"And when King David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a Man of the Family of the House of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the Son of Gera: he came forth and cursed still as he came : and he cast stones at David, and at all the Servants of King David: and all the People and all the Mighty Men were on his right hand and on his left: and thus said Shimei, when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody Man, and thou Man of Belial! The LORD hath Returned upon thee all the blood of the House of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned and The LORD hath Delivered the Kingdom into the hand of Absalom, thy Son: and behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody Man!' Then said Abishai, the Son of Zeruiah, unto the King, 'Why should this dead dog curse my Lord, the King? let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head!' And the King said, What have I to do with you, ye Sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because The LORD hath Said unto him, Curse David!' Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so ?' And David said to Abishai, and to all his Servants, Behold, my Son which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now may this Benjamite do it? Let him alone, and let him curse! for The LORD hath Bidden him. It may be that The LORD will Look on mine affliction, and that The LORD will Requite me Good for his cursing this day.' And as David and his Men went by the way, Shimei went along on the hill's side over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust. And the King and all the People, that were with him, came weary, and refreshed themselves there."2 Sam. xvi. 5 to 14.

Unconscious of any blood-guiltiness towards the House of Saul, had David's mind yielded to the ordinary dictates of worldly passion, he would have caused signal vengeance to be inflicted on so unwarrantable an attack, coupled with so much cowardice and cruelty from the season selected for making it. He would at once have yielded to the suggestion of Abishai, and made Shimei pay, on the spot, the seeming forfeit of his rashness; and Human policy might appear loudly to call for such infliction of vengeance, lest the example of unpunished insult should spread to the diffusion of the same spirit of outrage; and thus Absalom's advance towards his Father's overthrow should be anticipated by the effects of Shimei's violence, and the impunity with which it was met. Nor was this the only consideration that would have weighed in the scale of Man's wisdom; for the violence was not only used towards David, but towards his most faithful Adherents; and if their wrongs were not allowed to be self-redressed, when the means so readily offered, might it not be reasonably supposed, that the tie of attachment would burst asunder, and that David would be left to his fate; since he withheld all exertion towards a favourable change of it. But David's Spirit, which was the offspring of a fervent piety, was so humbled before its GOD, at the recollection of its sins, that even the furious Shimei he regarded as an Instrument of merited Resentment in the Hand of That GOD; so determined was he, in all circumstances and at every hazard, to shew the meekness of resignation to The DIVINE Chastisement. And, in so doing, how exalted in a true Spiritual light does the character of David become; and what confirming testimony is thereby borne to the unfeigned sacredness of his character by Abishai's submission to the restraint imposed upon him, and still more by his silence under the sharp accusation of inciting to the shedding of blood! that humbleth himself, shall be exalted ;" and "Whom The LORD Loveth, He Chasteneth." These were the encouraging Words, That Brought to the Soul of David peace amidst persecution, and induced him to possess his Soul in patience, till the Acceptable Season of The LORD should Come, when he would be Delivered out of the hands of all his Enemies, and especially from the influence of sin, which, more than all the World, was hostile to his Peace. In the spirit of his 38th Psalm

He,

David then said within himself, "LORD! all my desire is before Thee; and my groaning is not hid from Thee. They, that seek after my life, lay snares for me; and they, that seek my hurt, speak mischievous things. But in Thee, O LORD, do I hope; Thou wilt Hear, O LORD, my GOD. For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin. Forsake me not, O LORD! O my GOD, Be not Far from me! Make Haste to Help me, O LORD, my Salvation !"-v. 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 22. "It may be that The LORD will Look on mine affliction; and that The LORD will Requite me Good for his cursing this day." With this silent prayer he contented himself under Shimei's violence, and shielded himself from the effects of Abishai's unholy temptation; and to his conduct on this occasion he probably afterwards adverted, when he said, "I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because Thou, LORD, Didst It."-Ps. xxxix. 9.

