38

THE EDUCATION OF A KING.

[Serm. the scriptural records, which misled the commentators into this dangerous method of justifying them. They saw that David was spoken of as intended by God for a king, while he was a shepherd boy. They perceived that all his various and romantic adventures were preparing him for a throne; they were struck with the consciousness, in his own mind, of a destiny and a work which were to be accomplished. They could not but be aware, that every thing which was greatest, best, purest, in him, had reference to a divine. mission which he was to execute for his country. They could not be mistaken that he was educated for a special office. Unhappily they forgot to ask themselves what the education for such an office implied, what we are actually told about it in the Bible. Had they followed the guidance of the history for which they were trying to make ingenious excuses, they might have found how truly the education of the divine king was the education of a man; they might have come to understand what it was in the old days to be a man after God's own heart, what it is in our days; they might have attained through that knowledge to a far deeper sense of the nature and cause of David's sins, to a more earnest repentance for their own. Some of these blessings may, I hope, come to us, my brethren, while we seek to understand the nature of David's discipline. I shall confine myself this afternoon to the years which he passed before the death of Saul, the period which is indicated by the words of the text. The time of his actual government, described in the following sentence, "So he fed them with a faithful and true heart, and ruled them prudently with all his power," I reserve for another occasion.

When I speak of David as having the consciousness of a divine calling or mission in every period of his life, I do

III.]

THE THOUGHTS OF A SHEPHERD BOY.

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not mean that he was haunted in the sheepfolds with dreams of some great honor to come upon him hereafter. Those to whom such dreams come, are commonly impatient of the mean position in which they find themselves. What I apprehend he felt was, that he had a call to the work in which he was then engaged. He must have believed that the God of his fathers, He and no other, had appointed him to take care of the few sheep in the wilderness which Jesse had trusted him with. A strange thought, that the tasks which fell to him because he was the youngest son of the house, could be tasks in which the Most High God who filled Heaven and earth, interested Himself. But it was the thought which made David's life tolerable to him, the only one which could have enabled him to work without becoming the slave of his work. The shepherd's life brought him into wide, open plains, to hill-sides that were lonely by day as well as night. How awful to feel himself there, him the poor shepherd, an atom amidst the infinity of nature! But an atom which breathed, which thought, which, in the depth of its nothingness, felt that it was higher and more wonderful than the universe which was able, and sometimes seemed ready, to crush it. Shepherd-boy, what art thou? Child of the covenant, what art thou? Fearful questions, to which the hills and the skies could give no answer. But the boy pursued his task. He led the sheep to their pastures, he took them to the streams, he followed them into thickets and ravines where they had lost themselves. These poor silly creatures were worthy of David's diligence. And then the answer came. "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness. Yea, though I walk through the

40

HOW HE BECOMES A POET.

[Serm. valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me. Thy rod and Thy staff, they strengthen me." What a revelation to the soul of a youth! A Guide near him, with him, at every moment,―—as actual a guide as he was to the sheep; a guide who must watch over a multitude of separate souls, as he watched over each separate sheep, who must care to bind them together in one, as he cared to bring the sheep into the same fold!

Let us not suppose for an instant that David, as he practised these duties and meditated upon them, gained some fine metaphors respecting the relations of faithful men to their Creator, which afterwards served to make him the poet of Israel. These thoughts and the shepherd life did bring forth that divine poetry, just because they were so intensely real, and because it was so intensely real. They sprung out of intense anxieties respecting himself. What had such anxieties to do with metaphors? His thoughts associated themselves with the humblest toils. What had they to do with metaphors? His meditations were upon the I AM, upon Him before whom Moses hid his face, Who spoke in thunders upon Sinai. How dared he make Him a subject for metaphors? When God taught David to think of Him as a shepherd, He took away that cold cloud-drapery with which we are wont to invest Him; He brought him into contact with His actual presence and government. And do not fancy that, because this apprehension was direct and personal, it was narrow and local. Then, when he could think of God as One nigh and not afar off; then, when he could believe that He cared for him and cared for each of his brethren; then he could look up into the open sky with wonder, but without trembling, and say, "When I behold Thy heavens, the work of Thy hands, the moon and

III.]

THOUGHTS THE SEEDS OF ACTIONS.

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the stars which Thou hast ordained; Lord, what is man that Thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that Thou visitest him? Thou hast made him a little lower than the Angels, Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands-all sheep and oxen, yea and the beasts of the field. Oh Lord our Lord, how excellent is Thy Name in all the earth!" Then first all Nature could sympathise with him, could call forth instead of crushing the energies of his own heart. For the heavens as they shone clear and bright before him after a long night-watching, declared the glory of the God who was his shepherd; the firmament shewed His handywork. Day unto day, and night unto night, uttered speech and shewed knowledge. The sun came out of his bridal chamber, he went forth as a giant rejoicing to run his race, carrying a message to all nations concerning One whose law converted the soul of man, whose statutes made wise the simple.

This was a hidden education, the education of a young man's heart. But it was cultivating the seeds which were to bring forth fruits in manly acts. Here we are told in David's words of some of the earliest of those fruits. "Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion and a bear and took a lamb out of the flock. And I went out after him and smote him and delivered it out of his mouth. And when he arose against me, I caught him by the beard and slew him." David was learning the secret of invisible strength, what it is, and where and how it works. So there grew in him a scorn of that which lies in bulk and looks terrible to the eye. If the bear and the lion came out against one of his flock, it was his business to encounter them. And seeing that he was a man, made

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THE ANOINTING.

[Serm.

in God's image, made a little lower than the Angels, the child of God's covenant, he could use the dominion that God had given to his race. The strength was not his. In that first battle, as in every one he was to fight hereafter, the Lord of Hosts was with him, the God of Jacob was his helper.

The story tells us that there came to the house of Jesse, an old man whom all knew to be a prophet; that he came upon a strange errand which he scarcely understood himself -to anoint one of the sons of that family; that the eldest passed before him, and that the prophet was struck with his look and stature, and would have poured the oil on his head; that he was told that the Lord did not look on the outward appearance but tried the heart; that the other sons all passed by; that one was missing, (he being the youngest, and with the sheep); that when this youth, ruddy and fair to look upon, came in, Samuel was bidden to rise and anoint him.

Here was the sign that all the inward discipline and preparation of David had an object, another object than merely to make him a faithful keeper of sheep, or even a wise and righteous man. But a divine sign is not a mere ceremony. It would be deceitful and insincere if there were not a present blessing denoted by it, the communication of an actual power to fit the man for tasks to which he has not hitherto been appointed. From that day forward, we are told, the Spirit of God came upon David. There was a power within him stirring him to thoughts and acts which connected him directly with Israelites, with human beings. Yet with this new calling, with the consciousness of this new power, he still returned to his old work. It was his till some clear summons drew him from it. It had not lost its sacredness,