LORD." "Thou comest to me (said David to the Philistine) 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." What an example is here offered for the Warriors of this day to invoke the Aid of The Same ALMIGHTY POWER, and to trust in Him, Who equally now, as in the days of David, Ruleth over all the Kingdoms of the Earth; and Whose Arm is not shortened, that He cannot Deliver as heretofore, nor is His Ear now Deaf to prayers, that He cannot Hear such as in fervour of spirit are made unto Him. Did David trust in The Living LORD, and proclaim that trust before Hosts of Israelites and Heathens, and persevere therein, in defiance of the upbraidings of a Brother and the mockery of the Philistine Warrior? and should we, if opposed by discouragements no greater, refuse to make Him our Confidence, and to proclaim Him as The POWER, That Teacheth our hands to war and our fingers to fight, and Giveth us the Victory over Spiritual, if not over temporal Enemies!

The situation in which David placed himself was desperate. He ran towards the Philistine, who was so clothed with mail as to be vulnerable, with such weapons as David had, only in the face; and had David missed his first aim, the defenceless state in which himself was, must have made him an easy prey to the mighty power and exasperated feelings of his Antagonist. But he knew that it was the Battle of The ALMIGHTY he had to fight. So against Satan himself, and all the Adversaries of our Souls, mighty and powerful as they are, and eager at all times to swallow us up, The SPIRIT of The LORD will continually Protect us, if we seek unto It, and will Arm us with That Grace, Which, like the Mandate of our Blessed SAVIOUR to the turbulent waves, by the utterance, in faith, of the words "Peace, be still!" will put to silence and confound with shame All that defy The Living LORD, and would, through us, diminish His Glory and overturn His Kingdom within the hearts of His People. How Wonderful is the Counsel of The MOST HIGH! Which thus, by Means so contrary to Human conceptions, Brings His Gracious Works of Mercy to Pass! Let us, therefore, take courage from this example, and, giving the Lesson thus read to us a Spiritual application, defy with fearlessness the evil passions within us, and the machinations of evil Men from without; seeing that The LORD is our Help, and that through JESUS CHRIST, The Great CAPTAIN of Salvation, He will Give us the Victory.

*The yielding to one passion, systematically, may enlarge it to an extent of influence over us, that it may seem to need A DIVINE Miracle to uproot it from our habits and affections; and this may prove an avenue for the minor passions and evil propensities of our Nature by degrees, and almost imperceptibly, to approach and enter into us, and acquire such an ascendancy over our Souls, through the effect of a rejection of religious principle (which cannot be of partial operation), as to render them also formidable antagonists in our Spiritual warfare. But where sin doth abound, if The HOLY SPIRIT we have not entirely quenched within us, there doth Grace also, through JESUS CHRIST, The Propitiation for our sins, much more Abound: and if through penitence and faith in That Same JESUS (which faith worketh by love and by an entire devotion of the heart to the Service and Glory of GOD,) we resist the evil that principally besets us, we shall surely prevail; and then all the multitude of lesser passions, that have sought the destruction of our Soul's peace, like the Hosts of the Philistines when they found their Champion was dead, will take to flight.

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And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the Captain of the Host, Abner! Whose Son is this Youth?' And Abner said, "As thy Soul liveth, O King, I cannot tell!' And the King said, 'Enquire thou,

whose Son the Stripling is!' And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul, with the head of the Philistine in his hand. And Saul said to him, Whose Son art thou, thou young Man?' And David answered, 'I am the Son of thy Servant Jesse, the Beth-lehemite.' And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the Soul of Jonathan was knit with the Soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own Soul. And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his Father's house. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own Soul and Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword and to his bow and to his girdle." -1 Sam. xvii. 55 to the end, xviii. 1, 4.