Such consolation is open to every pious Soul under trials and persecutions; and assuredly we know, for we have the Sure Promise of Him, Whose Promise never Faileth, that it will, and not merely may, be, that The LORD will Look on our affliction here, and in the Life to Come will Requite us Good for it. Shall we not, therefore, with meekness and humble resignation, receive evil at the Hand of The LORD in the little span of our existence here, when we shall, therefore, Receive, unto our Soul's comfort, Infinite Good from That Same Gracious Hand, through the endless Life to Come!

"And Absalom and all the People, the Men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him. And it came to pass, when Hushai, the Archite, David's Friend, was come unto Absalom, that Hushai said unto Absalom, GOD Save the King! GOD Save the King!' And Absalom said to Hushai, Is This thy kindness to thy Friend! why wentest thou not with thy Friend?' And Hushai said unto Absalom, Nay, but whom The LORD, and this People, and all the Men of Israel choose, his will I be, and with him will I abide: and again, whom should I serve? should I not serve in the presence of his Son? as I have served in thy Father's presence, so will I be in thy presence.'"-2 Sam. xvi. 15 to 19.

66

It is impossible to deny, with the honesty of unequivocating sincerity, that Hushai dissembled, and dissembled with the name of That GOD, Who is Truth Itself, and Who Loveth no unrighteousness. The words in the Text, which in our translation of the Bible are construed "GOD Save the King!" will, it seems from the margin of the same Authority, bear the interpretation, May the King live!" but to ask of The AUTHOR of Life for the continuance of that Life, as a King, which in his heart, he wished terminated as far as Kingly honour and power at least went, was a mockery, and cannot be reconciled with the Dictates of The SPIRIT of Grace, Which are Pure and Free from all guile. This cometh of that littleness of faith, which only at times and at seasons putteth its trust in A Superintending PROVIDENCE, and doth not set The LORD always before it, but savoureth at intervals of the wisdom of this World, which is foolishness in the Sight of GOD. But, nevertheless, the influence of Human pride may be checked by this demonstration of worldly arts being overcome by a more subtle worldly policy and the lesson learnt from thence, that how great soever may seem the penetration of the Human judgment when resting on its own powers, there is, nevertheless, no effectual security against the being surprised and overreached by the machinations and artifices of Others. Absalom, whose schemes for assuming the government of his Country, even to the dispossession of his Father, had been so long and deeply laid, and were then almost at the very point of success, was yet lulled into a fatal confidence in the professions of Hushai, and led to cherish an Enemy in his bosom, admitting him even to his Chambers of Council. However, therefore, withhold our approbation from the means through which such a fatal confidence was generated in a Man of sin, even by taking the Name of The LORD in vain,

we must

yet must we not deny that the Servants of Sin from thence may derive further discouragement against continuing in the employ of a Master, not only so deceiving himself, but so liable to be deceived by Others; and turn to That LORD and MASTER, Whose Word Enlighteneth the Soul, Leading it, through the peaceful paths of a conscience void of offence towards GOD and towards Man, unto the Mansions of Ineffable Delight in the Life to Come, and which will be without end.

"Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, 'Give counsel among you, what we shall do!' And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy Father's Concubines, which he hath left to keep the house! and all Israel shall hear that thou art abhorred of thy Father then shall the hands of All, that are with thee, be strong.' So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house and Absalom went in unto his Father's Concubines in the sight of all Israel. And the counsel of Ahithophel which he counselled in those days, was as if a Man had inquired at the Oracle of GOD: so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom. Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand Men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night; and I will come upon him, while he is weary and weak-handed, and will make him afraid and all the People, that are with him, shall flee: and I will smite the King only and I will bring back all the People unto thee: the Man, whom thou seekest, is as if All returned: so all the People shall be in Peace.' And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the Elders of Israel. Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai, the Archite, also, and let us hear likewise what he saith!' And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him, saying, 'Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do after his saying? if not; speak thou!' And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel, that Ahithophel hath given, is not good at this time: for, said Hushai, Thou knowest thy Father and his Men, that they be mighty Men, and they be chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field; and thy Father is a Man of war, and will not lodge with the People: behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some other place; and it will come to pass, when Some of them be overthrown at the first, that Whosoever heareth it will say, 'There is a slaughter among the People, that follow Absalom!' and he also, that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt for all Israel knoweth that thy Father is a mighty Man, and they, which be with him, are valiant Men: therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the Sea for multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own Person: so shall we come upon him in some Place, where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground: and of him and of all the Men, that are with him, there shall not be left so much as One. Moreover, if he be gotten into a City, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that City, and we will draw it into the river, until there be not one small stone found there." And Absalom and all the Men of Israel said, 'The counsel of Hushai, the Archite, is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.' For The LORD had Appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel; to the intent that The LORD might Bring evil upon Absalom."-2 Sam. xvi. 20 to 23, and xvii. 1 to 14.

