beautiful he thought he should like to add her to the number of his wives. So he inquired who she was, and found that her name was Bath-sheba, and that she was the wife of Uriah, one of his officers who was gone out with Joab.

And now David, who had hitherto shown himself so good a man, did a most wicked thing, for he resolved to have Uriah's wife. Then, to cover his designs, that nobody might suspect what he was about, he sent for Uriah and treated him very kindly, and told him he might go home to Bath-sheba, who still remained in her house; but Uriah slept in the guardroom, and would not go home while his troops were faring hard in the field of battle. So David, having outwardly shown great kindness to Uriah, and indeed sinfully obliged him to drink till he was drunk, wrote a letter to Joab, which he sent by him, and said, "Set ye Uriah in the fore

method that Uriah might appear to die by what we call the chance of war. But David gave this order to get rid of Uriah, and obtain his wife.

Joab did not know if Uriah had committed any crime or not, but he readily obeyed the king's orders, and Uriah was slain.

Then Joab sent a message to David to tell him Uriah was dead; and knowing that it was an unfair way of punishing Uriah, even if he had committed any crime, he concealed the order from the messenger, who did not go and say, Uriah is dead, as the king commanded; but, "the shooters shot from off the wall upon thy servants, and some of the king's servants be dead, and thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also." Joab pretended that the king might appear angry at exposing Uriah to such a danger, and might ask, "Who smote Abimelech, the son of Jerubesheth ?-did not a woman cast a piece of a mill-stone upon him from the wall, that he died in Thebez?"So the king might tell the messenger that Joab should have remembered Abimelech's fate, and not so have endangered Uriah,

However, the king did not need Joab's pretences to help him out, for he said, very coolly, "The sword devoureth one as well as another," and Joab must take more care in future and make his battle more strong.

All this time David knew that it was not the sword that had devoured Uriah, properly speaking, though he had been killed in war,-but his death was settled by himself, and that poor Uriah was, in reality, as much murdered as if he himself had shot him.

Uriah now being dead, there was no obstacle in the way to Bath-sheba marrying David. She put on mourning for a while for her husband, and then "David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife."

What do you suppose God, who sees all things, thought of this wicked act of David's? It did not escape his notice, and though David was his favored servant, the thing that he had done "displeased the Lord," for all sin is displeasing to God, and will be punished in this world or the next. The punishment that David brought upon himself will hereafter be related.

AFTER

Nathan the Prophet's solemn Message to David.

2 SAMUEL XII.

FTER a while,-when David would be less likely to suspect the nature of the message and its suitability to himself, and so might be made to condemn himself, as you will soon learn,-Nathan was sent to David to speak to him in a parable, and so by telling him a tale which seemed to refer to some one else bring home the charge of guilt to his own conscience.

This parable is very tender and pretty.

"There were two men in one city; the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds; but the poor man had nothing save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children: it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his own bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock, and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him, but he took the poor man's lamb and dressed it for the man that was come to him."

When David heard this story, which he thought was about what had happened to one of his subjects, but which was only a parable about

himself and Uriah, he was very angry at the man that took the poor man's lamb; and he declared that he should be put to death for so cruel a robbery, and make a recompense by giving him four lambs for the one he had lost. Now here he pronounced sentence against himself; for the two men who lived in one city meant David and Uriah, who lived in Jerusalem. David

was a rich king and Uriah comparatively a poor man, though an officer. The rich man had many flocks and herds, which were the chief wealth of rich men in those days; by which Nathan meant, that David, like the rich men of his time, had many wives: but the poor man had only one little ewe lamb, by which he meant, that Uriah had only one wife, which he had bought, as men did their wives in the East; and then, what he says further of the lamb was to show how fondly he was attached to Bath-sheba. Then there came a traveller to the rich man-an evil desire came to David-and to satisfy that, he took the poor man's lamb, meaning Bath-sheba, of whom he cruelly robbed Uriah. This was a very ingenious way of telling David of his sin, for, perhaps, he would hardly have borne to have been directly called to an account for it. But after he had pronounced sentence against

the rich man for taking the lamb, what could he say for himself in killing poor Uriah and stealing Bath-sheba?

Nathan, the prophet, being helped by God to speak this wise parable, was now helped to speak boldly and plainly to David. "And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man." And Nathan told him how many things God had allowed him to have, and he would have added yet more if necessary. "Wherefore," then, said he, "hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord to do evil in his sight? Thou hast killed Uriah, the Hittite, with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from

thy house, because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah, the Hittite, to be thy wife."

Then David confessed his sin and repented: and his repentance is beautifully expressed in the fifty-first Psalm, some of which we may explain when we come to it.

God, however, visited David with his displeasure. He had a

RUINS AT AMMON.

son born to him, whose mother was Bath-sheba, but God instantly took him away, to the great grief of David. However, another son was afterwards born to him, and him God spared; so he called his name Solomon, which means peaceful, because he hoped that God had pardoned him and was now at peace with him: and the prophet called upon him and desired him also to give him the name of Jedidiah, which means "beloved of the Lord."

TWO

Amnon killed by Absalom.

2 SAMUEL XIII.-XV.

WO of David's sons, who had different mothers, were named Absalom and Amnon. Absalom had a sister on whom Amnon laid violent hands, treating her in a very cruel manner; and though he once pretended to be exceedingly fond of her, he suddenly took so great a dislike to her,

that it is even said, "he hated her," and he ordered his servants to insult her and turn her violently away from his presence.

Tamar, in her great affliction at his ill-treatment, put on mourning, and attracted the notice of her brother Absalom, who desired her not to mind the insult, but secretly intended to take vengeance on his half-brother, whom he hated for his behavior to his own sister.

So, two years after, when it might have been supposed that he had forgotten all that had passed, he invited Amnon to go and partake of a feast at his sheep-shearing; and while Amnon was merry with wine, and probably intoxicated, Absalom's servants-whom he had previously told what to do -fell upon Amnon at the feast, before all his brethren, who had also been invited, and slew him.

The news at first reached king David that all his other sons had been killed by order of Absalom, and he was in great distress, and according to custom, as a sign of grief, rent his clothes; but he soon learnt that Amnon only was killed.

In the meanwhile, Absalom fled to his mother's relations, and his grandfather Talmai, king of Geshur, protected him for three years.

David was very fond of Absalom, and at last gave over grieving for Amnon, and longed to see Absalom again, who seemed to him to have been absent a very long time.

Joab, David's general, was friendly with Absalom, and being a subtle man, he contrived to get the king's leave for him to be brought back to Jerusalem.

Joab humbly thanked the king, and went and fetched Absalom; however, David would not allow him to see his face or appear at court, so Absalom was shut up in his own house.

It appears that this young man was very handsome, and without the least blemish; and his hair was so fine that whenever he had it cut, it weighed, together with the oil and gold dust, which was used for powder, upwards of three pounds. He was married, and had three sons, and a daughter named Tamar, who was very fair and handsome like himself.

After Absalom had remained two years in Jerusalem without being allowed to appear at court, he began to grow impatient, and perhaps thought that Joab neglected him in not carrying his efforts any further in his behalf. So he sent for Joab to talk with him about the business, but he had some reasons why he did not like to go. Then he sent again, but Joab still kept himself away. So, being resolved to see Joab, he ordered his servants