Though so highly Distinguished by the Favour and Protection of The LORD of HOSTS, in being Made the Instrument of Salvation to GOD'S Chosen People, David seems to have been without that spirit of ambition, which is the almost inseparable attendant on success, where the heart is not humbled by religious principles. But, amidst the feelings that such a victory, in such a Cause, was calculated to awaken, David retained that amiableness of disposition, which, added to the comeliness of his Person and the probable grace of his manner, won for him every heart that was susceptible of manly affection. The most exemplary of all of the King's Sons was so powerfully affected towards him, that in Soul he at once formed that union with David, which, grounded and built up in purity and piety, was an image of that Union which shall prevail in the Life to Come amongst the Spirits of Just Men Made Perfect. The penetration of

Jonathan led him at once to understand the character of David-he did not suffer the first impressions of his love to evaporate in the cold calculations of worldlyminded doubt and suspicion. He, with a Princely liberality and magnanimity, adopted the gentle Shepherd as the Companion of his bosom, and proclaimed the adoption amidst the assemblies of the Great, by decorating him with his own Princely garments and habiliments: and how justly merited by David was this mark of distinction and attachment! though from the more exalted character of David, considered without reference to situation, the interchange of social affection reflected honour mostly on Jonathan; yet was David grateful as for a blessing conferred on him, and treasured the remembrance of it, and manifested its effects upon his heart, not only whilst Jonathan lived, but even after he was silent and unconscious of it in his tomb.

"And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely and Saul set him over the Men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the People, and also in the sight of Saul's Servants."-1 Sam. xviii. 5.

David seems to have added to valour wisdom, and to virtue knowledge. Distant as his occupation in early life had kept him from an intercourse or acquaintance with Courts and Governments, his mind seems to have been cultivated so as to fit him for every station. "He had set The LORD always before him,' and drew "from Above that Wisdom, which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle and easy to be intreated, full of mercies and of all good fruits: and he went forward in the Strength of The LORD, and in the Power of His Might;" and, like The Blessed JESUS, of Whom he was, in some degree, the Prototype, he increased in favour both with GOD and Man. But the Spirit of evil could not long rest without persecuting the "Man after GOD'S Own Heart," as it persecuted, afterwards, The SON of GOD Himself, for we read, "And it came to pass, as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistines, that the Women came out of all Cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music: and the Women answered One Another as they played, and said, 'Saul hath slain his Thousands, and David his

:

Ten Thousands!' And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him: and he said, 'They have ascribed unto David Ten Thousands; and to me they have ascribed but Thousands! and what can he have more but the Kingdom?' And Saul eyed David from that day and forward. And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil Spirit from GOD came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul's hand and Saul cast the javelin; for he said, 'I will smite David even to the wall with it.' And David avoided out of his presence twice."— 1 Sam. xviii. 6 to 11. David had deserved more of praise than Saul at the mouths of the People; it was, therefore, only consistent with right that he received it; and had Saul possessed a true nobleness and ingenuousness of mind, he would have been the Foremost to have proclaimed David's higher claim to his Country's gratitude: but though he held the Kingly Office, he was destitute of those virtues that alone give lustre to a Crown: in the pride of Human reason he had set up his judgment against the Express Commands of GOD: in the pomp of Human vanity he thought higher of himself than he ought; and, yielding to the malignant influence of envy, was galled in his Soul at the praises of Another. One evil passion begets another, and there is scarcely fixing any bounds to wickedness beyond which, if unresisted, such yieldings will not successively lead. Saul had even better opportunity, than his Son Jonathan, of judging of David's character; and had he cherished him with Parental fondness, and made him the first Minister of his Kingdom, it was not in David to have aspired at a higher Station, or to have done otherwise than to have contributed by his wisdom and valour to the true glory of his Master's Kingdom. Thus by giving himself up a Victim to unrighteousness, Saul sacrificed his best interests, deprived himself of the blessing of a true and able Friend and Servant, and raised within his own bosom a consuming fire, which left him without inward peace for the remainder of his days. Had he checked the first risings of envy in his heart, suspicion that David might aim at superseding him in the Government could not have been generated there-for it was that passion which clouded his vision, and disfigured the Object before it he would have then seen David in a true light, and seen him, as he was, faithful and true, meek and unassuming, fearing GOD and honouring the King.

