the celebrated king of Israel, was the youngest son of Jesse, of
the tribe of Judah, and was born 1085 years before Christ. The following
is an abstract of his history: He was chosen of God to be king of
Israel, and at his command was anointed to this dignity by the hands of
Samuel, a venerable prophet, in the room of Saul; who had been rejected
for his disobedience to the divine orders, in feloniously seizing, to
his own use the prey of an enemy, which God, the supreme King of Israel,
had devoted to destruction. He was introduced to court as a man expert
in music, a singularly valiant man, a man of war, prudent in matters, of
a comely person, and one favoured of the Lord. By his skill in music, he
relieved Saul under a melancholy indisposition that had seized him, was
highly beloved by his royal master, and made one of his guards. In a war
with the Philistines he accepted the challenge of a gigantic champion,
who defied the armies of Israel, and being skilful at the sling, he slew
him with a stone, returned safely with his head, and thus secured to his
prince an easy victory over his country’s enemies. The reputation he
gained, by this glorious action, raised an incurable jealousy and
resentment against him, in the mind of the king his master; who made two
unsuccessful attempts to murder him. In his exalted station, and amidst
the dangers that encompassed him, he behaved with singular prudence, so
that he was in high esteem both in the court and camp. The modesty and
prudence of his behaviour, and his approved courage and resolution,
gained him the confidence and friendship of Jonathan, the king’s eldest
son, “who loved him as his own soul,” became his advocate with his
father, and obtained from him a promise, confirmed by an oath, that he
would no more attempt to destroy him. But Saul’s jealousy returned by a
fresh victory David gained over the Philistines; who, finding the king
was determined to seek his life, retired from court, and was dismissed
in peace by Jonathan, after a solemn renewal of their friendship, to
provide for his own safety. In this state of banishment, there resorted
to him companies of men, who were uneasy in their circumstances,
oppressed by their creditors, or discontented with Saul’s tyrannical
government, to the number of six hundred men. These he kept in the most
excellent order, and by their valour he gained signal advantages for his
country; but never employed them in rebellion against the king, or in a
single instance to distress or subvert his government. On the contrary
such was the veneration he paid him, and such the generosity of his
temper, that though it was thrice in his power to have him cut off, he
spared him, and was determined never to destroy him, whom God had
constituted the king of Israel. His friendship with Jonathan, the king’s
son, was a friendship of strict honour, for he never seduced him from
his allegiance and filial duty. Being provoked by a churlish farmer, who
evil treated and abused his messengers, he, in the warmth of his temper,
swore he would destroy him and his family; but was immediately pacified
by the address and prudence of a wife, of whom the wretch was unworthy:
her he sent in peace and honour to her family, and blessed for her
advice, and keeping him from avenging himself with his own hand. Being
forced to banish himself into an enemy’s country, he was faithful to the
prince who protected him: and, at the same time, mindful of the interest
of his own nation, he cut off many of those who had harassed and
plundered his fellow subjects. When pressed by the king, into whose
dominions he retired, to join in a war against his own country and
father-in-law, he prudently gave him such an answer as his situation
required; neither promising the aid demanded of him, nor tying up his
hands from serving his own prince, and the army that fought under him;
only assuring him in general, that he had never done any thing that
could give him just reason to think he would refuse to assist him
against his enemies. Upon the death of Saul, he cut off the Amalekite
who came to make a merit of having slain him; and by the immediate
direction of God, who had promised him the succession, went up to
Hebron, where, on a free election, he was anointed king over the house
of Judah; and after about a seven years’ contest, he was unanimously
chosen king by all the tribes of Israel, “according to the word of the
Lord by Samuel.” As king of Israel, he administered justice and judgment
to all his people, was a prince of courage, and great military prudence
and conduct; had frequent wars with the neighbouring nations, to which
he was generally forced by their invading his dominions, and plundering
his subjects. Against them he never lost a battle; he never besieged a
city without taking it; nor, as for any thing that can be proved, used
any severities against those he conquered, beyond what the law of arms
allowed, his own safety required, or the cruelties of his enemies
rendered just, by way of retaliation; enriching his people by the spoils
he took, and providing large stores of every thing necessary for the
magnificent temple he intended to erect, in honour of the God of Israel.
