ gives to every one of ,his children to dwell in him4 ,there is in you1 working in you1 if you have any faith in that ,lord1 a power that is capable of making you perfectly pure1 perfectly blessed1 strong with an immortal strength1 and glad with a 'joy that is unspeakable and full of glory4' ,oh6 then1 let us think of the awful contrast between what is ours and what we have4 ,it is ours by the divine intention1 by the divine gift in its fulness and all-sufficiency1 and yet think of the poor1 partial realisation of it that has passed into our experience4 ,be sure that you have what you have1 and that you make your own what ,god has made yours4 ,,ii4 ,then1 let me suggest1 again1 how our text hints for us1 not only the difference between possession and realisation1 but also our strange contentment in imperfect possession4 ,ahab's remonstrances with his servants1 which make the starting-point of my remarks1 seem to suggest that there were two reasons for their acquiescence in the domination of a foreign power on a bit of their soil4 ,they had not realised that ,ramoth was theirs1 and they were too lazy and cowardly to go and take it4 ,ignorance of the fulness of the gift1 and slothful timidity in daring everything in the effort to make it ours1 explain a great deal of the present condition of ,christian people4 ,is not that condition of passive acquiescence in their small present attainments1 and of careless indifference to the great stretch of the unattained1 the characteristic of the mass of professing ,christians8 ,they have got a foothold on a new continent1 and their possession of it is like the world's drawing of the map of ,africa when we were children1 which had a settlement dotted here and there along the coast1 and all the broad regions of the interior were blank4 ,the settlers huddle together upon the fringe of barren sand by the salt water1 and never dream of pressing forward into the heart of the land4 ,and so1 too1 many of us are content with what we have got1 a little bit of ,god1 when we might have ,him all2 a settlement on the fringe and edge of the land1 when we might traverse the whole length of it2 and behold6 it is all ours4 ,that unfamiliarity with the thought of unattained possibilities in the ,christian life is a damning curse of thousands of people who call themselves ,christians4 ,they do not think1 they never realise--and some of us are guilty in this respect--they never realise that it is possible for them to be all unlike what they are now1 and that1 instead of the miserable partial hallowing of their nature1 and the poor1 weak--,i was going to say strength1 but it is not worth calling strength1 that they possess1 they might be as the angels of ,god3 'the weakest as ,david1' and ,david as a very angel of heaven itself4 ,why is it1 why is it1 that there is this unfamiliarity8 ,and then1 another reason for the woful disproportion between what we have and what we utilise is the love of ease1 such as kept these ,israelites from going up to ,ramoth-,gilead4 ,it was a long way off2 there was a river to be forded2 there were heights to be climbed2 there were weary marches to be taken2 there were hard knocks going in front of the walls of ,ramoth before they got inside it2 and on the whole it was more comfortable to sit at home1 or look after their farms and their merchandise1 than to embark on the quixotic attempt to win back a city that had not been theirs for ever so long1 and that they had got on very well without4 ,and so it is with hosts of ,christian people2 we do not realise how much we have that we never get any good out of4 ,and1 in the second place1 we had rather just stay where we are1 and make the best of the world as it is1 and the desires of our hearts go in another direction than for our increase in the grace and knowledge of our ,lord and ,saviour4 ,ah1 brethren6 if we had a claim to some great property1 or any other wealth that we really cared about1 should we be so very indifferent as to asserting our rights8 ,should we not fight to the death1 some of us1 for the last inch of soil1 for the last ounce of treasure1 that belonged to us8 ,when you really value a thing1 you secure the greatest possible amount of it2 and there is very little margin between what you own and what you use4 ,and if there is such a tremendous difference between the breadth of the one and the narrowness of the other in our ,christian life1 there can be no reason for it except this1 that we do not care enough about spiritual blessings and forces to make the effort that is needed to win and keep1 and get the good of1 all that is ours4 ,and is not that something like despising the birthright8 ,is it not a criminal thing for ,christian people thus to neglect1 and to put aside1 and never to seek to obtain1 all these great gifts of ,god8 ,there they lie at our doors1 and they are ours for the taking4 ,suppose a carrier brought you a whole waggon full of precious goods1 and put them down at your door1 and you were not at the trouble to open your doors1 or to carry the goods into your cellars4 ,that would not look as if you cared much either for the goods or for the giver4 ,and ,i wonder how many of us are chargeable with that criminal despising of ,god's gifts1 which is clearly the explanation of our letting them lie rotting1 as it were1 at our gates8 ,we are starving paupers in the midst of plenty4 ',my ,god shall supply all your need according to ,his riches in glory1 by ,christ ,jesus1' says ,paul4 ,you have the right to them all4 ,draw cheques against the capital that is lodged in your name in that great bank4 ,,iii4 ,and so1 lastly1 my text suggests the effort that is needed to make our own ours4 ',we be still1 and take it not out of the hands of the ,king of ,syria4' ,then these things that are ours1 by ,god's gift1 by ,christ's purchase1 by the ,spirit's influence1 will need our effort to secure them4 ,and that is no contradiction1 nor any paradox4 ,god does exactly in the same way with regard to a great many of ,his natural gifts as ,he does with regard to ,his spiritual ones4 ,he gives them to us1 but we hold them on this tenure1 that we put forth our best efforts to get and to keep them4 ,his giving them does not set aside our taking4 ,however much we tried we could not take them out of ,his hand if it were clenched4 ,open as ,his hand is1 and stretched out to us as it is1 the gifts that sparkle in it are not transferred to our hands unless we ourselves put forth an effort4 ,so let me say that one large part of the discipline by which men make their own their own is by familiarising themselves with the thought of the larger possibilities of unattained possessions which ,god has given them4 ,that is true in everything4 ,to recognise our present imperfection1 and to see stretching before us glorious and immense possibilities1 opening out into a vista where our eyesight fails us to travel to its end1 is the very salt of life in every region4 ,artist1 student1 all of us 'are saved by hope1' in a very much wider sense than the ,apostle meant by that great saying4 ,and whosoever has once lost1 or felt becoming dim1 the vision before him of a possible better than his present best1 in any region1 is in that region condemned to grow no more4 ,if we desire to have any kind of advancement1 it is only possible for us1 when there gleams ever before us the untravelled road1 and we see at the end of it unattained brightnesses and blessings4 ,and we ,christian people have an endless prospect of that sort stretching before us4 ,oh1 if we looked at it oftener1 'having respect unto the recompense of the reward1' we should find it easier to dash at any ,ramoth-,gilead1 and get it out of the hands of the strongest of the enemies that may bar our way to it4 ,let us familiarise ourselves with the thought of our present imperfection1 and of our future completeness1 and of the possibilities which may become actualities1 even here and now2 and let us not fitfully use what power we have1 but make the best of what graces are ours1 and enjoy and expatiate in the spiritual blessings of peace and rest which ,christ has already given to us4 ',to him that hath shall be given1' and the surest way to lose what we have is to neglect to increase it4 ,and1 above all1 let us keep nearer to our ,master1 and live more in fellowship with our ,lord1 and that will help us to deny ourselves to ungodliness and worldly lusts4 ,it is the prevalence of these1 and the absence of self-denial1 that ruins most of the ,christian lives that are ruined in this world4 ,if a man wants to be what he is not1 he must cease to be what he is4 ,self-sacrifice1 and the emptying of our hearts of trash and trifles1 is the only way to get our hearts filled with ,god and with ,his blessing4 ,let us keep near ,jesus ,christ4 ,if we have ,him for ours we have peace1 we have power1 we have purity4 ',he of ,god is made unto us' all in all1 and every gift that may adorn humanity1 and make our lives joyous and ourselves noble1 is given to us in ,jesus ,christ4 ,let us put away from ourselves1 then1 this slothful indifference to our unattained possessions4 ',know ye that ,ramoth is ours8' ',let us be still' no longer4 ',all things are yours1 whether the world1 or life1 or death1 or things present1 or things to come3 all are yours if ye are ,christ's4' ,,ahab ,,and ,,micaiah ',and ,jehoshaphat said1 ,is there not here a prophet of the ,lord besides1 that we might enquire of him8 #h4 ,and the king of ,israel said unto ,jehoshaphat1 ,there is yet one man1 ,micaiah the son of ,imlah1 by whom we may enquire of the ,lord3 but ,i hate him2 for he doth not prophesy good concerning me1 but evil4'--#a ,,kings xxii4 #g1h4 ,an ill-omened alliance had been struck up between ,ahab of ,israel and ,jehoshaphat of ,judah4 ,the latter1 who would have been much better in ,jerusalem1 had come down to ,samaria to join in an assault on the kingdom of ,damascus2 but1 like a great many other people1 ,jehoshaphat first made up his mind without asking ,god1 and then thought that it might be well to get some kind of varnish of a religious sanction for his decision4 ,so he proposes to ,ahab to inquire of the ,lord about this matter4 ,one would have thought that that should have been done before1 and not after1 the determination was made4 ,ahab does not at all see the necessity for such a thing1 but1 to please his scrupulous ally1 he sends for his priests4 ,they came1 four hundred of them1 and of course they all played the tune that ,ahab called for4 ,it is not difficult to get prophets to pat a king on the back1 and tell him1 ',do what you like4' ,but ,jehoshaphat was not satisfied yet4 ,perhaps he thought that ,ahab's clergy were not exactly ,god's prophets1 but at all events he wanted an independent opinion2 and so he asks if there is not in all ,samaria a man that can be trusted to speak out4 ,he gets for answer the name of this ',micaiah the son of ,imlah4' ,ahab had had experience of him1 and knew his man2 and the very name leads him to an explosion of passion1 which1 like other explosions1 lays bare some very ugly depths4 ',i hate him2 for he doth not prophesy good concerning me1 but evil4' ,that is a curious mood1 is it not8 that a man should know another to be a messenger of ,god1 and therefore know that his words are true1 and that if he asked his counsel he would be forbidden to do the thing that he is dead set on doing1 and would be warned that to do it was destruction2 and that still he should not ask the counsel1 nor ever dream of dropping the purpose1 but should burst out in a passion of puerile rage against the counsellor1 and will have none of his reproofs4 ,very curious6 ,but there are a great many of us that have something of the same mood in us1 though we do not speak it out as plainly as ,ahab did4 ,it lurks more or less in us all1 and it largely determines the attitude that some of us take to ,christianity and to ,christ4 ,so ,i wish to say a word or two about it4 ,i4 ,my text suggests the inevitable opposition between a message from ,god1 and man's evil4 ,no doubt1 ,god is love2 and just because ,he is1 it is absolutely necessary that what comes from ,him1 and is the reflex and cast1 so to speak1 of ,his character1 should be in stern and continual antagonism to that evil which is the worst foe of men1 and is sure to lead to their death4 ,it is because ,god is love1 that 'to the froward ,he shows ,himself froward4' and opposes that which1 unopposed and yielded to1 will ruin the man that does it4 ,so this is one of the characteristic marks of all true messages from ,god1 that men who will not part with their evil call them 'stern1' 'rigid1' 'gloomy1' 'narrow' ,yes1 of course2 because ,god must look upon godless lives with disapprobation1 and must desire by all means to draw men away from that which is drawing them away from ,him and to their death4 ,now1 ,i suppose ,i need not spend time in enumerating or describing the points in the attitude of ,christianity towards the solemn fact of human sin1 which correspond to ,ahab's complaint that the prophet spake always 'not good concerning him1 but evil4' ,the 'gospel' of ,jesus ,christ proves its name to be true1 and that it is 'good news1' not only by its graciousness1 its promises1 its offers1 and the rich blessings of eternal life with which its hands are full1 but by its severity1 as men call it4 ,one characteristic of the gospel is the altogether unique place which the fact of sin fills in it4 ,there is no other religion on the face of the earth that has so grasped and made prominent this thought3 ',all have sinned and come short of the glory of ,god4' ,there is none that has painted human nature as it is in such dark colours1 because there is none that knows itself to be able to change human nature into such radiance of glory and purity4 ,the gospel has1 if ,i might so say1 on its palette a far greater range of pigments than any other system4 ,its blacks are blacker2 its whites are whiter2 its golds are more lustrous than those of other painters of human nature as it is and as it may become4 ,it is a mark of its divine origin that it unfalteringly looks facts in the face1 and will not say smooth things about men as they are4 ,side by side with that characteristic of the dark picture which it draws of us1 as we are in ourselves1 is its unhesitating restraint or condemnation of deep-seated desires and tendencies4 ,it does not come to men with the smooth words on its lips1 ',do as thou wilt4' ,it does not seek for favour by relaxing bonds1 but it rigidly builds up a wall on either side of a narrow path1 and says1 ',walk within these limits and thou art safe4 ,go beyond them a hair's-breadth1 and thou perishest4' ,it may suit ,ahab's prophets to fling the reins on the neck of human nature2 ,god's prophet says1 ',thou shalt not1' ,that is another of the tests of divine origin1 that there shall be no base compliance with inclinations1 but rigid condemnation of many of our deep desires4 ,side by side with these two1 there is a third characteristic that the ,word1 which is the outcome and expression of the divine love1 is distinguished by its plain and stern declarations of the bitter consequences of evil-doing4 ,i need not dwell upon these1 brethren4 ,they seem to me to be far too solemn to be spoken of by a man to men in other words than ,scripture's4 ,but ,i beseech you to remember that this1 too1 is the characteristic of ,christ's message4 ,so a man should feel1 when he thinks of the dark and solemn things that the ,old ,testament partially1 and the ,new ,testament more clearly1 utter as to the death which is the outcome of sin1 that these are indeed the very voice of infinite love pleading with us all4 ,brother ,i do not so misapprehend facts as to think that the restraints and threatenings and dark pictures which ,christ and ,his servants have drawn are anything but the utterance of the purest affection4 ,,ii4 ,now1 secondly1 let me ask you to look for a moment at the strange dislike which this attitude of ,christianity kindles4 ,i have said that ,ahab's mental condition was a very odd one4 ,strange as it is1 it is1 as ,i have already remarked1 in some degree a very frequent one4 ,there are in us all1 as we see in many regions of life1 the beginnings of the same kind of feeling4 ,here1 for example1 is a course that ,i am quite sure1 if ,i pursue it1 will land me in evil4 ,does the drunkard take a glass the less1 because he knows that if he goes on he will have a drunkard's liver and die a miserable death8 ,does the gambler ever take away his hand from the pack of cards or the dice-box1 because he knows that play means1 in the long run1 poverty and disgrace8 ,when a man sets his will upon a certain course1 he is like a bull that has started in its rage4 ,down goes the head1 and1 with eyes shut1 he will charge a stone wall or an iron door1 though he knows it will smash his skull4 ,men are very foolish animals2 and there is no greater mark of their folly than the conspicuous and oft-repeated fact that the clearest vision of the consequences of a course of conduct is powerless to turn a man from it1 when once his passions1 or his will1 or1 worse still1 his weakness1 or1 worst of all1 his habits1 have bound him to it4 ,take another illustration4 ,do we not all know that honest friends have sometimes fallen out of favour1 perhaps with ourselves1 because they have persistently kept telling us what our consciences and common-sense knew to be true1 that if we go on by that road we shall be suffocated in a bog8 ,a man makes up his mind to a course of conduct4 ,he has a shrewd suspicion that an honest friend will condemn him1 and that the condemnation will be right4 ,what does he do1 therefore8 ,he never consults his friend1 but if by chance that friend should say what was expected of him1 he gets angry with his adviser and doggedly goes his own road4 ,i suppose we all know what it is to treat our consciences in the style in which ,ahab treated ,micaiah4 ,we do not listen to them because we know what they will say before they have said it2 and we call ourselves sensible people6 ,martin ,luther once said1 ',it is neither safe nor wise to do anything against conscience4' ,but ,ahab put ,micaiah in prison2 and we shut up our consciences in a dungeon1 and put a gag in their mouths1 and a muffler over the gag1 that we may hear them say no word1 because we know that what we are doing1 and we are doggedly determined to do1 is wrong4 ,but the saddest illustration of this infatuation is to be found in the attitude that many men take in regard to ,christianity4 ,there is a great craving to-day1 more perhaps than there has been in some other periods of the world's history1 for a religion which shall adorn1 but shall not restrain2 for a religion which shall be toothless1 and have no bite in it2 for a religion that shall sanction anything that it pleases our sovereign mightiness to want to do4 ,we should all like to have ,god's sanction for our actions4 ,but there are a great many of us who will not take the only way to secure that--viz4 to do the actions which ,he commands1 and to abstain from those which ,he forbids4 ,popular ,christianity is a very easy-fitting garment2 it is like an old shoe that you can slip off and on without any difficulty4 ,but a religion which does not put up a strong barrier between you and many of your inclinations in not worth anything4 ,the mark of a message from ,god is that it restrains and coerces and forbids and commands4 ,and some of you do not like it because it does4 ,there is a great tendency in this day to cut out of the ,old and ,new ,testaments all the pages that say things like this1 ',the soul that sinneth it shall die'2 or things like this1 ',this is the condemnation1 that light is come into the world1 and men love darkness rather than light'2 or things like this1 ',then shall the wicked go away into outer darkness4' ,brethren1 men being what they are1 and ,god being what ,he is1 there can be no divine message without a side of what the world calls threatening1 or what ,ahab called' prophesying evil4' ,i beseech you1 do not be carried away by the modern talk about ,christianity being gloomy and dark1 or fancy that we put a blot and an excrescence upon the pure religion of the ,man of ,nazareth1 when we speak of the death that follows sin1 and of the darkness into which unbelief carries a man4 ,,iii4 ,once more1 let me say a word about the intense folly of such an attitude4 ,ahab hated ,micaiah4 ,why8 ,because ,micaiah told him what would come to him as the fruit of his own actions4 ,that was foolish4 ,it is no less foolish for people to take up a position of dislike1 and to turn away from the gospel of ,jesus ,christ because it speaks in like manner4 ,i said that men are very foolish animals2 there is surely nothing in all the annals of human stupidity more stupid than to be angry with the word that tells you the truth about what you are bringing down upon your heads4 ,it is absurd1 because ,micaiah did not make the evil1 but ,ahab made it2 and ,micaiah's business was only to tell him what he was doing4 ,it is absurd1 because the only question to be asked is4 ,are the warnings true8 are the threatenings representations of what really will come8 are the prohibitions reasonable8 ,and it is absurd1 because1 if these things are so--if it is true that the soul that sinneth dies1 and will die2 if it is true that you1 who have heard of the name and the salvation of ,jesus ,christ over and over again1 and have turned away from it1 will1 if you continue in that negligence and unbelief1 reap bitter fruits here and hereafter therefrom--if these things are true1 surely the man that tells you so1 and the gospel that tells you so1 deserve better treatment than ,ahab's petulant hatred or your stolid indifference and neglect4 ,would you think it wise for a sea-captain to try to take the clapper out of the bell that floats and tolls above a shoal on which his ship will be wrecked if it strikes8 ,would it be wise to put out the lighthouse lamps1 and then think that you had abolished the reef8 ,does the signalman with his red flag make the danger of which he warns1 and is it not like a baby to hate and to neglect the message that comes to you and says1 ',turn ye1 turn ye1 why will ye die'8 ,,iv4 ,so1 lastly1 ,i notice the end of this foolish attitude4 ,ahab was told in plain words by ,micaiah1 before the interview closed1 that he would never come back again in peace4 ,he ordered the bold prophet into prison1 and rode away gaily1 no doubt1 to his campaign4 ,weak men are very often obstinate1 because they are not strong enough to rise to the height of changing a purpose when reason condemns it4 ,this weak man was always obstinate in the wrong place1 as so many of us are4 ,so away he went1 down from ,samaria1 across the plain1 down to the fords