David's wars But you could live on your father's promise;' and how unwilling I am to live on the words of promise which my Father in heaven gives! He whose word cannot be broken, whose promise cannot fail! Then came to mind the sweet words of Dr. Hamilton, written many years ago: One single promise of Jesus Christ accredited in the heart, unites the soul to God. The graft has taken, and the soul abides as a branch in the vine.'" CHAPTER THE EIGHTEENTH. 1-8. (1) smote, etc., 2 Sa. viii. 1. Gath,a Jos. xi. 22. her Porter indenti- towns, surrounding and dependent villages. Lit. her daughters. ies with the (2) Moab, 2 Sa. viii. 2. (3) Hadarezer, 2 Sa. viii. 3. (4) conspicuous hill houghed, cut the sinews of the ham. (5) Syrians, etc., called Tell-es-2 Sa. viii. 5. (6) gifts, or tribute. (7) shields of gold, Safieh. Thomson identi-plated with gold. (8) Tibhath and Chun, comp. Beta and fles with Eleu- Berothai of 2 Sa. viii. 8, prob. other names of the same towns. theropolis, now Note on the word hough (v. 4).—" He houghed (i.e. cut the Beit Jibrin. Hough, A. S. houghs of) their horses" (2 Sa. viii. 4; 1 Ch. xviii. 4). Anglohoh, ho, the heel, Saxon, hoh. "Hough" is the back of the knee; "hock," the the hough: joint of a horse's leg, from the knee to the fetlock (Wedgwood). the lower part of Hox" is used by Shakespeare for to "hamstring,” and so it is now in Sussex; also to cut the sinew of a rabbit's leg and put the other foot through in order to hang it up. See also Jos. xi. 9. or the thigh; the ham; the joint of the hind leg of a beast connecting the thigh and leg."-Lib. Dict. Tou sends tribute; Edom subdued a"Abishai was the principal in 9—13. (9) Tou, the Toi of 2 Sa. viii. 9. (10) Hadoram, or Joram. (11) dedicated, as materials for the proposed temple. (12) Abishai,a the honour of this is ascribed to Dav., 2 Sa. viii. 13. Edomites, called the Syrians in the Bk. of Sam. (13) garrisons, to keep the country in subjection. Eastern manners (vv. 9, 10).—Here, again, we have a beautiful and simple picture of Eastern manners. Tou, the heathen king, strument in the sent a messenger to compliment David on his success over his conquest of Edom; it was, enemies. Who, in the East, has not witnessed similar things! however, as- Has a man gained a case in a court of law; has he been blessed cribed to Joab, as generalissimo by the birth of a son; has he given his daughter in marriage; of the forces (1 has he gained a situation under government; has he returned Ki. xi. 15, 16), from a voyage or a journey, or finished a successful speculation; and to David as then his friends and neighbours send messengers to congratulate the king under whose auspices him-to express the joy they feel in his prosperity; "so much so the war was car- that, had it come to themselves, their pleasure could not have been greater." b ried on. 14-17. (14) executed, both gave sentences and had power to inflict the punishments; or giving judgment may be put, as the king's chief duty, for the whole of his work of ruling. (15) the host, or army. recorder, or chronicler, historian. (16) Abimelech, or Ahimelech.a Shavsha, or Seraiah. (17) chief, heads, or princes; chief officers in the palace. Belief in the superintendence of God.-When any one acknowledges a moral governor of the world; perceives that domestic and social relations are perpetually operating, and seem intended to operate, to retain and direct men in the path of duty; and feels that the voice of conscience, the peace of heart which results from a course of virtue, and the consolations of devotion, B.C. 1040. "The English tue."-Goldsmith. "When the state is most corrupt, then the laws are ever ready to assume their office, as our guides and aids in the conduct of all our actions; he will probably be willing to acknowledge also that the means of a moral government of each laws punish individual are not wanting and will no longer be oppressed or vice; the Chinese disturbed by the apprehension that the superintendence of the laws do more, world may be too difficult for its Ruler, and that any of His they reward virsubjects and servants may be overlooked. He will no more fear that the moral than that the physical laws of God's creation should be forgotten in any particular case; and as he knows that every sparrow which falls to the ground contains in its are most multistructure innumerable marks of the Divine care and kindness, plied.”