of the Lord's providence, forbade. Still, as an oppressed man, in a public position, who had rendered great services to the state, and whose life was unjustly pursued, the notions of the East would account it just and laudable, that, while abstaining from any offensive acts against the government, and shunning rather than seeking occasions of collision, he should organize such a power around him, in a body of attached and hardy followers, as might ensure his safety, and even bring the royal oppressor to some conditions of peace. We constantly meet with this in eastern history. It necessarily arises from the absence of adequate checks upon the extravagances of the royal power on the one hand, and from the want of a lawful outlet for the expression of public discontent on the other. With us, opposition to the government is a recognised part of the public system, and therefore safe to all parties. It is parliamentary, it is legal, it is oral. In the East it of necessity takes a more demonstrative shape-the shape of organized bands, of weapons of war, of military action. David became in fact the leader of the opposition in the reign of king Saul, without more personal animosity to the sovereign, or any more immediate design upon the crown-except that he knew it would in the course of time come to him—than any leader of our own parliamentary opposition may be supposed to entertain. It is true, that all the opposition leaders of the East have not been so forbearing as David in this respect. This was the peculiar merit of his faith, of his real loyalty to Saul, and of his fixed determination that his own conduct should afford no justification of the inveterate hatred with which the king sought his destruction.

David knew that when he took this position, Bethlehem was no longer a place of safety for his parents, while, on the other hand, he was unwilling to expose them, in their old age, to the hardships and anxieties of the life he was to lead. He therefore took them over the river, and left them in charge of the king of Moab. The Moabites seem for a long time to have kept up a friendly connection with the Israelites; and David being now known as one anointed to be hereafter king in Israel, the fact

would not be forgotten in Moab, and was probably dwelt on with national gratification, that he was a descendant of Ruth the Moabitess. It may be asked why he did not stay there himself, and why he had not in the first instance gone thither, instead of to the Philistines? But it is probable that the king of Moab, although ready enough to render any service that he could without danger, was not at all willing to involve his people in a war by harbouring David. David, however, was commanded by Gad the seer,' of whom mention is now first made, to return into the land of Israel. This Gad, it is likely, was an esteemed member of Samuel's college of the prophets, and had probably joined David at the instance of the aged prophet, who was now very near the close of his days. Abiathar also, the son of the murdered high priest Ahimelech, had fled to him after the massacre at Nob. He was virtually the high priest, and the recognised official medium of ascertaining the will of the Lord. The presence of both the high priest and the seer with David must have given great importance to his movements and position in the eyes of the people; and he was by no means unmindful of the advantages he thus possessed, for he consulted the sacred oracle as to all his movements, and implicitly followed the indications it afforded.

Two hundred more like-minded men joined him after his return to the land of Judah; and it must have become a matter of much consideration to him, how to sustain and employ so large a body of men consistently with his purpose of not taking a hostile attitude towards the king, nor of giving the people any cause of complaint against him. He found the means of employing them chiefly, it seems, in protecting the cattle in the wild and open border country, into which the great sheepmasters sent their flocks for pasture, from the depredations of their marauding neighbours, such as the Arabs, the Amalekites, the Jebusites, the Hittites, and others. This species of service creates a claim for a kind of tribute from the wealthy persons thus so essentially benefited, in food and other necessaries, which is almost invariably most willingly, and even thankfully, rendered, and when not so, is enforced as a matter of right.

This part of David's history affords an example of this in the case of Nabal of Carmel, whose insulting refusal to afford any supplies to David's troop, by which his flocks had been protected in the wilderness, had brought destruction upon his head, but for the prudent intervention of his wife Abigail, who, without apprising her husband, hastened to meet the incensed hero with a most acceptable offering of provisions, and mollified his wrath by her prudent and persuasive words, which, no less than her comeliness, so engaged his esteem that he eventually made her his wife, for her husband shortly died heart-stricken, when he was made acquainted with the danger to which his churlishness had exposed him.

Thirty-fourth Week-Sixth Day.

THE BROTHERLY COVENANT. -I SAMUEL XXIII. 16-18.