of the ,jordan4 ,but when he had crossed to the other side1 and was coming near his objective point1 the memories of ,micaiah in prison at ,samaria began to sit heavy on his soul4 ,so he tried to deceive divine judgment1 and got up an ingenious scheme by which his ally was to go into the field in royal pomp1 and he to slip into it disguised4 ,a great many of us try to hoodwink ,god1 and it does not answer4 ,the man who 'drew the bow at a venture' had his hand guided by a higher ,hand4 ,ahab was plated all over with iron and brass1 but there is always a crevice through which ,god's arrow can find its way2 and1 where ,god's arrow finds its way1 it kills4 ,when the night fell1 he was lying dead on his chariot floor1 and the host was scattered1 and ,micaiah1 the prisoner1 was avenged2 and his word had taken hold on the despiser of it4 ,so it always will be4 ,so it will be with us1 dear brethren1 if we do not give heed to our ways and listen to the word which may be bitter in the mouth1 but1 eaten1 turns sweet as honey4 ,nailing the index of the barometer to 'set fair' will not keep off the thunderstorm1 and no negligence or dislike of divine threatenings will arrest the slow1 solemn march1 inevitable as destiny1 of the consequences of our doings4 ,things will be as they will be4 ,believed or unbelieved1 the avalanche will come4 ,dear brethren1 there is one way to get ,micaiah on your side4 ,listen to him1 and then he will speak good to you1 and not what you foolishly call evil4 ,let ,god's word convince you of sin4 ,let it bring you to the ,cross for pardon4 ,jesus ,christ addresses each of us in the ,apostle's words3 ',am ,i therefore become your enemy because ,i tell you the truth8' ,the sternest threatenings in the ,bible come from the lips of that infinite ,love4 ,if you will listen to ,him1 if you will yield yourselves to ,him1 if you will take ,him for your ,saviour and your ,lord1 if you will cast your confidence and anchor your love upon ,him1 if you will let ,him restrain you1 if you will consult ,him about what ,he would have you do1 if you will accept ,his prohibitions as well as ,his permissions1 then ,his word and ,his act to you1 here and hereafter1 will be only good and not evil1 all the days of your life4 ,remember ,ahab lying dead on the floor of his chariot in a pool of his own blood1 and bethink yourselves of what despising the threatenings1 and turning away from the rebukes and prohibitions of the divine word1 come to4 ,these threatenings are spoken that they may never need to be put in effect4 ,if you give heed to them they will never be put in effect in regard to you1 if you neglect them and 'will none of' ,god's 'reproof1' they will come down on you like a mighty rock loosed from the mountain1 and will grind you to powder4 ,,the ,,chariot ,,of ,,fire ',and it came to pass1 when the ,lord would take up ,elijah into heaven by a whirlwind1 that ,elijah went with ,elisha from ,gilgal4 #b4 ,and ,elijah said unto ,elisha1 ,tarry here1 ,i pray thee2 for the ,lord hath sent me to ,beth-el4 ,and ,elisha said unto him1 ,as the ,lord liveth1 and as thy soul liveth1 ,i will not leave thee4 #hj they went down to ,beth-el #c1 ,and the sons of the prophets that were at ,beth-el came forth to ,elisha and said unto him1 ,knowest thou that the ,lord will take away thy master from thy head to-day8 ,and he said1 ,yea1 ,i know it2 hold ye your peace4 #d4 ,and ,elijah laid unto him1 ,elisha1 tarry here1 ,i pray thee2 for the ,lord hath sent me to ,jericho4 ,and he said1 ,as the ,lord liveth1 and as thy soul liveth1 ,i will not leave thee4 ,so they came to ,jericho4 #e4 ,and the sons of the prophets that were at ,jericho came to ,elisha1 and laid unto him1 ,knowest thou that the ,lord will take away thy master from thy head to-day8 ,and he answered1 ,yea1 ,i know it2 hold ye your peace4 #f4 ,and ,elijah said unto him1 ,tarry1 ,i pray thee1 here3 for the ,lord hath sent me to ,jordan4 ,and he said1 ,as the ,lord liveth1 and as thy soul liveth1 ,i will not leave thee4 ,and they two went on4 #g4 ,and fifty men of the eons of the prophets went1 and stood to view afar off3 and they two stood by ,jordan4 #h4 ,and ,elijah took his mantle1 and wrapped it together1 and smote the waters1 and they were divided hither and thither1 so that they two went over on dry ground4 #i4 ,and it came to pass1 when they were gone over1 that ,elijah said unto ,elisha1 ,ask what ,i shall do for thee1 before ,i be taken away from thee4 ,and ,elisha said1 ,i pray thee1 let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me4 #aj4 ,and he said1 ,thou hast asked a hard thing2 nevertheless1 if thou see me when ,i am taken from thee1 it shall be so unto thee2 but if not1 it shall not be so4 #aa4 ,and it came to pass1 as they still went on1 and talked1 that1 behold1 there appeared a chariot of fire1 and horses of fire1 and parted them both asunder2 and ,elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven4'--#b ,,kings ii4 #a-aa4 ,elijah's end is in keeping with his career4 ,from his first abrupt appearance it had been fitly symbolised by the stormy wind and flaming fire which he heard and saw at ,horeb1 and now these were to be the vehicles which should sweep him into the heavens4 ,he came like a whirlwind1 he burned like a fire1 and in fire and whirlwind he disappeared4 ,the story is wonderful in pathos and simplicity4 ,surely never was such a miracle told so quietly4 ,the actual ascension is narrated in a sentence4 ,its preliminaries take up the rest of this narrative4 ,i4 ,this journey from ,gilgal to the eastern side of ,jordan is minutely described in its stages4 ,apparently this ,gilgal is not the well-known place so called1 which was down in the ,jordan valley close to ,jericho1 else the road from it to ,bethel could not have been called a going down 7v4 #b74 ,it probably lay to the north of ,bethel1 which would then be between it and ,jericho1 where the ,jordan was to be passed4 ,elijah was not sent on an aimless round of farewell visits1 but by the direct road to his destination4 ,note that he and ,elisha and the 'sons of the prophets' all know that he is near his end4 ,how this came about we are not told1 and need not speculate2 but though all knew1 none seems to have known that the others knew4 ,elijah does not explain to ,elisha why he wished him to stay behind1 nor ,elisha to ,elijah why he was so resolved to keep by him4 ,the knowledge and the silence would give peculiar solemnity and sweet bitterness to these last hours4 ,how often a similar combination weighs on the hearts of a household1 who all know that a dear one is soon to be taken away1 and yet can only be silent about what is uppermost in their thoughts6 ,why did ,elijah wish ,elisha to stay behind8 ,apparently to spare him the pain of seeing his master depart4 ,with loving concealment1 he tried to make ,elisha suppose that his errand to ,bethel and then to ,jericho was but a common one1 to be soon despatched4 ,it was a little touch of tenderness in the strong1 rough man4 ,note1 too1 the gradual disclosure to ,elijah of the places to which he was to go4 ,he is only bid to go to ,bethel1 and not till he gets there is he further sent on to ,jericho1 and1 presumably1 only when there is directed to cross ,jordan4 ,god does not show all the road at once1 even if it lead to glory1 but step by step1 and a second stage only when we have obediently traversed the first4 ,we get light as we go4 ,elisha's clinging to his master till the very last is but too intelligible to many of us who have gone through the same sorrow1 and counted each moment of companionship with some dear one about to leave earth as priceless gain1 to be treasured in the sacredest recesses of memory for evermore4 ,it has been thought that the object of the visits to ,bethel and ,jericho was to give parting directions to the schools of the prophets at each place2 but that is read into the narrative1 which gives no hint that ,elijah had any communication with these4 ,rather the contrary is implied1 both in the fact that the 'sons of the prophets' came to the travellers1 not the travellers to them1 and in their addressing ,elisha1 as if some awe of the master kept them from speaking to him4 ,an ,elijah marching to his chariot of fire was not a man for raw youths to approach lightly4 ,their question is met by ,elisha with curtness and scant courtesy1 which indicates that it was asked in no sympathetic spirit1 but from mere love of telling bad news1 and of vulgar excitement4 ,even the gentle ,elisha is stirred to rebuke the gossiping chatterers1 who intrude their curiosity into that sacred hour4 ,there are abundance of such busy-bodies always ready to buzz about any bleeding heart1 and sorrow has often to be stern in order to be unmolested4 ,,ii4 ,the second stage is the passage of ,jordan4 ,the verbal repetition of the same dialogue at ,jericho as at ,bethel increases the impression of prolonged loving struggle between the two prophets4 ,at last1 they stand on the western bank of ,jordan1 at their feet the spot where the hurrying river had been stayed by the ark till the tribes had passed over1 before them the mountains bordering ,elijah's homeland of ,gilead on the left1 and away on the right the lone peak where ,moses had died 'by the mouth of the ,lord4' ,the soil was redolent of the miracles of the ,mosaic age1 and the dividing of the waters by ,elijah is meant to bring the present into vital connection with that past1 and to designate him as parallel with the former leader4 ,note the vigour with which he twists his characteristic mantle into a kind of rod1 and strikes the waters strongly4 ,the repetition of the former miracle is a sign that the unexhausted ,power which wrought it is with ,elijah4 ,the ,god of yesterday is the ,god of to-day1 and nothing that was done in the past but will be repeated in essence1 though not in form1 in the present4 ',as we have heard so have we seen4' ,the former miracle had been done for a nation2 this is performed for two men4 ,it teaches the preciousness of ,his individual servants in ,god's eyes4 ,the former had been done through the ark2 this1 by the prophet's mantle4 ,power is lodged in the faithful messenger4 ,god's strength dwells in those who love ,him4 ,the former miracle had been the close of the desert wanderings and the gateway to ,canaan4 ,though ,elijah's face is turned in the opposite direction1 does not its repetition suggest that for him1 too1 the impending translation was to be the end of wilderness weariness and toil1 and the entrance on rest8 ,,iii4 ,elisha's request is the next stage in the story4 ,how far they two 'went on' is not told4 ,the ,bible does not foster the craving to know the exact situation where sacred things happened1 the gratification of which might feed superstition1 but could not increase reverence4 ,possibly they had drawn near the eastern hills1 and were out of sight of the fifty curious gazers on the other hank4 ,elijah at last spoke the truth which both knew4 ,how true to nature is that reticence kept up till the last moment1 and then broken so tenderly6--',ask what ,i shall do for thee1 before4' ,probably he did not mean any supernatural gift1 but simply some parting token of love2 for he is startled at the response of ,elisha4 ,a true disciple can desire nothing more than a portion of his master's spirit4 ',it is enough for the disciple that he be as his ,master4' ,they covet wisely and with a noble covetousness who most desire spiritual gifts to fit them for their vocation4 ,it was an unworldly soul which asked but for such a legacy4 ,the 'double portion' does not mean twice as much as ,elijah's portion had been1 but twice as much as other 'sons of the prophets' would receive4 ,elisha reckoned himself ,elijah's first-born spiritual son1 and asked for the elder brother's share1 because he had been designated as successor1 and would require more than others for his work4 ,the new sense of responsibility is coming on him1 and teaching him his need4 ,well for us if higher positions make us lowlier1 in the consciousness of our own unfitness without divine help6 ,elijah knows that his spirit was not his to give1 and can only refer his successor to the ,fountain from which he had drawn2 for the sign which he gives is obviously not within his power to determine4 ,if the ,lord shows the ascending master to him who is left1 ,he will give the servant his desire4 ,a portion of their 'spirit' is the very thing which teachers and prophets cannot give4 ,they may give their systems or their methods1 their favourite ideas or cut-and-dry maxims and principles1 and so leave a race of pygmies who give themselves airs as being their disciples1 but their spirit they cannot impart4 ,contrast with this limitation of power confessed by ,elijah1 ,his consciousness who breathed on eleven poor men1 and said1 ',receive ye the ,holy ,ghost4' ,no man could say that without absurdity or blasphemy4 ,the gift impossible to man is the very characteristic gift of ,jesus1 who 'has power over the ,spirit of holiness4' ,must ,he not thereby be 'declared to be the ,son of ,god'8 ,,iv4 ,the climax of this lesson is that stupendous scene of the translation4 ,note how the ',behold' suggests the suddenness of the appearance of the fiery chariot1 which came flaming between the two men eagerly talking1 and drove them apart4 ,the description of the departure1 in its brevity and incompleteness1 sounds like the report of the only eye-witness1 who had the fiery chariot between him and ,elijah1 and was too bewildered to see precisely what happened4 ,all he knew was the sudden appearance of the fiery equipage1 and then that1 suddenly1 and apparently swiftly1 a rushing mighty wind swept away chariot and prophet into the heavens4 ,he saw it1 as the next verse after this passage tells us1 only long enough to break into one rapturous and yet lamenting cry1 and then all vanished1 and he stood alone with an apparently empty heaven above him1 the whirlwind sunk to calm1 and ,elijah's mantle at his feet4 ,the teaching of the event is plain4 ,as for the pre-,mosaic ages the translation of ,enoch1 and for the earlier ,mosaic epoch the mysterious death of ,moses1 so for the prophetic period the carrying to heaven of ,elijah1 witnessed of a life beyond death1 and of death as the wages of sin1 which ,god could remit1 if ,he willed1 in the case of faithful service4 ,enoch and ,elijah were led round the head of the valley on the heights1 and reached the other side without having to go down into the cold waters flowing in the bottom2 and though we cannot tread their path1 the joy of their experience has not ceased to be a joy to us1 if we walk with ,god4 ,death is still the coming of the chariot and horses of fire to bear the believer home4 ,the same exclamation which fell from ,elisha's lips1 as he saw the chariot sweep up the sky1 was spoken over him as he lay sick 'of the sickness whereof he should die4' ,but the most instructive view of ,elijah's translation is its parallel and contrast with ,christ's ,ascension4 ,the one was by outward means2 the other by inward energy4 ,storm and fire bore ,elijah up into a region strange to him4 ,christ 'ascended up where ,he was before1' returning by the propriety of ,his nature to ,his eternal dwelling-place4 ,the one is accomplished with significant disturbance1 of whirlwind and flame2 the other is gentle1 like the life which it closed1 and the last sight of ,him was with extended hands of blessing4 ,each life closed in a manner corresponding to its character4 ,the one was swift and sudden4 ,the other was a slow1 solemn motion1 vividly described as being 'borne upwards' and as 'going into heaven4' ,the one bore a mortal into 'heaven4' ,in the other1 the ,son of ,god1 our great ,high ,priest1 'hath passed through the heavens1' and now1 far above them all1 ,he is ',head over all things4' ,,the ,,translation ,,of ,,elijah ,,and ,,the ,,ascension ,,of ,,christ ',and it came to pass1 as they still went on1 and talked1 that1 behold1 there appeared a chariot of fire1 and horses of fire1 and parted them both asunder2 and ,elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven4'--#b ,,kings ii4 #aa4 ',and it came to pass1 while ,he blessed them1 ,he was parted from them1 and carried up into heaven4'--,,luke xxiv4 #ea4 ,these two events1 the translation of ,elijah and the ,ascension of our ,lord1 have sometimes been put side by side in order to show that the latter narrative is nothing but a 'variant' of the former4 ,see1 it is said1 the source of your ,new ,testament story is only the old legend shaped anew by the wistful regrets of the early disciples4 ,but to me it seems that the simple comparison of the two narratives is sufficient to bring out such fundamental difference in the ideas which they respectively embody as amount to opposition1 and make any such theory of the origin of the latter absurdly improbable1 ,i could wish no better foil for the history of the ,ascension than the history of ,elijah's rapture4 ,the comparison brings out contrasts at every step1 and there is no readier way of throwing into strong relief the meaning and purpose of the former1 than holding up beside it the story of the latter4 ,the real parallel makes the divergences the more remarkable1 for likeness sharpens our perception of unlikeness1 and no contrast is so forcible as the contrast of things that correspond4 ,i am much mistaken if we shall not find almost every truth of importance connected with our ,lord's ,ascension emphasised for us by the comparison to which we now proceed4 ,i4 ,the first point which may be mentioned is the contrast between the manner of ,elijah's translation1 and that of our ,lord's ,ascension4 ,it is perhaps not without significance that the place of the one event was on the uplands or in some of the rocky gorges beyond ,jordan1 and that of the other1 the slopes of ,olivet above ,bethany4 ,the lonely prophet1 who had burst like a meteor on ,israel from the solitudes of ,gilead1 whose fervour had ever and again been rekindled by return to the wilderness1 whose whole career had isolated him from men1 found the fitting place for that last wonder amidst the stern silence where he had so often sought asylum and inspiration4 ,he was close to the scenes of mighty events in the past4 ,there1 on that overhanging peak1 the lawgiver whose work he was continuing1 and with whom he was to be so strangely associated on the ,mount of ,transfiguration1 had made himself ready for his lonely grave4 ,here at his feet1 the river had parted for the victorious march of ,israel4 ,away down on his horizon the sunshine gleamed on the waters of the ,dead ,sea2 and thus1 on his native soil1 surrounded by memorials of the ,law which he laboured to restore1 and of the victories which he would fain have brought back1 and of the judgments which he saw again impending over ,israel1 the stern1 solitary ascetic1 the prophet of righteousness1 whose single arm stayed the downward course of a nation1 passed from his toil and his warfare4 ,what a different set of associations cluster round the place of ,christ's ,ascension--',bethany1' or1 as it is more particularly specified in the ,acts1 ',olivet'6 ,in the very heart of the land1 close by and yet out of sight of the great city1 in no wild solitude1 but perhaps in some dimple of the hill1 neither shunning nor courting spectators1 with the quiet home where ,he had rested so often in the little village at their feet there1 and ,gethsemane a few furlongs off1 in such scenes did the ,christ 'whose delights were with the sons of men1' and ,his life lived in closest companionship with ,his brethren1 choose the place whence ,he should 'ascend to their ,father and ,his ,father4' ,nor perhaps was it without a meaning that the ,mount which received the last print of ,his ascending footstep was that which a mysterious prophecy designated as destined to receive the first print of the footstep of the ,lord coming at a future day to end the long warfare with evil4 ,but more important than the localities is the contrasted manner of the two ascents4 ,the prophet's end was like the man4 ,it was fitting that he should be swept up the skies in tempest and fire4 ,the impetuosity of his nature1 and the stormy energy of his career1 had already been symbolised in the mighty and strong wind which rent the rocks1 and in the fire that followed the earthquake2 and similarly nothing could be more appropriate than that sudden rapture in storm and whirlwind1 escorted by the flaming chivalry of heaven4 ,nor is it only as appropriate to the character of the prophet and his work that this tempestuous translation is noteworthy4 ,it also suggests very plainly that ,elijah was lifted to the skies by power acting on him from without4 ,he did not ascend2 he was carried up2 the earthly frame and the human nature had no power to rise4 ',no man hath ascended into heaven4' ,the two men of whom the ,old ,testament speaks were alike in this1 that ',god took them4' ,the tempest and the fiery chariot tell us how great was the exercise of divine power which bore the gross mortality thither1 and how unfamiliar was the sphere into which it passed4 ,how full of the very spirit of ,christ's whole life is the contrasted manner of ,his ,ascension6 ,the silent gentleness1 which did not strive nor cry nor cause ,his voice to be heard in the streets1 marks ,him even in that hour of lofty and transcendent triumph4 ,there is no outward sign to accompany ,his slow upward movement through the quiet air4 ,no blaze of fiery chariots1 nor agitation of tempest is needed to bear ,him heavenwards4 ,the outstretched hands drop the dew of ,his benediction on the little company1 and so ,he floats upward1 ,his own will and indwelling power the royal chariot which bears ,him1 and calmly 'leaves the world and goes unto the ,father4' ,the slow1 continuous movement of ascent is emphatically made prominent in the brief narratives1 both by the phrase in ,luke1 ',he was carried up1' which expresses continuous leisurely motion1 and by the picture in the ,acts1 of the disciples gazing into heaven 'as ,he went up1' in which latter word is brought out1 not only the slowness of the movement1 but its origin in ,his own will and its execution by ,his own power4 ,nor is this absence of any vehicle or external agency destroyed by the fact that 'a cloud' received ,him out of their sight1 for its purpose was not to raise ,him heavenward1 but to hide ,him from the gazers' eyes1 that ,he might not seem to them to dwindle into distance1 but that their last look and memory might be of ,his clearly discerned and loving face4 ,possibly1 too1 it may be intended to remind us of the cloud which guided ,israel1 the glory which dwelt between the cherubim1 the cloud which overshadowed the ,mount of ,transfiguration1 and to set forth a