—Tacitus. he will be persuaded that every man, however apparently humble and insignificant, will have his moral being dealt with according to the laws of God's wisdom and love; will be enlightened, supported, and raised, if he use the appointed means which God's administration of the world of moral light and good offers to his use.c CHAPTER THE NINETEENTH. c Whewell. B.C. cir. 1037. messengers Jewish 1-5. (1) after this, the precise chronological order of David's these events as given in the Chronicles should not be assumed. to Ammon Nahash, 1 Sa. xi. 1; 2 Sa. x. 1. (2) shewed kindness, a this ill-treated was prob. during Dav.'s exile, Nahash being an enemy of Saul's. comfort him, he sent ambassadors with messages of condolence. a "A (3) to search, etc., as spies, to prepare the way for the seizure of the country. (4) shaved, partly, comp. 2 Sa. x. 4. buttocks, "the rump, or protuberant part of the body behind."a (5) at Jericho, selected as being a border city. tradition relates that on the slaughter of Dav.'s family by the neighbouring the one of his king of Moah, brothers who Homiletic hints.-Gratitude not absorbed by death (v. 2). Kind and seasonable expressions of sympathy (v. 2). Ungenerous suspicions, betrayals of character (v. 3). disgracefully recompensed (v. 4). Thoughtful consideration for shelter with Nathe respect of others (v. 5). Intended kindnesses escaped found hash."-Stanley. 6 Illus, by knowledge gained by German officers of the French territory prior to the Franco-German war. in Bearding a bishop.-Guillaume Duprat, Bishop of Clermont, who assisted at the Council of Trent, and built the college of the Jesuits at Paris, was remarkable for the fineness of his beard. It was, indeed, deemed too good a beard for a bishop; and the canons of his cathedral, in full chapter assembled, came to the barbarous resolution of shaving him. Accordingly, when he next came to the choir, the dean, the prevot, and the chantre, c "It is very difapproached, with scissors and razors, soap basin, and warm ficult for us to water. At sight of these implements the bishop took to his realise the heels, and escaped to his castle of Beauregard, about two leagues tion of, and reappreciafrom Clermont, where he fell ill from vexation, and died. During spect for, the his sickness he made a vow never to set foot in Clermont, where beard wh. is enthey had offered him so villanous an insult; and to be revenged the Persians, tertained among he exchanged his bishopric with Cardinal Salviati, nephew of Arabians, and Pope Leo X., who was so young that he had not a hair upon his chin. Duprat, however, repented of the exchange before his death, and wrote a letter to Salviati on the subject, in which he quoted these lines of Martial : Sed tu nec propera, brevibus nec crede capillis, tense other nations. bearded d Lib. Dict. e Jos. v. 10, 13, vi. 1, etc. The power of kindness.-I remember once a valued friend of Percy Anec. B.C. cir. 1037. "There was an mine, a barrister, now passed away, who spent his Sundays in visiting a hospital. He told me that on one occasion he sat "Sweet as refreshing dews or down by the bedside of one of the very poorest, the most summer showers ignorant, and, without using the word in any offensive manner, to the long one of the very lowest men he had ever seen in his life—a man parching thirst of drooping Whose English, had it been taken down, would have been the flowers; grateful most complete and perfect dislocation of the Queen's English as fanning gales that he ever heard. No word seemed to be in its right place. It to fainting seemed as if that which should have been a jointed and verteswains; and soft as trickling balm brated sentence had been separated at every joint, and thrown to bleeding pains, together anyhow. My friend was a man of the most tender are thy kind spirit a man whose tender spirit radiated from one of the words."-Gay. most striking faces I ever saw; and I can well understand how he looked when he sat down by that poor man's bed. He began officer in the city first, as all should who visit the sick, to break ground on temof Rome who poral matters, to sympathise with them on that which they can was appointed understand so well-their bodily sufferings-to show that we always open, in are not indifferent to what they are suffering as men; and then order to receive after speaking a few kind words, he was proceeding to say someany Roman citi-thing further for his Master, whom he so dearly loved, when he zen who applied to him for help. saw the man's face begin to work convulsively. The muscles Just so the ear quivered, and at last, lifting up the sheet, and drawing down his of the Lord Jesus head, he threw the sheet over his face, burst into a violent flood is ever open to of tears and sobbed aloud. My friend wisely waited till this the cry of all who want grace storm of grief was passed, and then the poor