slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands." This so much displeased Saul, and raised his jealousy and envy against David, that he made several attempts to take his life, and con tinued to hunt him as a partridge on the mountains. Of these things more fully when we come to the life of David. Passing over several of the unhappy incidents of Saul's life and reign, we come to the account of his last battle, as recorded in 1 Sam. xxxi. "Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before them, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew his three sons. And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers. Then said Saul unto his armour-bearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armour-bearer would not; for he was sore afraid; therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armour-bearer, and all his men, that same day together.. And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa. And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour: and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan; whence it was taken along with those of his sons by the valiant men of Jabesh-gilead, and buried under a tree at Jabesh, where they fasted seven days." Upon the death of Saul, and Jonathan his son, David made a most beautiful and sublime elegy, which we here insert :-- "The beauty of Israel is slain upon the high places: How are the mighty fallen! 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 uncircumcised triumph. Ye mountains of Gilboa, Let no dew nor rain fall upon you: Let your fields yield no offerings; For there the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away, The shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil. From the blood of the wounded, From the strength of the mighty, The bow of Jonathan turned not back, The sword of Saul returned not in vain. Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, In their death they were not divided. They were swifter than eagles, They were stronger than lions. Ye daughters of Israel weep over Saul, Who adorned your garments with golden embroidery. Jonathan falls in the midst of battle, He dies on thy high places. I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan. Thy love for me was wonderful, Greater than the love of woman. How are the mighty fallen, And their weapons of war perished!" Note.-Jonathan received his death-wound from the hands of the Philistines, and bravely yielding to the fate of war, died in the bed of honour, as it is called; but Saul died as a fool dieth. And yet we are not to judge of the spiritual or eternal state of any by the manner of their death; for in that there is one event to the righteous and the wicked. All things come alike to all; whereby God would teach us, that the difference between good and bad is to be made in the other world, not in this. EXERCISES. Whose son was Saul? How much higher was he than the rest of the people? Where, and by whom, was he publicly elected king of Israel? How did he govern in the beginning of his reign? Why was he rejected by the Lord? From what family did the Lord choose his successor? What was his name? What was the name of the giant who defied the armies of Israel? Who slew him? With what? What effect had this deed upon Saul? Name the battlefield on which Saul and his three Mention some of the circumstances attending the death of Saul? How was David affected therewith? Repeat the last six lines of his elegy. sons were slain. CHAPTER XII. FROM SAUL'S DEATH TO THE END OF DAVID'S REIGN, David's Parentage-Sent for by Saul-Kills Goliath-Is Envied and DAVID, of whose character we are now to give a very brief outline, was the youngest son of Jesse, the grandson of Obed, and great-grandson of Boaz and Ruth. Of his early training little is recorded; but it may be safely inferred that it was what it ought to have been. Hence we find him, at a very early age, heroic, prudent, subject to his parents, trusting in God, and fit to be the ruler of a numerous and unruly people. We have already seen, that at the time when God had rejected Saul from being king over Israel, that David, then a shepherd lad, was sent for by Samuel the prophet, and anointed in the midst of his brethren. The Lord preferred him to all his brethren, and gives the reason why-" For the LORD seeth not as man seeth for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." To a beautiful countenance, David added many mental and natural accomplishments. A summary of these we have from one of Saul's servants, who said, "I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and," to finish the climax, "the LORD is with him." Upon hearing of this, Saul sent for him, "and David came and stood before him; and he became his armour-bearer. And it came to pass, when the evil spirit was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand so Saul was refreshed, and the evil spirit departed from him." When Saul had no further occasion to use David for the relief of his distemper, he returned to keep his father's sheep, preferring the rural retirements of a pastoral life to all the gaieties and pleasures of the court. It is not improbable, that during this pastoral retirement he composed the 23d Psalm, exhibiting (as it is well said by Dr Blair,) "the pleasing picture of a heart overflowing with gratitude, and rejoicing in the goodness of Heaven. Reviewing the past part of his life, he contemplates God as his shepherd, who hath made him lie down in green pastures, and led him beside the still waters. sidering the present, he beholds his Divine benefactor preparing a table for him in the presence of his enemies, and making his cup run over. Looking forward to the future, he confides in the same goodness as continuing to follow him all the days of his life, and bringing him to dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. With perfect composure and serenity he looks forward to the time when he is to pass through the valley and shadow of death, and even there he fears no evil. Such is the happy distinction which good men enjoy in a situation the most formidable to human nature." These were the palmy days of the "sweet psalmist of Israel," and they were fast hastening to close. Hence we find in 1 Sam. xvii. 20, that, in obe : Con dience to the command of his father, "David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle. For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army." Here David, not only like our modern "NORVAL," had heard of battles, and longed to follow to the field some "warlike hero," but he becomes the leading hero himself; and with the home-heart feelings of a brother, and the patriotic heroism of a trueborn Israelite, he runs into the army and salutes his brethren. "And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion of the Philistines," repeating his challenge, saying, "I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together." When David heard this proud boaster, he said, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?" Upon his putting this natural and interesting question, the jealousy, envy, and anger of Eliab, his eldest brother, is kindled, and he tauntingly asks David, "Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had. And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh to the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field. Then said David to the Philistine, 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. And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence 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. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone; but there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, 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."-Note. Eliab tauntingly charged David with having come to see the battle, but David came and fought. the battle. His victory over Goliath was typical of the triumphs of the Son of David over Satan and all the powers of darkness, whom he spoiled, and made a shew of them openly. — Col. ii. 15. -- One would have thought that such a victory gained by David over the enemies of Israel, would have won for him the unfeigned gratitude and lasting esteem of Saul, their sovereign. Instead of this, the malignity of his nature displayed itself in rendering evil for good, hatred for love, deceit for fidelity. Hence it is recorded, 1 Sam. xviii. 9, “ And Saul eyed David from that day and forward." And again, ver. 29, " And Saul became David's enemy continually.' And again, in 1 Sam. xix., we have an account of four narrow escapes which David made for his life. First, by the mediation of Jonathan, who loved David as he loved his own soul; second, by his own activity; third, by Michal's fidelity and ingenuity; and lastly, by a change, for the time, being wrought upon Saul; but it was for a short time. Hence we find it recorded in 1 Sam., chap. xx., that when Jonathan had sounded his father in regard of his intentions towards David, he knew that he was determined to slay him. Jonathan made this known to David, whereupon they swore eternal friendship, parted in sorrow, Jonathan saying unto David, "Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. And David arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city." The separation of these two trusty friends and faithful lovers was equally trying and heartrending to them both, yet David's situation was the more deplorable; for, when Jonathan was returning to his family and his friends, David was going out an exile, persecuted without any just cause, leaving society, and all its comforts. Placed under such a load of pressing circumstances, it is no great wonder that we find David breaking down, and giving way to temptations, and imposing upon Ahimelech the priest, and also upon Achish the king of Gath, before whom he played the fool, and played his part so well as to gain his object, and to make Achish say unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?" Thus Achish drove him away, as it is in the title of Psalm xxxiv., which David penned upon this occasion, and shews that he did not change his spirit when he changed his behaviour. Shortly after this he sets up his standard in the cave of Adullam, "and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him. And every one that was in distress, and in debt, and discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men." It was at this time that David penned the 142d แ |