the memory of that Moses whose name was linked with all their highest recollections of the past. There were perhaps no very marked events of his long rule, nothing, that is, which would make a striking story. His influence seems to have been of that quiet but never ceasing kind, the effect of which is hardly noticed till afterwards. He lived to prepare the way for that which should come after him.

It

In Samuel's old age the elders of Israel came to him asking him to make them a king like the nations round about. There is no reason to think that it was against God's will for them to have a king sooner or later; but the temper in which they asked for it now was displeasing to Him. It showed that they did not believe Him to be really ruling over them, because they could not see Him. betrayed a wish for a mighty captain to lead them to battle rather than a just judge between man and man, a restrainer of tyrannous great men, a friend of oppressed humble men. Here came an ever memorable lesson of the meaning of God's judgments. This sin of theirs He could not but punish. But why did He punish it? Was it to take revenge for their neglect of Him? No, it was that they might repent of their sin and see the folly of it and cast it away. And there was no way to bring this about so sure as the letting them have their way. Then by experience they would find out what true government contains.

So they were allowed to have the king they desired. Saul, a mighty man of power, handsome and tall, was anointed by Samuel in the Lord's

name, and proclaimed king over Israel.

His whole

mixture of

story is most touching to read from its worthy purposes and paltry actions. There is in him no great deliberate wickedness. It always seems as if he might so easily have grown strong in goodness. But his course is a downward course. With all our interest in him, we feel him to be a poor and worthless king, indulging his people just when he ought to have restrained them, wholly unable at last to save them from the Philistine yoke.

In the last years of his life his story is intertwined with that of David. After one of his foolish acts of perverse disobedience, Samuel is sent to anoint another king. The youngest of Jesse's seven sons, who was busy feeding sheep, is chosen out by the Divine command, because, unlike the foolish elders of Israel, the Lord looketh on the heart, not on the outward appearance. This young shepherd was David. Soon after, he slays the giant Goliath with a pebble from his sling, and excites the jealousy of Saul by the praise which he receives. Presently to save his life from Saul's attacks he has to flee away and live the life of an outlaw; yet ever in that banishment from the ordinary ways of civilized men, keeping up a high level of justice and honour, and generously sparing Saul's life when he had the power to take it. At length Saul is killed in battle with the Philistines, and with him his son Jonathan, David's dearest friend: and David pours forth his sorrow for father and son together.

This was the worthy beginning of David's reign, which fills the second book of Samuel. The spirit

of the whole is expressed in the words of the text, "David perceived that the Lord had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel's sake." The growth of the people was complete at last, the kingdom was duly established, and the mark of a true godly kingdom was upon it, for the king reigned not for his own good but for his people's good. The earthly king's government was a true image of the heavenly king's government. A heart like the heart of God was beating in the breast of him who sat on the throne of Israel. His justice, his self-devotion were worthy to teach men the true mind of their Lord in heaven. Two things about David I pass over now. His grievous wrong-doing will require a few words next time. His psalms we shall have to consider later on, when the book of Psalms is before us. What concerns us to-day is his place in Jewish history with reference to what has gone before, his character as the crown and head of Israel. In him the history of the Old Testament reaches its highest point. No name that we have not yet touched is equal to his till we come to Christ Himself, called in the first verse of the New Testament the Son of David and Son of Abraham. By that name He was welcomed in shouts of triumph as He entered Jerusalem, when the people cried, "Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed be He that cometh in the name of the Lord." By that name He was beseechingly implored by the blind and wretched, and we too now repeat their cry so rich in meaning, when week by week we pray, "O Son of David, have mercy on us!"

XVIII

THE BIBLE. (VI.) THE KINGS, THE CAPTIVITY, AND THE RETURN

"FOR Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth."-Isaiah lxii. 1.

LAST Sunday we considered the second five books of the Old Testament: the books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and Samuel. They conducted us through all the early times of the stay of the Jews in their own land and their complete growth into a people. We saw how they entered the land under the guidance of Joshua after the death of Moses, how they took many cities of the Canaanites and destroyed the inhabitants, and established themselves in the midst, the whole land being portioned out among the different tribes descended from the sons of Jacob. In the book of Judges we saw the rough and unsettled state in which they continued for many generations, helped forward now and then by mighty men called judges, who rose up to lead them against their

various enemies, and at times to bring their own irregularities under something like order and government. Next we saw the young child Samuel in the tabernacle by the side of the old priest Eli, and then growing up into a judge of a higher and better sort; a judge who was also a prophet, who helped to draw the people together in God's name, and spoke to them the words of God. Lastly we saw this last of the judges giving place to the kings, anointing them himself before the Lord to their great office; first, Saul, the king after the people's own heart, the tall and stately soldier whom they rejoiced to have over them to lead them against their enemies the Philistines, but who without any great wickedness only dragged them down lower and lower by indulgence to their fancies and his own, and allowed them to fall a prey to their enemies; and then, as their second king, David, the king after God's own heart. We saw him chosen out by Samuel when he was a shepherd boy, persecuted by Saul from jealousy of the honour paid to him as the slayer of the giant Goliath, upholding honour and justice while living as an outlaw among outlaws, sparing his persecutor's life when he had it in his power, mourning for his persecutor's death, and at last himself becoming a king of the noblest kind, one who lived for the good of his people, and governed them in fearless righteousness. Thus the people had in the end reached their full growth, and all that was best in them shone forth in their head and king. That later suffering King of the Jews, who was also to be King of the whole earth, whom we call our Lord, was hailed in the days of