fellow emerged from under the clothes, his face bearing the traces of tears that had flowed down it. When he was able to speak, my friend asked him-"What is it that has so touched you? I hope that I have not said anything that was painful to you. What can have moved you so much?" And as well as the man could sob out, he sobbed out these words: "Sir, you are the first man that ever spoke a kind word to me since I was born, and I can't stand it." to have his doors and mercy." Ryle. g Champneys. Ammon hires Syria to war with David a "One universal feeling of indig b 6-9. (6)`odious,a lit. to stink. thousand, etc., supposed to equal some £342,100. The narrative in Samuel does not give the price paid. Mesopotamia, Heb. Aram-naharaim: Syria of the two rivers. (7) hired.. chariots, the number given here is beyond usual proportions. Poss. the term equals cavalry, nation was comp. 2 Sa. x. 6. Medeba, mod. Mâdeba, near Heshbon. roused through- Nu. xxi. 30; Jos. xiii. 16. (8) sent Joab, to relieve the city. out Israel, and This was the object of the first campaign. (9) in array, ported the king 2 Sa. x. 9. in the field, so hemming Joab in. The kings in his determina- mentioned here are the Syrian allies. all classes sup on tion to avenge One false step leads on another.-I. Here is a war, like many this unprovoked insult the others, commenced by the evil-doer. II. Here is a war that Heb. nation."- might have been avoided by an ample and honourable apology. III. Here is a war that ended disastrously for the ill-doers. Jamieson. XXV. 6. b For practice of Warriors (v. 7, comp. with 1 Sam. x. 6).-In the first text the hiring merce- children of Ammon are said to have hired 32,000 chariots, which nary troops, see seems an incredible number. However, the original is a collective 1 Ki. xv. 18; 2 Ki. vii. 6; 2 Chr. noun, meaning cavalry or riders. Then the meaning is, they hired 32,000 auxiliaries, who usually were mounted on chariots or horses, but who sometimes fought on foot, which makes it beth agree with the latter text, in which the Syrian auxiliaries are stated to amount exactly to 32,000, besides 1,000 whom they hired of the king of Maachah, and who very likely were footmen.-Treatment of offences.-David was deaf to the railing c Aram Rehob, 2 Sa. x. 6. d Ex. xiv. 71 Ki. x. 26; 2 Chr. xii, 3, xiv. 9. B.C. cir. 1037. "That king shall best govern his realm, that reigneth over his people as a father children."- Agesilaus. doth over his of his enemies, and as a dumb man, in whose mouth were no but principles. 10—15. (10) choice, etc., as a skilful general Joab decided Joab defeats in wh. direction would be the chief stress of battle, and made Ammon due provision for it. (11) Abishai, 2 Sa. ii. 18.a (12) Syrians, and Syria these mercenary troops, who were well armed, warlike, and fresh for the battle. (13) be of good courage, this inspiring a 1 Chr. xviii. 12. address indicates the faith and piety of the commander. (14) "Not parties, drew nigh, prob. getting the advantage of attack. (15) children of Ammon, outside the walls of Medeba. The Christian call to arms (v. 13).-I. The enemies by which the peace and prosperity of our homes are threatened. 1. Ungodly pleasures; 2. Injudicious reading; 3. Sinful fashions 4. Worldly conformity. II. The spirit in which these enemies are to be met. 1. Exalted courage; 2. Self-denying patriotism; 3. Humble reliance upon God. Let us be of no party but God's party, and use all other agencies as we use railroad ; cars, travelling upon one train as far as it will take us in the right direction, and then leaving it for another." Beecher. "The noblest is the public good."Virgil. b Sir W. Scott. "As to public offences, they are to be reproved as Need of our common brotherhood.-The race of mankind would perish, did they cease to aid each other. From the time that the mother binds the child's head, till the moment that some kind assistant wipes the death-damp from the brow of the dying, we cannot exist without mutual help. All, therefore, that need aid, have a right to ask it from their fellow-mortals; no one who motive holds the power of granting, can refuse it without guilt.Roman charioteers.