xxvi. 7-12). The scene of remonstrance, confession, and forgive-
ness was again repeated. Saul begged David to return to him,
promising not to harm him, but David would only trust his life to
God. This was their last interview. Despairing of safety while
within reach of Saul, David finally resolved to seek shelter among
the Philistines. Achish, king of Gath, received him, and assigned
for his residence and maintenance the frontier city of Ziklag, ex-
pecting David, apparently, to render him service against his own
country. But instead of attacking Israel, David fell upon the tribes
of the southern desert of Shur, towards the confines of Egypt, and
exhibited to Achish their spoil as having been won in the south of
Judah. The Philistine king was so thoroughly imposed upon, and
had such unlimited confidence in David, that he summoned him to
join in a grand attack which he was preparing against Israel, and
David sank so low as to boast of the courage he would display (1
Bam. xxvii.).
We must now look back to Saul. Since the death of Samuel and
the flight of David, darkness had gathered about his downward
path, like clouds around the setting sun. His religious zeal, always
rash, as in the vow which so nearly cost the life of Jonathan, was
now shown in deeds of sanguinary violence. The day of retribu-
tion was come. The host of the Philistines had assembled at the
great battle-field of Palestine, the valley of Jezreel, while Saul and
154 SCRIPTURE HISTORY. CHAP. X-
the Israelites were encamped on the hills of Gilboa, a mountain
range on the eastern side of the plain. When the king saw the
Philistine army, he was panic-struck. Fain would he have inquired
of the Lord ; but the high-priest Abiathar was a fugitive from his
murderous wrath ; the chief of the prophets was in the camp of
David, and God gave him no answer, " neither by dreams, nor by
Urim, nor by prophets." In his extremity he resorted to awomur
that had a familiar spirit, and dwelt at Endor, ca the north side of
the little Hermon. The slope of the mountain on which the place
stands is hollowed into caves, one of which may well have been the
scene of the incantation of the witch. Thither Saul proceeded by
night and in disguise, with only two attendants, and desired her to
bring up from the dead the person whom he should name. "Bring
me up Samuel," he said. Then the woman saw (or professed to
see) the form of Samuel an old man covered with a mantle ris-
ing from the earth ; and, uttering a loud cry, she charged Saul with
having deceived her, for she now knew him to be the king. In re-
ply to his inquiries she described the apparition, and Saul recognized
Samuel, and bowed his face to the ground. "Why hast thou dis-
quieted me to bring me up ?" said Samuel. " God is departed from
me," replied Saul. The Lord hath rent the kingdom out of thine
hand, said Samuel, and given it to David, because thou disobeyedst
Him in sparing the Amalekites. The prophet then foretold the
king's defeat by the Philistines, and added that on the morrow
Saul and his sons should be with him among the dead. Then Saul
fell prostrate upon the earth, and fainted away with fear and ex-
haustion, for he had fasted all the day and night. The same night
he returned to the camp (1 Sam. xxviii.). The woman was no
doubt an impostor, but her juggleries seem to have been overruled
by God in a way as surprising to herself as to the other witnesses
of the scene.
The ensuing day sealed the fate of the king. In the battle with
the Philistines, Saul and his army were driven up the slopes and
over the crest of Mount Gilboa with immense loss. His three sons,
Jonathan, Abinadab, and Melchishua, were slain, and the king him-
self was mortally wounded by the Philistine archers. Disabled
from flight, he begged his armor-bearer to draw his sword and
slay him. On his refusal, Saul fell upon his own sword and died,
and his armor-bearer did likewise. The remains of Saul and of
his sons were treated with great indignities by the Philistines, and
were finally carried by the rom of Jabesh-gilend to Jabesh, and
burnt. Long afterwards the a^hes were removed by David to the
epnlchre of Kish at Zelali (1 Sn. xxxi.).
