LECTURE 492.

Of giving gladly, and answering kindly, to them that ask. "And Samuel died;" the prophet who had exercised his ministry so irreproachably towards the people, that "all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah." "And Samuel died;" the servant of the Lord, who served so faithfully from his childhood to old age, that it is not easy to say what fault is set down against him, in that faithful record of holy writ, which shews no favour to either young or old, to judge, or king, or prophet, or apostle. "And Samuel died;" a great loss to Saul, who might at any time have profited by his counsel, though he did not; a great loss to David also, who followed his advice, and who, when not able to consult him, would still be influenced by reflecting, How will Samuel approve of what I do? Perhaps this may in part account for his resolving to take such fierce revenge for the insulting words of Nabal; that Samuel was now dead. Perhaps this is one chief thing we lose, when friends whom we most love, and ministers whom we most affectionately respect, are cut off from the land of the living; namely, the benefit of being checked by a due regard for their good opinion, as well as that of being guided by their brotherly advice.

David's conduct in regard to Nabal can be but ill understood, without giving heed to the customs of the time, and of the country, in which these things happened. But when we bear in mind those customs, we shall think it much to the credit of such a body of men as those who followed David, see ch. 22. 2, that they had not helped themselves, when their necessities required it, out of the flocks of Nabal close at hand. We shall think that they were entitled to something better than foul words from Nabal, when his own servants could thus testify to their conduct: "The men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields: they were a wall unto us, both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep." However wrong therefore David did in the revenge which he resolved on, he did no more than right in the request he made. And Nabal, who at a time of feasting was bound to set apart a due portion for them that were in want, was inexcusable in his refusal, and still more so in his rudeness, towards one, who, besides his other claims to help, was known to have been anointed as future king, by commandment from the Lord.

Let us be glad to give to them that ask of us; or at least let us never refuse with rudeness. Let us requite one good turn with another; or at least never seek to requite it with unkindness. And above all, let us never shrink from bearing our full share in ministering to the wants of those, whom we may believe to be God's ministers, either in church or state.

Abigail pleadeth with David.

18 Then Abigail made haste, maid saw not the young men and took two hundred loaves, of my lord, whom thou didst and two bottles of wine, and five send. sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses.

LECTURE 493.

How we ought to plead with each other.

At Keilah David twice consulted God about staying there, as he had done twice about whether he should go thither at all. It had been well if he had but once thought of asking counsel of the Lord, in the wilderness of Paran, before he resolved, so hastily, so rashly, so unmercifully, to destroy Nabal and his servants by the edge of the sword. The provocation was doubtless great. And it is not improbable that he might be misled, in the height of passion, by the notion, that as one anointed to the kingdom, he had in some degree the right to inflict summary punishment on those, who refused with insolence his reasonable request. But when his wrath was stayed, and he came to reflect soberly, see ver. 33, he altogether assented to that which Abigail suggested, namely that it would have been wrong to avenge himself, and that to take such vengeance as he had proposed would have been to "shed blood causeless."

Whilst David here stands for a warning against giving way to a revengeful temper, Abigail shews us how to meet such wrath, when it occurs, by discretion, and kind language, and acts of courteous attention. Upon hearing of what had happened, and what was about to take place, see ver. 17, Abigail made haste, and took a suitable present, and sent it forward by her servants, and straightway followed them; and on meeting David fell at his feet, and took blame to herself and to her husband, and offered her present, and pleaded for peace and pardon, and expressed her firm conviction that David would himself escape, by the help of God, from the man that sought his life, and suggested how thankful he would feel, in the time of his future prosperity, to be spared the pain of reflecting, that he had done wrong in the matter now in hand. If the words of the widow in the Gospel, addressed to the unjust judge, ought to teach us perseverance in prayer to God; here we may learn also, in such petitions as we have occasion to make to man, that our success will much depend, under God's blessing, on our seasoning our speech with due discretion. Let us think of this when we plead with men not to sin, when we urge them to restrain their passions, when we would persuade them not to die, but to live for evermore; let us remember that God has not in vain given us sense, reason, and judgment, as helps towards persuading, and that there is no more fit occasion for applying all with all our ability, than when we speak in the cause of God and of his Gospel.

Oh that God may make us bold, to plead with each other, for true faith, and for holy practice! Oh that God may make us not only bold, but patient, and discreet; at once "wise as serpents, and harmless as doves!" Matt. 10. 16.

Nabal dieth. David taketh Abigail to wife.

32 And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day

to meet me:

33 And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.

34 For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.

35 So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.

36 And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.

37 But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.

38 And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died.

39 And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife.

40 And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wife.

41 And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord. 42 And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of her's that went after her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.

43 David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they were also both of them his wives.

44 But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, which was of Gallim. LECTURE 494.

How much we ought to be moved by the hope of heaven. The pleading of Abigail has no sooner assuaged the wrath of David, than he renders thanks in the right quarter, and acknowledges it due to God, that this prudent woman had met him with her seasonable advice, and prevented him from shedding blood, and avenging himself with his own hand. He acknowledged the enormity of the resolution which he had formed. He felt the blessedness of having been hindered in fulfilling it. He received Abigail's present in token of his being now entirely at peace, with

her, and with her husband. And when soon afterwards he heard of Nabal's death, he again thanked God for having kept him from avenging himself, as well as for pleading the cause of his reproach, proving him to have been reviled by Nabal wrongfully. For this would be a construction rightly put upon the sudden and awful death of Nabal, at a time when length of days was the promised reward of well doing, and when they who did evil in the sight of the Lord might expect to be cut off in the midst of their years.

Now amongst the laws to which these sanctions were extended, we find one which is thus quoted by St. Paul, "Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people." Acts 23. 5. See Exod. 22. 28. When therefore we remember the insulting words which Nabal had sent in answer to David's message, we shall not be surprised to find it written, "that the Lord smote Nabal, that he died." We for our parts are expressly informed that we live under a very different dispensation. And we should do wrong to put any such construction as this, either on the sudden death, or on the prolonged life, of those who dwell around us. We must altogether wait for a judgment which is to come. We must carefully forbear passing sentence upon each other. It would be the height of presumption in us to think, that God is pleading our cause with our neighbour, when we see our neighbour, whom we consider to have wronged us, laid low by the hand of God. It would argue want of faith in the everlasting world, if we were to take the afflictions which fall on ourselves here, for a token of God's displeasure, a sure intimation of his wrath. No; let us rather be persuaded, that the things of time, whether joyous or grievous, are not worthy to be compared with the things of eternity. And whatever may befal us here, let us be abundantly content, yea infinitely thankful, to believe, that "our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." 2 Cor. 4. 17.

How far God's servants of old time looked forward to a happiness after death, is not very clearly set forth in the Old Testament. And though we have good reason to think, that their hopes extended beyond transitory promises, it is evident that such promises, and such blessings, were things that greatly weighed with them to do the will of the Lord. Length of life, riches, honours, prosperity in their wives and families, these were objects which sufficed to confirm them in obedience to the law of God. Is it not strange that we, who have the most clear and full revelation of things infinitely more precious, and infinitely more durable, should not be at least as much prevailed upon, or rather infinitely more, by the hope that is set before us? Is it not most strange that we are ever guilty of the slightest disobedience, when we have a heaven set before us for the end of our faithful service, where "they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God?" Matth. 22. 30.