-Both horse and chariot races, but especially the latter, were favourite diversions among the Romans; and in order that they might enjoy them at their ease, there was an enclosed course immediately adjoining the city, called the Circus, although, in point of fact, its form was oval. It was rather more than a mile in circumference; was surrounded with seats in the form of an amphitheatre, with three tiers of galleries; and was public as the ofcalculated to contain 150,000, or, as some suppose, more than fence was com250,000 spectators. In the centre there was a wall twelve feet in mitted, that is, in breadth and four in height, round which the race was performed; those who witthe presence of and at one end there stood a triumphal arch, through which the nessed the obsuccessful charioteer drove, amid the plaudits of the assembly. noxious act, and The horses were restrained by a chain across the course, until the at the time when and in the place signal was given for starting. The race was generally either where it was decided in one heat or five, or sometimes seven times round committed; with the course, which was a distance of four English miles. Four this salvo, howchariots usually started together, the drivers of which were it is impossible, distinguished by dresses of different colours, each of which had from the nature its partisans, who betted largely on their favourite; for it was of the case, to neither the charioteer nor his horses that interested them, but the colour which they adopted; and so far was this carried, that the ever, that where rebuke the act on the spot, or where the offence B.C. cir. 1037. is of a flagrant nature, and an injury to society at large, it must G. be done in some c Percy Anec. the Syrians people were actually divided into parties; who espoused the pretensions of the different liveries with such warmth, that all Rome was at one time agitated with the disputes of the green and red factions. The chariots, as they are usually called, were nothing more than uncovered two-wheeled cars, high and circular in front, and open behind. They were usually drawn by three or four horses abreast, which the driver guided in a standing position, with the reins round his body. This practice caused many accidents, for the course being narrow, the turnings sharp, and frequent, and both crossing and jostling allowed, the carriages were often overturned.c 16–19. (16) beyond the river, the Euphrates. Shophach, 2 Sa. x. 16. (17) upon them, comp. 2 Sa. x. 17: came to Helam. This is the better reading, but the place Helam is unknown. (18) slew, etc., for the numbers comp. the more prob. account "Every misery in 2 Sa. x. 18.a (19) servants, or tributaries. that I miss is a the text in one of the books is corrupt (Keil, Davidson), or the accounts must be The defeat and humiliation of the helpers of the wicked (v. 19).— I. The facts of the history before us. 1. The Ammonites levied an unjust war against David; 2. The Syrians, envious of David's prosperity, aided the children of Ammon; 3. They were ignominiously defeated, forced to sue for peace, and became subject to David. II. The lessons of which these facts remind us. combined (Ken- 1. Man is a rebel against the great King; 2. He calls to his aid nicott, Houbigant, science, art, music, etc.; 3. The great King will conquer, and Calmet)." render the aids of rebellion His helpers in extending the glories of His government. mieson. Ja "Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge." Shakespeare. b Milton. B.C. cir. 1035. conquest of Ammon the name Phila Weakness of wickedness.— If weakness may excuse, CHAPTER THE TWENTIETH. 1-3. (1) 'kings go out, see 2 Sa. xi. 1. wasted, or ravaged, destroying the dwellings and growing and stored crops. Rabbah,a 2 Sa. xi. 1. (2) took the crown, 2 Sa. xii. 30. (3) cut them, etc., 2 Sa. xii. 31. This cruel treatment it is a "The metro-impossible for us to approve. polis of Ammon, De. iii. 11: Jos. An incorruptible crown.-A French officer who was a prisoner xiii. 25. In later upon his parol at Reading met with a Bible: he read it, and times it received was so impressed with its contents, that he was convinced of the delphia fr. Pto- folly of sceptical principles and of the truth of Christianity, and lemy Philadel- resolved to become a Protestant. When his gay associates rallied phus; by this him for taking so serious a turn, he said in his vindication, "I name it is known have done no more than my old school-fellow Bernadotte, who in Josephus. Called Ammân has become a Lutheran." "Yes; but he became so," said his now. There are associates," to obtain a crown.' My motive," said the Christian extensive ruins officer "is the same; we only differ as to the place. The object in an elevated valley on of Bernadotte is to obtain a crown in Sweden: mine is to obtain banks of the a crown in heaven."-Estimating a crown.-Inside those iron Moiet gratings that protect the ancient regalia of our kingdom, vulgar short curiosity sees nothing but a display of jewels. Its stupid eyes course, flows are dazzled by the gems that stud the crown and the sceptre. Stream the Ammân, which, after а |