2 Samuel 11

2. S. 11 : 1 And it came to pass, at the return of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried at Jerusalem. 2 And it came to pass at eventide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her (for she was purified from her uncleanness); and she returned unto her house. And the woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, I am with child. And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. And when Uriah was come unto him, David asked of him how Joab did, and how the people fared, and how the war prospered. And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king’s house, and there followed him a mess of meat from the king. But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house. And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Art thou not come from a journey? wherefore didst thou not go down unto thine house? And Uriah said unto David, the ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in booths; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open field; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing. And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to-day also, and to-morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow. And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his house. And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die. And it came to pass, when Joab kept watch upon the city, that he assigned Uriah unto the place where he knew that valiant men were. And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and there fell some of the people, even of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite died also. Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war; and he charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an end of telling all the things concerning the war unto the king, it shall be that, if the king’s wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore went ye so nigh unto the city to fight? knew ye not that they would shoot from the wall? who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast an upper millstone upon him from the wall, that he died at Thebez? why went ye so nigh the wall? then shalt thou say, Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. So the messenger went, and came and shewed David all that Joab had sent him for. And the messenger said unto David, The men prevailed against us, and came out unto us into the field, and we were upon them even unto the entering of the gate. And the shooters shot at thy servants from off the wall; and some of the king’s servants be dead, and thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another: make thy battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage thou him. And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she made lamentation for her husband. And when the mourning was past, David sent and took her home to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.

Beautiful and most promising was the state of the nation at this period of David’s life. Unbounded prosperity had flowed into the country. Every enemy had been subdued. There was no division in the kingdom, and no one likely to cause any. The king was greatly honored by his people, and highly popular. The arrangements which he had made, both for the civil and spiritual administration of the kingdom, were working beautifully, and producing their natural fruits. All things seemed to be advancing the great purpose of God in connection with Israel. Let this state of things but last, and surely the consummation will be reached. The promise to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob will be fulfilled, and the promised Seed will come very speedily to diffuse His blessing over all the families of the earth. But into this fair paradise the serpent contrived to creep, and the consequence was another fall. W. G. B.

David’s career thus far has been one of singular excellence and attractiveness—not without great weaknesses, and blemishes of character, and many sins. Under Divine direction, and with Divine help, he engaged and conquered all neighboring hostile nations, and made them tributaries of Israel. He established a perfect system in the administration of all affairs, religious, judicial, and industrial, and so wrought the dissevered tribes into a united organic nation, holding imperial power. During the first half of his reign all his acts and all God’s Providences tended toward this ultimate culmination of his power, and of the greatness of his kingdom. And through all his constant exposures to selfish pride and vain glory David stood fast in his integrity, proved himself a man after God’s own heart. But there came a time when, through the sudden blinding power of evil passions, the pure man became vile, and under the prolonged madness of unrepented evil, for nearly a year deliberately planned crime after crime, adding baseness to lust and falsehood, and murder to hypocrisy. And from that hour of his great sin began the sad contrast to his previous history. That one grievous offence against God and man shadowed and embittered the latter half of his reign. Following it came the sorest personal and domestic griefs, an unrecovered loss of self-respect and previous peace of heart, civil distractions and revolts. But the same Inspiration that faithfully records all the enormity and aggravations of his sin, that reveals its life-long effects of sadness and calamity, discloses the depth and genuineness of his repentance, and the greatness of God’s pardoning mercy. We have only to read, with our souls alive to the intense feeling of the writer, the 51st and 32d Psalms, and we shall learn that this royal penitent, though long and severely chastened, was forgiven. A sad contrast indeed find we in his latter Psalms, and yet there comes through all at length a burst of joy, the joy of sanctified, penitent grief! The “joy of God’s salvation” was “restored” unto his broken, contrite spirit! B.