**The SPIRIT of Grace Saul drove from his presence; and, rejecting That only Sure Help against the power of Satan, Saul became the prey of that Enemy of his Soul's peace. Confirmed and assisted in his predisposition to do evil by the Devil, Saul, having surrendered up his Soul to the influence of a revengeful jealousy, is guided and governed in its indulgence by the Spirit of evil; and The HOLY SPIRIT having entirely Withdrawn from him, he adds to detraction the baneful crime of murderous intention, thus multiplying the stings of conscience during the days of trial, and heaping up for himself evil against the Day of Judgment. It was not in David, for it is not in the spirit of Them that are the LORD'S, to return evil for evil. Engaged in the office of a truly charitable duty, that of stilling by his energies the physical inquietude of Saul's mind, how little could David have expected so unnatural a return! Had Saul sought to have slain him in the paroxysms of his madness, to the effects of the malady alone would the act have been attributed.-But when David played, Saul was refreshed and was well, and the evil Spirit departed from him."-xvi. 23. An infinitely more mischievous Spirit of evil succeeded-the evil of the heart in the basest passions of our Nature-to gratify which Saul artfully seized the moment when the act might have the character of only mental debility, and as such be rather the subject of compassion than condemnation. What an instance this of the infirmity of Human Nature! Saul, the Anointed of The LORD, the Chosen King over

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The LORD'S Own People, forgetful that The LORD Looketh upon the heart, and that He will Judge every Man according to his work, sells himself to the Devil to work evil in the very Sight of That LORD. He, whose Throne, had it been founded in righteousness, would have been established for ever; who would have experienced a translation from a temporal to a Spiritual Crown, had he but obeyed the Commandments of The LORD, and followed the Precepts of His HOLY SPIRIT; for the indulgence of a disposition, big with remorse and horror to himself, and more destructive of his own than of Others' peace, thus forfeited such Inestimable Blessings, and became, by self-election, the Child of the most cruel and tyrannical of Parents, the Devil.

"And Saul was afraid of David, because The LORD was with him, and was Departed from Saul. Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his Captain over a Thousand: and he went out and came in before the People. And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and The LORD was with him: wherefore, when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them."-1 Sam. xviii. 12, 16.

Strange infatuation!-a King afraid of his own Subject and that Subject the Deliverer, under The KING of Kings, of his Kingdom-the Soother of his sorrows the faithful Executor of his commissions. Afraid!-To what an abject state of wretchedness does the folly of following where the evil tendency of our Nature leads us in a departure from GOD and the Ways of His Commandments and the Works of His Law, reduce us! the madness of the heart brings on an accumulation of self-inflicted torments, and, united with the phrenzies of mental distraction, exhibits, in the Life that is, perhaps some faint resemblance only of the state of the Damned for ever and ever in the Life to Come. But the medicine for the cure of this is within our own reach; we must seek it, in the fearful time of need, of The Great PHYSICIAN of Souls; and, if we seek it earnestly, we shall not fail to find balm in our Gilead. "The LORD had departed from Saul;" but, had Saul judged wisely, his fear would have been, not of David, but of The LORD; and towards David should have been extended his love for the sake of That LORD, Who might then, in the Extensiveness of His Clemency, have Returned to him with Healing on His Wings, and have Spoken Pardon and Peace to his Soul. David would then have been unto him as the Oil of Gladness: They might have taken sweet counsel together, and gone to the House of The LORD in company.

