The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1843-07-16

disposition 10 be guided by his own inclination,
| and to resist all higher authority Thus, when COM
manded to go and smlte the Amalek ties, and utter
| " to Stay both men and women, FAINT and suck
| ling, OK and sheep, camel and ass, he spared Agag
and the best OF the sheep and of the oxen, and OF
the fatngs, and of the lambs and all that was good,
aud would not utterly destroy them; thereby trans
crossing the great paramount law, no less necessary
| for the right government of infant mind than for
an infant word-the law of obedience.
Then the word of the Lord unto Samuel saying,
repenteth that have set up Saul to be king:
he Is turned back from following me- and hath not per.
formed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel, and
| he cried unto the Lord all night
| And when Samuel rose up early to meet Saul in the
| morning, it was told Samuel saving Saul came up to
Carmel and behold he set him up place, and is gone
| about. and passed co. and gone down to Gilgal.
Aud Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him,
Blessed be thou of the Lord: have performed the CON-
| mandment OF the Lord.
And Samuel said What meaneth then this bleating of
the sheep in mine and the lowing OF the oxen which
| hear1
And Saul said. They have brought them from the
Amaekes for the people spared the best OF the sheep
and OF the oXen to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God ana
| the rest we have utterly destroyed.
Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay and will tell thee
| what the Lord hath said to me this night And he said
And Samuel said, When thou vast little in thine
sight vast thou not made the head ofth tribes oil Israeli
| and the Lord anOinted thee king over Israel
And the Lord sent thee journey and said, Go and
utterly destroy the sinners OF the Amalekes and fight
| against them until they be consumed
Wherefore then dids thou not obey the voice of the
Lord but didst fly upon the spoil and didst evil in the
| sight of the L0rdl
After this reproof from Samuel Saul again en-
deavors TO justify himself by proving that the reser
| walton he had made solely for the purpose OF
| sacrificing to the Lord, when the prophet empha-
| caly asks,
Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and
sacrifices obeying the voice of the Lord Behold,
10 obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the
| fat of rams
To Samuel, who seems hitherto to have stood in
bn nj Ipfar hnxy m md
| Divine Majesty, Saul now humbes himself, and en-
treats that he will pardon his SIM and turn again
with him, that he may worship. the Lord And
| when still rejected he humbles himself yet more,
and prays Ooh how naturalyD that at least the
prophet will honor him before the people. that the
world may not witness his degradation. And now
came more to see Saul until the day OF his death;
| nevertheless he incurred for him, and the Lord re-
pened that he had made Saul king over Israel.
And the Spirit of the Lord departed from SAUL and an
| evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.
How descriptive is this passage of this gradual
falling away from Divine favour, which sometimes
darkens and weighs down the soul, filing it wNh
gloomy thoughts. and sad forebodnngs, long before
ward character And how s,rikiugly does it illus
trate the hidden, and to mysterious work
ings Of the great plan of Providence, that the
future king Of Israel, already secretly appointed
by Divine commission, should be the min.
strel chosen to come and charm away with the me-
lody OF his harp, the evil spirit from the mind of his
predecessor in authority; and that Saul should arise
| relieved and refreshed by the music OF the insru-
ment OF his future torment. For It IS not long be-
| fore envy enters into his heart, adding its envenom-
ed stlDgs to The anguish he is already enduring. He
| hears the song OF the dancing women as they meet
| him with tabrets and with Joy, answ erng one ano-
Their, and saying that Saul hath slall his thousands
and David his tens of thousands, and he asks, What
| can David have more but the kingdom! Yet after
this he promises him his daughter in marriage, but
quickly repenting him of the purposed honour, be-
slows her upon another. Again, hoping she may be
snare to him, he offers him his second daughter;
and then we are told that he saw and knew that the
Lord was with David, and that his daughter loved
him. And Saul was yet the more afraid OF Davld;
and he became his enemy continually: yet once
more ut the earnest Intercesson OF Jonathan, Saul
| consents to receive David again into his presence
And Jonathan called David and Jonathan showed him
all those things. Aud Jona,h han brought David to Saul
and he was in his presence as in times past.
And there war again and David went out and
fought with the Phistnes, and slew them with great
slaughter; and they fled from him
And the evil spirit from the Lord upon Saul, he
sat in his house with his javen in his hand and David
played with his hand.
Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with
the ,velin but he slipped away out of Saurs presence
and he smote tn aven into the wall: and David fed and
| escaped that night.
The struggle was now passed The early tenden-
cy of the soul of the king to seek, and to do good
was finally subdued, and he went forth to pursue the
chosen of the Lord, as an open and avowed
enemy; yet. endeavourlnR to justify himself by
proving that David had first risen up against him. he
appeals to his servants, and fully conscious that his
cause would not stand the test of impartial exami-
naon he appeasto their interest, and to their COM
passion, rather than to their Judgment
Hear now, ye Benjamtes; will the Of Jesse give
every one Of you fields ana vineyards aud make you all
| captains OF thousands and captains Of hundreds;
That all of you have conspred against me, and there
none that sheweth me that my son hath made league
for me- shsweth unto that my hath stirred up
my servant against me- to lie in wait as at this day
Filled with rancour and jealousy, heightened by
the rising fame and influence of David, Saul pursues
/ IL
with remarkable instance of torbearance on the
| part OF prosecuted man. With the skirt of the
kings robe in his hand, David shows him that he
had advanced near his person as to have been
with the same facility to destroy his life, but that he
spared him from reverence for the Lords anointed.
When struck at once with sense Of his own re-
cent danger, with the honorable dealing Of one
whom he believed to be a" enemy, with the sight
Of the man he had once loved-loved in the days
when his heart was not as now, scared with the
worst OF passions; and perhaps touched more than
all with the tones OF the voice, which in those hap
pier DAYS had been his music, Saul excalms Is this
thy voice, my con David! then he lifted up his
voice and wept After this burst Of tenderness, his
heart is opened to express the full sense he had of
Davids superiority and the strong feeling ever pre-
!: sent TO his mind, that he should one day be CON-
PEELED to resign the reins OF government into his
hands
And he said to David thou art more righteous than
for thou hast rewarded good whereas have reward
And W. behold Know we'll that thou sh alt surely be
king and that the Kingdom Of Israel shall be established
in thine hand.
Through the whole Of this history we trace the
same strong and natural developement of feeling,
which all our most talented authors aspire TO in the
descriptions, and upon which they chiefly depend
Tor the poetcal interest OF what they describe. But
while In the character OF Saul forcbly portra yed
the fatal workings of the passions of envy jealousy,
and remorse, accompanied with many Of those de-
llcae shades, which denote the latest warnings at
ter good, snd the earliest tendency evil the char
acer OF David is scarcely less poetca in its strength
and beauty, and consistency, varied by few in
stances Of natural weakness, producing their own
atonemeht in the humiliation. the abasement the
agony OF mind, and the final welcome back to Di-
vine love, by which they are succeeded.
The attachment between David and Jonathan is
perhaps the most beautiful and perfect instance Of
true friendship which we have on record As