DAVID SHEPHERD, PSALMIST, KING

[nChrist]

DAVID SHEPHERD, PSALMIST, KING
XIV.  DAVID'S SELF-RESTRAINT
F. B. MEYER

And if we further inquire what his attitude was, during all these long and sad experiences, he answers:

"I waited patiently for the Lord."

In a recent chapter we saw how David waited on the Lord; but there is a clear distinction between this and waiting for the Lord, though in practice they are generally conjoined. We wait on the Lord by prayer and supplication, looking for the indication of his will; we wait for the Lord by patience and submission, looking for the interposition of his hand. It is very needful to learn this lesson of silence, patience, resignation; and it is interesting to remark in the two incidents before us how perfectly David had acquired it, and had learnt to wait for the Lord.


THE BASIS OF WAITING FOR GOD.

There must be a promise to justify us, or some definite committal of God, on which we can rest as the unmistakeable revelation of his purpose. In their last interview, in the wood of Ziph, Jonathan had given this to his friend. He had spoken like a messenger from God. How those words rang in the weary heart that had drunk them in as the parched land drinks water! "Fear not," he had said, "for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee." He had even said that this, too, was Saul's conviction: "That also Saul my father knoweth."
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[nChrist]

DAVID SHEPHERD, PSALMIST, KING
XIV.  DAVID'S SELF-RESTRAINT
F. B. MEYER

Besides this, he was conscious of faculty and God-given power; of ability to grasp the helm of the distracted kingdom, and guide the sorely-tossed bark into calmer waters. As all these corroborations of the original promise came into his heart, he became convinced that God had a great purpose in his life; and settled it in his own mind that he would wait patiently for the Lord to do as He had said, and that he would not lift his finger to secure the kingdom for himself. Jehovah had promised, then He would perform. Whenever the moment came for him to sit on the throne as the acknowledged king of his people, it should be from first to last the Divine gift, and the Divine performance. There should be nothing to hinder God from saying:

"I have set my king
Upon my holy hill of Sion."

TWO NOTABLE INCIDENTS.

Engedi. -- One afternoon, when Saul, with three thousand men, was in hot pursuit of David, amid the wild and tangled rocks of Engedi, a strange incident put him completely in David's power. It was a time of breathless heat; the sunbeams were striking like swords into the deep wadys and ravines, and every living thing, except perhaps the little lizards, had crept away into shelter. For the same reason, or because they desired to elude pursuit, David and his men were in the inmost recesses of an immense cavern. Into that very cave Saul came. His men had gone forward; the intense solitude and silence within and without threw him off his guard; he lingered a little in the entrance.

These caves, says Dr. Thomson, are dark as midnight, and the keenest eyes cannot see five paces inward; but one who has been long within, and is looking towards the entrance, can observe with perfect distinctness all that takes place in that direction. The blinding glare of the sunshine on the limestone cliffs made Saul more than ever unable to detect the forms that lined the cave, whilst they could perfectly well watch his every movement. How little did the king realize the intense interest with which he was being watched by six hundred pairs of eyes, and the peril to which he was exposed! The whole band was thrilled with excitement.
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[nChrist]

DAVID SHEPHERD, PSALMIST, KING
XIV.  DAVID'S SELF-RESTRAINT
F. B. MEYER

Now was the opportunity for David to end their wanderings and hardships by one thrust of the spear. They whispered "Seize your opportunity! Could it have fallen out more fortunately? Here is the man who has repeatedly tried to take your life, and is here with that avowed intent. Surely the law of God itself exonerates us in taking the life of those who would take ours! God Himself has undoubtedly brought him here that you should avenge your wrongs, and save further ones."

With great difficulty -- and to have been able to do such a thing showed the immense power he exerted over these wild strong men  -- David restrained them, and curbed his own passion, that tore like fire through every vein, and contented himself with creeping near, and cutting off the skirt of the king's robe, to prove to him afterwards how completely he had been in his power. But even then, after Saul had gone forth, and David's men crowded round, full of sullen remonstrance at his weakness, he was struck with remorse, and he said to them, "The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my lord, the Lord's anointed, to put forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the Lord's anointed."