Chronologically, these events fall within the period of David’s last great war—that against Ammon and Rabbah. This one sin of David’s known life is recognized by the sacred historian (1 K. 15 : 5) as so far surpassing all his other sins in enormity that it might be said he did that which was right in all else, “turning not aside from the things commanded of God, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.” This great sin had in it almost every possible element of aggravation. It was flagrant adultery, for David already had not one wife only, but many; and Bath-sheba had a husband—one of the noblest of men, whose record as a brave, patriotic, self-denying warrior is pre-eminently spotless and grand. David’s sin included not adultery alone, but murder—the deliberate murder of this heroic and self-sacrificing man, Uriah the Hittite. One sin naturally leads on to more sinning. Thus David sought first and desperately to cover his iniquity. Could he not bring Uriah, the husband, home to his own house and bed? He orders him sent back from the field of war; converses with him as if no dreadful guilt lay heavy on his soul; and then dismisses him to his home. “There followed him a mess of meat from the king.” Surely (thought David) he will carry that home to his wife. No; the warrior slept with David’s servants at the palace gate, ready for the stern duties of the soldier’s life. But David cannot afford to be baffled, and therefore summons Uriah to his presence again and urges him to go to his home, but with the result only of bringing out more strongly the heroic spirit of the true warrior. “My Lord Joab and the servants of my king camp in the open fields;” my country calls me to like sacrifices; and so long as she does no home attractions can be heeded. Then it occurs to David that this heroic spirit may be overcome by wine. He therefore tempted him to eat and drink, “and made him drunk.” Even then he failed of his purpose. In the next stage David rushed to the horrid purpose to take Uriah’s life—for how could he meet the disclosure of his guilty connection with Uriah’s wife, especially since Uriah himself is a man so noble, of a nature so pure and lofty? Did he let Joab into this guilty secret? He found him in this case a ready instrument for his purpose—viz, to put Uriah into the hottest of the fight, and then retire the supporting column and let him fall in battle. This letter of instructions to Joab, he sent by the hand of Uriah with no fear that he would break the seal and come at the awful secret. And he knew Uriah too well to fear that he would retreat before the foe even if all others did. Thus David slew Uriah by the sword of the warriors of Ammon.

Some of the points of peculiar aggravation in this double sin of David are presented tersely and with telling force in the supposed case by which the prophet Nathan introduces his rebuke of his king. The poor man’s one lamb—his household pet; nursed in his bosom; fed at his table; to him as a daughter—this lamb is torn away by his rich neighbor, who had lambs enough and to spare—the heartless tyrant! The case kindled David’s indignation; but, oh, how did the application of it—"Thou art the man," pierce his soul with daggers of self-condemnation! He felt every word as a burning arrow. Conviction brought forth confession, penitent grief, and imploring cries for mercy.

Now let it be distinctly noted: these sins not only had their aggravating circumstances, but the inspired pen records them. Not one is withheld. Not only is the crime charged upon David, but its points of special enormity are thoroughly unfolded. There is no attempt to suppress a single fact bearing upon the aggravation and guilt of these sins. Moreover, there is no concealment or suppression of the fact that these great sins were utterly displeasing to God. He did, indeed, forgive the royal penitent; but he took care that these dreadful sins should be rebuked over and over again; brought up to David’s sad remembrance; brought out in sunlight before the nation and before the world. First, the babe is smitten, and after seven days of lingering life and prolonged suffering—David meanwhile on the ground, weeping, fasting, praying—the child dies. Then came those dreadful scenes of lust and murder among his own sons and daughters—Tamar ravished; the guilty Ammon, David’s first-born, murdered by his brother Absalom:—how terribly suggestive of his own example before these very children! How hot with scorching rebuke! What griefs harrowed his sensitive spirit when it became known to him and to all Israel that Absalom had outraged his father’s bed! Then he drove that father from his palace, city, and throne. Bitterest of all, Absalom dies in his sins! David could bear the vilest indignities; the basest ingratitude toward himself; the foulest treason; the sadness of enforced exile; but oh! when the tidings came that Absalom was dead—his own guilty son dead—gone—lost, amid the horrors of unpardoned sin—alas, this filled his cup of woe! Did he not then recall his own sin in the matter of Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite? Alas, how does God bring the sins of men to their remembrance, and make them feel in the depth of their souls that it is a fearful thing to sin!

