5. Exalt thyself, O God, above the heavens, thy glory above all the earth. 6. They have prepared a net for my steps. He boweth down my soul. They have dug the pit before me. They themselves are fallen into the midst of it. 7. My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready, I will sing and give praise. 8. I will sing and give praise. Awake, O my glory. Awake, O psaltery and harp. I myself will awake early. 9. I will make my acknowledgments to thee, O Lord, amongst the people. I will praise thee amongst the nations. 10. For thy mercy is great, and reaches to the heavens, and thy truth even to the clouds. 11. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens, and thy glory above all the earth. CHAP. XIII. Of David and Abigail. WHILST David was in the wilderness with his guards, he lay near the estate of Nabal in Maon, whose possessions were in 5. This verse may be rendered, Exalt, O God, above the heavens, above all the earth, thy glory; and means, that God would manifest the glory of his power, mercy, and faithfulness to heaven and earth, in his salvation. 6. The syntax here is thought to be irregular, as we is feminine, and 5, the verb, masculine. But the literal rendering is, They have prepared a net for my steps. He boweth down my soul; referring to Saul at the head of his troops pursuing David to his destruction. This makes the construction regular; and the sense in connection will be, They have prepared a net for me, that he, Saul, may bow down my soul, i. e. cause me to fall into the snare that is laid for me. 7. My heart is fixed, or prepared, as in the margin. He says, in the conclusion of the foregoing verse, that his enemies had fallen into the pit they had prepared for him; as Saul, who sought his life, had fallen in the cave into David's hands, and put his life in his power; and he therefore in the triumph of his joy cries out, My heart is fixed, and prepared to celebrate God's goodness; and his repeating the words adds great emphasis to them. 8. Awake, my glory. Awake, psaltery and harp] This is truly poetical. So Horace : Age dic Latinum barbite carmen. The reader will observe how suitable this psalm is to the circumstances in which David was, that gave occasion to it, when he represents himself as encompassed with lions, or merciless men inflamed with rage, seeking his destruction, and laying snares for his ruin. In such a situation he will admire the firmness of his hope in God, and full assurance of his deliverance, and scarce be able to avoid joining with him in the triumph of his gratitude when his distresses were overpast: My heart is fixed. My heart is fixed. I will sing and give praise. Nor will he fail of being pleased with the images of taking refuge under the shadow of God's wings, of God's 16. Carmel, where he had sheep and goats in abundance. David kept his men in admirable order; and instead of suffering them to pilfer, or take away by violence any part of Nabal's property, they were, said Nabal's men, a wall to us both by 1 Sam. xxv. day and night, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep; a security to us and our cattle from every kind of evil; neither were we hurt, nor missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields. At the proper season Nabal sheared his sheep; and this being a time of festivity and plenty, David sent him a respectful message by ten of his servants, whom he ordered to inquire after Nabal's health, and say to him, "Long may you liven. Prosperity to your family, and prosperity to all your affairs. I have been informed that the shearers are now with you; and as to the shepherds, they have been in the place where we have resided. But we have not unworthily treated or injuriously behaved towards them, nor was there any thing that they missed during the whole time they were in Carmel. Inquire of the young men, and they will confirm what I now say. Wherefore let my servants find favour in thy sight, as we are come in a season of joy and plenty, and give unto thy servants and thy son David whatever comes to thy hand for our present supply." The request was modest, without prescribing any thing to Nabal, and referring the whole to his own generosity. Instead of rewarding David's men by a kind present, or even returning a civil refusal, the churl sent back an abusive message, and said to David's servants, Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? I neither know him nor regard him. Not making truth and mercy the ministers of salvation to his people, or of his address to his psaltery and harp, and his representation of God's dominion extending to the heavens and the earth. n. Ad vitam sis, Valeas; so Jarchi; "Long may you live;" health be to you. And so the Arabic version. And this is the true meaning of the expression. Mr. Houbigant corrects the text, and instead of reads ns ns, thou art my brother. But this emendation can never be right: for David cannot be I Sam. XXV. 10. Ver. 11. Ver. 17. content with this insolence, he goes further, and charges him with being a runaway from his lawful master: there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master; one of the most atrocious reproaches that could be thrown upon a well-born, well-bred, and innocent man, implying those crimes on account of which bad servants become fugitives from their masters. To heighten the insult, he adds, Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be? And, to complete the affront and injury, he further flew on them, and probably by his servants assaulted and abused them. For one of his own servants told Abigail, that when David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master, not as we render it, he railed on them, in which sense the word is never used, but he flew at them, like a ravenous bird on its prey; an expression used almost in all languages to denote a violent attack or assault