The third day after the battle ; David received at Ziklag tidings
B.C. 1095-1056. DAVID'S DIRGE FOR SAUL. 155
of Saul's overthrow. An Amalekite arrived with his clothes rent
and earth upon his head, and said that he had escaped out of the
camp of Israel, and had been an eye-witness of Saul's death. He
told of the hot pursuit, and added that he had dealt the last fatal
l>lcw to the king. The crown and armlet, which Saul used to wear
in battle, he produced and gave to David. The news was received
with unfeigned grief and consternation by David and all the men
that were with him. They rent their clothes, and mourned, and
wept, and fasted till the evening. Then David sent for the Amal-
ekite, and asking how he had dared to put forth his hand to slay
the Lord's anointed, he caused him to be put to death as guilty by
his own confession. Finally he took his harp, and poured forth a
lamentation over Saul and Jonathan, which is the finest as well as
the most ancient of all dirges. A less generous heart, and one less
devoted to duty, might have been content with the tribute of affec-
tion to his friend Jonathan, and have left the memory of his unjust
master to perish in silence. But the poem has verified in every
succeeding age its own most beautiful and touching words :
" Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant iu their lives,
And in their death they were not divided."
The mourner depicts the joy of the Philistines over "the mighty
who were fallen," in strains which have ever since become pro-
verbial :
" Tell it not in Gath,
Publish it not in the streets of Askelon ;
Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice,
Lest the daughters of the uncircuracised triumph."
But the grand outburst of love and grief is reserved for Jonathan :
"O Jonathan, thon wast slain in thy high places.
I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan :
Very pleasant hast thou been nnto me:
Thy love to me was wonderful,
Passing the love of women.
How are the mighty fallen,
And the weapons of war perished." (2 Sam. L]
This noble utterance of grief forms a fit conclusion to the second
period of David's own life ns well as to the fatal experiment under-
taken by the Israelites and Saul of establishing a kingdom on the
principles of self-will, and after the model of the nations around, in
place of the royalty of Jehovah.
Kabbub, the chief city of the Ammonite
CHAPTER XI.
THE REIGN OF DAVID. B.C. 1056-1015.
AFTER the battle of Gilboa, the country west of Jordan was over,
run by the Philistines, while the surviving members of the house
of Saul took refuge on the east. David, at the command of God.
removed, with his band and all his family, from Ziklag to Hebron,
the ancient sacred city of the tribe of Judah. Here the men of
Judah anointed him king over their tribe. He was now thirty
years old. Seven years and a half elapsed, however, before he was
fully recognized as king of all Israel. Abner set tip Ish-bosheth,
the eldest surviving son of Saul, as king, and he reigned for two
years nominally over all the other tribes r his residence was at Ma-
hanaim, east of Jordan. A civil war ensued, which was only end-
ed by the death of Abner and that of Ish-bosheth. It went on long
without any decisive result . at length Abner made overtures to
B.C. 1056-1015. CIVIL WAR WITH ISH-BOSHETH. 157
David, and went in person to Hebron, with a guard of only twenty
men, to represent to him the feelings of Israel and Benjamin.
Having been welcomed and feasted by David, he promised to gather
all Israel to his standard and went away in peace. But both his
journey and his scheme were doomed to a sad miscarriage (2 Sam.
Ai. 6-21).
Hardly had Abner departed from Hebron, when Joah returnea
from an expedition. On hearing of what had happened, he charged
he king with dismissing an enemy who had come only as a spy,
und, without David's knowledge, he sent messages after Abner, and
brought him back to Hebron under pretense of further conference.
Drawing him aside under the gateway of the city to speak with him
quietly, Joab smote Abner under the fifth rib so that he died. This
treacherous revenue was taken by Joab and Abishai because Abner,
about five years before, had most unwillingly and in fair fight slaiu
their brother, Asahel (2 Sam. ii. 18-23).
When David heard it, he called God to witness that he and his
kingdom were guiltless forever of Abner's blood, and he imprecated
a terrible curse upon Joab and his house. Abner was buried at
Hebron. David himself followed the bier, and rent his clothes
and girded himself with sackcloth, and wept at the grave of Abner.
Joab was obliged to join in the universal mourning ; but it was not
yet possible for David to dispense with the services of his fierce and
cruel nephews. He said to his servants: "I am this day weak,
though anointed king ; and these men the sons of Zeruiah be to<
hard for me" (2 Sam. iii. 39 ; comp. xix. 22, and 1 Chron. ii. 16).
Ish-bosheth, left helpless by the loss of Abner, was soon afterwards
slain by two of his captains as he was lying on his bed. They car-
ried his head to David at Hebron, only to meet the fate of the mes-
senger of Saul's death (2 Sam. iv.).