Hachilah. -- Previously at this spot David had been nearly trapped. This time the tables were turned. Once more Saul, probably instigated by a malign influence, that we shall consider in our next chapter, was in pursuit of his rival, "having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him." Having ascertained by means of scouts the exact situation of the royal camp, David went to inspect it in person from an overhanging cliff. On the outskirts, the wagons made a rude barricade, within these were the soldiers' quarters, and in the innermost circle Saul and Abner were posted; but the recesses of an immense cavern. Into that very cave Saul came. His men had gone forward; the intense solitude and silence within and without threw him off his guard; he lingered a little in the entrance.

These caves, says Dr. Thomson, are dark as midnight, and the keenest eyes cannot see five paces inward; but one who has been long within, and is looking towards the entrance, can observe with perfect distinctness all that takes place in that direction. The blinding glare of the sunshine on the limestone cliffs made Saul more than ever unable to detect the forms that lined the cave, whilst they could perfectly well watch his every movement. How little did the king realize the intense interest with which he was being watched by six hundred pairs of eyes, and the peril to which he was exposed! The whole band was thrilled with excitement.
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[nChrist]

DAVID SHEPHERD, PSALMIST, KING
XIV.  DAVID'S SELF-RESTRAINT
F. B. MEYER

Now was the opportunity for David to end their wanderings and hardships by one thrust of the spear. They whispered "Seize your opportunity! Could it have fallen out more fortunately? Here is the man who has repeatedly tried to take your life, and is here with that avowed intent. Surely the law of God itself exonerates us in taking the life of those who would take ours! God Himself has undoubtedly brought him here that you should avenge your wrongs, and save further ones."

With great difficulty -- and to have been able to do such a thing showed the immense power he exerted over these wild strong men  -- David restrained them, and curbed his own passion, that tore like fire through every vein, and contented himself with creeping near, and cutting off the skirt of the king's robe, to prove to him afterwards how completely he had been in his power. But even then, after Saul had gone forth, and David's men crowded round, full of sullen remonstrance at his weakness, he was struck with remorse, and he said to them, "The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my lord, the Lord's anointed, to put forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the Lord's anointed."

Hachilah. -- Previously at this spot David had been nearly trapped. This time the tables were turned. Once more Saul, probably instigated by a malign influence, that we shall consider in our next chapter, was in pursuit of his rival, "having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him." Having ascertained by means of scouts the exact situation of the royal camp, David went to inspect it in person from an overhanging cliff. On the outskirts, the wagons made a rude barricade, within these were the soldiers' quarters, and in the innermost circle Saul and Abner were posted; but the watches were badly kept, and no precaution was taken against a sudden attack.

A sudden inspiration seized David, and he proposed to Abishai and Ahimelech, the Hittite, that they should visit the camp by night. Abishai gladly volunteered to accompany him, and guided by the clear moonlight they crept down the hill, crossed the ravine, picked their way through the wagons and the sleeping ranks of the soldiers, stood for a moment whispering over the prostrate form of the king, bore off his spear and water-bottle from Saul's head, and then "gat them away, and no man saw it, nor knew it; neither did any awake, because a deep sleep from the Lord was fallen upon them."
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[nChrist]

DAVID SHEPHERD, PSALMIST, KING
XIV.  DAVID'S SELF-RESTRAINT
F. B. MEYER

Thus, again, Saul had been in his power; but he had restrained himself. Abishai could not read him nor understand his secret. To him it seemed a most natural and lawful act for David to take the life of the man who was so infatuated for his destruction. Nay, if David were at all squeamish about killing him with his own hand, surely he could have no objection against Abishai doing it, since he was not personally concerned in the feud. In that whispered colloquy over the sleeping monarch, Abishai had suggested that God had delivered his enemy into his chieftain's hand, and had offered to smite him with his own spear with a stroke so deadly, so instant in its effect, that there would be neither sigh nor groan to awake Abner or his body-guard. But David would not have it.

"No," he said, "I will be no party to this deed. None can smite the Lord's anointed and be guiltless. When his appointed death-hour comes, God will take him, either by some natural process in the palace, or amid the going down of the battle. But my hand shall not curtail his days: I will wait God's time."

On each of these occasions David acted with the magnanimity that became a hero and a saint. He would take no mean advantage of his adversary. He would not retaliate or avenge his wrong. He refused to admit the specious argument that opportunity meant permission, and that licence meant liberty. He quieted the impetuous fever of his soul, resisted the subtle temptation of the adversary, and elected to await the slow unfolding of the Divine purpose.
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[nChrist]

DAVID SHEPHERD, PSALMIST, KING
XIV.  DAVID'S SELF-RESTRAINT
F. B. MEYER

THE BEHAVIOUR THAT WAITING FOR GOD INDUCES.

