ror into which the vision of Samuel threw her. It appears, therefore, to us, that God, for a wise purpose, permitted the ghost of Samuel to revisit the earth; but that, in effecting that extraordinary end, the woman's incantations had no share. If it be farther urged that the tale is altogether so wonderful as to be beyond belief, we are compelled to admit that we ourselves believe it only because it is narrated in the Bible.

CHAPTER XV.

David's Wanderings-He mounts the Throne-His Errors-His Fa mily Disasters-Rebellion of Absalom-Is suppressed-David Restored-Objections answered.

A. M. 4341 To 4375.-B. c. 1070 To 1036.

WHILE Saul was thus fulfilling the destiny which God had appointed him, David, at the head of a bold and daily increasing band, carried on a desultory and successful war against the heathen nations around him. It happened, that, during his sojourn in king Achish's camp, the Amalekites, in revenge for numerous inroads on his part, made an expedition against Ziklag, and coming upon it when deserted by its garrison, made themselves masters of the place. No lives appear to have been lost on that occasion, for the invaders were more eager to secure plunder than revenge; but they burned the town to the ground, carried off the women and children, cattle and goods, and began a disorderly, because a triumphant, march back into their own country. Their triumph, however, was of short continuance. David, informed of what had happened, commenced a rapid pursuit, and overtook the marauders in the desert. There he attacked them, when in a state of absolute confusion, put them totally to the rout, and not only recovered all the property which had originally belonged to his followers, but obtained an immense spoil, which they had collected from different points in the land of the Philistines.

David had returned from this successful expedition but

two days, when an Amalekite arrived in Ziklag with intelligence of the defeat of the Israelite army, and the death of Saul and his sons. The man communicated the above information with great apparent satisfaction, under the idea that it would be received with a similar feeling; indeed, he went so far as to arrogate to himself the honour of having slain Saul with his own hand; and produced the monarch's crown and bracelet, in testimony of the truth of his story. But he was deceived in the character of the individual to whom he addressed himself. Instead of rewarding, David upbraided him with his treachery, and ordering his guards to fall upon him, he put him to death on the spot.

The throne was now empty, and David, remembering the purpose for which he had been solemnly set aside by Samuel, considered that the moment had at length arrived when it behooved him to accomplish it. He accordingly consulted Jehovah as to the propriety of the measure, and obtaining a favourable answer, set out with his family and followers for Hebron. Here he was well received by the heads of the tribe of Judah, who immediately acknowledged him as king; but the example was not followed on the instant by the rest of Israel; on the contrary, Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, had already mounted the throne, chiefly through the influence of Abner, the late king's uncle; and that prince fixing his residence at Mahanaim, Israel became divided, for a time, into two sovereignties.

It was not to be supposed, that between persons so circumstanced, peace would long be preserved. For a year or two, indeed, a sort of armed truce continued, each party regarding the other with suspicious jealousy; but matters came gradually to a crisis, which was hastened by the following occurrence: Abner, the general of Ish-bosheth's army, and Joab, the leader of David's, had drawn their forces to a head near the pool of Gibeon; when the former proposed that twelve champions from each side should engage in the warlike pastime of fencing. The challenge was accepted by Joab; and the young men, converting a sport into a serious reality, fell by one another's hands. This brought on a battle, which ended in the defeat of Abner, with some loss; but Asahel, Joab's brother, falling in the pursuit, the fugitives were enabled to make good their retreat in order.

The war, thus begun, raged during several years with great violence, David's party gaining strength every day, as that of Ish-bosheth declined; till at last, the son of Saul, by an imprudent quarrel with Abner, deprived himself of his only chance of success. Abner, it appears, on the death of Saul, had taken one of his master's concubines to wife; and Ish-bosheth, more mindful of the empty dignity of the crown than of the important services of his general, reproved the latter in no measured terms for his presumption. This was more than the pride of a man, conscious of his own merits, and of his master's weakness, could endure. Abner instantly renounced his allegiance to Ish-bosheth, opened a communication with David, and easily persuaded the heads of Israel to follow his example. But he was poorly requited for such services. Joab, alarmed lest he might come between himself and the favour of his sovereign, enticed him into his power; and though covered by the sanctity of a safe conduct from David, treacherously slew him.