AH the tribes of Israel then came to David at Hebron, recog-
nizing him as their brother, recalling his leadership in the time of
Saul, and acknowledging that God had appointed him to be their
captain. So they anointed him king of Israel at Hebron. David
was now at the head of a powerful army, composed of the best war-
iors of all the tribes, numbering about 337,000 men besides the
vhole tribe of Issachar. He resolved to remove the seat of govern
ment from the remote Hebron nearer to the centre of the country
His choice fell upon JERUSALEM, the strong city of the Jebusites,
situated upon a rocky height, 2600 feet above the level of the sea.
It consisted of an upper and a lower town ; the latter was taken by
the men of Judah in the time of Joshua, but the upper city defied
their attacks. David now advanced against the place ; as before,
the lower city was immediately taken and, as before, the citadel
158 SCRIPTURE HISTORY. CHAP, XI.
held out The king then proclaimed to his host that the first man
who would scale the rocky side of the fortress and kill a Jebtisite
should be made chief captain of his army. Joab's superior agility
pained him the day, and the citadel the fastness of ZION was taken
(1046 B.C.). It is the first time that that memorable name appears
in the history. In this capital David's power became thoroughly
established, and he built a palace there witli the help of workmen
sent by Hiram, king of Tyre. But already there was " a worm in
the bud," which afterwards blighted all David's happiness. Dis-
regarding the express command of Moses (Deut. xvii. 14-17), he
took to himself numerous wives, by whom he had many sons and
daughters. He stopped short, however, of the fatal step afterwards
taken by Solomon of multiplying to himself wives from heathen na-
tions so as to turn his heart away from God, but the miseries he suf-
fered in his family show most clearly the evils inseparably connect-
ed with polygamy.
A twofold work had been given to David to perform ; to establish
the worship of God in the place which He had chosen for his abode,
and to extend the kingdom of Israel to the bounds promised to their
fathers. The former object was delayed by war. The Philistines
would not give up their long domination over Israel without an ef-
fort, but David gained two victories over them, and routed them in
the first engagement, burning their idols which had been left on the
field of battle. He then had the opportunity which he had long
desired for the removal of the ark from Kirjath-jearim. Since its
restoration by the Philistines (page 137), this symbol of God's pres-
ence had been left there under the care of Abinadab and his family.
Thither David went, with 30,000 chosen men, to fetch the ark, and
set it upon a new cart, which was driven by Uzzah and Ahio, the
two sons of Abinadab. But its progress to Jerusalem suffered a
melancholy interruption. As the procession reached the threshing-
floor of Nachon, the oxen shook the cart, and Uzzah took hold of
the ark. His rashness was punished by instant death. David wa?
afraid to make any further progress at that time, and the ark was
carried aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. There it ra-
mained three months, and brought to the family of this Philistine &
blessing like that which had long crowned the house of Abimidab
'2 Sam. vi. 1-11).
Meanwhile David prepared for its final transport to Jerusalem,
with a care suitable to the awful lesson he had received ; he set up
a new tent for it in the city of David, instead of removing the old
tabernacle, and intrusted the duty of carrying it to the Levitea
alone. They bore it on their shoulders, after the manner pre-
scribed by Moses (Numb. vii. 9). Escorted by David and his
B.C. 1056-1015. THE NEW TABERNACLE. 159
chosen warriors, with the elders of Israel, the procession started
with every sign of joy. When the Levites had taken six steps in
safety, the procession halted, while David sacrificed seven bullocks
and seven rams. He then took his place before the ark without his
royal robes, clothed only in the linen ephod of the priestly order,
ind danced with all his might, playing upon the harp as he led the
Tray up to the hill of Zion, amidst the songs of the Levites, the joy'
Til shouts of all the people, and the noise of music. Having placet
he ark in the tabernacle he had prepared, and having offered burnt
offerings and peace-offerings, he blessed the people in the name of
the Lord (2 Sam. vi. 12-18).
In both these ceremonials a prominent feature was the singing
the praises of Jehovah to the music of various instruments. On
the first removal of the ark, we are told that " David and all Israel
played before the Lord on all manner of instruments made of fir-
wood, on harps, psalteries, timbrels, cymbals, andtrumpets" (2 Sam.
vi. 5). On the second occasion David made a complete arrangement
of the musical service, placing it under the direction of Zadok and
Abiathar the priests, and appointing the Levites for its perform-
ance, with ASAPH at their head. The first Book of Chronicles de-
scribes the order of this "Service of Song," and preserves the
"Psalm of Thanksgiving" which David composed upon this occa-
sion (1 Chron. xvi.). Equal care was taken by David that the whole
order of divine worship should be carried out according to the law
of Moses. Asaph and his brethren were appointed to minister in
the daily service before the ark : the office of chief door-keeper was
committed to Obed-edom, in whose house the ark had rested.
