_And David numbered the people that were with him._ THE FATAL FIGHT This chapter is a narrative of that fatal fight wherein Absalom the son, fought with David his father for the kingdom of Israel. I. The antecedents of the battle. 1. David mustered all his forces, which Josephus reckons but four... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou art worth ton thousand of us._ WHAT ARE YOU WORTH King David was loved doubtless as much for the amiability and manliness of his character as for the throne on which he sat. I. True worth should be reckoned by character and not by money. In the civilised world, money is an idol served by man... [ Continue Reading ]
_Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom._ GRACE FOR THE GRACELESS Bishop Hall thus descants on this--What means this ill-placed love? This unjust mercy. Deal gently with a traitor. Of all traitors, with a son? Of all sons with an Absalom? that graceless darling of so good a... [ Continue Reading ]
_I saw Absalom hanging in an oak._ GLORY: HUMAN AND DIVINE I. A man’s glory is his doom. For although in a strict sense the custom does not fit with the fashion of the age, there are men to-day who, figuratively speaking, cannot cut their hair without weighing it. In plain language, there are men... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now Absalom in his life-time had taken and reared up for himself a pillar._ AN INFIDEL AT THE GRAVE OF ABSALOM Dr. Eremete Pierrotti, a French scientist, architect, and engineer, when an infidel, journeyed through Palestine with the avowed intention of disproving the truth of the Bible. Visiting t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Is the young man Absalom safe?_ WHEN A YOUNG MAN IS INSECURE Beginning from the outside circle, and finding our way to the centre, I am going to recount some of the dangers of young men. 1. “Is the young man safe?” No, certainly not; if he drinks. The cold, stingy, selfish being, it leaves untou... [ Continue Reading ]
_The enemies of my lord the king _. .. _ be as that young man is._ CUSHI’S WISH I. a prophetical prayer. 1. Prayer is of two sorts: for or against. As (1) for good; so, (2) against the evil; both, things and persons. This is against a kind of prayer; indeed, an imprecation. Two things give forth... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept._ THE WAIL OF A BROKEN HEART 1. The first picture shows a glimpse of the battlefield, and brings before us three men, each in different ways exhibiting how small a thing Absalom’s death was to all but the heart-broken f... [ Continue Reading ]