David was highly indignant at the bloody deed; but so great was Joab's influence with the army, and so insecure his own condition, that he felt himself precluded from taking the notice of it which it deserved. He contented himself, therefore, with openly expressing his abhorrence of the murder; and, causing a public funeral to be bestowed upon Abner, he himself attended as chief mourner. Nor were his apprehensions of the consequences likely to arise either trifling or ill-founded. Had Ish-bosheth possessed the talents of his father, there cannot be a doubt that he might have turned the affair to good account; for the chiefs of Israel were naturally inflamed into fury, not less than apprehensive, each on his own account; but Ish bosheth was a weak prince, incapable of availing himself of the opportunity, or indeed of supporting the dignity of his situation, now that Abner was taken away from him. The result was, that a conspiracy was entered into against his life, which two of his attendants, Rechab and Baanah, carried into execution. They attacked him while asleep in the heat of the day, cut off his head, and carried it to David; who bestowed upon them the same reward which he had previously bestowed upon the lying Ama lekite.

The death of Ish-bosheth having removed every B. C. obstacle to David's succession, he was acknowledged 1063. as king by all the tribes of Israel. The first use which he made of power was, to march with a numerous army against Jerusalem; the fort or citadel of which, situated on Mount Sion, had continued from the days of Joshua in the hands of the Jebusites; and having taken it by assault, in which Joab eminently distinguished himself, he established there the seat of his government. A handsome and costly palace was accordingly built, the bounds of the city were enclosed on every side, and Jerusalem became from thenceforth the capital of the Hebrew empire. Here David dwelt for some time in peace and great prosperity, in the midst of a multitude of wives, of a numerous offspring, and of faithful and obsequious servants.

But the life of David, whether as a sovereign or B. C. a private person, was not destined to be one of re1061. pose. His architectural labours were scarcely completed, when a violent inroad of the Philistines summoned him to the field, where fresh victories, the indications of God's power, awaited him. Twice he overthrew their armies in battle, on the plain of Rephaim; after which, he carried the war into their country with distinguished success; and then, returning to Jerusalem, he resumed the occupations from which their hostile movements had withdrawn him.

1060.

One of the first acts of the Hebrew monarch, on B. C. the close of the war, was, to bring up the ark with great pomp and ceremony from Kirjath-jearim to the capital. He was attended on this occasion by a corps of thirty thousand men, partly, perhaps, for the sake of doing honour to the procession, but not less in order that all hazard of interruption from the Philistines might be averted; and the ark being placed on a new cart, the whole set forward. Bands of music went before, and the shouts of multitudes rent the air, when an event befell, which in a moment converted the joy of David and his company into horror. By some accident or another the ark lost its equilibrium, and Uzzah, one of the drivers, fearful lest it might fall, stretched out his hand to support it. As Uzzah belonged not to the privileged class, to whom alone it was allowed to touch that sacred coffer, he was instantly struck

dead for his presumption;* and so great was the effeci produced upon all those who witnessed the occurrence, chat David became afraid to proceed farther in his project. The ark was accordingly arrested in its progress at the dwelling of a Levite, whose name was Obed-edom, where for some time it remained, till the king, recovering from his panic, once more made an effort to remove it to Jerusalem. On this occasion, no cause of drawback to the general rejoicing appeared. Numerous and sumptuous offerings greeted it as it passed; bands of minstrels, with David at their head, went before; and finally, it was lodged in a tabernacle which the king had prepared for it, within the precincts of Mount Sion. But even now, David's triumph received a check from a quarter, whence it ought, least of all, to have issued. His wife Michal, Saul's daughter, who had been separated from him for a season, and whom he recovered only when he ascended the throne, affected to treat him with contempt, because he had danced and sung songs of triumph before the ark; and David withdrew himself, in consequence, altogether from her society.

B. C.

The ark being thus lodged in Jerusalem, and a 1055. gorgeous palace built for himself, David next meditated the erection of a temple, in which the hallowed chest might be deposited, with greater splendour than now surrounded it. He had proceeded so far in this design as to dedicate a large quantity of gold and silver to the undertaking; and to procure a fresh supply of cedar-wood from his ally, Hiram, King of Tyre, when it was nounced by Nathan, the prophet or seer, that for him the honour of such a building was not reserved, but that his

an

* An objection has been taken to this occurrence, as if the sudden death of Uzzah, on so trivial an occasion, were opposed to all our notions of God's justice and goodness, more especially as the error into which he fell seems to have been involuntary. To this it is sufficient to reply, that some such example as the catastrophe in question afforded, was requisite, in order to bring back the Israelites generally to a due reverence for the ark, in which, since it fell into the hands of the Philistines, they seem to have been wanting. That the case was so, David's exhortation to Zadok and Abiathar, on an after occasion, distinctly proves. "Ye are the chief of the fathers of the Levites," says he, "sanctify yourselves, therefore, both ye and your brethren, that you may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel to the place that I have prepared for it; because ye did it not at the first, the Lord our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not, after the due order."