It Restrains from Crime. -- Bitter indeed had David's remorse been, if he had listened to his comrades and put forth his hand against Saul's life. It would have robbed his harp of all its music. There would then have been some justification for Shimei's cursing words on that dark after-day in his life; but as it was, though they cut him to the quick, they met with no answering response from his conscience. As he searched his heart in the sight of God, he knew that Absalom's rebellion and seizure of his throne could not be, as Shimei suggested, a requital in kind for his dealings with Saul. True, months were still to pass, full of anxiety and suspense, before the coronation shouts rang through the streets of Hebron; but they were forgotten as snow dissolves in the river; and then there was nothing to regret, no gnawing conscience, no death's head at the bottom of his cup of joy. Be still, O heart! wait for God; this will keep thee from acts and words, which, if allowed, would shadow thy whole after life.

It Inspires Courage. -- What an intrepid spirit this was that dared to cry after the king and hold up the skirt of his robe; that challenged the two bravest men of his little army to a feat, from which one of them shrank! Ah! the man who is living in the Divine purpose has the secret of quenchless courage. He knows that no weapon formed against him shall prosper, and that every tongue that shall rise against him in judgment shall be condemned. He fears nothing, except to do wrong, and to grieve God. If in following the prepared path he suddenly comes on the brink of a precipice, down which he must cast himself, he does not hesitate to do so; knowing that the angels will swoop beneath, and bear him up, so that he shall not dash his foot against a stone.

It gives great Rest. -- Surely it was out of such experiences as these that David wrote Psalms 37, which, though it belongs to a later period, for ever embalms the conclusions of this. The mellow wisdom of old age gathers up the maxims that were wrought out in the fires of early manhood.

"Fret not thyself because of evildoers;
Neither be thou envious against them that work unrighteousness:
For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb."

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[nChrist]

DAVID SHEPHERD, PSALMIST, KING
XIV.  DAVID'S SELF-RESTRAINT
F. B. MEYER

The exhortations of this exquisite psalm, to trust in the Lord, to delight in the Lord, to roll the way of life on the Lord, to rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him, and especially the repeated injunction not to fret, are all bathed in new meaning when read in the light of these memorable incidents in David's life.

Live on the Divine purpose. Be not eager for thyself, but only that God's work should be done. It is certain that He will take care of thy interests, if thou carest for his. Calm thyself as a weaned child; rest thee; sit thee still and trust -- God is working out the plan of thy life; thou canst not hurry Him; it will only expend the energy of thy soul to no purpose, if thou allowest its fever to consume thee; in his own time, the best time, He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

It induces Penitence in others. -- When David gave such unmistakeable evidences of his self-restraint, continued loyalty, and surviving affection, in spite of all that had been done to quench it; when he so clearly established his innocence, and showed the baselessness of the charges made against him; when he appealed, with such reverence and sincerity from the calumnies and misrepresentations of earth to the decisions of the Divine Judge -- the miserable monarch lifted up his voice and wept, and confessed that he had "played the fool, and erred exceedingly." Saul recognised David's nobility; the old chivalrous nature which had so captivated the nation in earlier days flashed out with an expiring flicker; and he went so far as to admit that he would be king. Nothing but such forbearance on David's part could have brought him so near repentance.

It is thus that we may win men still. We win most when we appear to have yielded most; and gain advantages by refusing to take them wrongfully. The man who can wait for God is a man of power, and others will acknowledge it and bend beneath his sceptre. To be under authority to God's lofty principle is to have soldiers under us, who go and come at our will, and do our bidding.
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[nChrist]

DAVID SHEPHERD, PSALMIST, KING
XV.  CUSH: A BENJAMITE
F. B. MEYER

(1 Samuel 26:1; Psalms 7)

"Who to that bliss aspire
Must win their way through blood and fire!-
The writhings of a wounded heart
Are fiercer than a foeman's dart.
Oft in life's stillest shade reclining,
In desolation unrepining,
Without a hope on earth to find
A mirror in an answering mind,
Meek souls these are who little deem
Their daily strife an angel's theme!"
KEBLE.

