The weekly chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Craig County, Okla.) 1905-1913, 1912-03-29

4
tives OF the famous kings who were
hewed to pieces. hanged, and other
wise disposed OF would be competent
witnesses as to the peculiar brand of
mercy that David had in mind when
he wrote this masterpiece on Mercy.
Does it even reach remotely the class
OF the Bard of Avon's words on the
same subject? Listen: The quality
of Mercy is not strained; 1t droppeth
as the gentle rain from heaven upon
the place beneath. 1t blesses him that
gives and him that takes"
Another damnable instance Of
.David's peculiar kind of Mercy is the
massacre of Saurs seven sons. Hav-
ing escaped the wrath of his God and
people for the Bathsheba incident, he
caused to he hanged seven of the sons
and grandscns of his predecessor,
Saul, on the pretext that the three
years famine in the land would ter
inmate by this sacrifice. Indeed, he
had consulted the Lord before hang
ing these innocent boys. with the re-
suit that, Immediately after the seven
corpses fell to the ground Before the
Lord" the famine ceased. See II
Samuel XXI, l, 3. 1t is a little curious
to note the fact that the Deity often
Furnishes the innocent for the guilty
as the account of God causing the
death of Bathsheba's first child on ac-
count of the sin of David. 1t is inn
possible to conceive of such pro-
ceeding as being an act of Mercy, for
how could the innocent babe be held
anyway responsible for his Libertine
Father.
God. however, made a promise to
David that his next son by Bathsheba
should be a powerful individual and
should be his successor and should be
credit to his father. No doubt the
Lord did this in order to square him
sell with David for killing his first
born son by his adulterous marriage.
This very promise as the student of
the further history of the doings of
Israelitish Kings will Show caused
David no end of trouble. Adonijah, the
rightful successor of the throne, un-
der the law of Primo.geniture insisted
on succeeding to the throne of his
father David, but Bathsheba and Solo,
mon together with a lot of hare-brain
ed prophets blocked the way and
Adonijah, Solomon's half brother and
the Rightful King of Israel after the
death of David, was assassiHated, and
yet, Solomon, a murderer is held up TO
parents as a patron saint and author
of the most infamous maxim, Spare
the rod and spoil the child" Solomon
should have done better himself in
his home circle. If he had made a
success in his fireside, we
might look to him for help; but as it
is. we can not expect aid; for we
Judge a tree by its fruits"
The central thought in the history
of David whose life we have been
discussing is that the Deity that David
condoned every offense
whether Murder, Arson or Adultery,
il that David committed, providing he
would finally obey his commands, or
in other words be pious. The most
inhuman and infamous crimes were
committed by David, and none of them
save the Bathsheba incident offended
the Jehovah of Sauls successor. The
Almighty is made to look on with a0-
plause when the sons of Saul were
hanged and when the Ammonites were
lespoiled. It is recorded that he sent
Nathan to David with very strong re-
Duke. an dthat Nathan proceeded in
/ parable to call David's attention TO
his iniquity. and in this subtle man
ler, Nathan got David in a trap
made him pronounce judgment on
himself. Nathan then recounted the
affair to Israel's amorous king. and
assured him that the Sword would |
lever depart from his house" This |
,rophesy has almost been literally |
.arried out, although from scattered |
exits written later. it would seem that
Iod rather felt that he had been too
evere with my Servant David"
In concluding this account of one |
i the most remarkable characters in
he Jewish scriptures, I viii observe
hat the account of David is no doubt /
he account of many similar eharac-
ers since the dawn of time, but the
act that such characters are portray
d in our sacred books and that We
re to draw inspiration and aid from
hem. 1 deny. No defender of supersti-
ion who is not suffering from soften /
ng of the brain or ossifieation of the /
cart would endorse the following
Let his children be fatherless, and /
lis wife, a widow" Let his children
e continually vagabonds. and beg; let
hen, Saak their bread in desolate i