utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman." Nothing could justify such a war as this, but an express command from God. This Saul had. Some of the reasons for this command we know. This nation had attacked the Israelites in their coming out of Egypt; and for this, among other reasons, God had purposed their destruction. And he has a right to do what he will with his own; and though we now do not know why he should do as he does, yet this we do know, that the judge of all the earth doeth right. Saul proceeds, partially, to execute the command. He gathered the people together, and marched them to a city of Amalek. He then warned the Kenites-the family of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses-to depart from among the Amalekites, lest they should perish with them. "And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah, until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt." He spared the king, but destroyed the people. "But Saul and the people spared the best of the sheep, oxen, and of all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them." He spared the king because of his rank, he himself being a king. He spared the spoil to increase his riches. In both he broke the divine command. Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying, "It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king,: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments." In the interview between the prophet and king, Saul appears to have no idea of his guilt. He salutes him with a "Blessed be thou of the Lord; I have performed the commandment of the Lord." And when Samuel asked "What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears? he replied, The people spared the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God." Then Samuel uttered the severe rebuke, "Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said unto me this night. When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed thee king over Israel? and sent thee to utterly destroy the sinners of the Amalekites. Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the Lord." Saul then claimed that he had obeyed, and throws the blame of a partial disobedience upon the people. "But the people took of the spoil, which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God." And Samuel uttered that great truth, so often repeated in Scripture, but so seldom learned, "Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings, and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." "Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king." Saul, startled with this denun

ciation, confessed his sin, and besought Samuel to remain with him in his intended sacrifice. But Samuel said, "I will not return with thee," and as he turned to go away, Saul laid hold upon his mantle and rent it. And Samuel said, "The Lord hath rent the kingdom from thee this day: and the strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent. Then he said, "I have sinned, yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before all Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord thy God." So Samuel joined him in his sacrifice. The utmost extent of Saul's repentance, was the fear lest he should be publicly abandoned by the prophet, and then by the people. There was no genuine sorrow for his sin. But he did not feel himself yet so secure in the affections of his people that he could safely lose the influence of the aged prophet, much less openly array himself against it. Hence his assumed humility, and his earnest prayer that Samuel would at least publicly honour him. This sacrifice finished, the prophet sent for the Amalekite king and executed the command of God. As a judge he sentences the king to death; who suffers justly for his cruelties. After this second and flagrant offence, Saul was no longer countenanced by the venerable prophet. "And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul; and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel."

SECTION II.

ANOINTING OF DAVID-HIS INTRODUCTION TO SAUL-HIS BATTLE WITH GOLIATH, AND VICTORY OVER THE PHILISTINES-THE FRIENDSHIP OF DAVID AND JONATHAN-DAVID'S ESCAPE FROM SAUL'S ANGER, AND HIS MARRIAGE-SAUL THREATENS HIS LIFE-DAVID'S FLIGHT TO SAMUEL-HIS RETURN TO JONATHAN, AND FINAL PARTING.

SAUL having thus rejected God, having refused to administer the kingdom, under the divine command, and as a king only in a subordinate sense, was now rejected by God. The next step was the choice of his successor-the man who stands pre-eminent among all the Hebrew kings-who walked, as it is testified, "after God's own heart," who received and held the kingdom, as only the vicegerent of Jehovah. "And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons." To guard himself from the anger and violence of Saul, who had become jealous and suspicious of the prophet, Samuel

was directed to "go and sacrifice at Bethlehem," "to call Jesse to the sacrifice, and anoint whomsoever the Lord should name." "And Samuel came to Bethlehem, sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice." When they came, he looked upon the eldest, and said, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him. But the Lord said unto Samuel, "Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." The other sons of Jesse passed before the prophet in succession: "but the Lord had not chosen these." And Samuel said unto Jesse, "Are here all thy children?" And he said, "There remaineth yet the youngest, and behold, he keepeth the sheep." And he said, "Send and fetch him;" and he sent and brought him." "Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him, for this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward." It is doubtful whether David or his brethren at this time understood the meaning of this anointing. It was followed by no practical result: and he was devotedly loyal long after this to Saul. At all events he took no means to bring about the real result to which it pointed. Meantime, however, that Spirit which was given to him, was evidently fitting him for the high trust unto which he had been chosen.