Another line of thought and feeling is fitly awakened by these scenes in the life of David. We cannot think of him as if he were one of the fallen angels—a junior brother of Satan or of Moloch. He was one of our own fallen race, a brother to our very selves. If he had passions tempting him into awful sin, so have we. If he could so far forget his manhood, his piety, his obligations to his Infinite Benefactor, his relations to the noble warriors in the field and to their virtuous wives at home, as to fall into these most grievous sins, so, alas, may we! This fearful record lies against our own fallen nature. If we, personally, have been kept from sins so great and aggravated, let us rather honor the grace that has saved than plume ourselves on the assumption of better self-control and purer virtue. We have, then, a real though sad interest in the most tragic and painful scenes of human sinning. It were well if this interest shall move us to such a study of David’s case as will be morally wholesome. It stands on the Scripture record for the sake of its great moral lessons. H. C.

1. The Ammonites, although beaten, having retired to their fortified towns, held out with much obstinacy. The next campaign against them was conducted by Joab, who, after ravaging the country, laid siege to the metropolitan city of Rabbah. It was while the army was engaged in these distant operations that David fell into those deep sins which have left a dark blot upon his name, that all his tears have not been able to expunge from the view of man, nor all his griefs to make man forget. Kit.

It is, perhaps, not without bitter emphasis that the narrative introduces it by telling us that, “at the time when kings go forth to battle,” David contented himself with sending his troops against Ammon, and “tarried still at Jerusalem.” At all events, the story brings into sharp contrast the levy en masse, encamped round Rabbah, and their natural head, who had once been so ready to take his share of blows and privations, loitering behind, taking his quiet siesta in the hot hours after noon, as if there had been no soldiers of his sweltering in their armor, and rising from his bed to stroll on his palace roof, and peer into the household privacies below, as if his heart had no interest in the grim tussle going on behind the hills that he could almost see from his height, as they grew purple in the evening twilight. He has fallen to the level of an Eastern despot, and has lost his sense of the responsibilities of his office. Such loosening of the tension of his moral nature as is indicated in his absence from the field, during what was evidently a very severe as well as long struggle, prepared the way for the dismal headlong plunge into sin. A. M.

How rare and fearless an outspokenness marks the language in which the sins of God’s saints are recorded in that Book which is eminently a Scripture of truth, a Word of God. Reasons enough there were, and those bearing on the highest interests of our souls, why these should not be passed over. Thus what a proof do they furnish of the fatal readiness with which we, set as we are to keep this city of “Mansoul” against all forces of our spiritual enemy, too often shamefully betray our trust; or, if we do not advance so far as this, remit that watchfulness all round, that habitual circumspection of our spirits which we were set to maintain. It needs but a few easy triumphs over sins which do not mightily solicit us, a few ordinary temptations overcome, and we count that all is won, that we may now dwell securely, none making us afraid. What a commentary on such a vain confidence as this does this history supply, both in what it tells and also in what it does not tell. It is thus that the story of David’s fall begins: “And it came to pass, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David”—did what? Is it, led forth the Lord’s host? Alas! no; nothing of the kind; but what, then? that he sent Joab with others on this war-like errand; but “David himself tarried still at Jerusalem.” If the king had been sharing the hard couch of earth in the open fields with Joab and Uriah and the rest before the walls of Rabbah, it is little likely that we should have ever heard of his sin. One page of his history, a page now so blurred and so blotted, would be looked for in vain. Trench.

2-4. Never was there a case which showed more emphatically the dreadful chain of guilt to which a first act, apparently insignificant, may give rise. His first sin was allowing himself to be arrested to sinful intents by the beauty of Bathsheba. Had he, like Job, made a covenant with his eyes; had he resolved that when the idea of sin sought entrance into the imagination it should be sternly refused admission; had he, in a word, nipped the temptation in the bud, he would have been saved a world of agony and sin. But instead of repelling the idea he cherishes it. He makes inquiry concerning the woman. He brings her to his house. He uses his royal position and influence to break down the objections which she would have raised. He forgets what is due to the faithful soldier who, employed in his service, is unable to guard the purity of his home. He forgets the solemn testimony of the law, which denounces death to both parties as the penalty of the sin. This is the first act of the tragedy. W. G. B.

