expiation) were returned on him, and reviling him so furiously, that Abishai, always warm in the love and defence of his uncle, would have rushed across the valley and silenced the reviler for ever with his sword, had not David withheld him, and meekly endured the abuse as not wonderful from a Benjamite-well knowing that even Shimei's shameful mockery was part of the chastening sent upon him by the Lord, and therefore submitting so meekly and sweetly, broken-hearted as he was, as to foreshow the holy silence of Him "Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously."

LESSON CXI.

MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS OF DAVID'S REFRESHMENT AT BAHURIM.

-B.C. 1023.-PSALMS iii. and iv.

THE MORNING HYMN.

LORD, how are they increased that trouble me!

Many are they that rise up against me.

Many there be which say of my soul,

There is no help for him in God.

But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me;
My glory, and the lifter up of mine head.
I cried unto the LORD with my voice,
And he heard me out of his holy hill.

I laid me down and slept;

I awaked; for the LORD sustained me.

I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people,
That have set themselves against me round about.

Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God:

For thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the check-bone;
Thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.

Salvation belongeth unto the LORD:

Thy blessing is upon thy people.

*Not for the younger ones.

THE EVENING HYMN.

Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness:
Thou hast enlarged* me when I was in distress;
Have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.

O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame?
How long will ye love vanity,† and seek after leasing ?‡

But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself:
The LORD will hear when I call unto him.

Stand in awe, and sin not:

Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.

Offer the sacrifices of righteousness,

And put your trust in the LORD.

There be many that say, Who will shew us any good?

LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.

Thou hast put gladness in my heart,

More than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.

I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep:

For thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.

COMMENT. The last lesson ended with the halt at Bahurim, after the sad progress down Mount Olivet. There the fugitives rested and refreshed themselves while waiting for Hushai's intelligence from Jerusalem. What the king's refreshment was we see here. It was the same refreshment as cheered him when the Ziphites betrayed him, and when his followers turned against him for the disaster at Ziklag. It is the best refreshment any of us can have not of course to frame inspired poetry, but to turn to the God who comforted David, and in the very words he has left us, as not only soothing, but saving. When we turn over the next page, we shall see what his enemies were planning against him on that very night, when in the ravine among the rocks of the Judean wilderness, among the host of frightened women and trembling children, he laid him down in peace to sleep, not trusting to Abishai's love, or Ittai's fidelity, or the spears of the Philistine guard, but to the Lord who made him to dwell in safety. It is very likely that as of old he had sung psalms to train and instruct his wild outlaws in the Engedi cave, so now again he took up his harp and led these morning and evening hymns to guide the trembling people to their

* Set ine free.

+ Folly.

↑ Lying.

only true hope, reminding them that though the ark was gone back the Lord could still hear out of His holy hill, and that their salvation was in Him, for He could shatter the cheek-bone-namely, break the strength of the enemy.

The evening hymn is more of an address to his followers, though it begins with prayer and thanksgiving. It exhorts them not to lament over his glory, his love of the Temple, and his repentance, as if it were his shame, which according to the vain empty words and falsehoods of his enemies had brought this trouble on him, for he has still a sure confidence that he is God's chosen, and will still be heard by Him; and he therefore bids his followers stand in awe, watching the course of God's chastening, and not be led into sin by impatience and faint-heartedness, but to think deeply, examine their own hearts in silence, and submit. If they were cut off from the daily sacrifice, they could offer the better sacrifice of righteousness and trust.

Many of the fugitives were in despair, and said, “Who will show us any good?"—What hope is left for us? But the true hope is here still, as David repeats the priestly blessing, "Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us." Nay, he owns himself happier and more at peace than his foes could be, rejoicing in the corn and wine that he had left behind. Thus fearlessly he lays him down to sleep in full confidence.

"A quiet conscience in the breast

Is more than peace-is more than rest."

And though David was under punishment, he knew himself forgiven, and so could be at peace—the peace that passeth all understanding.

These two verses: the morning,

and

I laid me down and slept;

I awaked, for the LORD sustained me;

I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep :
For thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety,

are a part of our Christian inheritance that we should do well to take to ourselves, by learning and repeating morning and evening.

They are both of daily and homely application, and further point to the death and resurrection of the Saviour first, and of His people after Him; for in Him they shall safely sleep in their graves, and safely waken at the great morning of the Eternal Day.

LESSON CXII.

THE COUNSEL OF AHITHOPHEL.

B.C. 1023.-2 SAM. xvi. 15-20; xvii. 1—14, 23.

And Absalom, and all the people the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him.

And it came to pass, when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, was come unto Absalom, that Hushai said unto Absalom, God save the king, God save the king.

And Absalom said to Hushai, Is this thy kindness to thy friend? why wentest thou not with thy friend?

And Hushai said unto Absalom, Nay; but whom the LORD, and this people, and all the men of Israel, choose, his will I be, and with him will I abide.

And again, whom should I serve? should I not serve in the presence of his son? as I have served in thy father's presence, so will I be in thy presence.

Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, Give counsel among you what we shall do.

And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night:

And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak handed, and will make him afraid: and all the people that are with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only:

And I will bring back all the people unto thee: the man whom thou seekest is as if all returned: so all the people shall be in peace.

And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.

Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he saith.

And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him, saying, Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do after his saying? if not; speak thou.

And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good at this time.

For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that they be mighty men, and they be chafed* in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field: and thy father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people.

M

Angry.

Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some other place: and it will come to pass, when some of them be overthrown at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.

And he also that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty man, and they which be with him are valiant men.

Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own person.

So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground: and of him and of all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one.

Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there be not one small stone found there.

And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom.

And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.

COMMENT. The great need for David was to gain time. Joab seems to have gone to collect the loyal Israelites to come to his aid, and so probably had Benaiah and the rest of the mighty men; but while he was "weary and weak-handed," with only the Philistine guard to protect him, and encumbered with a great troop of women and children, his danger was great in case of a sudden attack. This the crafty Ahithophel perceived, and urged upon Absalom to let him go forth with a chosen body of men, and fall upon the fugitives in their confused and exhausted state. In the meantime, however, Hushai had arrived, and obtained the favour of the vain, hot-headed Absalom by the smoothest of flatteries and compliments; and in answer to Ahithophel's advice he made a wordy speech, representing that David and his friends were valiant and skilful warriors, and that probably the king would not sleep in the midst of the fugitives, but in some cave or safe place; and that if he were not taken, but fell upon the rebels while they were disordered by plundering his camp, they would be dispersed and disheartened. So he rather counseled waiting to overpower him with the hosts of men from one end of Israel to the other, whom he declared to be about