Having rescued Jerusalem out of the hands of the Jebusites, he made it
the capital of his kingdom, and the place of his residence; and being
willing to honour it with the presence of the ark of God, he brought it
to Jerusalem in triumph, and divesting himself of his royal robes, out
of reverence to God, he clothed himself in the habit of his ministers,
and with them expressed his joy by dancing and music; contemned only by
one haughty woman; whom, as a just punishment of her insolence, he seems
ever after to have separated from his bed. Though his crimes were
henious, and highly aggravated, in the affair of Uriah and Bathsheba, he
patiently endured reproof, humbly submitted to the punishment appointed
him, deeply repented, and obtained mercy and forgiveness from God,
though not without some severe marks of his displeasure, for the
grievous offences of which he had been guilty. A rebellion was raised
against him by his son Absalom. When forced by it to depart from
Jerusalem, a circumstance most pathetically described by the sacred
historian, he prevented the just punishment of Shimei, a wretch who
cursed and stoned him. When restored to his throne, he spared him upon
his submission, and would not permit a single man to be put to death in
Israel upon account of this treason. He, with a noble confidence, made
the commander of the rebel forces general of his own army, in the room
of Joab, whom he intended to call to an account for murder and other
crimes. After this, when obliged, by the command of God, to give up some
of Saul’s family to justice, for the murder of the Gibeonites, he spared
Mephibosheth, Micah, and his family, the male descendants of Saul and
Jonathan, who alone could have any pretence to dispute the crown with
him, and surrendered only Saul’s bastard children, and those of his
daughter by Adriel, who had no right or possible claim to the throne,
and could never give him any uneasiness in the possession of it; and
thus showed his inviolable regard for his oaths, his tenderness to Saul,
and the warmth of his gratitude and friendship to Jonathan. In the close
of his life, and in the near prospect of death, to demonstrate his love
of justice, he charged Solomon to punish with death Joab, for the base
murder of two great men, whom he assassinated under the pretence of
peace and friendship. To this catalogue of his noble actions must be
added, that he gave the most shining and indisputable proofs of an
undissembled reverence for, and sincere piety to, God; ever obeying the
direction of his prophets, worshipping him alone, to the exclusion of
all idols, throughout the whole of his life, and making the wisest
settlement to perpetuate the worship of the same God, through all
succeeding generations.
To this abstract a few miscellaneous remarks may be added.
1. When David is called “the man after God’s own heart,” a phrase which
profane persons have often perverted, his general character, and not
every particular of it, is to be understood as approved by God; and
especially his faithful and undeviating adherence to the true religion,
from which he never deviated into any act of idolatry.
2. He was chosen to accomplish to their full extent the promises made to
Abraham to give to his seed, the whole country from the river of Egypt
to the great river Euphrates. He had succeeded to a kingdom distracted
with civil dissension, environed on every side by powerful and
victorious enemies, without a capital, almost without an army, without
any bond of union between the tribes. He left a compact and united
state, stretching from the frontier of Egypt to the foot of Lebanon,
from the Euphrates to the sea. He had crushed the power of the
Philistines, subdued or curbed all the adjacent kingdoms: he had formed
a lasting and important alliance with the great city of Tyre. He had
organized an immense disposable force; for every month 24,000 men,
furnished in rotation by the tribes, appeared in arms, and were trained
as the standing militia of the country. At the head of his army were
officers of consummate experience, and, what was more highly esteemed in
the warfare of the time, extraordinary personal activity, strength, and
valour. The Hebrew nation owed the long peace of Solomon the son’s reign
to the bravery and wisdom of the father.
3. As a conqueror he was a type of Christ, and the country “from the
river to the ends of the earth,” was also the prophetic type of Christ’s
dominion over the whole earth.
4. His inspired psalms not only place him among the most eminent
prophets; but have rendered him the leader of the devotions of good men,
in all ages. The hymns of David excel no less in sublimity and
tenderness of expression than in loftiness and purity of religious
sentiment. In comparison with them the sacred poetry of all other
nations sinks into mediocrity. They have embodied so exquisitely the
universal language of religious emotion, that they have entered with
unquestioned propriety into the ritual of the higher and more perfect
religion of Christ. The songs which cheered the solitude of the desert
caves of Engedi, or resounded from the voice of the Hebrew people as
they wound along the glens or the hill sides of Judea, have been
repeated for ages in almost every part of the habitable world, in the
remotest islands of the ocean, among the forests of America or the sands
of Africa. How many human hearts have these inspired songs softened,
purified, exalted! Of how many wretched beings have they been the secret
consolation! On how many communities have they drawn down the blessings
of Divine providence, by bringing the affections into unison with their
deep devotional fervour, and leading to a constant and explicit
recognition of the government, rights, and mercies of God!