It is not to be supposed that, while in the wilderness, the sole care of David was the protection of other people's cattle. Such daring spirits as he commanded were not to be restricted to such narrow bounds. His fell purpose against Nabal—every soul belonging to whom he intended to destroy for the churlish words of their master-shows that he assumed the right of dealing in a very summary manner with his personal enemies, or those by whom he conceived himself to be wronged; and it is likely that if Doeg, or any other obnoxious persons, had travelled their way, they would have been subjected to very rough treatment by this troop of outlaws.

Again, his expedition to the relief of Keilah, when besieged by the Philistines, shows that he was ever ready to employ his force against the public enemies of Israel—thus at once rendering a service acceptable to the people, and obtaining supplies for the use of his troop. The necessity of keeping them employed, and of procuring them a maintenance, without doubt occasioned other expeditions which are not recorded-sudden forays, when opportunity offered, into the territories of the

various ancient enemies of Israel with whom there was no active war. This continually occurs under the like circumstances, and was the mode in which Jephthah, in a former age, employed his men, and acquired the experience and reputation which led to his being called to lead the armies of Israel. Of the expedition to relieve Keilah, which was the very first operation performed by David when his troop was organized, it may be remarked, that it must have been of signal service to his character; for, involving as it did the defeat of a Philistine force, its effect must have been to rectify in public estimation the error he had committed in going over to the Philistines.

The proceedings of David, and the position he had assumed, were regarded by Saul with alarm and unmitigated hatred. He probably thought that the present moderation of Jesse's son would last no longer than till his force should become strong enough to enable him to strike for the crown, by meeting the royal forces in arms. He might well judge, that if his cause were suffered to gather strength by time, the issue of a contest might be doubtful. It would not be difficult for David to render his troop fully equal to that which the crown kept in constant service, and the rest would depend on the result of a call upon the tribes, the success of which, for an expedition against a man so eminent and so popular as David, and whose cause was so strong in at least the great and powerful tribe of Judah, he might well have reason to doubt. The king, therefore, determined to hunt down and crush the son of Jesse with his household troops at once, without allowing him time to become more formidable."

From all that appears, David's men were eager for the fray, and were with great difficulty kept by their leader within the bounds he had prescribed to himself. His policy was to avoid, by all the means in his power, a rencontre with the royal forces. For this, his position among the mountains, cliffs, narrow ravines, and caverns of the rocky wilderness west of the Dead Sea, offered peculiar advantages-and many a weary chase did he lead king Saul through this wild region. Yet Saul was, from time to time, supplied with good information respecting David's

movements, and once was, without knowing it, so close upon him,-had, in fact, so completely hemmed him in,—that he must have been taken, or driven into the armed conflict with the king which he was so anxious to avoid, had not, most providentially, a messenger arrived at the moment to apprise Saul that the Philistines had invaded the land, which obliged him immediately to turn his steps to another quarter.

Jonathan was not present at any time with the force in pursuit of David. Under all the circumstances, it was best that he should be absent. His heart, however, yearned after his friend. This was not an age of epistolary communications; and letters as well as messages would have been dangerous. Having therefore heard that David was in the forest of Ziph, he resolved to pay him a secret visit from his own home at Gibeah, seemingly before Saul had commenced his personal pursuit of David. This was the last time the two friends met in this world; and the interview was of deep interest to both. The object of the generous prince was to 'strengthen his hand in God,' to encourage him in his faith and hope, and to prevent him by his friendly counsels from sinking into despair: Fear not,' he said, 'for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee.' This was a faith as strong as David himself ever expressed, and stronger than even he was enabled always to maintain. More than this, he now avowed, without reserve, his clear knowledge that David was to be king; and-in his submission to what he knew to be the divine appointment, and in his intense admiration of his friend's high qualities-his most cheerful acquiescence in that arrangement. He even contemplated it with pleasure, looking forward to the many happy days they should spend together, when David should be king, and he next to him, his uncrowned equal. Thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next to thee: and that also Saul my father knoweth. Alas for him! it was not so to be: and perhaps, upon the whole, it was well that it was not; for looking at what afterwards took place in regard to Jonathan's son-a son worthy of such a father, it may be feared that in the position which his imagination pictured as one of perfect

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