Traitor as was Ahithophel to his King, he was not less an Apostate from the true faith in his GOD. But wonderful is the Power of That GOD, Which Maketh even the wrath of Man to serve Him! The heinous offence of David, though done in secret and remote from the eye of Man, yet open to the Eye of The LORD Which is over All, Beholding the Evil and the Good, was to be Visited with the Punishment of dethronement and degradation; and Ahithophel, whose counsel was regarded as the Oracle of GOD for keenness and penetration, was instrumental to the furtherance of The DIVINE Purpose; though his heart was by no means in the matter from

any zeal for The LORD'S Service, for he was even ignorant of The DIVINE Resolve, and of the Prophetic Annunciation of It, in the words of Nathan; "Thus Saith The LORD, Behold, I will Raise up evil against thee out of thine own House, and I will Take thy Wives before thine eyes, and Give them unto thy Neighbour, and he shall lie with thy Wives in the sight of this sun: for thou didst it secretly: but I will Do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.'" Yet, though Ahithophel was made ignorantly, he was not innocently the means of accomplishing this Prediction, and fulfilling the Will of The Allwise DISPOSER of Events, by counselling both Absalom's rebellion, and his almost incestuous intercourse with his Father's Concubines: for his heart sacrificed at the shrine of Moloch, and trampled on the Oracles of The GOD of Israel, Whose Doctrines Were Fraught from the Beginning with the Inculcation of humility, resignation, Brotherly love, forbearance and charity. How long Ahithophel had been favouring the ambition of Absalom, and fanning the flame of civil discord, before he openly avowed himself as the Enemy of his lawful King, is matter of conjecture; but deep as was in general the penetration of David, his mind seems to have been unsuspicious of this aspiring Foe to his peace; and his iniquity had withheld The GOD of his adoration from Unveiling the deception. In the character of Ahithophel, thus set before us, is also instanced the danger of Human reason, even in its vastest reach, when rejecting the control of Spiritual meekness and the Guidance of SPIRITUAL Light: the wisdom of this World is, indeed, foolishness with GOD; and mighty as was the mind of Ahithophel, yet when it ceased to yield obedience to The DIVINE Will, to what diabolical purposes did it submit itself, and what vile conduct did it influence in Another, when advising the only act that seemed capable of utterly extinguishing all disposition to reconciliation between the Father and his Son. Having worked upon the gay and youthful heart of Absalom to commit almost incestuous adultery, confident thereby of having for ever stifled, in the Son's bosom, the hope of his Father's forgiveness, and by the publicity of the encouraged offence having "taught Men so," he proceeds in the unsatiated spirit of the evil One, whose willing Servant he had become by this damnable prostitution of his talents, to extend the work of desolation. For not satisfied with this public degradation of his old and kind and venerable Master, or fearing that amidst the changeful scenes of protracted warfare the arm of David might prevail, and, moreover, forgetful or, least, regardless of that indisputable truth, which experience must have confirmed to him, that the Victory is The LORD'S," and that He Alone Saveth by Many or by Few, Ahithophel counsels the immediate assemblage of a chosen military Force, and its instantaneous advance upon the almost abandoned and enfeebled King, when bodily suffering through deprivations and fatigue, operating with the still more afflictive sensations arising from the sudden and awful change of his condition, attributable to a cause so surcharged with painful reflection, would bow him to the lowest state of helplessness and submission. And had this hateful counsel been followed, in all Human probability, the mischievous end it aimed at would have been attained, for as David resisted not Shimei, neither would he, at that time, probably, have opposed Ahithophel. But for the consolation of All, who have sinned, however grievously, and who, in a godly sorrow for their sins, will turn unto The LORD, that He may have Mercy upon them, they will find that He is not Extreme to Mark what is done amiss. And that Whomsoever The LORD Chasteneth He Loveth, and however He may Visit them with the Rod for a while, yet will He not always Withhold His Staff of Support, nor finally Let their Enemies triumph over them! and that for their Salvation He Turneth the counsel of the Wicked to nought, and Blunteth equally their arms and their purpose. Had Ahithophel been faithful to his GOD, he would have been loyal to his King; and amidst the veneration that has been paid in the long lapse