symbol of the ,divine ,presence welcoming to itself1 ,his battle fought1 the ,son of ,his love4 ,be that as it may1 the manner of our ,lord's ,ascension by ,his own inherent power is brought into boldest relief when contrasted with ,elijah's rapture1 and is evidently the fitting expression1 as it is the consequence1 of ,his sole and singular divine nature4 ,it accords with ,his own mode of reference to the ,ascension1 while ,he was on earth1 which ever represents ,him not as being taken1 but as going3 ',i leave the world and go to the ,father4' ',i ascend to ,my ,father and your ,father4' ,the highest hope of the devoutest souls before ,him had been1 ',thou wilt afterwards take me to glory4' ,the highest hope of devout souls since ,him has been1 ',we shall be caught up to meet the ,lord4' ,but this ,man ever speaks of ,himself as able when ,he will1 by ,his own power1 to rise where no man hath ascended4 ,his divine nature and pre-existence shine clearly forth1 and as we stand gazing at ,him blessing the world as ,he rises into the heavens1 we know that we are looking on no mere mysterious elevation of a mortal to the skies1 but are beholding the return of the ,incarnate ,lord1 who willed to tarry among our earthly tabernacles for a time1 to the glory where ,he was before1 ',his own calm home1 ,his habitation from eternity4' ,,ii4 ,another striking point of contrast embraces the relation which these two events respectively bear to the life's work which had preceded them4 ,the falling mantle of ,elijah has become a symbol known to all the world1 for the transference of unfinished tasks and the appointment of successors to departed greatness4 ,elisha asked that he might have a double portion of his master's spirit1 not meaning twice as much as his master had had1 but the eldest son's share of the father's possessions1 the double of the other children's portion4 ,and1 though his master had no power to bestow the gift1 and had to reply as one who has nothing that he has not received1 and cannot dispose of the grace that dwells in him1 the prayer was answered1 and the feebler nature of ,elisha was fitted for the continuance of the work which ,elijah left undone4 ,the mantle that passed from one to the other was the symbol of office and authority transferred2 the functions were the same1 whilst the holders had changed4 ,the sons of the prophets bow before the new master2 'the spirit of ,elijah doth rest on ,elisha4' ,so the world goes on4 ,man after man serves his generation by the will of ,god1 and is gathered to his fathers2 and a new arm grasps the mantle to smite ,jordan1 and a new voice speaks from his empty place1 and men recognise the successor1 and forget the predecessor4 ,we turn to ,christ's ,ascension1 and there we meet with nothing analogous to this transference of office4 ,no mantle falling from ,his shoulders lights on any of that group1 none are hailed as ,his successors4 ,what ,he has done bears and needs no repetition whilst time shall roll1 whilst eternity shall last4 ,his work is unique3 'the help that is done on earth1 ,he doeth it all ,himself4' ,his ,ascension completed the witness of heaven1 begun at ,his resurrection1 that ',he has offered one sacrifice for sins1 for ever4' ,he has left no unfinished work which another may perfect4 ,he has done no work which another may do again for new generations4 ,he has spoken all truth1 and none may add to ,his words4 ,he has fulfilled all righteousness1 and none may better ,his pattern4 ,he has borne all the world's sin1 and no time can waste the power of that sacrifice1 nor any man add to its absolute sufficiency4 ,this ,king of men wears a crown to which there is no heir4 ,this ,priest has a priesthood which passes to no other4 ,this ',prophet' does 'live for ever1' ,the world sees all other guides and helpers pass away1 and every man's work is caught up by other hands and carried on after he drops it1 and the short memories and shorter gratitudes of men turn to the rising sun2 but one ,name remains undimmed by distance1 and one work remains unapproached and unapproachable1 and one ,man remains whose office none other can hold1 whose bow none but ,he can bend1 whose mantle none can wear4 ,christ has ascended up on high and left a finished work for all men to trust1 for no man to continue4 ,,iii4 ,whilst our ,lord's ,ascension is thus marked as the seal of a work in which ,he has no successor1 it is also emphatically set forth1 by contrast with ,elijah's translation1 as the transition to a continuous energy for and in the world4 ,clearly the other narrative derives all its pathos from the thought that ,elijah's work is done4 ,his task is over1 and nothing more is to be hoped for from him4 ,but that same absence from the history of ,christ's ,ascension1 of any hint of a successor1 to which we have referred in the previous remarks1 has an obvious bearing on ,his present relation to the world as well as on the completeness of ,his unique past work4 ,when ,christ ascended up on high1 ,he relinquished nothing of ,his activity for us1 but only cast it into a new form1 which in some sense is yet higher than that which it took on earth4 ,his work for the world is in one aspect completed on the ,cross1 but in another it will never be completed until all the blessings which that ,cross has lodged in the midst of humanity1 have reached their widest possible diffusion and their highest possible development4 ,long ages ago ,he cried1 ',it is finished1' but we may be far yet from the time when ,he shall say1 ',it is done'2 and for all the slow years between ,his own word gives us the law of ,his activity1 ',my ,father worketh hitherto1 and ,i work4' ,christ's ,ascension is no withdrawal of the ,captain of our salvation from the field where we are left to fight1 nor has ,he gone up to the mountain1 leaving us alone to tug at the oar1 and shiver in the cold night air4 ,true1 there may seem a strange contrast between the present condition of the ,lord who 'was received up into heaven1 and sitteth on the right hand of ,god1' and that of the servants wandering through the world on ,his business2 but the contrast is harmonised by the next words1 'the ,lord also working with them4' ,yes1 ,he has gone up to sit at the right hand of ,god4 ,that session at ,god's right hand to which the ,ascension is chiefly of importance as the transition1 means the repose of a perfected redemption1 the communion of the ,son with the ,father1 the exercise of all the omnipotence of ,god1 the administration of the world's history4 ,he has ascended that ,he might fill all things1 that ,he might pour out ,his ,spirit upon us1 that the path to ,god may be trodden by our lame feet1 that the whole resources of the divine nature may be wielded by the hands that were nailed to the ,cross1 that the mighty purpose of salvation may be fulfilled4 ,elijah knew not whether his spirit could descend upon his follower4 ,but ,christ1 though1 as we have said1 ,he left no legacy of falling mantle to any1 left ,his ,spirit to ,his people4 ,what ,elisha gained1 ,elijah lost4 ,what ,elisha desired1 ,elijah could not give nor guarantee4 ,how firm and assured beside ,elijah's dubious ',thou hast asked a hard thing1' and his ',if thou see me1 it shall be so1' is ,christ's ',it is expedient for you that ,i go away4 ,for if ,i go not away the ,comforter will not come1 but if ,i depart1 ,i will send ,him unto you4' ,manifold are the forms of that new and continuous activity of ,christ into which ,he passed when ,he left the earth3 and as we contrast these with the utter helplessness any longer to counsel1 rebuke or save1 to which death reduces those who love us best1 and to which even his glorious rapture into the heavens brought the strong prophet of fire1 we can take up1 with a new depth of meaning1 the ancient words that tell of ,christ's exclusive prerogative of succouring and inspiring from within the veil3 ',thou hast ascended on high2 ,thou hast led captivity captive2 ,thou hast received gifts for men4' ,,iv4 ,the ,ascension of ,christ is still further set forth1 in its very circumstances1 by contrast with ,elijah's translation1 as bearing on the hopes of humanity for the future4 ,the prophet is caught up to the glory and repose for himself alone1 and the sole share which the gazing follower or the sons of the prophets straining their eyes there at ,jericho1 had in his triumph1 was a deepened conviction of his prophetic mission1 and perhaps some clearer faith in a future life4 ,their wonder and sorrow1 ,elisha's immediate exercise of his new power1 the prophets' immediate transference of their allegiance to their new head1 show that on both sides it was felt that they had no part in the event beyond that of awe-struck beholders4 ,no light streamed from it on their own future4 ,the path they had to tread was still the common road into the great darkness1 as solitary and unknown as before4 ,the chariot of fire parted their master from the common experience of humanity as from their fellowship1 making him an exception to the sad rule of death1 which frowned the grimmer and more inexorable by contrast with his radiant translation4 ,the very reverse is true of ,christ's ,ascension4 ,in ,him our nature is taken up to the throne of ,god4 ,his ,resurrection assures us that 'them which sleep in ,jesus will ,god bring with ,him1' ,his passage to the heavens assures us that 'they who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them1' and that all of both companies shall with ,him live and reign1 sharing ,his dominion1 and moulded to ,his image4 ,if we would know of what our manhood is capable1 if we would rise to the height of the hopes which ,god means that we should cherish1 if we would gain a living grasp of the power that fulfils them1 we have to stand there1 gazing on the piled cloud that sails slowly upwards1 the pure floor for our ,brother's feet4 ,as we watch it rising with a motion which is rest1 we have the right to think1 ',thither the ,forerunner is for us entered4' ,we see there what man is meant for1 what men who love ,him attain4 ,true1 the world is still full of death and sorrow1 man's dominion seems a futile dream and a hope that mocks1 but 'we see ,jesus1' ascended up on high1 and in ,him we too are 'made to sit together in heavenly places4' ,the ,breaker is gone up before them4 ,their ,king shall pass before them1 and the ,lord at the head of them4' ,there is yet another aspect in which our ,lord's ,ascension bears on our hopes for the future1 namely1 as connected with ,his coming again4 ,in that respect1 too1 the contrast of ,elijah's translation may serve to emphasise the truth4 ,prophecy1 indeed1 in its latest voice1 spoke of sending ,elijah the prophet before the coming of the day of the ,lord1 and ,rabbinical legends delighted to tell how he had been carried to the ,garden of ,eden1 whence he would come again1 in ,israel's sorest need4 ,but the prophecy had no thought of a personal reappearance1 and the dreams are only dreams such as we find in the legendary history of many nations4 ,as ,elisha recrossed the ,jordan1 he bore with him only a mantle and a memory1 not a hope4 ',ye men of ,galilee1 why stand ye gazing up into heaven8 ,this same ,jesus1 which is taken up from you into heaven1 shall so come in like manner as ye have seen ,him go into heaven4' ,how grand is the use in these mighty words of the name ,jesus1 the name that speaks of ,his true humanity1 with all its weakness1 limitations1 and sorrow1 with all its tenderness and brotherhood6 ,the man who died and rose again1 has gone up on high4 ,he will so come as ,he has gone4 ',so'--that is to say1 personally1 corporeally1 visibly1 on clouds1 perhaps to that very spot1 'and ,his feet shall stand in that day upon the ,mount of ,olives4' ,thus ,scripture teaches us ever to associate together the departure and the coming of the ,lord1 and always when we meditate on ,his ,ascension to prepare a place for us1 to think of ,his real presence with us through the ages1 and of ,his coming again to receive us to ,himself4 ,that parting on ,olivet cannot be the end4 ,such a leave-taking is the prophecy of happy greetings and an inseparable reunion4 ,the ,king has gone to receive a kingdom1 and to return4 ,memory and hope coalesce1 as we think of ,him who is passed into the heavens1 and the heart of the ,church has to cherish at once the glad thought that its ,head and helper has entered within the veil1 and the still more joyous one1 which lightens the days of separation and widowhood1 that the ,lord will come again4 ,so let us take our share in the 'great joy' with which the disciples returned to ,jerusalem1 left like sheep in the midst of wolves as they were1 and 'let us set our affection on things above1 where ,christ is1 sitting at the right hand of ,god4' ,,elijah',s ,,translation ,,and ,,elisha',s ,,deathbed ,and ,elisha saw it1 and he cried1 ,my father1 my father1 the chariot of ,israel1 and the horsemen thereof4'--#b ,,kings ii4 #ab4 '444,and ,joash1 the ,king of ,israel1 came down unto him1 and wept over his face1 and said4 ,o my father1 my father1 the chariot of ,israel and the horsemen thereof4'--#b ,,kings xiii4 ,u4 ,the scenes and the speakers are strangely different in these two incidents4 ,the one scene is that mysterious translation on the further bank of the ,jordan1 when a mortal was swept up to heaven in a fiery whirlwind1 and the other is an ordinary sick chamber1 where an old man was lying1 with the life slowly ebbing out of him4 ,the one speaker is the successor of the great prophet1 on whom his spirit in a large measure fell2 the other1 an idolatrous king1 young1 headstrong1 who had despised the latter prophet's teaching while he lived1 but was now for the moment awed into something like seriousness and reverence by his death4 ,now the remarkable thing is that this unworthy monarch should have come to the dying prophet1 and should have strengthened and cheered him by the quotation of his own words1 spoken so long ago1 as if he would say to him1 ',all that thou didst mean when thou didst stand there in rapturous adoration1 watching the ascending ,elijah1 is as true about thee1 lying dying here1 of a common and lingering sickness4 ,my father1 my father1 the chariot of ,israel and the horsemen thereof4' ,seen or unseen1 these were present4 ,the reality was the same1 though the appearances were so different4 ,i ,we have in the first case the chariot and horsemen seen4 ,to feel the force of the exclamation on the lips of ,joash1 we must try to make clear to ourselves what its original meaning was4 ,what did ,elisha intend when he stood beyond ,jordan1 and in wonder and awe exclaimed1 ',the chariot of ,israel and the horsemen thereof'8 ,it does not seem to me that the interpretation of the words now in favour is at all satisfactory4 ,it tells us that the expression is to be taken as in apposition with the exclamation ',my father1 my father'2 and that both the one phrase and the other mean--,elijah6 ,yet what a preposterous and strange metaphor it would be to call a man a chariot and pair1 or a chariot and cavalry6 ,it seems to me that the very statement of this explanation1 in plain ,english1 condemns it as untenable4 ,it is surely less probable that ,elisha in that exclamation was describing ,elijah than that he was speaking of that wondrous chariot of fire and horses of fire that had come between him and his master1 and that his exclamation was one of surprised adoration as he gazed with wide-opened eyes on the burning angel-hosts1 and saw his master mysteriously able to bear that fire1 ringed round by these flaming squadrons1 possibly standing unscathed on the floor of the chariot1 and swept with it and all the celestial pomp1 by the whirlwind1 into heaven4 ,but why should he say 'the chariot of ,israel'8 ,i think we take for granted too readily that ',israel' here means the nation4 ,you will remember that that name was not originally that of the nation1 but of its progenitor and founder1 given to ,jacob as the consequence and record of that mysterious wrestling by the brook4 ,and ,i think we get a nobler signification for the words before us if1 instead of applying the name to the nation1 we apply it here to the individual4 ,when ,elijah and ,elisha crossed ,jordan they were not far from the spot where that name was given to ,jacob1 'the supplanter1' whom discipline and communion with ,god had elevated into ,israel4 ,and they were near another of the sites consecrated by his history1 the place where1 just before the change of his name1 the angels of ,god met him and 'he called the name of the place ,mahanaim4' ,that means 'the two camps1' the one1 ,jacob's defenceless company of women and children1 the other1 their celestial guards4 ,it seems reasonable to suppose that1 in all probability1 a reminiscence of that old story of the manifestation of the armed angels of ,god as the defenders and servants of ,his children broke from ,elisha's lips4 ,as he looks upon that strange appearance of the chariot and horses of fire that parted him and his friend1 he sees once more 'the chariot of ,israel and the horsemen thereof1' the reappearance of the shining armies whose presence had of old declared that 'the angel of the ,lord encampeth round about them that fear ,him1 and delivereth them4' ,and now the same hosts in their immortal youth1 unweakened by the ages which have brought earthly warriors to dust and their swords to rust1 are flaming and flashing there in the midday sun4 ,what was their errand1 and why did they appear8 ,they came1 as ,god's messengers1 to bear ,his servant to ,his presence4 ,they attested the commission and devotion of the prophet4 ,their agency was needful to lift a mortal to skies not native to him4 ,strange that a body of flesh should be able to endure that fiery splendour6 ,somewhere in the course of that upward movement must this man1 who was caught up to meet the ,lord in the air1 have been 'changed4' ,his guards of honour were not only for tokens of his prophetic work1 but for witnesses of the unseen world and in some sort pledges1 suited to that stage of revelation1 of life and immortality4 ,how striking is the contrast between the translation of ,elijah and the ,ascension of ,christ6 ,he who ascended up where ,he was before needed no whirlwind1 nor chariot of fire1 nor extraneous power to elevate ,him to ,his home4 ,calmly1 slowly1 as borne upwards by indwelling affinity with heaven1 ,he floated thither with outstretched hands of blessing4 ,the servant angels did not need to surround ,him1 but1 clad no longer in fiery armour1 but 'in white apparel1' the emblem of purity and peace1 they stood by the disciples and comforted them with hope4 ,elijah was carried to heaven4 ,christ went4 ,the angels disappeared with the prophet and left ,elisha to grieve alone4 ,they lingered here after ,christ had gone1 and turned tears into rainbows flashing with the hues of hope4 ,,ii4 ,we have in our second text the chariot and horsemen present though unseen4 ,we are now in a position to appreciate the meaning of ,joash's repetition to ,elisha of his own words1 spoken under such different circumstances4 ,elisha was by no means so great a prophet as ,elijah4 ,his work had not been so conspicuous1 his character was not so strong1 though perhaps more gentle4 ,no such lofty and large influence had been granted to him as had been given to the fiery ,tishbite to wield1 nor did he leave his mark so deep upon the history of the times or upon the memory of succeeding generations4 ,but such as it had been given him to be he had been4 ,he was a continuer1 not an originator4 ,there had been a long period during which he appears to have lived in absolute retirement1 exercising no prophetic functions4 ,we never hear of him during the interval between the anointing of ,jehu to the ,israelitish monarchy and the time of his own death1 and that period must have extended over nearly fifty years4 ,after all these years of eclipse and seclusion he was lying dying somewhere in a corner1 and the king1 young but impressible1 although1 on the whole1 not reliable nor good1 came down to the prophet's home1 and there1 standing by the pallet of the dying man1 repeated the words1 so strangely reminiscent of a very different event--' ,my father1 my father6 the chariot of ,israel and the horsemen thereof6' ,and what does that exclamation mean8 ,two things4 ,one is this1 that the angels of the ,divine ,presence are with us as truly1 in life1 when unseen as if seen4 ,so far as we know1 it was only to ,elisha that the vision had been granted of that chariot of fire and horses of fire4 ,we read that at ,elijah's translation on the other side of ,jordan1 and consequently at no great distance off1 there stood a company of the sons of the prophets from ,jericho to see what would happen1 but we do not read that they did see4 ,on the contrary1 they were inclined to believe that ,elijah had been caught up and flung away somewhere on the mountains1 and that it was worth while to organise search-parties to go after him4 ,it was only ,elisha that saw1 and ,elijah did not know whether he would see or not1 for he said to him1 ',if thou shalt see me when ,i am taken from thee1 then' thy desire shall be granted4 ,the angels of ,god are visible to the eyes that are fit to see them2 and those eyes can always see them4 ,it does not matter whether in a miracle or in a common event--it does not matter whether on the stones by the banks of ,jordan or in a close sick chamber1 they are visible for those who1 by pure hearts and holy desires1 have had their vision purged from the intrusive vulgarities and dazzling brightnesses of this poor1 petty present1 and can therefore see beneath all the apparent the real that blazes behind it4 ,the scenes at ,jordan and in the death-chamber are not the only times in ,elisha's life when we read of these chariots and horses of fire4 ,there was another incident in his career in which the same phrase occurs4 ,once his servant was terrified at the sight of a host compassing the little city where ,elisha and he were1 with horses and chariots1 and came to his master with alarm and despair1 crying1 ',alas6 my master1 how shall we do8' ,the prophet answered with superb calmness1 ',fear not3 for they that be with us are more than they that be with them 4444 ,lord1 ,i pray ,thee1 open his eyes that he may see4 ,and the ,lord opened the eyes of the young man1 and he saw2 and1 behold1 the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about ,elisha4' ,they had always been there1 though no one saw them4 ,they were there when no one but ,elisha saw them4 ,they were no more there when the young man saw them than they had been before4 ,they did not cease to be there when the film came over his eyes again1 and the common round took him back to the trivialities of