thy name may be magnified for ever. Lord, thou art God, and hast promised this goodness unto thy servant; now therefore let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may be before thee for ever: for thou blessest, O Lord, and it shall be blessed for ever." After David had established his kingdom over all the land of Israel, he went forth again against the Philistines, and subdued them; and he took from them the city of Gath, and the country around it, which belonged to the land of Israel. And he subdued also the people of Moab, and made them pay tribute to him. Afterwards he extended the border of his kingdom to the river Euphrates, and subdued the king of Zobah and the Syrians who dwelt between that river and the land of Israel; for the Lord had promised to Abraham, that he would give to his seed all that land as far as the river Euphrates. David also subdued the king of Damascus, a city of the Syrians on the north of the land of Canaan; and he made all the Syrians pay tribute to him. "And the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went." And David dedicated to the Lord all the silver, and gold, and brass, which he had taken from the nations which he had subdued,-from the people of Moab, and the people of Ammon, and from the Philistines, and the Amalekites, and the Syrians. 2 Samuel vii. viii. Chronicles xvii. xviii. xxii. 8. Deuteronomy xi. 24. To dedicate, is solemnly to set apart for some particular purpose. To dedicate a thing to the Lord, was to offer it to God, and set it apart for His service,-for His temple or His priests. B.C. about 1035. Chapter CXXIV. THE SIN OF DAVID. DAVID ruled for many years in peace over all the tribes of Israel. The Lord had taken him from among the sheepfolds from following the flocks, to be the king and shepherd of His people; and long time "he fed them with a faithful and true. heart, and ruled them prudently with all his power1." The Lord was with him whithersoever he went, and blessed him in all that he did. He 1 Psalm lxxviii. 73. made his name great in the earth, and gave him riches and honour and power. His kingdom was established over all the land of Israel, and over all the nations that were round about, even from the river Euphrates to the Great Sea, and from the wilderness to Lebanon; for the hand of the Lord upheld him, and His arm strengthened him. But power and wealth made him think less of God, and fear Him less. He did not watch and keep his own heart carefully while he ruled his kingdom. So he lost from his heart the fear of God, though he knew it not till trial came. It was about the twelfth year of David's reign over all the tribes of Israel, and nearly twenty years after the death of Saul, when by a great and open sin he fell away from God, and showed how far his heart was changed by the trial of prosperity. Joab, the captain of his armies, had gone forth to punish the people of Ammon, who had insulted the messengers of David. But David remained in Jerusalem. And on an evening-tide, as he walked upon the roof of his house, he saw from thence a woman washing herself in the baths within her garden. The woman was very beautiful to look upon; and when David saw her, he longed to have her for his wife. So he sent and inquired who the woman was; and they told him that she was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. Uriah was a soldier in the army of Israel, and at this time he was absent with Joab fighting against the enemies of David. Then David coveted Uriah's wife. He sinned and broke the command of God, which says, "Thou shalt not covet any thing which is thy neighbour's." Sin entered into his heart, and he did not put it from him. So his heart grew wicked, and he went on from sin to sin. He sent his servants to the house of Uriah to take Bathsheba and bring her to him. And he lived for a time with Uriah's wife, as if she had been his own. After David had sinned, and had taken to himself the wife of Uriah, he feared lest Uriah should return to Jerusalem and learn what he had done. So he wrote letters to Joab, the captain of his army, and told him to set Uriah in the front rank where the battle was hottest, when he went forth against the people of Ammon, that he might be killed. And Joab did as David commanded; he went up against Rabbah, a city of the Ammonites, and set Uriah in the first rank against the place where he knew that valiant men were, and Uriah was slain. Then he sent a messenger to David to tell him of the battle, and he commanded the messenger to say that Uriah the Hittite had fallen by the sword of the people of Ammon. When David heard that Uriah was slain, he did not repent of his evil deed; but when Bathsheba had mourned for her husband according to the custom, and the appointed days were past, he sent and fetched her openly to his house, and she became his wife. 2 Samuel xi. Prosperity is long continued success or good fortune. Chapter CXXV. DAVID'S REPENTANCE. DAVID lived for many months after he had taken to himself the wife of Uriah, and had caused him N |