tory which God had promised to his people. His action, therefore, in the war which immediately ensued, was simply a claim to possess what God had promised to his people, and to extend the dominion of Israel as far as God had promised that that dominion should extend.

CHAPTER X.

FROM THE BEGINNING OF DAVID'S GENERAL WAR TO THE RUPTURE WITH THE AMMONITES.

AFTER receiving the message from God through Nathan, David felt as no other monarch could feel. He must have been deeply impressed with the assurance that the throne of Israel would remain in the possession of his family, until one of his sons, who should also be the Son of God, would, as the promised Messiah, succeed to the sovereignty, and establish a universal and everlasting kingdom, and thus carry into full accomplishment the grand purpose of God in the redemption of the world.

With such an exhibition of the inner life of David, it is difficult to follow his martial career. Here is a man in intimate covenant relation to God, reigning over all the tribes of Israel by His direct appointment, and charged with the subjugation of all the surrounding countries, as a religious duty, proceeding to accomplish this task under the assured conviction that his kingdom was destined to be the precursor of the universal and perpetual kingdom of the Messiah. And this assurance, it should be remembered, was not a wild, fanatical notion, nor the result of a disordered imagination, but a conviction arising out of a clearly announced revelation from God. It is utterly impossible to realize the actual position of this king, and to estimate his actions aright, without fully recognising this truth.

From these spiritual exercises in the privacy of his palace, and of the sanctuary of his God, David was called to the dangers and duties of war. The combination of opposing powers, of which he had spoken in the second Psalm, had progressed so far as to render it necessary for him to act before it had acquired overwhelming force. He accordingly selected the old hereditary foes of Israel-the Philistines-as the first who claimed his attention. These he completely subdued. He took and occupied Gath, the metropolitan city; and there can be no doubt but that he placed a garrison there. Much diversity of opinion has been called forth, by the appellation given to this place, 2 Sam. viii. 1, where it is called Metheg-ammah; a phrase which, in the parallel passage, is rendered, " Gath and her towns." (1 Chron. xviii. 1.) The Vulgate renders this by a phrase which signifies, "the bridle of bondage." It seems, that Gath, being a strongly-fortified city on the Mount Ammah, near the Philistine frontier, was made the means of holding the neighbouring Hebrew territory in subjection; but David, having defeated the Philistine forces in the field, and made himself master of this important fortress, was able to make it serve the same purpose for the Hebrews it had hitherto supplied to the Philistines, and by its means to retain the Philistines in subjection.

It is worthy of remark, that in those times we never hear of a conquered territory being absorbed into the kingdom of the conquerors. This practice was scarcely heard of before the reign of Cyrus of Persia, who appears to have been the first monarch who, in its full meaning, conceived the idea of an empire. Before his time, a conquered country would be subjected to tribute; and usually the conquered sovereign, or some member of his family, would be intrusted with the

WAR WITH THE MOABITES.

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government of the country, as a tributary king. It is more than probable that this policy was adopted by David in this case, as we hear of a king of Gath in the time of Solomon. (1 Kings ii. 39.) The complete success of this war was most important, as, all the country to the west of the Jordan being completely under his government, he had an unbroken base for any operations he might carry on to the eastward. It was, indeed, in this direction only that his dominion could be further extended.

The next war in which the king of Israel was engaged, was with the Moabites. This people was located on the southern part of the high table land, lying to the east of the Dead Sea. Their country was admirably situated for defence, having on all its sides a frontier capable of being rendered almost impregnable. The account of this war is recorded in a single verse. "And he smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; even with two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive. And so the Moabites became David's servants, and brought gifts." (2 Sam. viii. 2.) The account given in the parallel passage is still more brief. "And he smote Moab, and the Moabites became David's servants, and brought gifts." (1 Chron. xviii. 2.) The obscurity of this language has led to various speculations, some puerile, and others absurd. It has been conjectured that David caused two-thirds of the Moabitish population to be put to death; but it seems much more probable that Josephus has given a correct account of the case, however difficult it may be to elicit precisely the same sense from the language employed by the sacred writer. This Hebrew historian says that David "transferred the war to the Moabites; and when he had overcome

two parts of their army in battle, he took the remaining part captive, and imposed tribute upon them."* There can be no doubt that the Moabites were completely subdued, subjected to tribute, and brought fully under the power of the Hebrews.

These wars were important, as reducing to subjection powerful tribes, in immediate proximity to the Hebrew nation; but they were comparatively easy achievements. The Philistines were a brave and martial nation; but neither their population nor resources enabled them to compete with the Hebrews, when united in a compact body, under an able leader like David. And the same may be said of the Moabites. But these preliminary conflicts being ended, the king of Israel entered on a war of such magnitude, as would call forth all the abilities of a great statesman, all the energy of an able general, and tax to the uttermost the resources of the Hebrew nation.

There can be little doubt that David entered on this war under the influence of a strong faith in God. The Hebrews held possession of their country, not by the natural right of aboriginal inhabitants, nor by international treaties or conventions, but by the direct gift of God. And this Divine appointment was not, as has been already intimated, limited to the territory usually called Canaan, but extended far beyond it. The grant familiar to the mind of David was of ancient date, but was given in very explicit terms. "In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abraham, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates." (Gen. xv. 18.) This David regarded as his title to the great range of territory so described,

* Antiquities, vii., 5, 1.