daily life4 ,and so from the mouth of this not very devout king the prophet was reminded of his own ancient experiences1 and invited to feel that1 unseen or seen1 the solemn forms stood 'bright-harnessed1' and strong1 'in order serviceable1' ranged about him for his defence and blessing4 ,and are they not round about us8 ,if a man can but look into the realities of things1 will he see only the work of men and of the forces of nature8 ,will there not be--far more visible as they are far more real than any of these--the forces of the ,eternal ,presence and ever operative ,will of our ,father in ,heaven8 ,we need not discuss the personality of angels4 ,an angel is the embodiment of the will and energy of ,god1 and we have that will and energy working for us1 whether there are any angel persons about us or not4 ,scripture declares that there are1 and that they serve us4 ,we may be sure that if only we will honestly try to purge our eyes from the illusions and temptations of 'things seen and temporal1' the mountain or the sick chamber will be to us equally full of the angel forms of our defenders and companions4 ,do we see them for ourselves2 and1 not less important1 do we1 like ,elisha1 lying there on his deathbed1 help else blind men to see them1 and make every one that comes beside us1 even if he be as little impressible and as little devout as this king ,joash was1 recognise that in our chambers there sit1 and round our lives there flutter and sing1 sweet and strong angel wings and voices8 ,will anybody1 looking at you1 be constrained to feel that with and around you are the angels of ,god8 ,still further1 another cognate application of these great words is that one which is more directly suggested by their quotation by ,joash4 ,it does not matter in what way the end of life comes4 ,the reality is the same to all devout men2 though one be swept to heaven in a whirlwind1 and another lady slowly away in old age1 or 'fall sick of the sickness wherewith he should die4' ,each is taken to ,god in a chariot of fire4 ,the means are of little moment1 the fact remains the same1 however diverse may be the methods of its accomplishment4 ,the road is the same1 the companions the same1 the impelling--,i was going to say the locomotive--power1 is the same1 and the goal is the same4 ,of ,enoch we read1 ',he was not1 for ,god took him4' ,of ,elijah we read1 ',he went up in a whirlwind to heaven4' ,of ,elisha we read1 ',he died and they buried him4' ,and of all three--the two who were translated that they should not see death1 and the one who died like the rest of us--it is equally true that ',god took' them1 and that they were taken to ,him4 ,so for ourselves and for our dear ones we may look forward or backward1 to deathbeds of weariness1 of lingering sickness1 of long pain and suffering1 or of swift dissolution1 and piercing beneath the surface may see the blessed central reality and thankfully feel that ,death1 too1 is ,god's angel1 who' does ,his commandments1 hearkening to the voice of ,god's word' when in his dark hearse he carries us hence4 ,,gentleness ,,succeeding ,,strength ',he took up also the mantle of ,elijah that fell from him1 and went back1 and stood by the bank of ,jordan2 #ad4 ,and he took the mantle of ,elijah that fell from him1 and smote the waters1 and said1 ,where is the ,lord ,god of ,elijah8 and when he also had smitten the waters1 they parted hither and thither3 and ,elisha went over4 #ae4 ,and when the sons of the prophets which were to view at ,jericho saw him1 they said1 ,the spirit of ,elijah doth rest on ,elisha4 ,and they came to meet him1 and bowed themselves to the ground before him4 #af4 ,and they said unto him1 ,behold now1 there be with thy servants fifty strong men2 let them go1 we pray thee1 and seek thy master3 lest peradventure the ,spirit of the ,lord hath taken him up1 and cast him upon some mountain1 or into some valley4 ,and he said1 ,ye shall not send4 #ag4 ,and when they urged him till he was ashamed1 he said1 ,send4 ,they sent therefore fifty men2 and they sought three days1 but found him not4 #ah4 ,and when they came again to him1 7for he tarried at ,jericho17 he said unto them1 ,did ,i not say unto you1 ,go not6 #ai4 ,and the men of the city said unto ,elisha1 ,behold1 ,i pray thee1 the situation of this city is pleasant1 as my lord seeth3 but the water is naught1 and the ground barren4 #bj4 ,and he said1 ,bring me a new cruse1 and put salt therein4 ,and they brought it to him4 #ba4 ,and he went forth unto the spring of the waters1 and cast the salt in there1 and said1 ,thus saith the ,lord1 ,i have healed these waters2 there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land4 #bb4 ,so the waters were healed unto this day1 according to the saying of ,elisha which he spake4'--#b ,,kings ii4 #ac-bb4 ,the independent activity of ,elisha begins with verse #ac4 ,how short the gap between the two prophets1 and how easily filled it is6 ,not the greatest are indispensable4 ,god lays aside one tool1 but only to take up another4 ,he has inexhaustible stores4 ,the work goes on1 though the workers change1 and there is little time for mere mourning1 and none for idle sorrow4 ,elisha's first miracle is almost an experiment4 ,the mantle which lay at his feet had been thrown over him by ,elijah when he was called to his service1 and it was now a token that office and power had devolved on him4 ,his first steps tread closely in ,elijah's track2 as those of wise and humble men1 called to higher work1 will mostly do4 ,the repetition of the miracle by the same means1 and the invocation of the ,lord as the ',god of ,elijah1'--a new name1 to be set by the side of 'the ,god of ,abraham and ,isaac and ,jacob'--express the humility which seeks to shelter itself behind the example of its mighty predecessor4 ,the form of the invocation as a question indicates that ,elisha had not yet attained certainty as to his power1 as not yet having proved it4 ',where is the ,lord ,god of ,elijah8' is not the question of unbelief1 but neither is it the voice of full confidence1 which asks no such question1 because it knows ,him to be with it4 ,it is the cry1 ',oh that ,thou mayest be here1 even with unworthy me6 and art ,thou not here8' ,the faith was real1 though young1 and clouded with some film of doubt4 ,but1 being real1 it was answered2 and it was because of ,elisha's trust1 not ,elijah's mantle1 that the waters parted4 ,god will listen to a man pleading that ancient deeds may be repeated to-day1 and1 by answering the cry addressed to ,him as the ,god of saints and martyrs of old1 will embolden us to cry to ,him as our very own ,god4 ,we may learn from that first half-tentative miracle the spirit in which men should take up the work of those that are gone1 the lowliness fitting for beginners1 the wisdom of seeking to graft new work on the old stock1 the encouragement from remembering the divine wonders through ,his servants in the past1 and the true way to assure ourselves of our ,god-given power2 namely1 by attempting great things for ,him1 in dependence on ,his promise4 ,the miracle was wrought partly for ,elisha1 and partly for others who were to acknowledge his authority4 ,these sons of the prophets1 who stood on the eastern bank of ,jordan1 had probably not been witnesses of the translation1 even if their position commanded a view of the spot4 ,purer eyes and more kindred spirits than theirs were needed for that4 ,but they saw ,elisha returning alone1 and the waters parting before him1 and1 no doubt1 as he came nearer1 would recognise what he bore in his hand--,elijah's well-known mantle4 ,they hasten to recognise him as the head of the prophets1 and their acknowledgment accurately expresses his place and work4 ,elijah's spirit rests on him1 even though the two men and their careers are very different1 and in some respects opposite4 ,elisha is distinctly secondary to ,elijah4 ,he is in no sense an originator1 either of fresh revelations or of new impulses to obedience4 ,he but carries on what ,elijah had begun1 inherits a work1 and is ,elijah's ',timothy' and 'son in the faith4' ,the same ,spirit was on him1 though the form of his character and gifts was in strong contrast to the stormier genius of his mightier predecessor4 ,elisha had no such work as ,elijah--no foot-to-foot and hand-to-hand duels with murderous kings or queens2 no single-handed efforts to stop a nation from rushing down a steep place into the sea2 no fiery energy2 no bursts of despair4 ,he moved among kings and courts as an honoured guest and trusted counsellor4 ,he did not dwell apart1 like ,elijah1 the strong son of the desert2 but1 born in the fertile valley of the ,jordan1 he lived a life 'kindly with his kind1' and his delights were with the sons of men4 ,his miracles are mostly works of mercy and gentleness1 relieving wants and sicknesses1 drying tears and giving back dear ones to mourners4 ,he is as complete a contrast to his stern1 solitary1 forceful predecessor1 as the 'still small voice' was to the roar of the wind or the crackling hiss of the flames4 ,but1 nevertheless1 'there are diversities of operations1 but the same ,god4' ,it is well to remember that one type of excellence does not exhaust the possibilities of goodness1 nor the resources of the inspiring ,spirit4 ,the comparative merits of strength and gentleness will always be variously estimated2 but ,god's work needs them both1 and both may join hands as serving the same ,lord in diverse ways1 which are all needed4 ,we should seek to widen our discernment to the extent of the rich variety of forms of good and of service which ,god gives4 ,elijah and ,elisha1 ,paul and ,timothy1 ,luther and ,melanchthon1 are all ,his servants4 ,well is it when the strong can recognise the power of the gentle1 and the gentle can discern the tenderness of the strong1 and when each is forward to say of the other1 ',he worketh the work of the ,lord1 as ,i also do4' ,the search after ,elijah1 insisted on by the sons of the prophets1 is of importance only as showing their low thoughts and ,elisha's gentle spirit4 ,he is their head1 but he holds the reins loosely4 ,fancy anybody 'urging' ,elijah 'till he was ashamed'6 ,the shame would very soon have mantled the cheek of the urger4 ,but though1 no doubt1 ,elisha would tell what had happened1 these 'prophets' only think that ,elijah has been miraculously borne somewhither1 as he had been before1 and seem to have no notion of what has really happened4 ,how hard it is to heave heavy men up to any height of spiritual vision6 ,how vulgar minds always take refuge in the most commonplace explanations that they can find of high truths6 ',gone up to heaven6 ,not he6 ,he is lying1 living or dead1 in some gorge or on some hillside4 ,let us go and look for him6' ,there is nothing on which some people pride themselves more than upon being practical--which generally means prosaic1 and often means blind to ,god's greatest deeds4 ,to go scouring wady and mountain for a man who had been taken up into heaven was practical common sense indeed6 ,but ,elisha's gentleness is to be noted4 ,he let them have their own way4 ,often that is the only plan for convincing people of their errors4 ,and1 when the fifty scouts come back empty-handed1 all he says is a quiet ',did ,i no say unto you1 ,go not8' ',the servant of the ,lord must not strive1' but 'in meekness' instruct 'those that oppose themselves'2 and the effectual instruction is often to let them take their own course4 ,the miracle of healing the waters is of the beneficent kind usual with ,elisha1 inaugurates his course with blessing1 and typifies the healing power which ,god through him would exert on men4 ,jericho had been recently rebuilt in spite of the curse against its builders4 ,the bitterness of the spring seems to have been part of the malediction2 for men would not be so foolish as to rebuild a city which had only impure water to depend on4 ,however that may be1 the main lesson of the miracle1 beyond its revelation of the spirit of gentle compassion in ,elisha1 is the symbolical one4 ,the new cruse and the salt are emblems of the divine gift which cleanses the human heart4 ,salt is an emblem of purification1 and its emblematic meaning prevails here over its natural properties2 for the last thing to cure a brackish spring was to put salt into it4 ,the very inadequacy1 as well as inappropriateness1 of the remedy1 points the miraculous and symbolical character of the whole4 ,a jar full of salt could do little to a gushing fountain4 ,but it figured the cleansing power which ,god will bring to bear on us1 if we will2 and it taught the great truth that sin must be cleansed at the fountain-head in the heart1 not half a mile down the stream1 in the deeds4 ,put the salt in the spring1 and the outflow will be sweet4 ,,when ,,the ,,oil ,,flows ',and it came to pass1 when the vessels were full1 that she said unto her son1 ,bring me yet a vessel4 ,and he said unto her1 ,there is not a vessel more4 ,and the oil stayed4'--#b ,,kings iv4 #f4 ,the series of miracles ascribed to ,elisha are very unlike most of the wonderful works of even the ,old ,testament1 and still more unlike those of the ,new4 ,for about a great many of them there seems to have been no special purpose1 either doctrinal or otherwise1 but simply the relief of trivial and transient distresses4 ,this story1 from which my text is taken1 is one of that sort4 ,one of the sons of the prophets had died in ,shunem4 ,he left a widow and two little children4 ,the creditor1 according to the ,mosaic law1 had the right1 which he was about to put in practice1 of taking the children to be bondmen4 ,and so the penniless1 helpless woman comes to ,elisha1 as a kind of deliverer-general from all sorts of distresses1 and tells him her pitiful tale4 ,he asks her what she wants him to do1 and she has no counsel to give4 ,then the thing to do strikes him4 ,he asks what she has in the house4 ,it was a poor1 bare hovel of a place4 ,there was not anything in it save a pot of oil1 which was all her property4 ,he sends her to borrow vessels1 of all sorts and sizes4 ,he takes the pot of oil1 and shuts the door4 ,then she sets the two boys fetching and carrying2 and herself taking up the one possession that she has1 in faith she pours2 and dish after dish is filled1 and still she pours2 and they were all filled1 and she kept on pouring4 ,then she said1 ',bring some more'2 and the boys answered1 ',there are not any more1' so then the oil stopped4 ,there was no very special reason for all this4 ,it is not at all like most ,biblical miracles4 ,i do not suppose it had any symbolical intention2 but ,i venture to do a little gentle violence to the incident1 and to see in the staying of the oil when no more vessels were brought to be filled1 a lesson addressed to us all1 and it is this3 ,god keeps giving ,himself as long as we bring that into which ,he can pour ,himself4 ,and when we stop bringing1 ,he stops giving4 ,now1 if ,i may venture to be fanciful for once1 let me tell you of three vessels that we have to bring if we would have the oil of the ,divine ,spirit poured into us4 ,i4 ,the vessel of desire4 ,god can give us a great many things that we do not wish1 but ,he cannot give us ,his best gift1 and that is ,himself1 unless we desire it4 ,he never forces ,his company on any man1 and if we do not wish for ,him ,he cannot give us ,himself1 ,his ,spirit1 or the gifts of ,his ,spirit4 ,for instance1 ,he cannot make a man wise if he does not wish to be instructed4 ,he cannot make a man holy if he has no aspiration after holiness4 ,he cannot save a man from his sins if the man holds on to his sin with both hands1 like some shellfish with its claws when you try to drag it out of its cleft in the rock4 ,he cannot give the oil unless we bring the vessels of our hearts opened by our desires4 ,if ,god could ,he would4 ',ye have not because ye ask not4' ,but we are never to forget that ,god is not led to begin ,his giving because we petition ,him1 but that the infinitude of ,his stores1 and the endless1 changeless1 unmotived1 perfect love of ,his heart1 make self-communication--,i was going to use a very strong word1 and ,i do not know that it is too strong--necessary to the blessedness of the blessed ,god1 and1 long before we ever thought of ,him1 or sought anything from ,him1 there was pouring out from ,him all the fulness of ,his love3 just as we may conceive of the sunshine raying out before the orbs that were to circle round it had been completely shaped1 but were still diffused and nebulous4 ,but1 while ,god is always giving1 our capacity to receive determines the degree of our individual possession of ,him4 ,or1 to put it in the plainest words--we have as much of ,god as we can take in2 and the principal factor in settling how much we can take is--how much we wish4 ,measure the reality and intensity of desire1 and you measure capacity4 ,as the atmosphere rushes into every vacuum1 or as the sea runs up into and fills every sinuosity of the shore1 so wherever a heart opens1 and the unbroken coast-line is indented1 as it were1 by desire1 in rushes the tide of the divine gifts4 ,you have ,god in the measure in which you desire ,him4 ,only remember that that desire which brings ,god must be more than a feeble1 fleeting wish4 ,wishing is one thing2 willing is quite another4 ,lazily wishing and strenuously desiring are two entirely different postures of mind2 the former gets nothing and the latter gets everything1 gets ,god1 and with ,god all that ,god can bring4 ,but the wish must not only rise to intensity and earnestness1 but it must be steadfast4 ,suppose these two little boys of the widow had held their vessels below the spout of the oil-pot with tremulous hands1 while they looked away at something else1 sometimes keeping the vessels right under1 and sometimes shifting them on one side1 it would have been slow work filling the unsteadily held vessels4 ,so it is in regard to receiving ,god's best gift4 ,our desires must be unwavering4 ,a cup held by a shaking hand will spill its contents1 or will never receive them4 ',let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the ,lord4' ,the steadfast wish is the wish that is answered4 ,is it not a strange indifference to our true good that we who have learned1 as most of us have learned only too well1 that in this world to wish is not to have1 should turn away from the possibility that lies before us each1 of passing from this disappointing world of vain longings into a region where we cannot wish anything that we do not get8 ,there is only one thing about which it is true that1 if you want1 and as much as you want1 you will have2 and that thing is found when we turn away our wishes from the false1 fleeting1 and surface satisfactions of earth1 and fasten them upon ,god1 ',who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we 444 think4' ,wish for ,him1 and you have what you have wished4 ,wish for anything else1 and you may have it or you may not1 but depend upon it the fish is never half as big when it is out of the water as it felt to be when it was tugging at the hook4 ,,ii4 ,another vessel that we have to bring is the vessel of our expectancy4 ,desire is one thing2 confident anticipation that the desire will be fulfilled is quite another4 ,and the two do not certainly go together anywhere except in this one region1 and there they do go1 linked arm in arm4 ,for whatsoever1 in the highest of all regions1 we wish1 we have the right without presumption to believe that we shall receive4 ,expectation1 like desire1 opens the heart4 ,there are some expectations1 even in lower regions1 that fulfil themselves4 ,doctors will tell you that a very large part of the curative power of their medicine depends upon the patient's anticipation of recovery4 ,if a man expects to die when he takes to his bed1 the chances are that he will die2 and if a man expects to get better1 ,death will have a fight before it conquers him4 ,there are hundreds of cases1 in all departments of life1 where he who sets himself to a task with assured persuasion that he is going to do such and such a thing will do it4 ',screw your courage to the sticking-place1 and we'll not fail1' said the heroine in the tragedy2 and there is a great truth in her fierce encouragement4 ,all these illustrations fall far beneath the ,christian aspect of the thought that what we expect from ,god we receive4 ,that is only another way of putting ',according to thy faith be it unto thee4' ,it is exactly what ,jesus ,christ said when ,he promised1 ',whatsoever things ye ask when ye stand praying believe that ye receive them1 and ye shall have them4' ,i am afraid that a great many of us often have expectations fainter than desires2 and that we should be very much surprised if the thing that we ask for1 in the prayers that we so often repeat by rote1 were granted to us4 ,you will hear men praying for holiness1 for clean hearts1 for progress in the ,christian life1 for a hundred other such blessings4 ,they do not expect that anything is going to come in consequence1 and they would be mightily at a loss what to do with the gift if it did come4 ,the absence of expectancy in our public petitions is to me one of the saddest features in the ,christian life of this day4 ,if you expect little1 you will get little2 and we do expect far less than we ought4 ,we cannot raise our confident expectations too high2 for ',he is able to do for us exceeding abundantly above all that we ask' as well as 'think4' ,the ,apostle has set the limit of our expectations1 in the same context1 and here it is3 ',that we may be filled with all the fulness of ,god4' ,there are two limits3 one is the boundless illimitableness of ,god's perfection1 and the possibilities of our possession of ,him are not exhausted until we have reached that infinite completeness4 ,but then1 there is a practical1 working limit for each of us2 and that is--what do you desire8 and what do you expect8 ,god can give more than we can ask or think1 but ,he cannot at the moment give more than we expect or desire4 ,true1 the vessels that we bring to be filled with the oil are not like the vessels that the fatherless boys brought4 ,these were of a definite capacity2 and the little cup when it was filled was filled1 and there was an end of it4 ,but the vessels that we bring are elastic1 and widen out4 ,the more that is put into them the more they can hold1 so that there is no bound to the capacity of a heart for the reception and inrush of ,god2 and there will not be a bound through all the ages of a growing possession of ,him in eternity4 ,but for to-day1 desire and expectancy determine the measure of the gift4 ,,iii4 ,lastly1 one more vessel that we have to bring is obedience4 ',if any man will do ,his will1 he shall know of the doctrine4' ,there is one case of the