Zadok and the priests were charged with the dnily and other sacri-
fices at the old tabernacle, which remained at Gibeon (1 Chron.
xvi. 87-43).
David's zeal for the house of God was still fulfilled only in part.
His new city was blessed with the symbol of God's presence, but
the ark itself had no worthy abode. As he sat in his new palace,
he was troubled by the thought which has so often since lighted up
the lamp of sacrifice, " See now, I dwell in a house of cedars, but
the ark of the covenant of the Lord dwelleth under curtains." He
altered his feelings to the prophet Nathan, to whom the word of
God came the same night, directing him to tell the king that the
great work of building a temple for the Lord was reserved for one
of his sons, whose kingdom should be established forever, and who
should build the house of God in the place chosen by Himself.
This prediction, referring first to Solomon, is expressed in terms
that could only be perfectly fulfilled in the Messiah. It is clear
that David understood it so, from the wonderful prayer which ho
160 SCRIPTURE HISTORY. CHAP. XI
poured out before God in thanksgiving for the honor put upon him
(1 Chron. xvii.).
His own throne and the service of God's sanctuary beinjf thus
established, David advanced to the final conquest of the enemies of
Israel. He invaded and subdued the Philistines, and thus secured
to the Israelites their promised boundary on the south-west, the
river of Egypt. Turning to the eastern frontier, he put two-thirds-
af the Moabites to death, and reduced the other third to tribute.
He then advanced to the conquest of the promised boundary on tht>
aorth-east, "the great river Euphrates." Two SYRIAN kingdome
lay between him and his purpose. That of ZOUAH was then goy -
erned by Hadadezer, whom he defeated. The Syrians of Damascus;
coining to the help of Hadadezer, were also conquered, and that
fairest and oldest of the cities of the world was made tributary to
David. These victories led to an alliance with Toi, king of HA-
MATH (the Ccele-Syria of the Greeks), which, together with the old
friendship of Hiram, king of Ty re > secured the northern frontier.
David then returned to Jerusalem laden with rich spoils, all of which
he dedicated for the service of the future temple (1 Chron. xviii.).
The long conflict of Edom with his brother Israel was now de-
tided for a time. A great victory was gained over the Edomites
by Abishai, in which they lost 18,000 men. This was followed up
by an invasion under Joab, who in six months almost exterminated
the male population. These victories carried the southern front-
ier of Israel to the eastern head of the Red Sea. The bounds of
the Promised Land were now almost entirely occupied, but these
extended limits were preserved only during the reigns of David and
Solomon, a period of about sixty years. For that time the state
was no longer a petty monarchy, as in the reign of Saul, but it was
truly one of the great Oriental monarchies. Thus " David reigned
over all Israel, and executed judgment and justice among all his
people." Having no further fear of rivalry from the house of Saul,
he was anxious to find an opportunity of performing his covenant
with Jonathan. Sending for Mephibosheth, the lame son of Jona*
than, he restored to him all the land of Saul and his family, and
gave him a place at the royal table, like his own sons. The land
was now visited with a famine for three years, "for Saul and hii
bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites ;" and its expiation
introduces the touching story of Rizpah (2 Sam. xxi. 1-14).
This first period of David's reign is marked by another great sue.
teas in war over the Ammonites and Syrians (2 Sam. x.). In the
Wlowing year Joab again took the field, and overthrew the chil-
dren of Ammon, and besieged them in Kabbah, their chief city.
Df.vir",, however, remained at Jerusulem. It was at this time thai
B.C. 1056-1015. DAVID AND BATH-SHEBA. 161
he yielded to a terrible temptation, which imbittered the rest of hie
life, and which, as the prophet declared at the time, has ever since
" given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme,"
One evening, as he was walking upon the roof of his lofty palace of
cedar, he saw a beautiful woman in her bath, and became at once
enamored. On inquiry he found that she was BATH-SHEBA, the
\vife of one of his " thirty mighty men," Uriah the Hittite, who
was then absent at the siege of Rabbah under Joab. He sent foi
the woman and seduced her. After a vain attempt to conceal his
guilt, he added treacherous murder to his adultery. Having sent
for Uriah back, he dispatched a letter by him to Joab, ordering his
general to set Uriah in the forefront of the battle, that he- might be
smitten and die. In the attack upon the city, Uriah fell, in happy
ignorance of his sovereign's guilt and of his own wrongs. After
the customary mourning for her husband, Bath-sheba was taken to
the house of David and became his wife, and soon afterwards bore
him a son (2 Sam. xi.).
