, 1876-04-02
THE JEWISH PATRtARcHS.
An ExcEEE FOE THEIR EISa.

r. the Editor of The Ch,caon Tribune:
CHICAGO, March 31.-The lessona l., tbs Intc--
national Sunday School series have been, during
the last quarter, confined mainly to the princi-
pal events in the life Of David We hay. found
that perscnage to have been man OF whose
high order Of ability any age or racs mig.t well
have been proud. and who stands unsurpassed
in sacred or ptofaue history in his Combined
characters OF warrior, poet, statesman, and king,
We have found th2t his several steps, as he pro
gEessed from his position as shepherd boy to
that OF king, vera marked BY exhibitions If
rare wisdom, not unaccompanied by unexpected
magnAnimlty. He perfected the Church &c: vico
and wrots u liturgy that stands today |:ithaut
an equal in the history Of his or anr other ie-
lisiou Of our race. When he came to the throne
his dominions comprised only small portion Of
What is now Palestine proper, but when LIE sur
rendered the sceptfs to his son, aolou1cn, ls was
ruling over an extent Of country reaching from
the River Euphrates on the northeast to ths Rel
Sea on the Southwest, and from the heditarra-
mean Sea far east INTO the SJran Desert, in udins
ths great capitals Of Damascus, Bozrah. Igrc,
and Palmyra, embracing territory much OF
which WAS densely settled, and the ruins Of
whose cities at this day prove to have beer 90
cupied by nations possessing great wealth tnd
enjoying high stats Of civilization
Bat, while vs had hardly ceased from sdE'ir-
ing that charming picture Of David and Jona-
than's mutual love. that which - surpassed IT,:
love Of woman" and while w were yet vie,ring
with pleasure Davld's maSuanim0us conduct to-
wards Saul aud 11 son lHhbosheth, NC were
Davids outrageous treatment Of UnAh. It was
not surprising to us that the Scriptures said that
"the thing dlspleased tbs Lord" and that tia
prophet Nathan WAS divinely sent TO Charge :~.e
crime upon David NTH tho pointed declarad>r,
''Thou art the man." This question at o''ca
arose in our minds: How could it have be:.a
possible for man who had been go many YearE
follower OF Gods commands to have 6snn,G
- deeply ~ David did in this 3s:;
Of Uriall, confronted, too, with tie o.a
Gods own heart Some have supposed :aas
this latter expression, !" after Gods own heart"
referred to Dayidb acts Of administration as 3
king which were acceptable to the Lord. Tho
weaknes6 OF this vasy is eViden: from tho ic:t
that the declaration refers to him As ''a nso
after Gods own heart" and cannot ressnaaoly
DO limited to his acts as monarch ThtH in-
dorsement OF David must refer to Lis senerr1
moral character, hut contalns no approval II ais
treatment OF U1u L. which, as vo hEva Already
Prophet Nathan, the mouthpiece of Cod
The best solutt \ OF the difficulty Of rcconcii-
ing such egregii.. - sins With life Of pietY is
found, in my mon, in the fact tlat naTid
lived IN the mora. childhood OF the humxn RAGS,
and hence, while these sins we're not justified
thereby, they were. nevertheless, rendered much
uore excusable than they would ba iu q mora
mature period OF the earth's moral history.
But David is not alone among the Old Tcsta-
meut worthless over whom tho mautle Of charity
should be thrown. Among othsra, vo msy man
ton eouspicuously Solomon, Jacob, nad Abra-
ham. It seems To me that these men y arn, 30 to
speak, children. and that God dealt vita them
as parents now do with their children.
Having fallen from their primitive stato IT
innocence, mankind became SO degraded a.d
hopelesely sinful that the Noachtau Cetuea oe-
came a necessity for the ultimate puri;:calion
and elevation Of the race. 4 probation Ut three
or four hundred years, bringing Us to the tina
Of Abraham, does not seem to have improved
tie moral character OF the human family vary
materially il we may judge from tic tccounta
given Of the contemporaries Of Abranatn found
10 Sodcm and Gouoorrah aud other citles Of ttat
period, or il We may believe HercG'.tus and
other profaue historians concerning tneir con-
temporsries. No nation existed that wag ready
or capable OF receiving Chr1st or His teachings
1t that time; henca arose tho farther necessity
Of : special people being selected who BY care-
ful training could be eventually prepared to re-
ccire Messiah. For this end Abraham WAS
chosen. and from him sprsog 1hs jews who un-