general principle that wishes and anticipations are all right and well1 but unless they are backed up and verified by conduct1 even wishes and anticipations will not bring ,god's gift4 ,for it is possible for a man who1 in his better moments of devotion1 has some desires after a loftier range of goodness and a completer conformity to ,god than he ordinarily has1 to rise from his knees and rush into the world1 and there live in some lust1 or uncleanness1 or vice1 or indulgence1 or absorption in the cares of this life1 in such a way as that desires and anticipations shall vanish4 ,if we fill our vessels full1 before we take them to the source of supply1 with all manner of baser liquids1 there will be no room for the oil4 ,we may contradict and stifle our desires by our conduct1 and by it make our expectations perfectly impossible to be fulfilled4 ,are our daily doings of such a nature as that the ,spirit of ,god1 which is symbolised by the oil1 can come into our hearts2 or are we quenching and grieving ,him so that ,he ',can but listen at the gate ,and hear the household jar within'8 ,desire1 ,expectancy1 and ,obedience--these three must never be separated if we are to receive the gift of ,himself1 which ,god delights and waits to give4 ,all spiritual possessions and powers grow by use1 even as exercised muscles are strengthened1 and unused ones tend to be atrophied4 ,it is possible1 by neglect of ,god and of the gift given to us1 to incur the stern sentence passed on the slothful servant--',take it from him4' ,by disobedience and negligence we choke the channel through which ,god's gifts can flow to us4 ,so1 brethren1 bring these three vessels1 and you will not go away with them empty4 ',open thy mouth wide1 and ,i will fill it4' ,a ,,miracle ,,needing ,,effort ',so she went1 and came unto the man of ,god to mount ,carmel4 ,and it came to pass1 when the man of ,god saw her afar off1 that he said to ,gehazi his servant1 ,behold1 yonder is that ,shunammite3 #bf4 ,run now1 ,i pray thee1 to meet her1 and say unto her1 ,is it well with thee8 is it well with thy husband6 is it well with the child8 ,and she answered1 ,it is well4 #bg4 ,and when she came to the man of ,god to the hill1 she caught him by the feet3 but ,gehazi came near to thrust her away4 ,and the man of ,god said1 ,let her alone2 for her soul is vexed within her3 and the ,lord hath hid it from me1 and hath not told me4 #bh4 ,then she said1 ,did ,i desire a son of my lord6 did ,i not say1 ,do not deceive met #bi4 ,then he said to ,gehazi1 ,gird up thy loins1 and take my staff in thine hand1 and go thy way3 if thou meet any man1 salute him not2 and if any salute thee1 answer him not again3 and lay my staff upon the face of the child4 #cj4 ,and the mother of the child said1 ,as the ,lord liveth1 and as thy soul liveth1 ,i will not leave thee4 ,and he arose1 and followed her4 #ca4 ,and ,gehazi passed on before them1 and laid the staff upon the face of the child2 but there was neither voice1 nor hearing4 ,wherefore he went again to meet him1 and told him1 saying1 ,the child is not awaked4 #cb4 ,and when ,elisha was come into the house1 behold1 the child was dead1 and laid upon his bed4 #cc4 ,he went in therefore1 and shut the door upon them twain1 and prayed unto the ,lord4 #cd4 ,and he went up1 and lay upon the child1 and put his mouth upon his mouth1 and his eyes upon his eyes1 and his hands upon his hands3 and stretched himself upon the child3 and the flesh of the child waxed warm4 #ce4 ,then he returned1 and walked in the house to and fro2 and went up1 and stretched himself upon him3 and the child sneezed seven times1 and the child opened his eyes4 #cf4 ,and he called ,gehazi1 and said1 ,call this ,shunammite4 ,so he called her4 ,and when she was come in unto him1 he said1 ,take up thy son4 #cg4 ,then she went in1 and fell at his feet1 and bowed herself to the ground1 and took up her son1 and went out4'--#b ,,kings iv4 #be-cg4 ,the story of ,elisha is almost entirely a record of his miracles1 and the story of his miracles is almost entirely a record of deeds of beneficence4 ,exception has been taken to it on the ground of the strange accumulation of supernatural works1 which have been said to make it like some mediaeval saint's legend4 ,but why should it not be true that1 after ,elijah had proclaimed the truth1 his successor's function was to enforce it chiefly by his acts1 and to seek to draw ,israel back to ,god by 'the cords of love' and the gentle compulsion of mercies8 ,the careful consideration of the work of the two prophets makes the peculiarities of ,elisha's perfectly intelligible4 ,this story of the great lady at ,shunem1 her joy over her only child and his piteous death 'on her knees1' is one of the tenderest and sweetest pages in the history4 ,late won and early lost1 the poor boy lies pale and dead on ,elisha's bed at ,shunem1 while the mother hurries across the plain of ,jezreel to ,carmel1--a distance of some fifteen or sixteen miles1--where ,elisha was then living1 probably near the place of ,elijah's sacrifice4 ,this passage begins with her approach4 ,i4 ,note first the meeting 7verses #be-bh74 ,somewhere on the slopes of ,carmel1 commanding a view of the plain stretching away in the blue distance eastward1 sat the prophet4 ,his eye was keen1 though probably he was now old1 and he recognised the lady at a distance1 as she rode swiftly towards the mountain4 ,he appears to have suspected that this unusual visit meant some calamity1 and his gentle heart went out towards his hostess and friend4 ,gehazi could not get back sooner than she could come1 but sympathy could not sit passive and watch her approach4 ,so the instinctively despatched message beautifully witnesses the prophet's keen affection1 and1 as it were1 the eager leap of his sympathy4 ,so swift and ready to flash into act is the fellow-feeling of the ,highest with the sorrows of us all2 so should be the compassion of each with another4 ,the higher in gifts or office in the kingdom a man is1 the more is he bound to carry his sympathy in an outstretched hand4 ,it is worth very little when it comes slowly4 ,it is priceless when it runs to meet the mourner before she speaks4 ,the detailed question put into ,gehazi's mouth describes the circle within which this woman's heart moved1--her husband1 her child1 herself4 ,if these were well1 nothing could be very ill2 if ill1 nothing could be well4 ,but the message1 which came so warm from ,elisha's lips1 had been cooled on the road1 and sounded formal from ,gehazi4 ,it is hard for selfish indifference to carry tender words without freezing them4 ,the bearer of sympathy must be sympathetic4 ,as ,gehazi spoiled ,elisha's message1 so we ,christians too often do our ,master's1 and cool it down to our own temperature4 ,the fact that ,gehazi had done so is suggested by the curt answer1 ',peace6' ,it is often quoted as the language of resignation1 but it seems much rather to be evasion of the question1 and that because her sorrow shrank from unveiling itself to the questioner4 ,nothing makes grief dumb so surely as prying and yet indifferent intrusion4 ,a tenderer hand than ,gehazi's is needed to unlock the sad secret of that burdened breast4 ,it was perhaps partly pique at her silencing him1 and partly mere unfeeling attention to 'propriety1' which made the servant wish to check the convulsive grasp of the feet1 which the master allowed4 ,underlings are more careful of what they suppose to be their superior's dignity than he is4 ,much is permitted to love and sorrow1 by a prophet1 which would be repressed by smaller men4 ',her soul is bitter within her' pardons much1 and only unfeeling critics will be punctilious in dealing with even the extravagances of grief4 ,but ,elisha had another reason than pity4 ,he wished to know her pain1 and therefore he let her cling to his feet2 for only there would she find her tongue4 ,does there not shine through the figure of the gentle prophet the image of the gentler ,christ1 who will not have the poorest and foulest spurned from ,his feet1 though it be 'a woman who was a sinner1' and lets us come as close to ,him as we will1 even to hide our faces on ,his breast1 that we may pour out all our sorrows and sins to ,him8 ,the limitations of the prophet's knowledge he frankly owns4 ,how much better would it have been for the ,church if its teachers had been more willing to copy his modesty1 and said about a great many things1 ',the ,lord hath hid it from me'6 ,the mother's answer is indeed the cry of a 'bitter' heart4 ,its abrupt questions and its reticence as to the child's death are pathetically true to nature1 and sound yet across all these centuries as if the bitter cry were for a grief of to-day4 ',did ,i desire a son8' ,she upbraids ,elisha and ,elisha's ,god for having forced on her an unasked blessing4 ',did ,i not say1 ,do not deceive me8' ,she did 7verse #af72 and she upbraids ,elisha again for a worse deceit than she had meant then1 by mocking her with a gift which was wrenched from her hands so suddenly and soon4 ,how many a sad heart is to-day tempted to raise this cry of anguish6 ,and how patient is ,elisha with wild words1 and how he discerns1 beneath the apparent rough reproach1 the misery which it implies and the petition which it veils6 ,elisha's ,lord is no less tender in ,his judgment of our hasty1 whirlwind words1 when our hearts are sore2 and if only we speak them to ,him and cling to ,his feet1 ,he translates them into the petitions which they mean1 and is swift to answer the meaning and pass by the sound of our bitter cry4 ,,ii4 ,we note the ineffectual experiment of the staff 7verses #bi-ca74 ,the supposition that ,gehazi was sent in such haste with the hope that the touch of the staff might bring back life1 is dismissed as 'impossible' by most commentators1 who have therefore some difficulty in saying what he was sent for4 ,some of the ,rabbis answered1 ',to prevent putrefaction1' which would set in soon on that harvest day4 ,others say that the intention was to 'prevent more life escaping from him4' ,but 'dead' is not usually supposed to be an adjective admitting of comparison4 ,others find the reason in the wish to deliver ,israel from the superstitious veneration of such things as the staff1 by showing that it was powerless4 ,but verse #ca plainly implies that the result of ,gehazi's attempt was not what had been expected4 ,why need there be any hesitation in taking the natural meaning1 and supposing that ,elisha sent his servant quickly1 'if peradventure' the touch of his staff might suffice1 and followed in person1 because he did not know whether it would4 ,there is nothing unworthy of a prophet who had just confessed his ignorance in the supposition4 ,his unobtrusive spirit delighted to hide its power behind material vehicles1 as is seen in most of his miracles2 and1 if he remembered how he himself1 in his early days1 had parted the waters with his master's cloak1 he might think it possible that his servant should work a miracle with his staff4 ,the ,shunemite quotes his own words on that far-off day2 and perhaps she was reminded of them by perceiving the analogy of the two incidents4 ,but her clinging to ,elisha shows her doubt of the success of the attempt2 and she was right4 ,why did the staff fail8 ,perhaps because of its bearer4 ,gehazi always appears unfavourably1 and ,elisha's staff loses its power in such hands4 ,the mightiest instruments are weak when selfishness and coldness wield them4 ,an unworthy minister can make the ,gospel itself impotent4 ,it is an awful thing to carry 'the rod of ,thy strength' and to hinder its exerting its energy4 ,but possibly the non-success of the attempt was meant to teach ,elisha and us that miracles of life-giving are not to be wrought so easily1 but need the effort of the prophet himself4 ,we cannot delegate the work of ,god1 and no sending of others will do instead of going ourselves4 ,such things are not achieved without much personal toil1 pains1 and self-sacrifice4 ,,iii4 ,so we come to the last step1 the communication of life 7verses #cb-cg74 ,it was noon when the child died4 ,the mother's journey would take three or four hours1 and the return at least as much4 ,it would then be dark when the two reached her desolate home4 ,she had laid the boy on ,elisha's bed1 as if even that brought her some comfort4 ,it is difficult to say whether 'them twain' 7verse #cc7 means him and the mother1 or him and the child2 but the expression of the next verse1 'went up1' suggests that the prayer with shut door was in the lower part of the house1 and that the mother's cry was joined to the prophet's petitions4 ,such prayer is the true preparation for such a miracle4 ,beautiful consideration1 born of sympathy1 led him to shut out curious onlookers1 and then to go up alone to the little chamber where that pale1 tiny corpse lay4 ,no eye but a mother's could have seen what followed without profanation2 and a mother's heart would have been torn by hopes and fears if she had seen4 ,the actual miracle is remarkable for two peculiarities--the effort required and the slowness of the process4 ,of course1 there is a profound and beautiful use to be made of the prophet's action in laying himself upon the dead child1 mouth to mouth1 and hand to hand1 if we regard it as symbolic of that closeness of approach to our nature1 dead in sins1 which the ,lord of life makes in ,his incarnation and in ,his continual drawing near4 ,it is ,his own life which ,jesus imparts1 and it is imparted because ,he comes near and touches us4 ,it is the warmth of ,his own heart which passes into those who live by derivation of life from ,him4 ,and ,elisha may well stand as symbol of ,jesus in this miracle4 ,but besides that use of the narrative1 which is no mere fanciful playing with it1 we should also note the difference between the prophet and ,christ in their miracles4 ,jesus raises the dead by ,his bare word4 ,his expressed will is all-sufficient4 ,elisha prays1 and then puts forth somewhat prolonged efforts1 from which at first there is no effect1 and which drain him of force1 so that he is obliged to pause and leave the chamber1 and gather himself together for a renewal of them4 ,the ease of the one sets the difficulty of the other in a strong light4 ,and the life which came back with a rush1 in full stream1 at ,christ's bidding1 comes only by degrees at ,elisha's prayer and work4 ,the one worker is the ,lord of life1 who speaks and it is done2 the other is but the channel of power1 and the appearance of effort and gradualness in result is owing to the narrowness of the channel1 not to the inadequacy of the power4 ,in all ,elisha's gentleness and lowliness there is yet a certain dignity as ,god's prophet2 and it was not fitting that he should come from the scene of such a miracle with the glow of it upon him1 to seek for the mother4 ,so he summons her by ,gehazi1 and then1 with beautiful delicacy1 leaves her to go alone into the chamber4 ,none are to see the transports of her joy1 not even the author of it4 ,how beautiful1 too1 are the quiet words1 ',take up thy son'6 ,she has no words2 but1 for all answer1 comes close to him 7there is no 'in' in verse #cg71 and once again1 but with what different feelings1 clasps his feet4 ,not even ,gehazi1 or any other stickler for propriety1 has the heart to thrust her back this time4 ,the story draws a curtain over that meeting in the prophet's chamber4 ,sad hearts who have vainly longed for such a moment1 can fancy the rapture4 ,but the day will come1 not here1 but in the upper chamber1 when parted ones shall clasp each other again2 and many a mourner shall hear ,jesus say from the throne what ,he once said from the ,cross1 ',woman1 behold thy son2 son1 behold thy mother4' ,,naaman',s ,,wrath ',and ,elisha sent a messenger unto ,naaman1 saying1 ,go and wash in ,jordan seven times1 and thy flesh shall come again to thee1 and thou shalt be clean4 #aa4 ,but ,naaman was wroth1 and went away4'--#b ,,kings v4 #aj1aa4 ,these two figures are significant of much beyond themselves4 ,elisha the prophet is the bearer of a divine cure4 ,naaman1 the great ,syrian noble1 is stricken with the disease that throughout the ,old ,testament is treated as a parable of sin and death4 ,he was the commander-in-chief of the army of ,damascus1 high in favour at ,ben-hadad's court2 his reputation and renown were on every tongue1 but he was a leper4 ,there is a 'but' in every fortune1 as there is a 'but' in every character4 ,so he comes to the prophet's humble home in ,samaria1 and we find him waiting1 a suppliant at the gate1 with his cavalcade of attendants1 and a present worth many thousands of pounds in our ,english money4 ,how does the prophet receive his distinguished visitor8 ,in all the rest of his actions we find ,elisha gentle1 accessible1 forgetful of his dignity4 ,here his conduct would be discourteous if there were not a reason for it4 ,he is reserved1 unsympathetic1 keeps the great man at the staff-end1 will not even come out to receive him as common courtesy might have suggested2 sends him a curt message of direction1 with not a word more than was necessary4 ,and then1 naturally enough1 the hot soldier begins to explode4 ,his pride is touched2 he has not been received with due deference4 ,if the prophet would have come out and chanted incantations over him1 and made mystical motions of his hands above the shining patches of his leprous skin1 he could have believed in the cure4 ,but there was nothing in the injunction given for his superstition to lay hold of4 ,his patriotic susceptibilities are roused4 ,if he is to be cleansed by bathing1 are not the crystal streams of his own city1 the glory of ,damascus1 better than the turbid and muddy ,jordan that belongs to ,israel8 ,so he flounced away1 and would have sacrificed his hope of cure to his passion if his servants had not brought him to common-sense by their cool remonstrance4 ,he would have done any great thing which he had been set to do2 he had already done a great thing in taking the long journey1 and being ready to expend all that vast amount of treasure1 and so surely there need be no difficulty in his complying1 were it only as an experiment1 with the very simple and easy terms which the prophet had enjoined4 ,now1 all these points may be so put as to suggest for us characteristics of that gospel which is ,god's cure for our leprosy4 ,and the whole story shows us as in a glass what human nature would like the gospel to be1 and how we sick men quarrel with our physic1 and stumble at those very characteristics of the gospel which are its main glory and the secret of its power4 ,my only purpose in this sermon is to bring out two or three of these as lying on the surface of the story before us4 ,i4 ,first1 then1 ,god's cure puts us all on one level4 ,naaman wished to be treated like a great man that happened to be a leper2 ,elisha treated him like a leper that happened to be a great man4 ',i thought1 he will surely come out to me1 and stand1 and call on the name of the ,lord his ,god4' ,the whole question about his treatment turns on this1 ,whether is the important thing his disease or his dignity8 ,he thought it was his dignity1 the prophet thought it was his disease4 ,and so he served him as he would have served any one else that in similar circumstances1 and for a like necessity1 had come to him4 ,and now1 if you will generalise that1 it just comes to this--that ,christianity brushes aside all the surface differences of men1 and goes in its treatment of them straight to the central likenesses1 the things which1 in all mankind1 are identical4 ,there are the same wants1 the same sorrows1 the same necessity for the same cleansing beneath the queen's robes and the peer's ermine1 the workman's jacket and the beggar's rags4 ,whatever differences of culture1 of station1 of idiosyncrasy there may be1 these are but surface and accidental4 ,we are all alike in this1 that we 'have sinned1 and come short of the glory of ,god'2 and our ,great ,physician1 in ,his great remedy1 insists upon treating us all as patients1 and not as this1 that1 or the other1 kind of patients4 ,the cholera1 when it lays hold of ladies and gentlemen1 deals with them in precisely the same fashion that it does when it lays hold of waifs on the dunghill2 and a wise doctor will treat the ,prince of ,wales just as he will treat the ,prince of ,wales's stable-boy4 ,christianity has nothing to say1 in the first place1 to the accidents that separate us one from the other1 but insists on looking at us all as standing on the one level and partaking of the one characteristic4 ,we may be wise or foolish1 we may be learned or ignorant1 we may be rich or poor1 we may be high or low1 we may be barbarian or civilised1 but we are all sinners4 ,the leprosy runs through us all1 according to the diagnosis of ,christianity1 and our ,elisha deals with ,naaman as he deals with the poorest footboy in ,naaman's cavalcade who is afflicted with the same disease4 ,now that rubs against our self-importance2 a great many of us would be quite willing to go to heaven1 but we do not like to go in a common caravan4 ,we want to have a compartment to ourselves1 and to travel in a manner becoming our position4 ,we are quite willing to be healed1 but we would like to be healed with due deference4 ,you are an educated man1 a student2 you do not like to take the same place as the most unlettered1 and to feel that the common fact of sin puts you1 in a very solemn respect1 upon the level of these narrow foreheads and unlettered people4 ,and so some of you turn away because ,christianity1 with such impartiality and persistency1 insists upon the identity of the fact of sin in us all1 and passes by the little diversities on which we plume ourselves1 and which part us the one from the other4 ,dear brethren1 ,i am sure that some of my audience have been kept away from the gospel by this humbling characteristic of it1 that at the very beginning it insists on bringing us all into the one category2 and ,i venture to ask you to ponder with yourselves this question1 ,is it not wise1 is it not necessary that the physician should look only at the disease and think nothing of all the other facts of the patient's character or life8 ,surely1 surely1 it is a fact that we are transgressors1 and surely it is a fact that if we be transgressors that is the most important thing about us--far more important than all these diversities of which ,i have been speaking4 ,they are skin-deep1 this is the central truth1 that we have souls which ought to stand in a living relation of glad obedience to our ,father in heaven2 and which1 alas6 do stand in an attitude often of sulky alienation1 often of indifference1 and not seldom of rebellion4 ,if so1 then it is both wise and kind to deal with that solemn fact first4 ,in