A TEMPLE FOR GOD.

179

males among the Israelites as one of the greatest

calamities.

David now felt himself securely established upon his throne. He was enjoying the smiles of a kind protecting Providence. "The Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies." He was dwelling in his own palace, in a manner befitting the sovereign of a great nation. It was a splendid edifice for the time in which he lived, and he could not but contrast it with the less permanent and costly tabernacle in which he and his people had just deposited the symbol of the divine presence. Surely, he thought, the King of kings should have a residence more suited to the infinite excellence and majesty of his character. He made known his wishes to the prophet Nathan, in whom he placed great confidence, and whose opinion he was desirous of obtaining. "See now," said he, "I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains." If he added no more, this was sufficient to disclose the pious purpose which was glowing within his breast.

"Go," replied the prophet, "do all that is in thy heart; for the Lord is with thee."

But this was only the private judgment of Nathan. The undertaking proposed by David appeared to him indeed most praiseworthy, and promising success; yet no divine communication had been made to him on the subject. Such a communication he received the following night.

'He was directed to inform David that God

would not permit him to build the temple. Among other reasons for this prohibition which existed in the divine mind, we learn afterwards that one was, that David had been a man of war, and had shed much blood. A sovereign of a more peaceful reign would be better adapted for this holy enterprise. Besides, as proved to be the case, David had yet enough to do in carrying on extensive wars to subdue the enemies of God and of his people.

He was told too by the prophet, that as the Israelites, from the time of their departure out of Egypt, had been in a wandering and unsettled state, God had chosen to have the ark of his covenant deposited in a tabernacle, which could be easily removed from place to place, and had not therefore given any directions for the building of a house for its residence. He was reminded of the signal favors which the Lord had bestowed upon him and upon the Israelites, and assured that still more abundant blessings would be shed down upon him and them. He should have a son who would build that temple the erection of which lay so near his heart, and this son would be under the peculiar protection of the Almighty. In making these promises to David and his offspring, expressions were used which clearly pointed out higher and holier privileges, and showed that reference was had also to his spiritual posterity, and to that Messiah who should be one of his descendants, and whose kingdom should be an everlasting kingdom.

GRATEFUL PRAISE.

181

On hearing this message from the lips of the prophet of the Lord, David immediately repaired to the tabernacle, there to pour out the overflowings of gratitude to God, and to invoke the continuance of his blessings.* He felt how utterly unworthy he was of any of the mercies which had been bestowed upon him, and that all which he had received was from the sovereign grace of God. "Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?" "For thy word's sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all these great things, to make thy servant know them. Wherefore thou art great, O Lord God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God besides thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears."

And "who am I, O Lord God?" may each one of us also say, in view of the divine goodness and forbearance which have followed us all our lives. What are we but miserable sinners against the wisest and the best of beings; and what hope have we but in the abundance of his mercy towards us, through Jesus Christ! When we thank him for his favors, or implore those which we still need, it becomes us, like David, to prostrate ourselves before him with the deepest humility. and self-abasement.

The humility of David was accompanied with an unshaken confidence in Jehovah, as a covenant

* David is supposed, about this time, to have composed Psalms 2, 45, 22, 16, 118, 110.

keeping God, and in the expression of this filial sentiment he concluded his prayer: "For thou, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee a house: therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee. And now, O Lord God, thou art that God, and thy words be true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant: therefore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee: for thou, O Lord God, hast spoken it and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever."

CONQUESTS.

183

CHAPTER XXVI.

DAVID SUBDUES HIS ENEMIES, AND DEDICATES THE SPOILS TO GOD. HE GARRISONS EDOM, AND REIGNS OVER ALL ISRAEL.

PHIBOSHETH.

HIS ENEMIES.

HE IS KIND TO ME

HE AGAIN IS VICTORIOUS OVER

A FEW years after this we find David engaged in a war with his old enemies the Philistines, and entirely subduing them. He fought also with the Moabites, making such of them as he spared become tributary to him. He routed Hadadezer king of Zobah, a country in Syria, who came with a powerful army to claim some territory near the Euphrates, and took from him immense spoils, among the rest shields of gold, which he brought to Jerusalem. He destroyed two and twenty thousand Syrians of Damascus who came to succor Hadadezer, establishing garrisons in their country, and making them his tributaries. He brought from certain of the cities of the king of Zobah a vast quantity of brass, which Solomon afterwards used for the service of the temple in making the brazen sea and the pillars and the vessels of brass. The golden shields too were employed in a similar way, as were the vessels of silver, of gold, and of brass presented to David by Toi king of Hamath, as a token of gratitude for the victory which the former had obtained