apparently a few followers attached to his person made their way to the priestly city of Nob, not far from Jerusalem, and there he presented himself alone to the high priest Ahimelech. It must be owned that David did here tell a falsehood in pretending a special commission from the King. He was not a perfect man, and it is for his deep devotion and heart-whole love of God that he stands so high, not for absence of all blame. And verily this deception had terrible consequences.

David's need was of provisions and weapons, but the priest could give him none but the shewbread-the twelve loaves, or rather cakes, that stood in two rows upon a golden table as an offering to the Lord, and were changed every Sabbath day. It was unlawful for any save the priests to eat this bread, but in the present case of necessity it was given to David. In after-times this action was quoted by our blessed Lord when rebuking the Pharisees for their rigid and uncharitable strictness (Matt. xii. 3, 4) :—

Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him ;"

How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?

Here in the first place our Lord shows that there are times when charity overleaps the regular law of ceremony. Then, looking far beyond, He explains how David the anointed, dispensing the shewbread to his followers, typified Himself, the Anointed King as well as Priest, dispensing the Bread of Life.

David likewise obtained from the priest the sword of Goliath, which he had now full strength to wield, and which far exceeded all the weapons made in Israel. But that visit of his to Nob had been marked by one of his bitterest enemies, namely, Doeg the Edomite, who seems to have been sent by Saul on some official message to the priests, and who spitefully marked the favour with which they treated David, who was regarded at Gibeah as a rival set up by Samuel in opposition to Saul, because the King would not brook the old prophet's assumption of authority.

* In St. Mark's Gospel the name is Abiathar. He was the son of Ahimelech, heir to the High Priesthood, and a friend of David. Therefore it is probable that he persuaded his father to give the shewbread,

LESSON LXXIII.

THE CAVE OF ADULLAM.

B.C. 1060.-I SAM. xxi. 10-15; xxii. 1—5; 2 SAM. xxiii. 13—17.

And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.

And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath.

And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.

Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me?

Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?

David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam : and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him.

And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred

men.

And David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me.

And he brought them before the king of Moab : and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the hold.

And the prophet Gad said unto David, Abide not in the hold; depart, and get thee into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hareth.

And three of the thirty chief went down, and came to David in the harvest time unto the cave of Adullam : and the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim.

And David was then in an hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Beth-lehem.

And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Beth-lehem, which is by the gate!

And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that was by the gate, and

brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the LORD.

And he said, Be it far from me, O LORD, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it.

COMMENT. From Nob, David fled to Gath, where a prince named Achish, and apparently also called Abi-Melech-" the son of the king," from the ancient kings of Gera-was reigning, but he was recognized as the slayer of Goliath, the hero of the Israelite songs and the rival feared by Saul, and he could only secure himself by feigning insanity, when the awe and respect with which Eastern nations always treat madmen would be sure to preserve him from danger.

Thence he made his way to a very different retreat, one of the hollows in the rocky hills between Bethlehem and the Dead Sea with which he must have been familiar during his shepherd life. Those mountains are full of large caves capable of holding a little army, and with a fortification or hold, either in advance of the cave or above it, David was well guarded; and here, moreover, he was joined by all his own family, and by all who were distressed by Saul's violence and exactions, so that he found himself at the head of a band of 400 men, among whom were his nephews, Joab and Abishai, sons of his sister Zeruiah, apparently men about the same age as himself, brave, fierce, and swift-footed, and a number of other valiant men who had become greatly attached to the brave young captain. Long after was an exploit recorded that showed their ardent love for him. Those barren hills are fearfully arid. The winter cold and summer heat alike beat on them unrelieved, and the hardships were evidently too great for the aged Jesse and his wife, since David conducted them to Mizpeh, the watch-tower of Moab, whence Jesse's grandmother Ruth had come, and there obtained shelter for them. Bethlehem itself, now through Saul's jealousy deprived of the brave family that had once protected it, was garrisoned by the Philistines; and David, from his stronghold on the thirsty mountains, gazed down on the sloping pastures and green fields he knew and loved so well, and, fainting and fevered, broke out with a longing cry for the water of the clear well of Bethlehem, "the waters of comfort." Three of his bravest warriors heard it, and in their

vehement love dared all dangers, broke through the enemy, drew water from the spring that still flows beside the gate, and safely brought it back to their leader on the mountain. But overcome at the thought of the hazard they had run, David deemed the water sacred, and could not drink. Thus purchased, it was the blood of men, and could only be an offering to the Lord. It was made sacred by the love and devotion that had procured it—even as in later times Alexander the Great felt when, in like manner, water had been brought him at the like fearful risk.

I will alway give thanks unto the LORD:
His praise shall ever be in my mouth.
My soul shall make her boast in the LORD:
The humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
O praise the LORD with me,

And let us magnify his name together.
I sought the LORD, and he heard me :

Yea, he delivered me out of all my fear.

They had an eye unto him, and were lightened :

And their faces were not ashamed.

Lo, the poor crieth, and the LORD heareth him :

Yea, and saveth him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the LORD tarrieth round about them that fear him,
And delivereth them.

O taste, and see, how gracious the LORD is:
Blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
O fear the LORD, ye that are his saints:
For they that fear him lack+ nothing.
The lions do lack, and suffer hunger :

But they who seek the LORD shall want no manner of thing that is
good.

Come, ye children, and hearken unto me:

I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

What man is he that lusteth‡ to live and would fain§ see good

days?

*Not for the little ones.

+ Want.

↑ Wisheth.

Gladly.

Keep thy tongue from evil :

And thy lips, that they speak no guile."
Eschew evil, and do good:

Seek peace, and ensue it.

The eyes of the LORD are over the righteous,

And his ears are open unto their prayers.

The countenance of the LORD is against them that do evil :
To root out the remembrance of them from the earth.

The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth them,

And delivereth them out of all their troubles.

The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a contrite§ heart;
And will save such as be of an humble spirit.

Great are the troubles of the righteous:

But the LORD delivereth him out of all.

He keepeth all his bones,

So that not one of them is broken.

But misfortune shall slay the ungodly:

And they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.

The LORD delivereth the souls of his servants :

And all they that put their trust in him shall not be destitute.

COMMENT. This Psalm was. composed by David at the time of his feigned madness and flight from Gath; and it is precious to us, not only as showing what he felt and thought as an exile and wanderer, and giving his inner self as well as his outer character, but it is full of prophecy, and helps us to see how he was a type of our Lord and His body, the Church.

It is to be observed that it is one of the Psalms which have each verse beginning with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet in their order (only omitting Vau or V), and adding Pe at the end. It is in three divisions of seven verses each, and the most marked verses are the middle ones in each division.

We can see that the Psalm shows how David's hope and trust began to rise again after his grievous misfortunes, and how he called the friends who began to gather round him, to observe that great as had been his dangers, God had delivered him out of all. The "poor man," as he calls himself (foretelling in type Him who became poor for us), prayed and was saved. Well he knew that God's angels encamp around those who fear Him, as surely as