The aggravations of the sin. He was now in years, fifty at least, when those lusts should not have been violent in him. He had many wives and concubines of his own; this is insisted on (ch. 12 : 8). Uriah, whom he wronged, was one of his own worthies; a person of honor and virtue, one that was now abroad in his service, jeopardizing his life in the high places of the field, for the honor and safety of him and his kingdom, where he himself should have been. Bathsheba was of good reputation till she was drawn by him and his influence into this wickedness; nor perhaps could any one in the world but David have prevailed against her. The adulterer not only wrongs and ruins his own soul, but, as much as he can, another’s soul too. David was a king whom God hath intrusted with the sword of justice and the execution of the law upon other criminals, particularly upon adulterers, who were by the law to be put to death; for him therefore to be guilty of those crimes himself was to make himself a pattern, when he should have been a terror, to evil-doers. Much more might be said to aggravate the sin; and I can think but of one excuse for it, which is, that it was done but once; it was far from being his practice; it was by the surprise of a temptation that he was drawn into it. H.

With what unwillingness, with what fear, do I still look upon the miscarriage of the man after God’s own heart! O holy prophet, who can promise himself always to stand, when he sees thee fallen and maimed with the fall? Who can assure himself of an immunity from the foulest sins when he sees thee offending so heinously, so bloodily? Let profane eyes behold thee as an excuse of sinning; I shall never look upon thee but through tears, as a woful spectacle of human infirmity. O God, whither do we go, if thou stay us not? Whoever among the millions of thy servants, could find himself furnished with stronger preservatives against sin? Against whom could such a sin find less pretence of prevailing? Oh keep thou us, that presumptuous sins prevail not over us; so only shall we be free from great offences.

10. Alas, instead of clearing thy sin, thou laborest to cloak it; and spendest those thoughts in the concealing of thy wickedness which thou shouldest rather have bestowed in preventing it. The best of God’s children may not only be drenched in the ways of sin, but lie in them for the time, and perhaps sink twice to the bottom. What hypocrite could have done worse than study how to cover the face of his sin from the eyes of men, while he regarded not the sting of sin in his soul. Bp. II.

11. The consideration of the public hardships and hazards kept Uriah from lawful pleasures, yet could not keep David, though more nearly interested, from unlawful ones. Uriah’s severity to himself should have shamed David for his indulgence of himself. The law was, When the host goeth forth against the enemy, then, in a special manner, keep thyself from every wicked thing (De. 23 : 9). Uriah outdid that law, but David violated it. H.

14. Uriah must be got rid of, not, however, openly, but by a cunning stratagem that shall make it seem as if his death were the result of the ordinary fortune of war. And to compass this David must take Joab into his confidence. To Joab, therefore, he writes a letter, indicating what is to be done to get rid of Uriah. Could David have descended to a lower depth? It was bad enough to compass the death of Uriah; it was mean enough to make him the bearer of the letter that gave directions for his death; but surely the climax of meanness and guilt was the writing of that letter. Surely it was a horrible sin—committed, too, by the head of the nation, who was bound not only to discountenance sin in every form, but especially to protect the families and preserve the rights of the brave men who were exposing their lives in his service. W. G. B.—If David had been but himself, how had he loved, how had he honored, this honest and religious zeal in his so faithful servant, whom now he cruelly seeks to reward with death! That fact which wine cannot hide, the sword shall. Is not this the man whom we lately saw so heart-smitten, for but cutting off the lap of the garment of a wicked master, that is now thus lavish of the blood of a gracious and well-deserving servant? Could it be likely that so worthy a captain could fall alone? Could David have expiated this sin with his own blood, it had been but well spent; but to cover his sin with the innocent blood of others was a crime above astonishment. Bp. II.

15. Uriah must die; that innocent, valiant, gallant man, who was ready to die for his prince’s honor, must die by his prince’s hand. David has sinned, and Bathsheba has sinned, and both against him, and therefore he must die; David determines he must. Is this he that executed judgment and justice to all his people? How can he now do so unjust a thing? See how fleshly lusts war against the soul, and what devastations they make in that war; how they blind the eyes, harden the heart, sear the conscience, and deprive men of all sense of honor and justice. Whoso committeth adultery with a woman, lacketh understanding, and quite loses it; he that doth it, destroys his own soul (Prov. 6 : 32). H.