the tribe of Judah, and was born 1085 years before Christ. The following
is an abstract of his history: He was chosen of God to be king of
Israel, and at his command was anointed to this dignity by the hands of
Samuel, a venerable prophet, in the room of Saul; who had been rejected
for his disobedience to the divine orders, in feloniously seizing, to
his own use the prey of an enemy, which God, the supreme King of Israel,
had devoted to destruction. He was introduced to court as a man expert
in music, a singularly valiant man, a man of war, prudent in matters, of
a comely person, and one favoured of the Lord. By his skill in music, he
relieved Saul under a melancholy indisposition that had seized him, was
highly beloved by his royal master, and made one of his guards. In a war
with the Philistines he accepted the challenge of a gigantic champion,
who defied the armies of Israel, and being skilful at the sling, he slew
him with a stone, returned safely with his head, and thus secured to his
prince an easy victory over his country’s enemies. The reputation he
gained, by this glorious action, raised an incurable jealousy and
resentment against him, in the mind of the king his master; who made two
unsuccessful attempts to murder him. In his exalted station, and amidst
the dangers that encompassed him, he behaved with singular prudence, so
that he was in high esteem both in the court and camp. The modesty and
prudence of his behaviour, and his approved courage and resolution,
gained him the confidence and friendship of Jonathan, the king’s eldest
son, “who loved him as his own soul,” became his advocate with his
father, and obtained from him a promise, confirmed by an oath, that he
would no more attempt to destroy him. But Saul’s jealousy returned by a
fresh victory David gained over the Philistines; who, finding the king
was determined to seek his life, retired from court, and was dismissed
in peace by Jonathan, after a solemn renewal of their friendship, to
provide for his own safety. In this state of banishment, there resorted
to him companies of men, who were uneasy in their circumstances,
oppressed by their creditors, or discontented with Saul’s tyrannical
government, to the number of six hundred men. These he kept in the most
excellent order, and by their valour he gained signal advantages for his
country; but never employed them in rebellion against the king, or in a
single instance to distress or subvert his government. On the contrary
such was the veneration he paid him, and such the generosity of his
temper, that though it was thrice in his power to have him cut off, he
spared him, and was determined never to destroy him, whom God had
constituted the king of Israel. His friendship with Jonathan, the king’s
son, was a friendship of strict honour, for he never seduced him from
his allegiance and filial duty. Being provoked by a churlish farmer, who
evil treated and abused his messengers, he, in the warmth of his temper,
swore he would destroy him and his family; but was immediately pacified
by the address and prudence of a wife, of whom the wretch was unworthy:
her he sent in peace and honour to her family, and blessed for her
advice, and keeping him from avenging himself with his own hand. Being
forced to banish himself into an enemy’s country, he was faithful to the
prince who protected him: and, at the same time, mindful of the interest
of his own nation, he cut off many of those who had harassed and
plundered his fellow subjects. When pressed by the king, into whose
dominions he retired, to join in a war against his own country and
father-in-law, he prudently gave him such an answer as his situation
required; neither promising the aid demanded of him, nor tying up his
hands from serving his own prince, and the army that fought under him;
only assuring him in general, that he had never done any thing that
could give him just reason to think he would refuse to assist him
against his enemies. Upon the death of Saul, he cut off the Amalekite
who came to make a merit of having slain him; and by the immediate
direction of God, who had promised him the succession, went up to
Hebron, where, on a free election, he was anointed king over the house
of Judah; and after about a seven years’ contest, he was unanimously
chosen king by all the tribes of Israel, “according to the word of the
Lord by Samuel.” As king of Israel, he administered justice and judgment
to all his people, was a prince of courage, and great military prudence
and conduct; had frequent wars with the neighbouring nations, to which
he was generally forced by their invading his dominions, and plundering
his subjects. Against them he never lost a battle; he never besieged a
city without taking it; nor, as for any thing that can be proved, used
any severities against those he conquered, beyond what the law of arms
allowed, his own safety required, or the cruelties of his enemies
rendered just, by way of retaliation; enriching his people by the spoils
he took, and providing large stores of every thing necessary for the
magnificent temple he intended to erect, in honour of the God of Israel.
