And Joab said unto him, Thou shalt not bear tidings this day, but thou shalt bear tidings another day : but this day thou shalt bear no tidings, because the king's son is dead.

Then said Joab to Cushi,* Go tell the king what thou hast seen. And Cushi bowed himself unto Joab, and ran.

Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok yet again to Joab, But howsoever,

let me, I pray thee, also run after Cushi. And Joab said, Wherefore wilt

thou run, my son, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready?

But howsoever, said he, let me run.

And he said unto him, Run. Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and overran Cushi.

COMMENT. The battle between David's loyal subjects and Absalom's party took place near Mahanaim, in a place called the wood of Ephraim, probably from the slaughter Jephthah had there made of the Ephraimites when they interfered with his judgeship (Lesson XXXVII.) God was with David, and indeed there could be little doubt which way the victory would lie when on one side were the mighty men trained and proved in many a battle, and led by three experienced generals, and on the other the hasty levies of a proud, hot-headed youth. "The region where the battle was fought is still covered with such forests, with thick oaks and tangled bushes and thorny creepers growing over rugged rocks and ruinous precipices, down which the rebel army plunged in wild dismay, horses and men crushing each other in remediless ruin. Thus 20,000 men perished in that fatal wood, which 'devoured more people that day than the sword devoured."" "The strong arms of the trees spread out so near the ground that one cannot walk erect beneath them; and on a frightened mule, such a head of hair as the vain and wicked son polled every year would certainly become inextricably entangled." The Jewish historian Josephus says it was the king's own mule on which Absalom was riding, as another insult to his father. He had been met in his flight by several of David's servants, who would not strike him because of that earnest command of his father; but the curse upon every one that hangeth upon a tree was brought on him by God's own decree, through the hair he had nourished in vanity or in hypocrisy. His hair seems to have been caught, and his neck and head wedged into the branch, so that he was helpless when the mule went from under him. The man who first saw him in this plight told Joab. The fierce,

* An Ethiopian.

hard-tempered captain of the host, to whom Absalom had shown wanton ingratitude, and who deemed it far best for his uncle that the rebel should not be brought to his fatherly forgiveness, blamed the man for not having killed him at once; and finding that the king's charge prevented him, went himself, and thrust three darts with his own hand through his cousin's heart as he hung powerless. The body was taken down, thrown into a pit, and every man threw a stone on it, after the Eastern way of expressing abhorrence. Such was Absalom's real memorial instead of the pillar he had raised for himself. However, Joab was anxious about the manner in which David should hear the tidings, and no doubt hoping that he would think Absalom had perished by chance in the fight, he tried to detain the eager, swift-footed young priest Ahimaaz, and entrusted the message to Cushi, a black slave, whom he trusted to tell the story in a more courtly manner.

LESSON CXV.

DAVID'S MOURNING.

B.C. 1023.-2 SAM. xviii. 24-xix. 8.

And David sat between the two gates: and the watchman went up to the roof over the gate unto the wall, and lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold a man running alone.

And the watchman cried, and told the king. And the king said, If he be alone, there is tidings in his mouth. And he came apace, and drew

near.

:

And the watchman saw another man running and the watchman called unto the porter, and said, Behold another man running alone. And the king said, He also bringeth tidings.

And the watchman said, Me thinketh the the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok. good man, and cometh with good tidings.

running of the foremost is like And the king said, He is a

And Ahimaaz called, and said unto the king, All is well. And he fell down to the earth upon his face before the king, and said, Blessed be the LORD thy God, which hath delivered up the men that lifted up their hand against my lord the king.

And the king said, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Ahimaaz answered, When Joab sent the king's servant, and me thy servant, I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what it was.

And the king said unto him, Turn aside, and stand here. And he turned aside, and stood still.

And, behold, Cushi came; and Cushi said, Tidings, my lord the king: for the LORD hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee.

And the king said unto Cushi, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise up against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is.

And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son !