It is somewhat surprising to find Saul in search of David, after the first of the incidents described in the previous chapter. At Engedi there seemed so absolute and entire a reconciliation between them. Saul confessed that David was more righteous than himself; acknowledged that he had dealt well with him; asked that God would reward him; and assured him that he would undoubtedly be king. He even went so far as to make him swear that, when he had come to the throne, he would not destroy his name out of his father's house (1 Samuel 24:21). And yet, after so short a space, he is again on the war-path.

These capricious changes may, of course, have been due to the malady from which he was suffering; but another and more satisfactory explanation has been suggested, and one which casts fresh light on the seventh Psalm. Dr. Maclaren, whose work on the Psalter has brought the whole Church into his debt, is specially emphatic in connecting the psalm with this part of David's history, and indicates its value in helping us to understand the rapid vacillations in Saul's behaviour.
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[nChrist]

DAVID SHEPHERD, PSALMIST, KING
XV.  CUSH: A BENJAMITE
F. B. MEYER

It is headed Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the Lord. That is, it is an irregular ode; like a stream broken over a bed of rocks and stones, expressing by its uneven measure and sudden changes the emotion of its author. We have often to sing these Shiggaion metres; our songs are frequently broken with sighs and groans; but we do well still to sing with such tunefulness as we may. Happy are they who can find themes for singing to the Lord in every sad and bitter experience!

The title proceeds, concerning the words of Cush, a Benjamite. Who was this Cush? The word means black. It may possibly refer to the colour of the skin and hair, and been given as a familiar designation to some swarthy Benjamite. Some have supposed that it was David's title for Saul; but the terms of respect in which he ever spoke of the Lord's anointed make that supposition unlikely. Others have referred it to Shimei, the Benjamite, whose furious abuse of the king, in the hour of his calamity, elicited such plaintive resignation from him, such passionate resentment from Abishai. But the style and phraseology belong so evidently to this period of David's life, that this supposition also seems untenable.

If the psalm be carefully examined, it will be found to bear a close resemblance to the words spoken by David, when Saul and he held the brief colloquy outside the cave at Engedi, and afterwards at the hill Hachilah.

Indeed, the correspondences are so many and minute that they establish, almost beyond question, the date of the psalm as synchronous with the incidents described in the last chapter; and if so, we can infer the cause of Saul's renewed passion. On comparison of psalm and narrative it seems more than likely that Cush was one of Saul's intimate friends and constant companions, and that he was incessantly at work poisoning the king's mind with malignant and deliberate falsehoods about David. When Saul was away from this man, and under the spell of David's noble and generous nature, he laid aside his vindictiveness, and responded to the appeals of olden friendship and chivalry; but when he returned to his palace, and Cush had fresh opportunities of influencing him, he yielded to the worse side of his character, and resumed his desperate attempt to thwart the Divine purpose. Thus like a shuttlecock he was tossed to and fro between the two men. Now inclined to mercy by David, and then to vengeance by Cush.
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[nChrist]

DAVID SHEPHERD, PSALMIST, KING
XV.  CUSH: A BENJAMITE
F. B. MEYER

It is quite likely that many of those who shall read these lines will be able to understand, by bitter experiences, the anguish of David's soul from this cause. You, too, have a Cush in the circle of your life, who is constantly circulating baseless and calumnious statements concerning you; poisoning the minds of those who otherwise would be well disposed, and suggesting questions, suspicious misunderstandings of your purest and most untainted actions. Such slanderers are to be found in the salons of modern society, as in the palace of the first king of Israel; and cause as much exquisite torture to sensitive and tender natures to-day, as to David in the wilds of Engedi. Let us learn how to deal with such.


1. SEARCH YOUR HEART TO SEE IF THESE SLANDERS HAVE FOUNDATION IN FACT.

It may be that there is more truth in these hurtful words than you are inclined, at first sight, to admit. Would it not be wise to ask if it be so, before dismissing them, or treating them with disdain? Perhaps those quick, envious eyes have discerned weaknesses in your character, of which your closest friends are aware, but they have shrunk from telling you; for love is quick to notice the weak points in the beloved, though it is not always true to indicate and rebuke. The supreme love alone girds itself to the task of washing the feet of its friends. It is a good rule before you destroy the anonymous letter, or dismiss the unkind statement, which has been going the round of your society, to sit down before the judgment-seat of Christ, and in its white light ask yourself whether you can say with David:

"My shield is with God,
Who saveth the upright in heart."