upon any person to abuse and injure him; and it is probable, by David's resentment, that the brute employed some of his servants thus rudely and insolently to attack them. This infamous breach of all the rules of hospitality and good manners being reported to David, he, in the first start and heat of his resentment, instantly resolved to cut off Nabal and his whole family, too hastily judging that it was a family affront, or that the whole house was as brutal as the master of it. He immediately marched with his men to execute the revenge he had sworn to take of him. One of Nabal's servants having some apprehension, from the resentment expressed by David's messengers, of the mischief that was likely to ensue, immediately informed Abigail of what had passed, and advised her, Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; • Thus the same verb is used to aliquem signifies suddenly and furiously to invade or attack him: Qui nunc si detur mihi, ut ego unguibus facile illi in oculos involem venefico ! Ter. Eun. IV. iii. 5: vid. ibid. V. ii. 20. And, what seems to represent the case before us, Apuleius says of Venus, His dictis, involat in eam, vestemque plurifariam diloricat, capilloque discisso, et capite conquassato, graviter affligit. Metamorph. VI. p. 182. for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial, that no one can speak to him. She being a woman of great temper and prudence, immediately took the proper precaution to disarm David's anger, and hinder the effects of it, by providing a present for him and his men, and making an apology for the brutality of her husband, and the insolence with which he had treated the messengers. Her apology, prostrate at David's feet, was this: "I acknowledge, my lord, the outrage that hath been offered you, take it upon myself, and pray that I only may be regarded as the guilty person. But, I beseech thee, permit thine handmaid to speak before thee, and give a favourable audience to thine handmaid's apology. Let not my lord, I beseech thee, too deeply resent the injury that hath been offered thee by this man of Belial, even by Nabal: for what his name denotes, such is he; his name signifies a fool, and his characteristic is folly he deserves contempt rather than indignation. But as for me, thine handmaid, I did not even see the young men that were sent by thine order. And now, my lord, as the Lord liveth, may thy soul live, since the Lord hath withholden thee from coming to incur the guilt of shedding blood, and hath prevented thy hand from doing it. And now may thy enemies, and all who contrive evil against my lord, be as contemptible as Nabal. And now as to the present which thine handmaid presents to my lord, let it be distributed to the brave youth who serve under my lord's command. And as I have taken Nabal's crime upon myself, I pray thee forgive the trespass of thine handmaid. The avenging it will add nothing to thy security; for the Lord will certainly establish thy house, because my lord fighteth the battles of the Lord, and thy sword is drawn against the enemies of his people. Blameless hath thy conduct been hitherto, and, though heir to the crown, thou hast used no criminal methods to obtain it. And yet, innocent as thou art, there is a man who is risen up to pursue thee, and who cruelly seeks thy life. But my lord is secure under the protection of the Lord thy God, who will keep thy soul in safety, as a treasure carefully wrapped up to prevent its being lost; whilst he will cast away with violence the lives of thine enemies, as a stone violently whirled out from the middle of a sling. And at that happy season, when the Lord shall have performed all the great and good things which he hath promised thee, and raised thee to be king over his people Israel, it will cause no uneasy agitations, nor give any remorse of heart to my lord, even the reflection that thou hast shed blood without a just cause, or that my lord hath avenged himself. And may the Lord do good to my lord, and you will then with pleasure remember thy handmaid." In this apology there is somewhat so artful, delicate, insinuating, and persuasive, as could not possibly fail of success with one of David's generous dispositions. She prudently owns her husband's fault; but at the same time extenuates it, by imputing it rather to stupidity than design; and to save him, begs his crime may be imputed to herself. She pleads however her utter ignorance of the affair to move compassion, and wishes David's enemies may be as contemptible as Nabal, to show her high regard for his interest, and ingratiate herself with an offended soldier. Having thus prepared him, she shows him her present, which, though a princely one, she speaks of as too mean for him, and fit only for his followers. How polite the compliment upon his victories, and how artful the insinuation, that the avenging himself upon so worthless a man as Nabal would be beneath him, and unworthy that sword which had been so much more honourably employed in fighting the battles of the Lord! How pleasing must it be to David to hear her justify his innocence, speak of his persecutor with indignation, and represent his own life as dear to God, and the object of his peculiar care! But nothing could more effectually mollify his anger and disarm his resentment, than when she put him in mind, that if she could prevail with him by her entreaties to drop his intended vengeance, he would not have the reflection, when God should bring him to the throne of Israel, of having rashly shed blood, and cruelly avenged himself, to make his crown sit uneasy upon his head, and pierce his heart with anguish and remorse; but that he would rather then think of her with pleasure, by whom he had been persuaded to moderation and forbearance, and spare those who had injuriously treated him. There is somewhat so humane, tender, and moving, such |