And it was told Joab, Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth for Absalom.

And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people : for the people heard say that day how the king was grieved for his son. And the people gat them by stealth that day into the city, as people being ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.

But the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son !

And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, which this day have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons, and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives,

In that thou lovest thine enemies, and hatest thy friends. For thou hast declared this day, that thou regardest neither princes nor servants: for this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well.

Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably unto thy servants : for I swear by the LORD, if thou go not forth, there will not tarry one with thee this night and that will be worse unto thee than all the evil that befell thee from thy youth until now.

Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the people, saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the gate. And all the people came before the king: for Israel had fled every man to his tent.

COMMENT.-Here we have the scene before us perfectly described -the grey-headed king sitting sad and anxious beneath the deep gateway, heeding his own state far less than that of the rebellious son who has driven him forth; the watchman on the wall above; the shout proclaiming that a solitary figure is running across the plain; then another in the further distance; then that it is the running of young Ahimaaz. Then the young priest reaches the gate, with a shout "All is well," and falls down in reverence before the king with

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the good tidings of the victory. But David scarce heeds in his anxiety for his son. Ahimaaz's heart fails him; he cannot tell the father, and he makes an evasive answer. The black man comes with his tidings of the victory, and to the repeated inquiry answers with abject forms of respect, but conveys the fact in the words, "May all the king's enemies be as that young man." Then all the king's firmness gives way; with all his depth and warmth of heart he breaks into the lament, "O my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!" and, unable to face the returning army, he staggers up the steps to the chamber over the gateway, and, lying flat on the ground, still his cry, O Absalom, my son, my son ! " rings out in agony of grief, not like that for the innocent babe whom he hopes to meet again, but for one cut off in his sins, without one word to seek pardon from his father or his God! The sobs and moans and the bitter cry are a sad welcome for the warriors who have won the battle; every one feels himself reproached by it, and they steal into Mahanaim like men after a defeat instead of a victory. Then Joab, always rough and domineering towards the finer, tenderer spirit he cannot understand and half despises, strides up to that chamber of sorrow, and harshly rouses his uncle with fierce reproaches for his grief for the rebel and ingratitude to his friends, threatening that if he do not exert himself to thank his faithful soldiers, every one would desert him before night. Then the broken-hearted father, awakened by these words, unkind as they are, to a sense of his office as king, and rising up, forces back his tears, commands his countenance, and seats himself once more at the gateway, to give his warriors the thanks and praise they look for from the glorious old king they have fought for.

Every character is as distinct and clear before us as if all had happened yesterday. And is there any exhortation, any pleading that can so show a son or daughter the pain and grief they can inflict, as that piteous cry, "O Absalom, my son! my son !"

LESSON CXVI.

DAVID'S RESTORATION.

B.C. 1023.-2 SAM. xix. 9-30.

And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, The king saved us out of the hand of our enemies, and he delivered us out of the hand of the Philistines; and now he is fled out of the land for Absalom.

And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why speak ye not a word of bringing the king back?

And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak unto the elders of Judah, saying, Why are ye the last to bring the king back to his house? seeing the speech of all Israel is come to the king, even to his house.

Ye are my brethren, ye are my bones and my flesh wherefore then are ye the last to bring back the king?

And say ye to Amasa, Art thou not of my bone, and of my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if thou be not captain of the host before me continually in the room of Joab.

And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man; so that they sent this word unto the king, Return thou, and all thy servants.

So the king returned, and came to Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to conduct the king over Jordan.

And Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite, which was of Bahurim, hasted and came down with the men of Judah to meet king David.

And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him, and they went over Jordan before the king.

And there went over a ferry boat to carry over the king's household, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, as he was come over Jordan ;

And said unto the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity unto me, neither do thou remember that which thy servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart.

For thy servant doth know that I have sinned: therefore, behold, I am come the first this day of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.

But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the LORD'S anointed?

And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries unto me? shall there any man be put to