wisdom and in mercy ,christianity deals with all men as sinners1 needing chiefly to be healed of that disease4 ',the ,scripture hath concluded all under sin'--shut up the whole race as in a great chamber1 that so cleansing and forgiveness might reach them all4 ,they are gathered together as patients in a hospital are gathered1 that their sickness may be medicined and their wounds dressed4 ,for this impartiality of the gospel1 putting us all on one level1 and its determination to deal with us all as sinners1 is but the other side of1 and the preparation for1 that blessed universality of a sacrifice for all1 and a gospel for the whole world4 ,do not quarrel with your physic because the ,physician insists upon dealing with you as sick men4 ,,ii4 ,then take another of the thoughts that come out of the incident before us4 ,god's cure puts the messengers of the cure well away in the background4 ,naaman1 heathen-like1 wanted something sensuous for his confidence in the prophet's cure to lay hold upon4 ,if the prophet would only have come out1 and done like the sorcerers and magic-workers of whom he had had experience2 if he would have come weaving mystical incantations1 and calling upon the ,god whom he worshipped1 but whom ,naaman did not1 and making passes with his hands over the leprous places--then there would have been something for his sense to build upon1 and he would have been ready to believe in the prophet's power to cure4 ,but that was the very thing which the prophet did not want him to believe in4 ,elisha desired to conceal himself1 and to make ,god's power prominent4 ,he wished to cure ,naaman's soul of the leprosy of idolatry as well as to cure his body2 and we see1 in the sequel of the story1 that the very simplicity of the means enjoined and the absence of any human agency1 which at first staggered the sensuous nature and offended the pride of ,naaman1 at last led him to see and confess that there was no ,god in all the earth but in ,israel4 ,therefore the prophet keeps in the background4 ,his part is not to cure1 but to bring ,god's cure4 ,he is only a voice4 ,he brings the sick man and ,god's prescription face to face1 and there leaves him4 ,naaman would have liked to force him into the place of a magician1 in whom miracle-working power resided4 ,elisha will only take the place of a herald who proclaims how ,god's power may be brought to heal4 ,so men have always sought to turn the messengers of ,god's cure into miracle-workers4 ,making the ministers of ,god's word into priests who by external acts convey grace and forgiveness1 is a superstition that has its roots deep in human nature4 ,it is not that the priests have made themselves so much as that the people have made the priests4 ,here is an instance in a rude form of the tendency which has been at work in all generations1 and has been the corruption of ,christianity from the beginning1 and is doing mischief every day--the tendency to place one's confidence in a man who is supposed to be1 in some mysterious manner1 the bearer of a grace that will cure and cleanse4 ,and the prophet's position in our story brings out very clearly the position which all ,christian ministers hold4 ,they are nothing but heralds1 their personality disappears1 they are merely a voice4 ,all that they have to do is to bring men into contact with ,god's own word of command and promise1 and then to vanish4 ,christianity has no 'priests1' ,christianity has no 'sacraments4' ,christianity has no external rites which bring grace or help except in so far as by their aid the soul is brought into contact with the truth1 and by meditation and faith is thus made capable of receiving more of ,christ's ,spirit4 ,our only commission is to bring to you ,god's message of how you may be healed4 ,when we have said1 ',wash1 and be clean1' as plainly1 earnestly1 and lovingly as we can1 we have done all our appointed office4 ,we are heralds1 and nothing more4 ,our business is to preach1 not to do rites1 or minister sacraments4 ,our business is to preach1 not to argue4 ,we are neither priests nor professors1 but preachers4 ,we have to deliver the message given to us faithfully4 ,we have to ring out the proclamation loudly4 ,the virtue of a town crier is that he make people hear and understand4 ,the virtue of a messenger is that he repeats precisely what he was told4 ,and a ,christian minister has to lift up his voice and not be afraid1 to see to it that his speech be plain1 and that it do not overlay the message with fripperies of ornament1 or affectations1 or personalities1 and to plead earnestly and lovingly with men to come to the divine ,healer4 ,john ,baptist's description of himself is true of them4 ,with rare self-abnegation1 he would only reply to the question1 ',who art thou8' with ',i am a voice4' ,his personality was nothing4 ,his message was all4 ,a musical string cannot be seen as it vibrates4 ,so the man should be lost in his proclamation4 ,we are heralds and nothing more1 and the more we keep in the background and the less our hearers depend on us1 the better4 ,if you want priests who will 'call on the name of their ,god1 and wave their hands over the place1' and convey grace and healing to you by anything that they do for or to you1 you will have to go beyond the limits of ,new ,testament ,christianity to find them4 ,so men quarrel with their medicine because their cure is purely a spiritual process1 depending on spiritual forces1 and sense cries out for sacred rites and persons to be the channels of ,god's healing4 ,,iii4 ,and now1 lastly1 ,god's cure wants nothing from you but to take it4 ,naaman's servants were quite right3 ',my father6 ,if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing1 wouldst thou not have done it8' ,yes6 ,of course he would1 and the greater the better4 ,men will stand1 as ,indian fakirs do1 with their arms above their heads until they stiffen there4 ,they will perch themselves upon pillars1 like ,simeon ,stylites1 for years1 till the birds build their nests in their hair3 they will measure all the distance from ,cape ,comorin to ,juggernaut's temple with their bodies along the dusty road4 ,they will give the fruit of their body for the sin of their soul4 ,they will wear hair shirts and scourge themselves4 ,they will fast and deny themselves4 ,they will build cathedrals and endow churches4 ,they will do as many of you do1 labour by fits and starts all through your lives at the endless task of making yourselves ready for heaven1 and winning it by obedience and by righteousness4 ,they will do all these things and do them gladly1 rather than listen to the humbling message that says1 ',you do not need to do anything--wash6' ,is it your washing1 or the water1 that will clean you8 ,wash and be clean6 ,ah1 my brother6 ,naaman's cleansing was only a test of his obedience1 and a token that it was ,god who cleansed him4 ,there was no power in ,jordan's waters to take away the taint of leprosy4 ,our cleansing is in that blood of ,jesus ,christ that has the power to take away all sin1 and to make the foulest amongst us pure and clean4 ,but the two commandments--that of the symbol in my text1 that of the reality in the ,christian gospel--are alike in this respect1 that both the one and the other are a confession that the man himself has no part in his own cleansing4 ,and so ,naamans1 in all generations1 who were eager to do some great thing1 have stumbled1 and turned away from that gospel which says1 ',it is finished6' ',not by works of righteousness which we have done1 but by ,his mercy ,he saved us4' ,dear brother1 you can do nothing4 ,you do not need to do anything4 ,it is a hard pill for my pride to swallow1 to be indebted to absolute mercy1 which ,i have done nothing to bring1 for all my hope1 but it is a position that we have to take4 ,hard to take for all of us1 very hard for you who have never looked in the face the solemn fact of your own sinfulness1 and pondered upon the consequences of that2 but most blessed if only you will open your eyes to see that the stern refusal to accept anything from us as working out our salvation is but the other side of the great truth that ,christ's death is all-sufficient1 and that in ,him the foulest may be clean4 ',nothing in my hand ,i bring4' ,if you bring anything you cannot grasp the ,cross4 ,do not try to eke out ,christ's work with yours2 do not build upon penitence1 or feelings1 or faith1 or anything1 but build only upon this3 ',when ,i had nothing to pay ,he frankly forgave me all4' ,and build upon this3 ',christ alone has died for me'2 and ,christ alone is all-sufficient4 ',wash and be clean'2 accept and possess2 believe and live6 ,,naaman',s ,,imperfect ,,faith ',and he returned to the man of ,god1 he and all his company1 and came and stood before him3 and he said1 ,behold1 now ,i know that there is no ,god in all the earth1 but in ,israel3 now therefore1 ,i pray thee1 take a blessing of thy servant4 #af4 ,but he said1 ,as the ,lord liveth1 before whom ,i stand1 ,i will receive none4 ,and he urged him to take it2 but he refused4 #ag4 ,and ,naaman said1 ,shall there not then1 ,i pray thee1 be given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth8 for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt-offering nor sacrifice unto other gods1 but unto the ,lord4 #ah4 ,in this thing the ,lord pardon thy servant1 that when my master goeth into the house of ,rimmon to worship there1 and he leaneth on my hand1 and ,i bow myself in the house of ,rimmon3 when ,i bow down myself in the house of ,rimmon1 the ,lord pardon thy servant in this thing4 #ai4 ,and he said unto him1 ,go in peace4 ,so he departed from him a little way4 #bj4 ,but ,gehazi1 the servant of ,elisha the man of ,god1 said1 ,behold1 my master hath spared ,naaman this ,syrian1 in not receiving at his hands that which he brought3 but1 as the ,lord liveth1 ,i will run after him1 and take somewhat of him4 #ba4 ,so ,gehazi followed after ,naaman3 and when ,naaman saw him running after him1 he lighted down from the chariot to meet him1 and said1 ,is all well8 #bb4 ,and he said1 ,all is well4 ,my master hath sent me1 saying1 ,behold1 even now there be come to me from mount ,ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets3 give them1 ,i pray thee1 a talent of silver1 and two charges of garments4 #bc4 ,and ,naaman said1 ,be content1 take two talents4 ,and he urged him1 and bound two talents of silver in two bags1 with two changes of garments and laid them upon two of his servants2 and they bare them before him4 #bd4 ,and when he came to the tower1 he took them from their hand1 and bestowed them in the house3 and he let the men go1 and they departed4 #be4 ,but he went in1 and stood before his master4 ,and ,elisha said unto him1 ,whence comest thou1 ,gehazi8 ,and he said1 ,thy servant went no whither4 #bf4 ,and he said unto him1 ,went not mine heart with thee1 when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee8 ,is it a time to receive money1 and to receive garments1 and oliveyards1 and vineyards1 and sheep1 and oxen1 and menservants1 and maidservants8 #bg4 ,the leprosy therefore of ,naaman shall cleave unto thee1 and unto thy seed for ever4 ,and he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow4'--#b ,,kings v4 #ae-bg4 ,like the ,samaritan leper healed by ,jesus1 ,naaman came back to give glory to ,god4 ,samaria was quite out of his road to ,damascus1 but benefit melted his heart1 and the pride1 which had been indignant that the prophet did not come out to him1 faded before thankfulness1 which impelled him to go to the prophet4 ,god's gifts should humble1 and gratitude is not afraid to stoop4 ,elisha would not see ,naaman before1 for he needed to be taught2 but he gladly welcomes him into his presence now1 for he has learned his lesson4 ,sometimes the best way to attract is to repel1 and the true servant of ,god consults not his own dignity1 but others' good1 whichever he does4 ,i4 ,the first point is the offer and refusal of the gift4 ,the benefited is liberal and the benefactor disinterested4 ,naaman was a convert to pure monotheism4 ,his avowal is clear and full4 ,but what a miserable conclusion he draws with that 'therefore'6 ,he should have said1 ',therefore ,i come to trust under the shadow of ,his wings4' ,but he is not ready to give himself1 and1 like some of the rest of us1 thinks to compound by giving money4 ,when the outward giving of goods is token of inward surrender of self1 it is accepted4 ,when it is a substitute for that1 it is rejected4 ,no doubt1 too1 ,naaman thought that ,elisha was1 like the sorcerers of heathenism1 very accessible to gifts2 and if he had come to believe in ,elisha's ,god1 he had yet to learn the loving-kindness of the ,god in whom he had come to believe4 ,he had to learn next that 'the gift of ,god' was not 'purchased with money' and the prophet's acceptance of his present would have dimmed ,elisha's own character1 and that of his ,god1 in the newly opened eyes of ,naaman4 ,elisha's answer begins with the solemn adjuration which we first hear from ,elijah4 ,in its use here1 it not only declares the unalterable determination of ,elisha1 but reveals its grounds4 ,to a man who feels ever the burning consciousness that he is in the presence of ,god1 all earthly good dwindles into nothing4 ,how should talents of silver and gold1 and changes of raiment1 have worth in eyes before which that awful1 blessed vision flames8 ,a candle shows black against the sun4 ,if we walk all the day in the light of ,god's countenance1 we shall not see much brightness to dazzle us in the pale and borrowed lights of earth4 ,the vivid realisation of ,god in our daily lives is the true shield against the enticements of the world4 ,further1 the consciousness of being ,god's servant1 which is implied in the expression 'before whom ,i stand1' makes a man shrink from receiving wages from men4 ',to his own ,master he standeth or falleth1' and will be scrupulously careful that no taint of apparent self-seeking shall spoil his service1 in the eyes of men or in the judgment of the 'great ,taskmaster4' ,elisha felt that the honour of his order1 and1 in some sense1 of his ,god1 in the eyes of this half-convert1 depended on his own perfect and transparent disinterestedness4 ,therefore1 although he made no scruple of taking the ,shunemite's gifts1 and probably lived on similar offerings1 he steadfastly refused the enormous sum proffered by ,naaman4 ',the labourer is worthy of his hire1' but if accepting it is likely to make people think that he did his work for the sake of it1 he must refuse it4 ,a hireling is not a man who is paid for his work1 but one who works for the sake of the pay4 ,if once a professed servant of ,god falls under reasonable suspicion of doing that1 his power for good is ended1 as it should be4 ,,ii4 ,the next point to notice is the alloy in the gold1 or the imperfection of ,naaman's new convictions4 ,he had been cured of his leprosy at once1 but the cure of his soul had to be more gradual4 ,it is unreasonable to expect clear sight1 with the power of rightly estimating magnitudes1 from a man seeing for the first time4 ,but though ,naaman's shortcomings are very natural and excusable1 they are plainly shortcomings4 ,note the two forms which they take1--superstition and selfish compromise4 ,what good would a couple of loads of soil be1 and could he not have taken that from the roadside without leave8 ,the connection between the two halves of verse #ag makes his object plain4 ,he wished the earth 'for' he would not sacrifice but to ,jehovah4 ,that is1 he meant to use it as the foundation of an altar1 as if only some of the very ground on which ,jehovah had manifested ,himself was sacred enough for such a purpose4 ,he did not1 indeed1 think of 'the ,lord' as a local deity of ,israel1 as his ample confession of faith in verse #ae proves2 but neither had he reached the point of feeling that the ,being worshipped makes the altar sacred4 ,no wonder that he did not unlearn in an hour his whole way of thinking of religion6 ,the reliance on externals is too natural to us all1 even with all our training in a better faith1 to allow of our wondering at or severely blaming him4 ,a sackful of earth from ,palestine has been supposed to make a whole graveyard a ',campo ,santo'2 and1 no doubt1 there are many good people in ,england who have carried home bottles of ,jordan water for christenings4 ,does not the very name of 'the ,holy ,land' witness to the survival of ,naaman's sentimental error8 ,the other tarnish on the clear mirror was of a graver kind4 ,notice that he does not ask ,elisha's sanction to his intended compromise1 but simply announces his intention1 and hopes for forgiveness4 ,it looks ill when a man1 in the first fervour of adopting a new faith1 is casting about for ways to reconcile it with the public profession of his old abandoned one4 ,we should have thought better of ,naaman's monotheism1 if he had not coupled his avowal of it1 where it was safe to be honest1 with the announcement that he did not intend to stand by his avowal when it was risky4 ,it would have required huge courage to have gone back to ,damascus and denied ,rimmon2 and our censure must be lenient1 but decided4 ,naaman was the first preacher of a doctrine of compromise1 which has found eminent defenders and practisers1 in our own and other times4 ,to separate the official from the man1 and to allow the one to profess in public a creed which the other disavows in private1 is rank immorality1 whoever does or advocates it4 ,the motive in this case was1 perhaps1 not so much cowardice as selfish unwillingness to forfeit position and favour at court4 ,he wants to keep all the good things he has got2 and he tries to blind his conscience by representing the small compliance of bowing as almost forced on him by the grasp of the bowing king1 who leaned on his hand4 ,but was it necessary that he should be the king's favourite8 ,a deeper faith would have said1 ',perish court favour and everything that hinders me from making known whose ,i am4' ,but ,naaman is an early example of the family of ',facing-both-ways1' and of trying to 'make the best of both worlds4' ,but his sophistication of conscience will not do1 and his own dissatisfaction with his excuse peeps out plainly in his petition that he may be forgiven4 ,if his act needed forgiveness1 it should not have been done1 nor thus calmly announced4 ,it is vain to ask forgiveness beforehand for known sin about to be committed4 ,elisha is not asked for his sanction1 and he neither gives nor refuses it4 ,he dismissed ,naaman with cold dignity1 in the ordinary conventional form of leave-taking4 ,his silence indicated at least the absence of hearty approval1 and probably he was silent to ,naaman because1 as he said about the ,shunemite's trouble1 the ,lord had been silent to him1 and he had no authoritative decision to give4 ,let us hope that ,naaman's faith grew and stiffened before the time of trial came1 and that he did not lie to ,god in the house of ,rimmon4 ,let us take the warning that we are to publish on the housetops what we hear in the ear1 and that1 if in anything we should be punctiliously sincere1 it is in the profession of our faith4 ,,iii4 ,the last point is ,gehazi's avarice1 and what he got by it4 ,how differently the same sight affected the man who lived near ,god and the one who lived by sense6 ,elisha had no desires stirred by the wealth in ,naaman's train4 ,gehazi's mouth watered after it4 ,regulate desires and you rule conduct4 ,the true regulation of desires is found in communion with ,god4 ,gehazi had a sordid soul1 like ,judas2 and1 like the traitor ,apostle1 he was untouched by contact with goodness and unworldliness4 ,perhaps the parallel might be carried farther1 and both were moved with coarse contempt for their master's silly indifference to earthly good4 ,that feeling speaks in ,gehazi's soliloquy4 ,he evidently thought the prophet a fool for having let 'this ,syrian' off so easily4 ,he was fair game1 and he had brought the wealth on purpose to leave it4 ,profanity speaks in uttering a solemn oath on such an occasion4 ,the putting side by side of 'the ,lord liveth' and ',i will run after him' would be ludicrous if it were not horrible4 ,how much profanity may live close beside a prophet1 and learn nothing from him but a holy name to sully in an oath6 ,the after part of the story suggests that ,naaman was out of sight of the city before he saw ,gehazi coming after him4 ,the cunning liar timed his arrival well4 ,the courtesy of ,naaman in lighting down from his chariot to receive the prophet's servant shows how real a change had been wrought upon him1 even though there were imperfections in him4 ,gehazi's story is well hung together1 and has plenty of 'local colour' to make it probable4 ,such glib ingenuity in lying augurs long practice in the art4 ,if he had been content with a small fee1 he needed only to have told the truth2 but his story was required to put a fair face on the amount of his request4 ,and in what an amiable light it sets ,elisha6 ,he would not take for himself1 but he has nothing to give to the two imaginary scholars1 who have come from some of the schools of the prophets in the hill-country of ,ephraim1 thirsting for instruction4 ,how sweet the picture1 and what a hard heart that could refuse the request6 ,truly said ,paul1 ',the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil4' ,any sin may come from it1 and be done to gratify it4 ',honestly if you can1 but get it1' was ,gehazi's principle1 as it is that of many a man in the ,christian ,churches of this day4 ,greed of gain is a sin that seldom keeps house alone4 ,naaman no doubt was glad to give1 both because he was grateful1 and because1 like most people in high positions1 he was galled by the sense of obligation to a man beneath him in rank4 ,so back went ,gehazi1 with the two ,syrian slaves carrying his baggage for him1 and he chuckling at his lucky stroke1 and pleasantly imagining how to spend his wealth4 ',the tower' in verse #bd is more correctly 'the hill1' and it was probably there where the little group would come in sight of ,elisha's house4 ,so ,gehazi gets rid of the porters before they could be seen or speak to any one1 and manages his load for a little way himself1 carefully hides it in the house1 and1 seeing the men safely off1 appears obsequious and innocent before ,elisha4 ,the prophet's gift of supernatural knowledge was intermittent1 as witness his ignorance of the ,shunemite's sorrow2 but ,gehazi must have known its occasional action1 and we can fancy that his heart sank at the ominous question1 so curt in the original1 and conveying so clearly the prophet's knowledge that he had been away from the house3 ',whence1 ,gehazi8' ,one lie needs another to cover it1 and every sin is likely to