16,17. In the letter which Uriah carried to Joab, David directed the general to place him at a point of danger, to provoke a sally from the town, to retire without withdrawing Uriah, and to make sure of his death in battle. Joab acted up to these orders, aware, perhaps, of the reason for them. A small body of Hebrews, led by Uriah, attacked one of the best-defended gates of Rabbah. Shooters discharged stones and arrows from the wall; soldiers rushed out of the town. A fierce fight ensued. No supports were sent to strengthen the handful of Hebrews in front of the gate. Uriah, with several of his soldiers, fell in battle; the rest of the assailants were repulsed. Their king had murdered those who fell. Vileness had triumphed, blood had been shed, and in the grave of a brave soldier the guilty king hoped all this wickedness was buried and forgotten. It was not so. There was an Avenger of blood looking on, who had seen the whole from beginning to end: “The thing that David had done displeased the Lord.” Sime.

18-25. Joab had no principles apart from what he deemed his duty to the king and the people, and was quite as ready to serve his master’s vices as his virtues, so long as they did not interfere with his own interests, or tended to promote them by enabling him to make himself useful to the king. His ready apprehension of the king’s meaning in the matter of Uriah, and the facility with which he made himself the instrument of the murder, and of the hypocrisy by which it was covered, are proofs of this, and form as deep a stain upon his character as his own murders. Kit.

Let not Joab be displeased, for David is not; he blames not his conduct, nor thinks they did ill in approaching so near the wall; all is well, now that Uriah is got out of the way. This point being gained, he can make light of the loss, and turn it off easily with an excuse, The sword devours one as well as another; it was a chance of war—nothing more common. He orders Joab to make the battle more strong next time, while he, by his sin, was weakening it, and provoking God to blast the undertaking.

26,27. He married the widow in a little time. She submitted to the ceremony of mourning for her husband as little a time as custom would admit, and then David took her to his house as his wife and she bare him a son. The birth of the child so soon after the marriage published the crime; sin will have shame; yet that was not the worst of it, The thing that David had done displeased the Lord; the whole matter of Uriah (as it is called, 1 K. 15 : 5), the adultery, falsehood, murder, and this marriage, at last—it was all displeasing to the Lord. He had pleased himself, but displeased God. God sees and hates sin in his own people. Nay, the nearer any are to God in profession, the more displeasing to him their sins are, for in them there is more ingratitude, treachery, and reproach, than in the sins of others. H.

If the composition of the Bible had been in human hands it would never have contained such a chapter as this. There is something quite remarkable in the fearless way in which it unveils the guilt of David; it is set forth in its nakedness, without the slightest attempt either to palliate or to excuse it; and the only statement in the whole record designed to characterize it is the quiet but terrible words with which the chapter ends—“But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.”

And now we begin to understand why this supremely horrible transaction should be given in the Bible, and given at such length. It bears the character of a beacon, warning the mariner against some of the most deceitful and perilous rocks that are to be found in all the sea of life. First of all, it shows the danger of interrupting, however briefly, the duty of watching and praying, lest you enter into temptation. It is at your peril to discontinue earnest daily communion with God, especially when the evils are removed that first drove you to seek His aid. Further, it affords a sad proof of the danger of dallying with sin even in thought. Admit sin within the precincts of the imagination, and there is the utmost danger of its ultimately mastering the soul. The outposts of the spiritual garrison should be so placed as to protect even the thoughts, and the moment the enemy is discovered there the alarm should be given and the fight begun. It is a serious moment when the young man admits a polluted thought to his heart, and pursues it even in reverie. The door is opened to a dangerous brood. And everything that excites sensual feeling, be it songs, jests, pictures, books of a lascivious character, all tends to enslave and pollute the soul, till at length it is saturated with impurity, and cannot escape the wretched thraldom. And, further, this narrative shows us what moral havoc and ruin may be wrought by the toleration and gratification of a single sinful desire. W. G. B.