But now another voice is heard: "The thinij that David had
done displeased the I^ord," He sent to the king the prophet Na-
than, who opened his mission with the parable of n rich man who
spared his own abundant Hocks and herds, and seized for the trav-
eller who had come to him a poor man's little ewe lamb, his darling
and his children's pet. David's natural sense of justice made him
his own judge. "As the Lord liveth," he said, "the man that
hath done this thing shall surely die." "Tuou ART THE MAN,"
replied Nathan. Then the prophet pronounced the sentence of ho
King of kings on him who had just been sentencing the unknown
culprit. He was told that, as his sword had broken up the house
of Uriah, so the sword should never depart from his house, that
evil should be raised up against him out of his own house, and that
his wives should be taken from him and given to his neighbor.
But David was also told that, while his sin had been secret, its pun.
ishment should be " before all Israel and before the sun." Then
follow the few simple words of repentance and forgiveness: "And
David said unto Nathan, 'I have sinned against the Lord.' And
Nathan said unto David, 'The Lord also hath put away thy sin;
:hou shalt not die.' " How David gave expression to the bitter-
ness of his anguish and of his repentance, we may rend in the fifty
first Psalm. Therein he appears as the type of the sinning, suffer
iv, repenting, and forgiven man, who has ever since found in that
one psalm the perfect utterance of his deepest feelings.
But even the " godly sorrow which worketh repentance unto
life " does not avert the temporal consequences of sin, whether in
(he form of its natural fruits or of special judgments. And so Na-
L
162 SCRIPTURE HISTORY. CHAP. XL
than not only does not recall the woes denounced on David's house,
but he goes on to declare a special punishment for his sin. " The
child that is born unto thee shall surely die." No sooner had Na-
than gone home than God struck the new-born child with a mortal
sickness, find on the seventh day it died. As a pledge of pardon,
God comforted him by the birth of another son which Bath-sheba
bare to him ; he was named SOLOMON (i. e., " the peaceful one "), in
memory of the peace which was then established. He became tha
successor of David and the progenitor of the Messiah, of whose
kingdom as " the Prince of Peace " his peaceful reign was a con-
spicuous type.
The glory of the first period of David's reign is overshadowed by
that great sin, the punishment of which was to render its second
part so disastrous. The woes denounced on David's house now
began to be fulfilled. Amnon, the king's eldest son, became vio-
lently enamored of his half-sister Tamar, and dishonored her. Ab-
salom, her brother, waited in silence an opportunity for revenge. It
came at the end of two years, when Amnon was slain at a feast by
Absalom's servants. The young prince fled to his grandfather, and
remained with him at Geshur three years. At the request of Joab,
the king allowed him to return to his own house, but refused to see
him. Absalom dwelt for two years at Jerusalem, gaining favors
with the people by his handsome person. At the end of that time
Joab interceded with the king, who received his son and gave him
the kiss of peace. As his hopes of sharing his father's throne did
not seem likely to be fulfilled, he now began to prepare for rebel-
lion. When the plot was ripe, he obtained leave from the king to
go to Hebron, the ancient sanctuary of his tribe, to pay a vow
which he had made at Geshur in case he should return to Jerusa-
lem. Ahitophel, David's most able counsellor, went with him and
joined the conspiracy, and the hearts of the men of Israel went with
Absalom (2 Sam. xv. 1-13).
When the king heard of it, he at once resolved to fly from Jeru-
salem. Early in the morning he went forth by the eastern gate
with all his household and a crowd of people. Crossing the brook
Kidron, they went over the Mount of Olives to Jericho and thf
wilderness, "while all the country wept with a loud voice." Ir
ihe valley he was joined by Zadok and Abiathar, with the Levites
bringing with them the ark of God. With self-renouncing rever-
ence, David refused to have the ark removed for his sake from the
sanctuary where he had fixed its abode, and so he sent them back.
The weeping troop then went up the Mount of Olives with their
heads covered, the king himself walking barefoot. As he reached
the top, word was brought to him that Ahithophel was among tha
B.C. 1056-1015. ABSALOM'S REBELLION. 163
conspirators. Here David was met by his other counsellor and