beget a successor4 ,so1 with some tremor1 but without hesitation1 he tries to hide his tracks4 ,did not ,elisha's eye pierce the wretched hypocrite as with a dart8 and did not his voice ring like a judgment trumpet1 as he confounded the silent sinner with the conviction that the prophet himself had been at the spot1 though his body had remained in the house8 ,so1 at last1 will men be reduced to stony dumbness1 when they discover that an ,eye which can see deeper than ,elisha's has been gazing on all their secret sins4 ,the question1 ',is this a time to receive8' etc41 suggests the special reasons1 in ,naaman's new faith1 for conspicuous disregard of wealth1 in order that he might thereby learn the free love of ,elisha's ,god and of ,jehovah's servant1 both of which had been tarnished by ,gehazi's ill-omened greed4 ,the long enumeration following on 'garments' includes1 no doubt1 the things that ,gehazi had solaced his return with the thought of buying1 and so adds another proof that his heart was turned inside out before the prophet4 ,his punishment is severe2 but his sin was great4 ,the leprosy was a fitting punishment1 both because it had been ,naaman's1 from which obedient reliance on ,god had set him free1 and because of its symbolical meaning1 as the type of sin4 ,gehazi got his coveted money1 but he got something else along with it1 which he did not bargain for1 and which took all the sweetness out of it4 ,that is always the case4 ',ill-gotten gear never prospers'2 and1 if a man has set his heart on worldly good1 he may succeed in amassing a fortune1 but the leprosy will cleave to him1 and his soul will be all crusted and foul with that living death4 ,how many successful men1 perhaps high in reputation in the ,church as in the world1 would stand 'lepers as white as snow1' if we had ,god's eyes to see them with6 ,,sight ,,and ,,blindness ',then the king of ,syria warred against ,israel1 and took counsel with his servants1 saying1 ,in such and such a place shall be my camp4 #i4 ,and the man of ,god sent unto the king of ,israel1 saying1 ,beware that them pass not such a place2 for thither the ,syrians are come down4 #aj4 ,and the king of ,israel sent to the place which the man of ,god told him and warned him of1 and saved himself there1 not once nor twice4 #aa4 ,therefore the heart of the king of ,syria was sore troubled for this thing2 and he called his servants1 and said unto them1 ,will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of ,israel8 #ab4 ,and one of his servants said1 ,none1 my ,lord1 ,o king3 but ,elisha1 the prophet that is in ,israel1 telleth the king of ,israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber4 #ac4 ,and he said1 ,go and spy where he is1 that ,i may send and fetch him4 ,and it was told him1 saying1 ,behold1 he is in ,dothan4 #ad4 ,therefore sent he thither horses1 and chariots1 and a great host3 and they came by night1 and compassed the city about4 #ae4 ,and when the servant of the man of ,god was risen early1 and gone forth1 behold1 an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots4 ,and his servant said unto him1 ,alas1 my master6 how shall we do8 #af4 ,and he answered1 ,fear not3 for they that be with us are more than they that be with them4 #ag4 ,and ,elisha prayed1 and said1 ,lord1 ,i pray ,thee1 open his eyes1 that he may see4 ,and the ,lord opened the eyes of the young man2 and he saw3 and1 behold1 the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about ,elisha4 #ah4 ,and when they came down to him1 ,elisha prayed unto the ,lord1 and said1 ,smite this people1 ,i pray ,thee1 with blindness4 ,and ,he smote them with blindness according to the word of ,elisha4'--#b ,,kings vi #h-ah4 ,the revelation of the angel guard around ,elisha is the important part of this incident1 but the preliminaries to it may yield some instruction4 ,the first point to be noted is the friendly relations between the king and the prophet4 ,the king was probably ,joram1 who had given up ,baal worship1 though still retaining the calves at ,bethel and ,dan 7#b ,kings iii #b74 ,the whole tone of things is changed from the stormy days of ,elijah4 ,the prophet is frequently an inhabitant of the capital1 and a trusted counsellor4 ,no doubt much of this improvement was owing to ,elijah's undaunted denunciation1 but much1 too1 was due to ,elisha's gentle persuasion4 ,we are often tempted to do injustice to the sterner predecessors when we see how the gentler ways of their followers seem to accomplish more than theirs did4 ,unless winter storms had come first1 spring sunshine would draw forth few flowers4 ,all honour to the heroes who begin the fight1 and do not see the victory4 ,the ,syrian king's way of warfare was not by a regular continued invasion1 but by dashes across the border on undefended places2 and time after time he found himself out in his calculations1 and troops enough to beat him off massed where he meant to strike4 ,no wonder that he suspected treachery4 ,the prompt answer of his servants implies that ,elisha's intervention was well known by them1 and measures the reputation in which he stood4 ,let no one suppose that thwarting ,syria was an unworthy use of a supernatural gift4 ,the preservation of ,israel and the revelation of ,god were worthy ends1 and all that is accessory to a worthy end is worthy4 ,it is foolish to call anything a trifle which serves a great purpose4 ,joram had learned to obey the prophet1 and his people and their enemies had learned that ,elisha was a prophet4 ,that was much4 ,he had no great revelations of the deep things of ,god to give to his generation or to posterity1 but he gave directions as to practical life which bore on the wellbeing of the state2 and that office was not less divinely conferred4 ,it is a good thing when ,god's servants are not afraid to make their voices heard in politics1 and a safeguard for a nation when their counsels are taken4 ,the quiet prophet was more to ,israel than an army4 ,the 'great host' sent to capture ,elisha shows the terror which he had inspired1 and the importance attached to getting possession of him4 ,it is1 too1 an odd instance of the inconsistency of godless men1 in that it never occurs to the ,syrian king that ,elisha1 who knew all his schemes1 might know this one too1 or that horses and chariots were of little use against a man who had ,heaven to back him4 ,dothan lay on an isolated hill in a wide plain1 and could easily be surrounded4 ,a night-march offered the chance of a surprise1 which seems to have been prevented by the unusually early rising of ,elisha's servant1 the young successor of ,gehazi4 ,apparently he had gone out of the little city before he discovered the besiegers1 and then rushed back in terror4 ,note the strongly contrasted pictures of the lad and his master1--the one representing the despair of sense1 the other the confidence of faith4 ,the lad's passionate exclamation was most natural1 and fear darkening to bewildered helplessness is reasonable to men who only see the material and visible dangers and enemies that beset every life4 ,the wonder is1 not that we should sometimes be afraid1 but that we should ever be free from fear1 if we look only at visible facts4 ,worse foes ring us round than those whose armour glittered in the morning sunshine at ,dothan1 and we are as helpless to cope with them as that frightened youth was4 ,any man who calmly reflects on the possibilities and certainties of his life will find abundant reason for a sinking heart4 ,so much that is dreadful and sad may come1 and so much must come1 that the boldest may well shrink1 and the most resourceful cry ',alas6 how shall we do8' ,it is not courage1 but blindness1 which enables godless men to front life so unconcernedly4 ,how nobly the calmness of ,elisha shows beside the lad's alarm6 ,probably both were now outside the city1 as the immediately following verse speaks of the mountain as the scene4 ,if so1 ,elisha had gone forth to meet the enemy1 and that must have brought fresh terror to his servant4 ,the quiet ',fear not6' was of little use without the assurance of the next clause2 for there is no more idle expenditure of breath than in telling a man not to be afraid1 and doing nothing to remove the grounds of his fear4 ,that is all that the world can do to comfort or hearten4 ',fear not8' the youth might well have said4 ',it is all very easy to say that2 but look there6 ,how can ,i help being afraid8' ,there is only one way to help it1 and that is to believe that 'they that be with us are more than they that be with them4' ,the true and only conqueror of reasonable fear is still more reasonable trust4 ,the two parts played by the servant and the prophet are united in the man who cleaves to ,jesus ,christ as his defence4 ,he would not cling so close to ,him but for the fear that tightens his grip4 ,he would tremble far more but for that grip4 ,he who says in his heart1 ',what time ,i am afraid1 ,i will trust in ,thee1' will presently get to saying1 ',i will trust1 and not be afraid4' ,note1 further1 the sight seen by opened eyes4 ,elisha did not pray that the heavenly guards might come2 for they were there already4 ,nor does it appear that he saw them2 for he did not need that heightened condition of spiritual perception which appears to be meant by the opening of the eyes4 ,and what a sight the trembling young man saw6 ,where he had seen only barren rock or sparse vegetation1 he saw that same fiery host that had attended ,elijah in his translation1 now enclosing the unarmed prophet and himself within a flaming ring4 ,the manifestation1 not the presence1 of the angel guards was the miracle4 ,it was a momentary unveiling of what always was1 and would be after the curtain was drawn again4 ,i suppose that no reverent reader of ,scripture can doubt the existence of angelic beings1 or their office to 'minister to the heirs of salvation4' ,to us1 indeed1 who know ,him who is the ',head of all principalities and powers1' the doctrine of angelic ministration is of less importance than that of ,christ's divine help2 but the latter truth does not supersede the former1 though its brightness throws the other1 about which we know so much less1 into comparative shadow4 ,but we may still learn from this transient disclosure of 'the things that are1' the permanent truth of the ever-active presence of divinely sent helps and guards1 with all who trust in ,him4 ,this manifestation has several features of resemblance to that given to ,jacob1 in his most defenceless hour1 when he saw beside his unprotected camp of women and children ',god's host1' and1 in a rapture of thankful wonder1 named the place ',mahanaim1'--',two ,camps4' ,the sight teaches us that ,god's messengers are ever near1 and then most near when needed most4 ,it tells us1 too1 that they come in the form needed4 ,they are warriors when we are ringed about by foes1 counsellors when we are perplexed1 comforters when we mourn4 ,their shapes are as varied as our needs1 and ever correspond to 'the present distress4' ,they come in power sufficient to conquer4 ,there was force enough circling the prophet to have annihilated all the ,syrians4 ,true1 they did not draw their celestial swords1 but they were there1 and their presence was enough for the triumphant faith of the guarded men4 ,what living thing could come through that wall of fire8 ,our eyes are blinded and we need to have them cleared1 if not in the same manner as this lad's1 yet in an analogous way4 ,we look so constantly at the things seen that we have no sight for the unseen4 ,worldliness1 sin1 unbelief1 sense and its trifles1 time and its transitoriness1 blind the eyes of our mind2 and we need those of sense to be closed1 that these may open4 ,the truest vision is the vision of faith4 ,it is certain1 direct1 and conclusive4 ,the world says1 ',seeing is believing'2 the gospel says1 ',believing is seeing4' ,if we would but live near to ,jesus ,christ1 pray to ,him to touch our blind eyeballs1 and turn away from the dazzling unrealities which sense brings1 we should find ,him 'the master-light of all our seeing1' and be sure of the eternal1 invisible things1 with an assurance superior to that given by the keenest sight in the brightest sunshine4 ,when we are blind to earth1 we see earth glorified by angel presences1 and fear and despair and helplessness and sorrow flee away from our tranquil hearts4 ,if1 on the other hand1 we fix our gaze on earth and its trifles1 there will generally be more to alarm than to encourage1 and we shall do well to be afraid1 if we do not see1 as in such a case we shall certainly not see1 the fiery wall around us1 behind which ,god keeps ,his people safe4 ,note1 finally1 the blindness4 ,elisha's dealing with the advancing host of ,syria can only be rightly estimated by looking beyond the limits of the text4 ,his object was to carry the whole army into ,samaria1 that they might there be won by giving them bread to eat and water to drink1 and so heaping coals of fire on their head4 ,the prophet1 who was in so many points a foreshadowing of the gospel type of excellence1 was the first to show the right way to conquer4 ,nineteen centuries of so-called ,christianity have not brought ',christendom' to practise ,elisha's recipe for finishing a war4 ,it succeeded in his hands2 for1 after that feast and liberation of a captured army1 'the bands of ,syria came no more into the land of ,israel4' ,how could they1 as long as the remembrance of that kindness lasted8 ,pity that the same sort of treatment were not tried to-day6 ,the blindness which fell on the ,syrians does not seem to have been total loss of sight1--for1 if so1 they could not have followed ,elisha to ,samaria1 nearly fifteen miles off1--but rather an ocular affection which prevented them from recognising what they saw4 ,it was a supernatural impediment in any case1 however far it extended4 ,god did 'according to the word of ,elisha1' a wonderful inversion of the ordinary formula4 ,but that was because ,elisha was doing according to the word of the ,lord4 ,the prayers which are 'according to ,his will' are the answered prayers4 ,they who see not the angels1 see nothing clearly4 ,there is a mist over every eye that beholds only the things of time1 which prevents it from seeing these as they are1 and from recognising a prophet when he is before them4 ,if we would rightly estimate the objects of sense1 we must discern1 shining through them1 the far loftier and greater things of eternity4 ,that flaming background is needed to supply a scale by which to measure the others4 ,the flat plain of ,lombardy is most beautiful when its flatness is seen girdled by the giant ,alps1 where lies the purity of the snow which feeds the rivers that fertilise the levels below4 ',,impossible1--,,only ,i ,,saw ,,it' ',then ,elisha said1 ,hear ye the word of the ,lord2 ,thus saith the ,lord1 ,tomorrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour he sold for a shekel1 and two measures of barley for a shekel1 in the gate of ,samaria4 #b4 ,then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of ,god1 and said1 ,behold1 if the ,lord would make windows in heaven1 might this thing be8 ,and he said1 ,behold1 thou shalt see it with thine eyes1 but shalt not eat thereof4 #c4 ,and there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate3 and they said one to another1 ,why sit we here until we die8 #d4 ,if we say1 ,we will enter into the city1 then the famine is in the city1 and we shall die there3 and if we sit still here1 we die also4 ,now therefore come1 and let us fall unto the host of the ,syrians3 if they save us alive1 we shall live2 and if they kill us1 we shall but die4 #e4 ,and they rose up in the twilight1 to go unto the camp of the ,syrians3 and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of ,syria1 behold1 there was no man there4 #f4 ,for the ,lord had made the host of the ,syrians to hear a noise of chariots1 and a noise of horses1 even the noise of a great host3 and they said one to another1 ,lo1 the king of ,israel hath hired against us the kings of the ,hittites1 and the kings of the ,egyptians1 to come upon us4 #g4 ,wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight1 and left their tents1 and their horses1 and their asses1 even the camp as it was1 and fled for their life4 #h4 ,and when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp1 they went into one tent1 and did eat and drink1 and carried thence silver1 and gold1 and raiment1 and went and hid it2 and came again1 and entered into another tent1 and carried thence also1 and went and hid it4 #i4 ,then they said one to another1 ,we do not well3 this day is a day of good tidings1 and we hold our peace3 if we tarry till the morning light1 some mischief will come upon us3 now therefore come1 that we may go and tell the king's household4 #aj4 ,so they came and called unto the porter of the city3 and they told them1 saying1 ,we came to the camp of the ,syrians1 and1 behold1 there was no man there1 neither voice of man1 but horses tied1 and asses tied1 and the tents as they were4 #aa4 ,and he called the porters2 and they told it to the king's house within4 #ab4 ,and the king arose in the night1 and said unto his servants1 ,i will now shew you what the ,syrians have done to us4 ,they know that we be hungry2 therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field1 saying1 ,when they come out of the city1 we shall catch them alive1 and get into the city #ac4 ,and one of his servants answered and said1 ,let some take1 ,i pray thee1 five of the horses that remain1 which1 are left in the city1 7behold1 they are as all the multitude of ,israel that are left in it3 behold1 ,i say1 they are even as all the multitude of the ,israelites that are consumed37 and let us send and see4 #ad4 ,they took therefore two chariot horses2 and the king sent after the host of the ,syrians1 saying1 ,go and see4 #ae4 ,and they went after them unto ,jordan3 and1 lo1 all the way was full of garments and vessels1 which the ,syrians had cast away in their haste4 ,and the messengers returned1 and told the king4 #af4 ,and the people went out1 and spoiled the tents of the ,syrians4 ,so a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel1 and two measures of barley for a shekel1 according to the word of the ,lord4'--#b ,,kings vii4 #a-af4 ,the keynote of this incident lies in the promise in the first verse4 ,the whole story illustrates man's too frequent rejection of ,god's promise1 and ,god's wonderful way of fulfilling it4 ,i4 ,we note first the promise which common-sense finds incredible4 ,it came from ,elisha when all seemed desperate4 ,the wonderfully vivid narrative in the previous chapter tells a pitiful tale of women boiling their children1 of unclean food worth more than its weight in silver1 of a king worked up to a pitch of frenzy and murderous designs1 and renouncing his allegiance to ,jehovah4 ,such faith as he had was strained to the breaking point1 and his messenger was sent to tell the prophet that the king would not 'wait for the ,lord any longer4' ,that was the moment chosen to speak the promise4 ,it came1 as ,god's helps1 both of promise and act1 so often come1 at the very nick of time1 when faith is ready to fail and human aid is vain4 ,before we had learned our hopeless state1 they would come too soon for our good2 after faith had wholly parted from its moorings1 they would come too late4 ,note the precision and confidence of the promise4 ,the hour of the fulfilment1 and the price of flour and the cheaper barley are stated4 ,man's promises are vague2 ,god's are specific4 ,mark1 too1 the entire silence of the promise as to the mode of its fulfilment4 ,probably ,elisha knew as little as any one1 how it was going to be accomplished4 ,the particularity and vagueness combined are remarkable4 ,a hint as to how the thing was to be done would have made the belief in the fact so much easier4 ,yes1 and just because it would have smoothed the road for worthless belief1 it was not given1 but the apparently impossible promise was left in nakedness1 for any one who needed sense to animate his faith1 to scoff at4 ,is not that emphatic assertion of the fact1 and emphatic silence as to the 'how1' a frequent characteristic of ,god's promises8 ,if ever we are kept in the dark as to the latter1 it is for our good1 and for the encouragement of our growth in utter dependence and perfect trust4 ,it is not well for the trusting soul to ask too curiously about methods intervening between the promise in the present and its accomplishment in the future4 ,it is better for peace and the simplicity of our trust1 that we should be content to cling to the faithful word1 and to 'believe444 that it shall be even as it was told' us1 without troubling ourselves about ,his way of effecting ,his purposes4 ,passengers are not admitted to the engine-room1 nor allowed on the bridge4 ,let them leave all the working of the ship to the captain4 ,,ii4 ,the noble who blurted out his incredulity had a great deal to say for himself from the common-sense and worldly point of view4 ,but he need not have sneered1 in the same breath1 at old miracles and new4 ,his sarcasm about 'windows in heaven' refers to the story of the flood2 and perhaps there is a hint of allusion to the manna4 ,he neither believed these ancient deeds1 nor the promise for to-morrow4 ,why not8 ,simply because he--wise as he thought himself--could not see any way of bringing it about4 ,there are many of us yet who have the same modest opinion of our own acuteness1 and go on the supposition that what we do not see is invisible1 and what we cannot do1 or imagine done1 is impossible4 ,why should not the ,lord 'make windows in heaven' if ,he please8 ,or1 how does the pert objector know that that is the only way of fulfilling the promise8 ,he will be taught that he has not quite exhausted all the possibilities open to ,omnipotence1 and that something much simpler than windows in heaven can do what is wanted4 ,unbelief which rejects ,god's plain promises because it does not see how they can be fulfilled is common enough still1 and is as unreasonable as it is impertinent4 ,elisha was as ignorant as this nobleman was1 of the means1 but his faith fixed its eyes on the faithful word1 and trusted1 while sense1 self-conceit1 and worldliness1 a mole pretending to have an eagle's eye1 declared that to be impossible which it could not see the way to bring about1 and thereby exposed only its own blind arrogance4 ,,iii4 ,elisha's answer 7v4 #b7 sounds like ,elijah4 ,the utmost gentleness is stirred to pronounce condemnation on self-confident unbelief1 and a gentler gentleness than ,elisha's1 even ,christ's1 shrinks not from executing the sentence4 ,is not the sentence on this scoffing lord the very sentence pronounced ever on unbelief8 ,in his case1 it was fulfilled