Had David been enduring hardship with the armies of Israel, these temptations to luxury and uncleanness would probably never have come near him; certainly he would not have succumbed beneath them. The first lesson from the story is that prosperous times are perilous times. Then, notice the way in which sins are linked to one another, in which, as by a terrible necessity, one leads on to a second, and a second to a third, and so on. The great enemy of souls is in nothing more skilful than in breaking down the bridges of retreat behind the sinner. Wrong may become worse wrong, but it never becomes right. Close walking with God is the only safe walking. Further, do not miss this lesson—the ignoble servitude to men in which the sinner is very often through his sin entangled. Mark how David becomes the servant of Joab from the moment that he has made Joab the partaker of his evil counsels, the accomplice of his crime. Let no man in this sense be thy master. Let no man know that of thee which, if he chose to reveal it, would cast thee down from the fair esteem and reputation which thou enjoyest before men. Trench.

The carnal appetite, with its lusts, is very deceitful; a party within holding correspondence with our spiritual enemies, the evil angels so active and assiduous in conspiring and accomplishing the damnation of men. The devil, in Scripture, is called the tempter by way of eminence, who manages and improves temptations; and his pernicious design is by the objects of sense, ordered and made more alluring and killing by his various arts, to engage the affections into a compliance and so to gain the will. Now our great danger is not so much from Satan, the enemy without, as from the carnal appetite, the traitor within, that gives him the first and easy entrance into the soul. He can only entice by representing what is amiable to sense; but the corrupt appetite inclines to the closing with it. We might preserve our innocence inviolable notwithstanding all his attempts, did not some cherished corrupt affection lay us open to his poisoned darts. The Apostle Peter, who discerned wherein the strength of our great enemy lies, admonishes Christians: “I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts that war against the soul.” And we are told by him that “the corruption that is in the world is through lust.” The outward objects are useful and beneficial in their kind; the abuse of them is from lust. It is therefore infinitely dangerous to consult or trust our carnal faculties in this matter, for they are bribed and corrupted and will commend temporal things to our choice. The sensual affections are so numerous and clamorous, so vehement and hasty, that if they are admitted to counsel and give the decisive vote, the voice of conscience will not be heard or regarded. Bates.—There can be no safety to that soul where the senses are let loose. He can never keep his covenant with God that makes not a covenant with his eyes. It is an idle presumption to think the outward man may be free while the inward is safe. He is more than a man, whose heart is not led by his eyes; he is no regenerate man, whose eyes are not restrained by his heart. Bp. II.

We only add, what vigilance and prayer are necessary against the sudden violent surprises of temptation! These may come with as little warning almost as the dreadful accidents that befall men’s persons. A sudden flash of infernal fire kindles the passions and prostrates the judgment and conscience. Divine aid can come as suddenly as these assaults. Think solemnly of the frightful extent of the possibilities of falling into sin, and that it is an insult to God to calculate on escaping without the means he has enjoined. “Watch and pray.” These must be combined; for watching without prayer were but an impious homage to ourselves. Prayer without watching were but an impious and also absurd homage to God. And what emphatic importance there is in the point of being saved from entering into temptation; since, when a man is fully in it and under the strength of its influence, there is an end of watching and an utter indisposition to pray! Foster.

It has appeared a difficulty to some, that persons raised up, aided, inspired, directed, or assisted by God, should have been guilty of such crimes as David, such idolatries as Solomon, such weaknesses as Samson, such apostasies as the Jewish nation in general. To this it may be answered, that it is perfectly credible that they should be raised up for particular purposes; aided in effecting a particular object; inspired with a certain degree of knowledge; assisted at particular periods, and in a special manner; and yet that, beyond this, their natural character, their external temptations, their acquired habits, may have produced all the irregularities and crimes which gave so much offence. To ask why God did not prevent this, is to ask why he did not exercise a greater degree of supernatural control than the peculiar purposes of Providence required—a question as absurd as it is presumptuous. Dr. Graves.

NATHAN’S PARABLE AND MESSAGE FROM GOD TO DAVID. DAVID’S REPENTANCE. SICKNESS AND DEATH OF BATHSHEBA’S CHILD.