was this indolence that first led David into that temptation into which he fell, dimming the glory that had hitherto been so bright, and changing the whole tenor of his life. There was one error into which Saul had apparently not fallen, yet which led David astray. Eastern monarchs, even in the days of Abraham, had regarded it as their privilege to collect in their harems all the fair women who pleased their taste; but this custom of multiplying wives had been forbidden to the future king of Israel (Deut. xvii. 17). Saul does not appear to have done so, since he certainly had only four sons besides those two of Rizpah, whom he probably took in his later years after the death of the wife of his youth.

But David, when deserted by Michal, had begun by multiplying wives. He had two before his reign at Hebron, and to these he had added four more during the seven years at Hebron, one of whom was the daughter of the petty king of Geshur-very possibly accepted to cement an alliance; but this disobedience had begun to taint his mind, and break down the barriers that guard against temptation. While lingering in his palace, instead of fighting the battles of the Lord, he arose from his midday sleep on a couch spread on the flat roof of his house, and gazed down into the courts and gardens of the city below. By that look he made another step in evil. He did not turn his eyes from the beautiful woman he saw bathing in the garden, and thus he fell into the sin of coveting his neighbour's wife, the first step to the actual taking her, and thus breaking the seventh commandment. She was one whom he was doubly bound to respect, as her husband and father were both among his thirty mighty men, and were absent, enduring hardships as good soldiers before the walls of Rabbah. Uriah was a Hittite by descent, but had heartily joined himself to the people of the Lord, and was a man of peculiar honour and faithfulness. Yet David, when yielded up as it were to the power of evil, did not scruple to send private letters to Joab, bidding him cause this brave man to be deserted in the midst of the enemy. Probably he was only thinking how "kings like those of the nations" would have seized the wife, and openly slain the husband without letting him die a soldier's death. An evil spirit had seized him, and the deadly secret he shared with Joab did not grieve him. He went on outwardly the same pious and just sovereign as ever, only another wife was added

to his harem, another son to the already numerous troop with various mothers, and he never bethought him of the stain on his hitherto spotless fame, nor of the two broken commandments. "The thing that David had done displeased the Lord," and as yet he knew it not.

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LESSON CII.

NATHAN'S REBUKE TO DAVID.

B.C. 1033.-2 SAM. xii. 1—15.

And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.

The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds :

But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.

And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring* man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.

And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:

And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.

And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;

And I gave thee thy master's house, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.

Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour.

Travelling.

+ There should be continual bloodshed in his family.

For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.

And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

And Nathan departed unto his house.

COMMENT.-Temptation befalls all; sin ensnares many, but there is no one whom God leaves to go on in sin without warning. The turning point is how that warning is received. So the prophet Nathan was sent to David, and came before him as if bringing to his notice a case of cruel oppression from a rich man to a poor one. It was a tale to touch the heart of the king, who had begun life as a shepherd boy, and had felt the love for the little ewe lamb here so touchingly described. Nay, it would rouse in him the high, pure, generous feelings that had been his when he fought with the lion and bear to rescue his lamb. David heard with hot indignation of the cruel loss of the poor man, and broke forth with his sentence of death to the oppressor, and of fourfold compensation to the sufferer. He little expected the fearless answer, "Thou art the man!" He had uttered his own sentence. Bathsheba was the one ewe lamb; Uriah was the poor man; David himself was the oppressor, and he could never restore the lamb fourfold, for he had slain Uriah with the sword of the children of Ammon. The secret that he thought lay between him and Joab was proclaimed before him by the prophet. Even as Samuel had begun his message to Saul with reminding him that God had anointed him, so Nathan reminds David in each case, to show him that he was God's appointed servant, answerable to Him, and therefore under His sentence, which Nathan proceeded to deliver, that the sword should never depart from his house, and that evil should rise up from among his own family-the bold, violent, haughty sons, who were growing up round him, half-brothers only, jealous, and aiming at the throne.

But it was not the fear of a terrible death in a home war by his children's hands that overcame David; nor was it anger against the man who spake truth to him and threatened him. It was the sudden sense of his own guilt.

made no excuses, like Saul; he

uttered no word of entreaty to be spared the punishment. He simply said, "I have sinned against the Lord." The Lord whom he loved so much, who had given him such blessings for the present, such promises for the future! His commandments had been transgressed! That was enough for David. He could think of nothing but that displeasure!

God saw his entire repentance, and moved Nathan to answer: "The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die." As in the 32nd Psalm

"I said, I will confess my sins unto the LORD,
And so thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin."

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David's earthly life was forfeit as a murderer, in fact, and in the sight of God his soul's life had been in the utmost jeopardy; but his sin was put away, blotted out beforehand by that same Blood that blots out ours if our repentance be only as true and deep, and if, like him, we will confess our sins unto the Lord. Therefore he should not die eternally, nor should his own blood be shed in requital for Uriah's ; but as he had given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme," the life of the babe newly born to him of the beautiful Bathsheba should be taken instead of his own. Nor was the earlier part of the sentence removed. Evil was still to arise against him out of his own family; and though his line should never be entirely destroyed, there should always be bloodshed and violence among them. Truly he had given occasion to wicked men to blaspheme. The falls of the good delight the enemies of God, who cry out that these men are no better than themselves; and even down to our own day this sin of David's is lightly talked of, and gives occasion for blasphemy! Yet his contrition is one of the most blessed examples in the whole Scripture, and has been and still is the means of the most constant benefit to the Church and to every repenting sinner. For it is the truest and sweetest of repentance, accepting the punishment, and grieving solely for the offence to God.

Penitence that loves the hand that chastises, as did David and Moses, is the true and worthy penitence. How different from Cain or from Saul!

LESSON CIII.*

DAVID'S PRAYER OF CONTRITION.

B.C. 1033.-PSALM li.

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness: According unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity,

And cleanse me from my sin.

For I acknowledge my transgressions:

And my sin is ever before me.

Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in

thy sight:

That thou mightest be justified when thou speakest,

And be clear when thou judgest.

Behold, I was shapen in iniquity;

And in sin did my mother conceive me.

Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts:

And in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean :

Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Make me to hear joy and gladness;

That the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

Hide thy face from my sins,

And blot out all mine iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God;
And renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from thy presence;
And take not thy holy Spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation,
And uphold me with thy free spirit.

Then will I teach transgressors thy ways;

And sinners shall be converted unto thee.

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: And my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

O LORD, open thou my lips;

And my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it :

Thou delightest not in burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit:

A broken and a contrite † heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

*Not for the younger ones.

↑ Worn down with grief.