by the crowd that pressed1 in their ravenous hunger1 through the gate1 and trod him down2 but in ordinary cases1 in our days1 the natural operation of unbelief is to shut men out from the fruition1 of which faith is the necessary and only condition4 ,it is no avenging and arbitrarily imposed exclusion1 but the necessary result of self-made disqualification1 which brings on the unbeliever the doom1 ',thou shalt not eat thereof4' ,the blessings of the religious life on earth1 and the glories of its perfection in heaven1 are only enjoyable through faith4 ,these are not so plainly visible to the unbelieving heart as the scene at the gate was to the nobleman2 but1 in some measure1 even those who do not possess them do1 in some lucid moments1 see their worth4 ,it is one sad part of the sad lives of godless men that they have their seasons of calm weather1 when1 in the clearer atmosphere1 they catch glimpses of their true good1 but that they yet do not behold it long and close enough to be smitten with the desire to possess it2 and so the sight remains inoperative1 or adds to their condemnation4 ,not to taste is the sadder fate1 because there has been sight4 ,to have eyes opened at last to our own folly1 and to see the rich provision of ,god's table1 when it is too late1 will be a chief pang of future retribution1--as it sometimes is of present god-lessness4 ,,iv4 ,passing over for the present the account of the discovery by the four lepers1 we may next note ,god's way of fulfilling ,his promise4 ,a panic would spread fast in an undisciplined army1 and history supplies examples of the swift change into a mob under the influence of groundless terror4 ,there is nothing wonderful in the helter-skelter rush for the ,jordan1 or in the road being littered with abandoned baggage4 ,the divine intervention produced the impression which naturally brought the flight about1 and the coincidence of the prophecy and the panic which fulfilled it stamp both as divinely originated4 ,but if we looked on events as devoutly1 and saw into their true character as deeply as the author of the ,books of ,kings does1 we should see that many a similar coincidence1 which we trace no farther than to men or circumstances1 was due to the same divine cause which made the ,syrians to hear 'the noise of a great host4' ,track the river of life to its source1 and you come to ,god4 ',the wicked fleeth when no man pursueth4' ,imaginary terrors are apt to beset those who have no trust in ,god4 ,if we fear ,him1 we need have no other fear2 but if we have not ,him for our anchorage1 we shall be driven by gusts of passion and terror4 ,the unseen possibilities of attack and defeat may well terrify a man who has not the unseen ,god to keep him calm4 ,windows in heaven1 then1 were not needed1 and the arrogance which said ',impossible6' had not measured all the resources of ,god4 ,a very wise scientist here in ,england proved that the ,atlantic could not be crossed by a steamer1 and the first steamer that did cross took out copies of his book4 ,how foolish men's demonstrations of impossibility look beside ,god's deliverances6 ,we have not gone through all the chambers of ,his storehouse1 and ',his ways are far above1 out of our sight4' ,let us hold fast by the faith that ,his arm is strong to do whatever ,his lips are gracious to engage1 nor let our inability to see where the river gets through the mountains ever make us doubt that it will reach the sunlit ocean4 ,v4 ,we may throw together the remaining parts of the incident1 as showing how the fulfilled promise was received4 ,these four lepers had heard nothing of it1 when despair made them venturesome4 ,how reckless they were1 and how they harp on the one gloomy word 'die'6 ,the thought was familiar to them1 and yet1 lepers though they were1 life was sweet1 and a chance of prolonging it1 even as slaves1 was worth trying4 ,they chose twilight1 that they might be unobserved4 ,we can see them creeping cautiously1 with beating hearts1 towards the camp1 expecting every moment to be challenged1 and possibly slain4 ,how their caution would diminish and their wonder grow1 as they passed from end to end1 and found no one6 ,there stood the horses and asses1 left behind lest their footfalls should betray the flight1 and every tent empty of men and full of spoil4 ,the lepers seem to have gone right through the camp before they ventured to begin plundering2 for the 'uttermost part' in verse #e and that in verse #h are naturally understood of its opposite extremities4 ,then1 secure against surprise1 they eat and drink as ravenously as men who had been starving so long would do4 ,twilight had deepened into darkness before hunger and greed were satisfied4 ,not till then did they awake to their duty2 and even when they bethink themselves1 it is fear of punishment1 not care for a city full of hungry men1 that moves them4 ,but their tardy awaking to duty is couched in words which carry a great truth1 especially to all who have tasted the ,bread of ,life4 ,it is 'not well' to 'hold our peace' in 'a day of good tidings4' ,if we have good news1 especially the good news1 its possession obliges us to impart it4 ,if we have tasted the graciousness of the ,lord1 we are bound to tell of the stores we have found4 ',he that withholdeth corn1 the people shall curse him4' ',of how much sorer punishment444shall he be thought worthy1' who keeps to himself the food of the world8 ,lepers were strange messengers of good1 but the message graces the bringer1 and they who tell good tidings are sure of a welcome4 ,god does not choose great men for the heralds of ,his mercy1 but the qualification is personal experience4 ,these four could only say1 ',we have seen and tasted1' but that was enough4 ,the king's caution was very natural1 and would have been quite blameless1 if ,god's promise had not been spoken the day before4 ,but that made the slowness to believe a sin4 ,feeling one's way over untried ice is prudent2 but if we have previously been told that it will bear1 it proves our distrust of him who told us4 ,the despatch of the chariots to make a reconnaissance was needless trouble4 ,but men are always apt to think that faith is but a shaky ground of certitude unless it be backed up by sense4 ,when ,god gives us ,his word to trust to1 we are wisest if we trust to it alone1 and we may save ourselves the trouble of sending out scouts to see if it is really beginning to be fulfilled4 ,elisha had no need to wait the report of the charioteers before he believed in the fulfilment of the promise1 which others had found incredible when spoken1 and too good to be true even when fulfilled4 ,let us trust ,god1 whether sense can attest the incipient accomplishment of ,his words or no4 ,,silent ,,christians ',then they said one to another1 ,we do not well2 this day is a day of good tidings1 and we hold our peace2 if we tarry till the morning light1 some mischief will come upon us2 now therefore come1 that we may go and tell the king's household4'--#b ,,kings vii4 #i4 ,the city of ,samaria was closely besieged1 and suffering all the horrors of famine4 ,women were boiling and eating their children1 and the most revolting garbage was worth its weight in silver4 ,four starving lepers1 sitting by the gate1 plucked up courage from the extremity of their distress1 and looking in each other's bloodshot eyes1 whispered one to another1 with their hoarse voices3 ',if we say we will enter into the city1 then the famine is in the city1 and we shall die there2 and if we sit still here we die also4 ,now therefore come1 and let us fall unto the host of the ,syrians2 if they save us alive we shall live2 and if they kill us we shall but die4' ,so in the twilight they stole away4 ,as they come near the camp there is a strange silence2 no guards1 no stir4 ,they creep to the first tent and find it empty2 and then another1 and another1 and another1 till at last it admits of no doubt that certainly the enemy has gone1 leaving all his baggage behind him1 ,so for awhile they feast and plunder--small blame to them6 ,and then conscience wakes1 and the same thought occurs to each of them3 ',this is not patriotic2 this is scarcely human2 it is a shame for us to be sitting here gorging ourselves whilst a city is starving within a stone's-throw4' ,so they say one to another in the words of my text4 ,now these men's consciousness of the obligation imposed upon them by the knowledge of glad news1 their self-reproach for their silence1 their conviction that retribution would fall on them if it continued1 and their resolve therefore to clear themselves1 may all be transferred to higher regions1 and may fairly illustrate ,christian responsibilities and duties4 ,i wish to say one or two very homely1 plain things about ,christian men's obligation to speech1 and the sin of their silence4 ,my remarks will have no special reference to any particular forms of ,christian activity1 but if ,i succeed in impressing on any a deeper sense of duty in reference to declaring the ,gospel than they possess1 then all forms of it will be prosecuted with greater vigour and consecration4 ,i4 ,i wish first to dwell for a moment on that--,i was going to use a plain word and say--hideous2 ,i will substitute a milder term1 and say--remarkable1 fact of ,christian silence4 ,i take this congregation as a fair average representative of the ordinary habitudes of professing ,christians of this generation4 ,how many men and women there are sitting in these pews1 who1 if ,i asked them the question1 would say that they were ,christians8 and what proportion of these1 if ,i asked them the further question1 ',did you ever tell anybody anything about ,jesus ,christ8' would say1 ',no1 never6' ,i know this1 that in regard to all the recognised and associated forms of ,christian work which cluster round a ,christian congregation1 it is the same handful of people that do them all4 ,it is just like the bits of glass in a kaleidoscope1 there are not many of them though you can shake them up into a great number of patterns1 but they are always the very same bits4 ,so ,i could go through pew after pew1 if it would not be very personal1 and find men and women1 one after another--rows of them--that1 so far as any of the united work of a church goes1 are absolutely idle4 ,they are worthy kind of people1 too1 with some real religion in them2 but yet1 partly from shyness1 partly from indolence1 partly because 7as they think7 they have so much else to do1 and for a number of other reasons that ,i do not need to dwell upon1 they fall into the great army of idlers1 and are just so much dead weight and surplusage1 as far as the work of the ,church is concerned4 ,now ,i do not mean to say that1 because professing ,christian people do not work in any recognised forms of ,christian service which are attached to a congregation1 therefore they are not doing anything4 ,god forbid6 ,there are many of you1 for instance1 mothers of families1 whose best service is to speak about ,jesus ,christ to your children1 and to live according as you speak1 and that is work enough for you4 ,there are many more of us1 who1 for various legitimate reasons1 are precluded from taking part in organised forms of ,christian service4 ,do not so fatally misunderstand me as to suppose that ,i am merely beating a drum to get recruits for societies4 ,what ,i want to impress upon every ,christian person listening to me now is simply this1 the anomaly of the fact1 if it be a fact1 that you are a dumb ,christian4 ,you can all speak1 if you will2 you all have people with whom your speech is weighty and powerful4 ,there are doors open before each of you4 ,ask yourselves1 have you gone in at the open doors8 or is it true about you that you have never felt the obligation to make your ,master known to others1 or1 at all events1 have never felt it so strongly that it compelled you to obey8 ,the strange fact of ,christian silence is one that ,i emphasise to begin with4 ,,ii4 ,let me say a word next about the sin of this silence4 ,these four poor lepers had not had much kindness dealt out to them in their lives1 and they might have been pardoned if in their moment of joy they had remained in the isolation to which they had been condemned by reason of their disease4 ,but they think to themselves of the hollow eyes in ,samaria there1 and the hideous meals1 that might stay hunger but brought no nourishment1 and of the king with sackcloth beneath his royal robes1 and1 forgetting everything but their abundance and these people's empty stomachs1 they say1 ',not thus must we do1' as the ,hebrew might be translated1 'this is a day of good tidings1 and we hold our peace2 and that is a sin4 ,and if we continue dumb1 then before morning some kind of punishment will come down upon us4' ,now1 let me put what ,i have to say on this matter into two sentences4 ,first of all1 ,i say that such silence is inhuman4 ,you would all recognise that in the case of an actual1 literal1 instead of a metaphorical1 famine4 ,what would you say about a man who contented himself with sitting in his own back room1 where nobody could see his abundance1 and feasting to the full1 whilst his fellow-citizens were dying of starvation8 ,why6 you would say he was a brute4 ,and if ,christian people believed as thoroughly that men and women without 'the ,bread of ,god which comes down from ,heaven' were starving and dying of hunger1 as they believe that men without literal bread must die1 there would not be so many dumb ones amongst them2 and they would feel more distinctly than any of us feel now1 the responsibility that is laid upon them1 and the inhumanity of the sin4 ,dear brethren6 ,god has made this strange brotherhood of humanity in which we live1 all intertwined and intertangled together1 mainly in order that there may be scope for brotherly impartation to the needy1 of the gifts that each possesses4 ,and ,he has given to each of us something or other which1 by the very terms of the gift and the purpose of the bestowment1 we are bound to impart to others4 ,the meaning of our being born into the brotherhood of humanity is that ,god's grace1 in some shape or other1 may fructify through us to all2 and ,i say that the man who possesses any kind of gift1 and1 especially1 ,god's highest gifts of wisdom and of knowledge1 and most of all1 the highest gift of spiritual knowledge and moral and religious truth1 and keeps them to himself1 in his idleness is sinfully active1 and in his selfishness is inhuman and cruel4 ,the very constitution of humanity says to us that 'we do not well1' if in the 'day of good tidings' of any sort 'we hold our peace4' ,the possession of mere physical or abstract truth does not turn its possessors into its apostles1 but the possession of moral and spiritual truth does4 ,we are1 every one of us1 responsible for all the eyes which we could have opened and which are still dark1 and for every soul that gropes in ignorance1 if we possess something that would enlighten its darkness4 ,but then1 further1 let me say that this sin of silence is in sheer contradiction of every principle of ,christianity4 ,why has ,god given you ,his grace1 do you suppose8 ,for what purpose comes it that you are ,christians8 ,were you converted that you might go by yourselves into a solitary heaven1 do you think8 ,are you important enough to be an ultimate end of ,god's mercy8 ,or are you indeed an end1 but only that in your turn you might be a means of transmitting8 ,does the electric influence terminate when it reaches you1 or is it turned on to you that from you it may be passed to others8 ,the very purpose of the existence of a ,christian ,church is counterworked and thwarted by dumb ,christians4 ,we ,nonconformists can talk abundantly when ecclesiastical assumptions have to be fought against1 about the priesthood of all believers4 ,very well1 if that principle is a true one--and it is a true one--it has other applications than simply controversial1 and is meant for other uses than simply that you should brandish it in the face of sacerdotal claims and priest-ridden churches4 ',ye are all priests1' that is to say1 the meaning of the existence of a ,christian ,church is to raise up a cloud of witnesses1 and make every lip vocal with the name of ,jesus ,christ the ,lord4 ,and you1 dear brethren1 you1 the idlers of a church and congregation1 are doing all that you can to thwart the divine purpose1 and to destroy the very meaning of the existence of the church to which you belong4 ,and let me remind you1 too1 that such silence is clearly contrary to all ,christian principle1 inasmuch as one main purpose of the ,gospel being given us is to shift our centre from ourselves1 first to ,christ1 and then1 if ,i may so say1 to others4 ,the very thing from which ,christianity is meant to deliver us is the very thing that these idle1 silent believers are indulging in1 namely1 the possession of ,god's gifts for their own profit and enjoyment4 ,what is the use of your saying that you are ,christian people if1 in your very religion1 you are practising the very vice that ,jesus ,christ has come to destroy8 ,selfishness is the opposite1 the formal contradiction1 of ,christianity1 and in the measure in which your religion is self-regarding1 it is no religion at all4 ,you are doing your best to counterwork the very main purpose of the ,gospel upon yourselves1 when in silence you possess1 or fancy that you possess1 the gift of ,his love4 ,and then1 still further1 let me remind you that this absolutely un-,christian character of silence is manifested1 if you consider that the end of the ,gospel for each of us is to bring us into full and happy sympathy with ,christ1 and likeness to ,him4 ,and how is that purpose being effected in ,his professed 'followers1' if they know nothing of the experience of looking on the world with ,christ's eyes1 or of the thrill of pity caught from ,him1 and have no sympathy with1 in the sense of any reflected experience of1 the sense of obligation to help the helpless which nailed ,him to the ,cross8 ,we say that we are followers of ,one who 'so loved the world' that ,he died for it2 we say that we long to be transformed into ,his likeness1 and yet we put away from ourselves the spirit that regards our brethren as ,he regarded us all2 and never dream of copying1 howsoever feebly in our lives and efforts1 the pattern that was set before us in ,his death4 ,o dear brethren6 'if a man see his brother have need1 and shutteth up his bowels of compassion against him1 how dwelleth the love of ,god in him8' ,and if a ,christian looks upon a world without ,christ1 and has only a tepid sympathy and a faint realisation of the misery1 and never does anything to lighten it by a grain1 how can he pretend that he takes ,jesus ,christ for his ,pattern and ,example8 ,silence is manifestly a sin by reason of its inhumanity1 and its contrariety to every principle of the ,gospel4 ,,iii4 ,now1 still further1 let me point you to the retribution on silence4 ,these four men1 no doubt1 had some superstitious idea that mischief might come to them in the darkness4 ,but they expressed a truth when they said1 ',if we be silent1 some evil'--or1 as the word might be translated1 'some punishment will find us4' ,i desire to lay this on your hearts1 dear brethren1 that like all other selfish things1 the silence of the ,christian does him harm instead of good4 ,for instance1 if you want to learn anything1 set yourself to teach it4 ,in trying to spread the name of ,jesus ,christ by your own personal effort1 you will get a firmer hold of the truths that you attempt to impress upon others4 ,i do not know any better cure for a great deal of unwholesome and superfluous speculation than to go into the slums and see what it is that tells there4 ,that is a test of what is central and what is surface1 in ,christianity4 ,i do not know any better discipline for a man whose religion is suffering from too much leisure and curiosity than to take a course of evangelistic work4 ,he will find out then where the power is1 and a great many cobwebs will be blown away4 ,be sure of this1 that convictions unspoken1 like plants grown in a cellar1 will get very white in the stems1 and will bear no fruit4 ,be sure of this1 that a religion which is dumb will very soon tend to lose its possession of the truth1 and that if you carry that great gift hid away in your heart it will be like locking up some singing-bird in a box4 ,when you come to open it1 the bird will be dead4 ,there are1 ,i have no doubt1 many whom ,i am now addressing whose religion has all but1 if not entirely1 ebbed away from them1 mainly because they have all their days been dumb ,christians4 ,that is one part of the punishment4 ,and another part is that silence is avenged by the dying out of the sympathies which inspire speech4 ,it is the punishment of the selfish man that he becomes more selfish4 ,it is the punishment of the heart1 which never expands in sympathy1 that its walls shrivel and contract1 until there is scarcely blood enough between them to be impelled through the veins4 ,feelings which it is joy and nobleness to possess are nurtured and strengthened by expression2 and the silent ,christian is punished by becoming at last utterly indifferent to the woes of the world and to the spread of the ,gospel4 ,i think ,i could lay my finger1 if ,i dared1 on some of my audience who have got perilously near to that point4 ,and then again let me remind you that there is another form of the punishment1 and that is the loss of all the blessed experience of the reaper's joy2 and let me point you in a sentence to the final time of retribution4 ,there shall stand in that last day1 as ,scripture teaches us1 humble workers before the ,throne who will say1 ',behold6 ,i1 and the children whom ,thou hast given me4' ,and there will stand some before the ,throne1 solitary2 and ,i wonder if they will not feel lonely when they go into heaven1 and find not a soul there to look them in the eyes and say1 ',thou didst lead me to the ,christ1 and ,i am here to welcome thee4' ',he that soweth and he that reapeth shall rejoice together4' ,do you not think that then there will steal a shadow of shame across the spirit of the servant who stood idle in the market-place all the day with the wretched excuse1 ',no man hath hired me1' when the ,master had hired him beforehand1 and given him such wages in advance8 ,o dear brethren6 the cure for silence is to keep near that ,master1 and to drink in ,his ,spirit2 and then1 as ,i beseech you to do1 think1 think1 think of your obligations in the light of the ,cross until you can say1 ',unto me1 who am less than the least of all saints is this grace given1' not this burden imposed1 'that ,i1 even ,i1 should preach' the ,name that is above every name4 ',open ,thou my lips1 and my mouth shall shew forth ,thy praise4'