at

of succeeding Generations, and will, in all future ages, be continued to be paid to David, would a portion of applause have been directed to Ahithophel; and amongst the glorious Constellation of the Patriarchs and Prophets and wise Men of old, his name might have shone conspicuous: but he discarded the better part, and sold himself to work folly in Israel; so that execration has been heaped upon

his memory.

The summons of Hushai to the Council, though the free and unrestrained act of Absalom, was Foreknown of GOD, and intended by His Gracious Providence to be as in an equally unrestrained order of events accessory to the penitent and submissive David's preservation. Hushai, knowing the state of David's mind (for though a Man of war, David was then in no mood for warfare, but sought his safety under GOD in the stratagem of counsel), and intent upon the object of saving his Monarch's life, even at the hazard of his own, dealt treacherously with his heart, and, conscious of the soundness of Ahithophel's advice, ransacked his brains for a scheme to disappoint it; and an ingenious one he suggested, supporting it with reasoning so artful and plausible, that even Ahithophel, if not convinced, was silenced by it. He first qualifies his opposition by confining it to a particular season, "the counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good at this time;" he then touches forcibly on the characteristic bravery of David and those who adhered to him, heightened, at that time, by chagrin and vexation, and illustrates it by the strong and emphatic simile of the reckless and exasperated rage of a she-bear bereaved of her young ones; he then alludes to David's martial skill, as well as valour, and paints him as already sheltered in fastnesses, and waiting the opportunity to burst on his unsuspecting Foe, urging as the probable effect of even a partial success in David, a general panic among the Followers of Absalom, and their consequent dispersion and defeat; and knowing that the gaining of time to David, by the suspension of Absalom's operations, was of the most essential importance, he not only advises the abandonment of Ahithophel's plan, which would have effectually defeated that object, but suggests another, which would indisputably attain it: and so generally allied is weakness to wickedness, that, to his own destruction, as we shall see, Absalom followed it. This was, the assemblage of All Israel, and the assumption by Absalom himself of the supreme command of the Host; and the probable result of so powerful an advance in its favour, namely, that, if David were in a fastness, he would be surrounded-if in a City, the very City itself should be razed to the ground, and, of course, its Inhabitants be collectively or individually open to destruction. The adoption by Absalom of this counsel of Hushai, is said to have been," for that The LORD had Appointed (or as the margin of the Bible hath it, Commanded) to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that The LORD might Bring evil upon Absalom." That The LORD Draweth good out of evil, is a position as full of comfort as of truth; and that He Maketh the Guilty often the Victims of their own wicked purposes, is evidenced by general as well as Scriptural History. But that His SPIRIT, Which is Truth Itself, Dictated the counsel of insincerity is not necessary to believe; it is enough to know that The LORD is ever Watchful over the interests of All, who love and trust in Him, and that, without Seeming to Step beyond the Ordinary Limits of His Providence, He can Visit them with Salvation, and can equally Confound the bloody as the deceitful Man, who are alike an abomination unto

Him.

"Then said Hushai unto Zadok and to Abiathar, the Priests: Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the Elders of Israel: and thus and thus have I counselled: now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, 'Lodge not this night in the plains of the Wilderness; but speedily pass over: lest the King be