The Tupelo journal., 1907-10-18

even more at the savageness ard surli
ness SO plainly manifest toward him
But he was glad to be off and away
and he soon forgot the matter In
his eagerness to be back In the thick
of the fight against the stronghold Of
Rabbah.
The king, on the other hand, sal
silent and alone, his face distorted
and beclouded by the evil passions
that famed within.
There was no other way" he ex
claimed under his breath. Had he
not been so Internally obstinate al
would have been Well, and now-all
will be well. anyway, l hazard"
That had been an awful night fol-
him. No sleep had come to still the
rage or quiet the fears which filled
his heart. But amidst all the con
flicting emotions which surged like
the restless sea back and forth with
in his heart there was the one settled
purpose to cover up and hide the
sin which had come to blacken and
scar his life.
To hide that sin had seemed like
a simple and easy thing at first, but
as his every plan had been baf
fed it made him almost mad with
impotence and a bitter hatred sprane
up against the man whom he had sc
g~rievously wronged. At first he had
only felt good-natured contempt fol
him. and it was with rather a feeling
Of con~descension on his part that he
had dealt with him at all. But David
was too high-minded a man, and had
too clear a conception of right and
wrong not to be conscious way down
deep in his heart that he had com
mitted a g~rievous sin, and yet there
was present the stubborn purpose
to justify and palliate his offense. He
took refuge behind his kingly pre-
negatives and power, and found com.
fort in the thought that the kings OF
other nations did even worse things
than he had done.
And yet, Notwithstanding this feel
ing which he tried to encourage
namely, that the king could do nc
wrong, he did not want his sin to be.
come known, and determined from
the first that it should not. Thus he
was led to send for Uriah, and when
his plans miscarried, as we have said,
it threw him into a rage of fear and
anger. The very loyalty and faith
fulness which Uriah displayed toward
him and the nation served to intensi.
fy and aggravate his veXation OF
spirit, and on that last night. as
we have said, no sleep came to re
lieve the stress of mind and body.
And then had come a new fear to
Vex him. Could it be that Uriah'S
refusal to return home was due to the
fact that he had some suspicion as
to the true state of affairs? All night
long the question had ranked in his
bosom, and a dark resolve began to
form itself within.
Uriah must be put out OF the way.
When the thought first flashed
across his mind like an evil message
from the king of darkness, he trem.
bled as an aspen and turned from it
with sickening dread, but each time
as he came face to face with the al
tentative of exposure and disgrace.
he entertained more willingly the evil
thought, and at last found himself
planning how it might be carried out.
At first David thought to pay big
money to some base fellow who would
secretly fall upon Uriah and take his
life, but even in the fear and confu-
sion Of his mind he quickly saw the
dangers attending such a course.
What then was he to do? How could
he accomplish his purpose? The
seeming impossibilities in the way
served to intensity the evil purpose
of his heart.
All, how often the better impulses
came! How repeatedly the inner OH
science spoke against doing such evil
thing, and each time there came back
the challenge from his fearstricken
heart, but your sin and the exposure
which is certain to follow"
And then came the irrevocable de-
cision to take this other step in the
course of sin, in order that the first
sin might be covered up. And was
there no thought or fear that the eye
of God saw and knew? Yea, there
came the fieeting remembrance and
then the cloud of sin in which the
heart was enveloped settled down
again, and David, steeling his heart
against God and the better prompt
ings, plunged on in his evil course.
No. Uriah must die.
The decision had been made, the
message written and even now Uriah
was bearing his death warrant to
Joab. Anxious days followed, but
David knew that Joab would not fail
him.
1t was not many days after this
thet tidings came of a disastrous de-
feat to the army of Israel. The bat
tie had been pressed to the very walls
of the stronghold of Rabbah, and
many of the ~Israelites had fallen. It
was sad news to the nation, and
there was mourning in many a house
hold, but David. who received the It'd
ings from the lips of Joab's messen-
ger, cared not for this thing, when
the messenger added:
"And Uriah, the Hittite, is dead.
ALSO" :.