The introduction of David to Saul was brought about by his skill as a minstrel. From his break with the prophet, a change had manifestly passed over the character of Saul. His pride and vain-glory had given place to despondency and gloom, and these had now settled down into the deepest melancholy; this melancholy assumed a fiendish cast, and would seem to have been, from its spasmodic and violent form, not merely the natural working of a disappointed spirit, but of a supernatural power, very much like the possessions in the times of our Lord. To relieve these fits, Saul's servants proposed that he should "seek out a man who is a cunning player upon the harp; and it shall come to pass that when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand and thou shalt be well." The person chosen was the son of Jesse, who is described again "as cunning in playing, a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the Lord is with him." "And David came to Saul, and stood before him and he loved him greatly, and he became his armour-bearer. And it came to pass when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took a harp and played with

his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him."

David next comes before us as a champion of the Israelites against their inveterate foe. The armies of the Israelites and the Philistines were again encamped upon the opposite sides of a valley; and again God saves his people by few. "And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span." His armour corresponded with his size. "And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? Am not I a Philistine, and ye servants of Saul? Choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants, but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants. And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day." At this proud challenge, Saul and all Israel were dismayed and greatly afraid. While the armies were in this position, David, who had returned from Saul to his father, comes again to his elder brethren in the camp. He came just as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle. For they had put the battle in array, army against army." While David talked with his brethren, there came up the champion of Gath, and repeated his defiance; and David heard it. As usual, all Israel fled from before him. David, indignant at the reproach cast upon his people, inquires, "What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel, for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?" And they answered, "The king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel." These words of David were rehearsed before Saul, and he sent for him. And David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. And Saul said, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth." To make known the ground of his confidence, and to secure the favour of Saul, David relates his adventure while tending his father's flocks. "There came a lion and a bear, and took a lamb of the flock, and I went out after him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. The Lord that delivered me from their power, will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine." Saul then arms David for the encounter; and he assayed to go, but afterwards turns back and lays aside his arms, "for he had not proved them."

"And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook or valley, and put them in a shepherd's bag, which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine." When the Philistine saw his youthful and unarmed opponent, he disdained. him, and said, "Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods." Then said David, in the calm courage which faith in God ever gives, "Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield; but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand, and take thine head from thee: and will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with spear and sword; for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands." As they drew on near to each other, David took from his bag a stone and slang it, "and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth." But there was no sword in the hand of David. "Then he ran, and took the sword of the Philistine, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. And the men of Israel shouted, and pursued after them unto Gath and Ekron, with a great slaughter." The victory was complete.

As David went forth against the Philistine, Saul inquires of Abner the captain of the host, "Whose son is this youth?" "And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell. And the king said, Inquire thou whose son the stripling is.' And as David returned from the battle, Abner brought him before the monarch with the head of the Philistine in his hand. And Saul said, "Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse, the Bethlehemite."* David, as we are told, brought the trophy of his victory to Jerusalem; and the sword he left with Ahimelech the priest, as a tribute of thankfulness to Jehovah for the victory.†

*It has been objected to this passage that Saul must have known David. He had played before him, and been chosen as one of his armour-bearers. Why then should he ask as to his parentage? It is possible that Saul should have forgotten David. He was not permanently fixed at court, and had been absent at the present time. This is the more likely, as David was present with Saul in his frantic moods. And it would certainly be no uncommon thing, that a king, in the number of his attendants and courtiers, should forget the appearance of a youth just changing into manhood.

Jerusalem was partially in the hands of the Jebusites, but not so much so as to prevent this triumphal procession from resting there: and Jerusalem is here mentioned, as it soon became pre-eminently the city of David.