The Office to which David was appointed, it seems reasonable to conclude, was not only of a military, but of a judicial nature,--for the term " going out and coming in before the People" was used by Moses in his prayer for a Successor; "And Moses spake unto The LORD, saying, 'Let The LORD, The GOD of the Spirits of all Flesh, Set a Man over the Congregation, which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the Congregation of The LORD be not as sheep which have no Shepherd.'"-Num. xxvii. 15, 17. David had been a careful Shepherd of the sheep of his natural Father; and when appointed by him, who, as the Head, should have been the Father of his People, to be a Ruler over a portion of them, he showed not less watchfulness and zeal for the welfare of such Charge: the consequence, as might naturally have been expected, was his winning the love of those that were under his care; but that love was large enough to have comprehended within its scope him, by whom David had been appointed, had Saul made a right use of the occasion-for the righteous acts of a Steward invariably reflect lustre on his Lord.

"And Saul said to David, Behold my elder Daughter, Merab, her

will I give thee to Wife: Only be thou valiant for me, and fight The LORD'S Battles!' for Saul said, 'Let not mine hand be upon him! But let the hand of the Philistines be upon him!' And David said unto Saul, Who am I, and what is my life, or my Father's Family in Israel, that I should be Son in Law to the King?' But it came to pass, at the time when Merab, Saul's Daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel, the Meholathite, to Wife.”—1 Sam. xvii. 17, 19.

Disappointed in his first hope of slaying David with his own hand, and in his second, probably, of making him ridiculous in the eyes of the People, as placed suddenly in a situation of peculiar difficulty, to which Saul might have considered his abilities unequal, in the hypocritical covering of one of the most endearing and attractive of characters, Saul presented himself to David, and offers him the highly esteemed, and, as it seems, contested prize of his own Daughter, Merab's hand and affections. It is true that Saul did not expect that a marriage would take place, but looked to the destruction of David in war with his Country's Enemies, from the arduous, and, apparently to Saul, impracticable task that was to be imposed upon him as the condition of such marriage. Had Saul stood in need of the knowledge of the unaspiring nature of David's disposition, and of the reverence of his heart for his Sovereign, he had the exercise of these qualities now fully offered to his observation. The People had hailed him as a greater Deliverer than Saul-he could not but be conscious of the important and acceptable service rendered both to Saul and to his Country by the destruction of Goliath -in his judicial character he must have felt by their fruits the wisdom of his measures in person, it seems, he was beautiful to look upon: here, therefore, were accumulated reasons for making the union less substantially unequal or unmerited on his side. But David's humility restrained him from hinting at any of these, or even in silence acquiescing in his royal Master's proposal. He bursts forth at once into a declaration against so high and enviable an honour being conferred upon him, and was virtually the Advocate against himself, saying, "Who am I? and what is my life, or my Father's Family in Israel, that I should be Son in Law to the King?" He not only himself looks back upon his humble origin and yet more humble occupation, but forces Saul and those around him to do so likewise. And yet was One, so meek and unassuming, the fear of Saul! So full of folly is the mind of Man when the evil passions of his Nature are suffered to control it. But Saul's object was, not to reward a faithful and honest Servant, deserving richly, and both competent and willing to repay liberally, all that even a Kingly Master could bestow upon him: but to gratify the mean, and dastardly, and self-tormenting passion of envy or jealousy. At the time, therefore, when the appointed period arrived for David's marriage, his proposed Bride was wedded to Another, whether under a previous betrothment With a mind sensitive as that of David, displaying in the different stages of life, as occasion called the different principles into action, filial obedience, fraternal love, courage in the causes of humanity, patriotic devotion, the zeal of friendship, and unwearied loyalty, it is not to be supposed but that the prospect of such an union must have laid open to his lively and poetic imagination scenes of delight unwitnessed before, and over which the piety of his heart was calculated, rather than not, to spread a rich but sober tint of colouring. At the moment then when these hopes seemed fast ripening into fruition-when the celebration of the nuptial ceremony was, in idea at least, entered upon, and GOD, and Man, and Woman too, seemed to crown him with favours when that bliss was, as he thought, preparing for him, which domestic life has alone the power of bestowing; to be then told that She, whom his Soul had dwelt upon as the promised Partner of his bosom, the meed of his labours,

or not.