Having rescued Jerusalem out of the hands of the Jebusites, he made it
the capital of his kingdom, and the place of his residence; and being
willing to honour it with the presence of the ark of God, he brought it
to Jerusalem in triumph, and divesting himself of his royal robes, out
of reverence to God, he clothed himself in the habit of his ministers,
and with them expressed his joy by dancing and music; contemned only by
one haughty woman; whom, as a just punishment of her insolence, he seems
ever after to have separated from his bed. Though his crimes were
henious, and highly aggravated, in the affair of Uriah and Bathsheba, he
patiently endured reproof, humbly submitted to the punishment appointed
him, deeply repented, and obtained mercy and forgiveness from God,
though not without some severe marks of his displeasure, for the
grievous offences of which he had been guilty. A rebellion was raised
against him by his son Absalom. When forced by it to depart from
Jerusalem, a circumstance most pathetically described by the sacred
historian, he prevented the just punishment of Shimei, a wretch who
cursed and stoned him. When restored to his throne, he spared him upon
his submission, and would not permit a single man to be put to death in
Israel upon account of this treason. He, with a noble confidence, made
the commander of the rebel forces general of his own army, in the room
of Joab, whom he intended to call to an account for murder and other
crimes. After this, when obliged, by the command of God, to give up some
of Saul’s family to justice, for the murder of the Gibeonites, he spared
Mephibosheth, Micah, and his family, the male descendants of Saul and
Jonathan, who alone could have any pretence to dispute the crown with
him, and surrendered only Saul’s bastard children, and those of his
daughter by Adriel, who had no right or possible claim to the throne,
and could never give him any uneasiness in the possession of it; and
thus showed his inviolable regard for his oaths, his tenderness to Saul,
and the warmth of his gratitude and friendship to Jonathan. In the close
of his life, and in the near prospect of death, to demonstrate his love
of justice, he charged Solomon to punish with death Joab, for the base
murder of two great men, whom he assassinated under the pretence of
peace and friendship. To this catalogue of his noble actions must be
added, that he gave the most shining and indisputable proofs of an
undissembled reverence for, and sincere piety to, God; ever obeying the
direction of his prophets, worshipping him alone, to the exclusion of
all idols, throughout the whole of his life, and making the wisest
settlement to perpetuate the worship of the same God, through all
succeeding generations.
To this abstract a few miscellaneous remarks may be added.
1. When David is called “the man after God’s own heart,” a phrase which
profane persons have often perverted, his general character, and not
every particular of it, is to be understood as approved by God; and
especially his faithful and undeviating adherence to the true religion,
from which he never deviated into any act of idolatry.
2. He was chosen to accomplish to their full extent the promises made to
Abraham to give to his seed, the whole country from the river of Egypt
to the great river Euphrates. He had succeeded to a kingdom distracted
with civil dissension, environed on every side by powerful and
victorious enemies, without a capital, almost without an army, without
any bond of union between the tribes. He left a compact and united
state, stretching from the frontier of Egypt to the foot of Lebanon,
from the Euphrates to the sea. He had crushed the power of the
Philistines, subdued or curbed all the adjacent kingdoms: he had formed
a lasting and important alliance with the great city of Tyre. He had
organized an immense disposable force; for every month 24,000 men,
furnished in rotation by the tribes, appeared in arms, and were trained
as the standing militia of the country. At the head of his army were
officers of consummate experience, and, what was more highly esteemed in
the warfare of the time, extraordinary personal activity, strength, and
valour. The Hebrew nation owed the long peace of Solomon the son’s reign
to the bravery and wisdom of the father.
3. As a conqueror he was a type of Christ, and the country “from the
river to the ends of the earth,” was also the prophetic type of Christ’s
dominion over the whole earth.
4. His inspired psalms not only place him among the most eminent
prophets; but have rendered him the leader of the devotions of good men,
in all ages. The hymns of David excel no less in sublimity and
tenderness of expression than in loftiness and purity of religious
sentiment. In comparison with them the sacred poetry of all other
nations sinks into mediocrity. They have embodied so exquisitely the
universal language of religious emotion, that they have entered with
unquestioned propriety into the ritual of the higher and more perfect
religion of Christ. The songs which cheered the solitude of the desert
caves of Engedi, or resounded from the voice of the Hebrew people as
they wound along the glens or the hill sides of Judea, have been
repeated for ages in almost every part of the habitable world, in the
remotest islands of the ocean, among the forests of America or the sands
of Africa. How many human hearts have these inspired songs softened,
purified, exalted! Of how many wretched beings have they been the secret
consolation! On how many communities have they drawn down the blessings
of Divine providence, by bringing the affections into unison with their
deep devotional fervour, and leading to a constant and explicit
recognition of the government, rights, and mercies of God!