It was

quench, the loyalty to friendship, the generous affection and constancy of his nature. And what was that within him which kept these human qualities from passing away with youth? his love of God, his grief for displeasing Him, his perfect trust and submission; these kept him fresh and tender-unspoiled, unhardened-recovering always after every fall. These qualities, with inspiration shining through them, make David's prayers and praises the prayers and praises of us all.

It was David who instituted the singing of psalms as a constant portion of the daily worship of God. Courses of musician Levites took it in turn to be present before the Ark, and to keep up the chant of praise, for which purpose David delivered to them the first Book of Psalms, namely, the first forty, every one of which is his own. He had composed many others, such as the 51st and 69th, but most of them were so deeply connected with his own life and troubles, that he appears not to have placed them in this public hymn-book, nor given them to Asaph and Jeduthun. Of these psalms only a few have been given here which immediately connect themselves with his history; but in them and in the others we find that great steps had been made in the revelation of the Messiah. Besides the lamentations, that have a double meaning and go far beyond David's own woes, such as the 22nd Psalm, where he evidently feels that he is speaking with the voice of a greater sufferer, there are promises of the kingdom and the glory, going far beyond what he could hope for Solomon: and there are distinctly prophetic psalms, such as the 2nd, the 16th, and 110th, showing our Lord's suffering, His resurrection, and His everlasting priesthood; and we know, through our Lord Himself, that it was in spirit, that is, by the voice of the Holy Spirit, that David thus prophesied (Matt. xxii. 42). And there was another certainty now established, namely, that the Messiah would be an everlasting King and Priest, and would spring from David's line, being his Lord as well as his Son.

The last inspired words of David are given in Samuel, though not in the Psalms. They follow the long, beautiful 18th Psalm, on the history of his life, and are a sort of seal to all his prophecies. He signs them, as it were, in this short poem, giving his own name first, then speaking of himself as God's anointed king, and the

Psalmist who had ordered the Temple service; but it is not he who speaks, he declares, but the Spirit of God-God the Holy Ghost, by whom holy men of old spake (2 Peter i. 21). Indeed, David is here moved to use words that own the Three Holy Persons of the Godhead—the Spirit of the Lord, the God of Israel, the Rock of Israel. First he seems to have a vision of a perfect ruler of men, who, he says, must be just, and if so becomes like a glorious cloudless morning, and, like tender grass, ever refreshed by the dew of God's grace, never parched, never exhausted, always blessed.

But the inner meaning is, that David sees the true King who should rise out of his house, perfectly just, bringing morning to the earth when He should arise on it like the sun shining on the new creation, fresh and revivified by the dew of the Holy Spirit: "The dew of Thy birth is of the womb of the morning" (Psalm cx. 3). That promise was the everlasting covenant of salvation to David, and all his desire, which the Lord would assuredly make to grow. And he ends with a vision of judgment. Worthless men are as thorns, that no one gathers like the good corn, but can only be touched by hands fenced in iron and armed with weapons; and then they are only to be gathered in bundles and burned in the fire.

LESSON CXXIV.

THE REBELLION OF ADONIJAH.

I KINGS i. 32-53.

B.C. 1015.-One more disturbance vexed the last days of David. It is not quite clear whether it took place before or after his great reception of the gifts of the Israelites for the Temple, for it is related only in the First Book of Kings, while the thanksgiving anthem is only in that of Chronicles. We have placed it later because it joins rather with the history of Solomon than of his father. David had become very aged and feeble, and was confined to his chamber, when Adonijah, the eldest survivor of his sons, set

up his claim to the throne. His mother was named Haggith, one of the Hebrew wives; and he was as handsome and ambitious as Absalom. Unwilling to submit to the decree, divine though it was, which set a mere lad before him, he took advantage of his father's age and Solomon's youth to draw together a party of whom the chief were foab, to whom the appointment of the man of peace was doubtless unwelcome, and Abiathar, the High Priest, who seems to have been jealous of Zadok, the head of the elder line of Aaron. With these, and all the men whom they could bring together, he went out to En-rogel, the fountain where the two young priests had once been hidden, and which seems to have belonged to a garden palace beyond the walls. Here Adonijah made a great feast, to which he called all his brothers except Solomon, and many of the mighty men. Tidings were brought to David in his sick chamber, first by Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, and then by Nathan the prophet, and his resolution was taken as vigorously as ever.

And king David said, Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king.

The king also said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon :

And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon.

Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead: and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.

And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, Amen : the LORD God of my lord the king say so too.

As the LORD hath been with my lord the king, even so be he with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king David.

So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, went down, and caused Solomon to ride upon king David's mule, and brought him to Gihon.

And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon.

And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.

And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, Wherefore is this noise of the city being in an uproar?

And while he yet spake, behold Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest

:

came and Adonijah said unto him, Come in; for thou art a valiant man, and bringest good tidings.

And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Verily our lord king David hath made Solomon king.

And the king hath sent with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and they have caused him to ride upon the king's mule:

And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon and they are come up from thence rejoicing, so that the city rang again. This is the noise that ye have heard.

And also Solomon sitteth on the throne of the kingdom.

And moreover the king's servants came to bless our lord king David, saying, God make the name of Solomon better than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne. And the king bowed himself upon the bed. And also thus said the king, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which hath given one to sit on my throne this day, mine eyes even seeing it. And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid, and rose up, and went every man his way.

And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.

And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah feareth king Solomon for, lo, he hath caught hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear unto me to day that he will not slay his servant with the sword.

And Solomon said, If he will show himself a worthy man, there shall not an hair of him fall to the earth: but if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall die.

So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and bowed himself to king Solomon: and Solomon said unto him, Go to thine house.

COMMENT.-David sent for those who remained faithful, Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the Levite warrior, commander of the Cherethites and Pelethites, and bade them place Solomon on the king's own mule, and take him to the valley of Gihon, just below Jerusalem, where Zadok and Nathan should anoint him with the holy oil, and he should be proclaimed with trumpet sounds and shouts of "God save the king." The command was executed, and the people of Jerusalem, trusting to the choice of their God and their king, and preferring the gentle, thoughtful, peaceful prince to his proud and headstrong brother, thronged out after him, and rent the air with their shouts of joy.

"Hosanna to

One day there was to be the cry in like manner, the Son of David," when the Prince of Peace should enter Jerusalem, meek, and riding upon an ass.

The guests at En-rogel were feasting when the shouts and trumpet sounds startled them; and while they wondered over it, the tidings of Solomon's proclamation were brought them by Jonathan, the son of Abiathar, once so faithful. It was clear that there was no hope for the cause of Adonijah, and all his festive party broke up and fled. He himself felt that his offence was so great, that he fled to the Tabernacle—most likely that at Gibeonand clung to the horns of the altar (the projections, namely, used for fastening the victims), a spot whence he could neither be dragged away nor slain. He did not leave it until Solomon had made oath that he should be safe. Solomon's answer was, that if he were peaceful and worthy, he should be safe; but if he should transgress again, he must die. And thus David's last days were spared the sorrow of the death of another of his children.

Abiathar and Joab had both been David's companions in his wanderings, and seemed personally attached to him; but their love to him was not deepened by true love of God, and therefore, when his last decision, guided as it was by God Himself, displeased them, they showed it no respect, but, so far as in them lay, embittered his last days by turning against him. No friendship or gratitude is really worth anything unless the thought of God be first.

LESSON CXXV.

THE DEATH OF DAVID.

B.C. 1015.-1 KINGS ii. 1—10; 1 CHRON. xxix. 23—30.

Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,

go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself

a man;

And keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself:

That the LORD may continue his word which he spake concerning me,