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[nChrist]

DAVID SHEPHERD, PSALMIST, KING
XV.  CUSH: A BENJAMITE
F. B. MEYER

2. IF THERE IS NO BASIS FOR THEM, REJOICE!

Always remember, when men revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely -- first, that you are in the succession of the prophets and saints of every age, and may be assured that you are on the right track; and, secondly, that out of this, according to the express words of Christ, you may extract that blessedness which' is richer and deeper than the world's joy, that passes like a summer brook.

How thankful we should be that God has kept us from being actually guilty of the things whereof we are accused! We might have done them, and worse. It was only by his grace that we have been withheld. That we have the witness of good conscience, and of his Spirit in our hearts, should be a perennial source of gladness.


3. TAKE SHELTER IN THE RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT OF GOD.

We are his servants, and if He is satisfied with us, why should we break our hearts over what our fellow-servants say? He put us into the positions we occupy, and if He please to keep us there, all that men may say or do will be unavailing to dislodge us. It is, after all, but a small matter with us to be judged of man's judgment; yea, we judge not our own selves, but He that judgeth us is the Lord. He only can properly determine the quality of our lives, because to Him alone are the hidden things known which give the real clue to rightness or wrongness.


4. ABJURE MORE COMPLETELY THE CARNAL LIFE.

Why do we smart under these unkind and slanderous words, which are as baseless as uncharitable? Is it not because we set too high a value upon the favour and applause of men? Is there not a deadly fear of being despised and condemned? Does not the world still live within us, revealing the tenacity of its hold, in this mortification and shame? Is this being crucified to the world, and the world crucified to us?
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[nChrist]

DAVID SHEPHERD, PSALMIST, KING
XV.  CUSH: A BENJAMITE
F. B. MEYER

If we were really nothing, and God were all in all; if the Spirit and the Lamb of God were dominant in our inner life; if we were dead to the flesh, with its affections and lusts, and alive only to God -- surely it would be a matter of indifference what became of our good name in the lips of foolish and sinful men. Here then there is a revelation of a deeper death to be realized; let us not flinch from it, but be willing to fall into the ground, and die to our reputation, as Jesus did, who endured the contradiction of sinners against Himself, and of whom they spoke as in league with Beelzebub, the prince of demons.

We must choose death in all those forms in which our Master knew it; that having been planted in the likeness of his death, we may be also in the likeness of his resurrection.


5. LEAVE GOD TO VINDICATE YOUR GOOD NAME.

Any unjust imputation or stigma that rests on us is part of the evil of the world, and a manifestation of its inveterate badness; it is a grief and care to God; it is part of the burden which He is carrying ever; it is impossible for us to cope with or remove it; it is useless to retaliate or revenge. Like Jesus, we may meekly ask the false accuser to establish his untrue charges, or we may meet them with our steadfast denial; but when we have done this, and we shall find it of little avail, there is no more to do but wait patiently till God arise to avenge our wrong and vindicate our characters.

It was so that David acted, even in those twilight days. He appealed to the righteous God who trieth the hearts and reins; believed that He would gird on his armour, whetting his sword and bending his bow against those who repented not of their hatred against his saints. The Psalmist had a clear apprehension of the immutable law that the wickedness of the wicked would come to an end; that his mischief would return on his own head; that the trapper of the saints would fall into his own snare; whilst they would be established, and their character cleared. It was so that Jesus bore Himself. "When He was reviled, He reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not, but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously."

Such is the true and wisest policy. Be still; give place unto wrath; concern thyself rather with the misery of that soul from which these wild words proceed; think more of this than of thy wrongs; let thy heart be exercised with a great tenderness toward him; if he hunger feed him, if he thirst give him drink; try to overcome the evil of his heart by thy generous good; and leave vindication and vengeance alike to God, whose prerogative is to plead the cause of the innocent and defenceless, whilst He will repay the wrong-doer in due time.
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[nChrist]

DAVID SHEPHERD, PSALMIST, KING
XVI.  A COOL HAND ON A HOT HEAD
F. B. MEYER

(1 Samuel 25)

"Calm me, my God, and keep me calm;
Let thine outstretched wing
Be like the shade of Elim's palm,
Beside her desert spring.

"Calm in the sufferance of wrong,
Like Him who bore my shame;
Calm, 'mid the threatening, taunting throng,
Who hate thy holy name."
H. BONAR.

