him to a public confeffion of it. And indeed a fitter perfon could not, in all human appearance, have been chofen for fuch a commiffion. He waited upon the king, with the air of a complainant, who brought a cafe of great commiferation before his majesty, and submitted it to his arbitration. He told him, in the words of the facred writer, for no other can do him juftice, That 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 fave one little ewelamb, 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 bofom, 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 way-faring man, that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.

And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he faid to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this

thing,

thing, fhall furely die. And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.

And Nathan faid to David, Thou art the

man.

It is easy to imagine, how deep these words of Nathan, pronounced in all the dignity and authority of his character, funk into David's foul! especially, when the prophet proceeded to a farther explication of them, in the following manner, ver. 7. Thus faith the Lord God of Ifrael - I anointed thee king of Ifrael, and delivered thee out of the hand of Saul: and I gave thee thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Ifrael, and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee fuch and fuch things. Wherefore haft thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in bis fight? Thou haft killed Uriah the Hittite with the fword, and haft taken his wife to be thy wife, and haft flain him with the fword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the fword shall never depart from thine boufe. Because thou haft despised me, and haft taken the wife of Uriah to be thy wife, C 4

thus

thus faith the Lord, Behold, I will raife 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 be fhall lie with thy wives in the fight of this fun : for thou didst it fecretly; but I will do this thing before all Ifrael, and before the fun *.

HERE he paufed -And David, overwhelmed with shame, ftung with remorse, and oppreffed with a dreadful fenfe of the divine vengance, impending, and ready to fall down upon himself, and his family, could only give utterance to this short senI have finned against the LordTo which Nathan immediately fubjoined The Lord alfo hath put away thy fin† ; thou

tence

Here is a long train of temporal calamities and chaftisements to be inflicted upon David, on the score of his guilt; but the candid reader will please to obferve, that they are all to be inflicted upon him in this world that there is not the least hint of any part of his punishment's being deferred to the next: even mortal guilt (the eternal vengeance due to it being remitted) had all its remaining punishment in this world: and fhall what fome call venial guilt be chaftifed in the next? The inference is obvious: Nathan knew nothing of purgatory! or, if he did, he flipt the faireft occafion of revealing it to the world, that ever offered itself.

That is the mortal guilt, and eternal punishment; together with the temporal punishment of death due to that offence by the Mofaic law.

fhalt not die. Howbeit, because by this deed thou haft given great occafion to the enemies of the Lord to blafpheme, the child also *, that is born unto thee, fhall furely die.

THERE is fomething unspeakably gracious in this fudden fentence of pardon pronounced by the prophet, in the instant of David's confeffion of guilt, and humiliation before GOD. But I think we may fairly infer from it, that this pardon was not purchased by that inftantaneous fubmiffion; but that in truth it was now only declared, but purchased at the price of a long preceding penitence. Nor is it otherwise to be accounted for, confiftently with God's innate abhorrence of guilt, and established extraordinary methods of reconciliation and forgiveness: which they would do well seriously to revolve, who imagine that David was in a ftate of impenitence, from the day of his first commerce with Bathsheba, till this inftant. A fuppofition (in my apprehenfion) as injurious to David, as it is dangerous to true religion.

*The chaftifement of this guilt fhall be feen alfo in the child who was the offspring of it.

THAT he had in fact forrowed for thefe fins, confeffed to Almighty GoD, and earnestly implored forgiveness, before the pardon pronounced by Nathan, is to me evident from Pfalm xxxii. in which, now reinstated in the favour of GOD, and happy beyond expreffion upon that account, he most beautifully and feelingly defcribes the diftreffed condition he was in, before that pardon was pronounced; his body distempered, and wafted with grief, and his mind upon the rack.

When I kept filence*, my bones waxed. old, thro' my roaring, all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me---I acknowledged my fin unto thee: and mine iniquity have I not hid: Ifaid I will confefs my tranfgreffions unto the Lord. forgaveft the iniquity of my fin. And what was the confequence? His moisture was turned into the dry

And thou

Selab

Some have inferred from these words, That David continued fome time impenitent; but, for my own part, I can only infer from them, that he was for fome time under fuch a sense of guilt, as would not let him prefume to pray and fuch a filence is the best proof of true compunction of confcience. Had he been long impenitent, it were impoffible for him to fay; Mine iniquity have I not hid.

ness