THE TIDINGS passed throughout the land, like fire in prairie-grass, that Samuel was dead; and Israel, recognising its unity in the common loss, gathered to lament the prophet and saint, and perform the last honouring rites. To his worth and service was accorded the unusual tribute of interment within the precincts of his own house at Ramah, on the heights of Benjamin: In all likelihood an amnesty was proclaimed, and David came to take part in the obsequies of his master and friend. He did not, however, dare to trust himself in such near proximity to Saul a moment longer than was absolutely essential; and as soon as all was over, he started again for the sparsely-populated region of Paran, at the extreme south of Judah. To those borderlands, so long desolated by border warfare through the incursions of the Philistines and Amalekites, his advent brought tranquillity and safety. The sheepmasters had every reason to be grateful for his protection; and, as one well put it, "The men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we anything, as long as we were conversant with them; they were a wall unto us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep."
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[nChrist]

DAVID SHEPHERD, PSALMIST, KING
XVI.  A COOL HAND ON A HOT HEAD
F. B. MEYER

Where such services were accepted and counted upon, it was obviously fair, and indeed according to the custom of the time, that some recompense in kind should be made. It was a tacit understanding, an unwritten law; and David was perfectly justified in sending ten young men to greet the opulent sheep-master, Nabal, in the day of prosperity, to which the exertions of himself and his men had so largely contributed, to remind him of his obligations, and ask whatsoever might come readily to his hand to give. Nabal's churlish treatment of this request touched David to the quick, and led up to an incident which, as recorded by the sacred historian, is one of the most charming idylls of Scripture, fragrant as the flowers of Alpine pastures, and fresh as a summer morn.

The story centres in Nabal, David, and Abigail.


1. NABAL, THE CHURL

His character is drawn, after the manner of Scripture, in three or four bold outline strokes, and need not detain us. In every society men of this type are to be encountered, overbearing to their inferiors, intolerable in prosperity, drunken in carouse, abject in misfortune; who fly out with flout and sneer when they think themselves secure, but whose heart cringes before reverse. What an apt thumb-nail sketch is given of the whole race of Nabals in the confidential remark passed between his servant and his wife, "He is such a son of Belial that one cannot speak to him"!

He was very great, the historian says. But it was the meanest kind of greatness, consisting not in what he was in character, or had achieved in variant deed, but in the number of sheep and goats that bore his brand over the pasture lands of the south. There are four kinds of greatness; young men, choose the best for your life aim I It is little to be great in possessing; better to be great in doing; better still to conceive and promulgate great thoughts; but best to be great in character. Aim at the greatness of which Heaven takes account. It was where Self-mastery, Holy Ghost Fulness, and Service to mankind met, that the angel said, "He shall be great in the sight of the Lord."
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[nChrist]

DAVID SHEPHERD, PSALMIST, KING
XVI.  A COOL HAND ON A HOT HEAD
F. B. MEYER

He was a fool, his wife said. "As his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him." Poor woman! She had every reason for speaking thus bitterly of him; and she was a sweet woman too, not likely to speak in these terms of her husband unless his rude, cruel hands had wantonly broken down the last remnant of wifely respect and love. He surely must have sat for the full-length portrait of the fool in our Lord's parable, who thought his soul could take its ease and be merry because a few big barns were full. There are appetites and longings in the soul which good dinners cannot satisfy; there are cravings which will not be appeased merely because we can see our way to three meals a day as long as we live.

He was a man of Belial, his servant said; and indeed his treatment of David's modest request well bore out the character. It was rude, uncourteous, uncivil. He could not have been ignorant of the causes which had forced David into his wandering, arduous life; but he ignored them, and chose to put forward the most cruel and harsh construction. He as good as said that David was raising a revolt against his master Saul; virtuously covered his refusal beneath a show of loyal devotion to law and government, which was intended to suggest an extremely unpleasant alternative for David; and finally asserted his preference to give his bread and flesh to those who, like his shearers, had worked for them, rather than to a lot of vain fellows, who were hanging idly about to live on the ripe fruit that might fall into their mouths.

He seems to have had no compunction for his churlish speeches: no idea of the consequences they might involve. As soon as the words were spoken, they were forgotten; and in the evening of the day on which they were spoken we find him in his house, holding a feast, like the feast of a king, his heart merry with wine, and altogether so stupid that his wife told him nothing less or more till the morning light.
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