588 SECOND SAMUEL XXII-DAVID'S PSALM 35 He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. 36 Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy gentleness hath made me great. 37 Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet did not slip. 38 I have pursued mine enemies, and destroyed them; and turned not again until I had consumed them. 39 And I have consumed them, and wounded them, that they could not arise: yea, they are fallen under my feet. 40 For thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that rose up against me hast thou subdued under me. 41 Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me. 42 They looked, but there was none to save; even unto the LORD, but he answered them not. 43 Then did I beat them as small as the dust of the earth, I did stamp them as the mire of the street, and did spread them abroad. 44 Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my people, thou hast kept me to be head of the heathen: a people which I knew not shall serve me. 45 Strangers shall submit themselves unto me: as soon as they hear, they shall be obedient unto me. 46 Strangers shall fade away, and they shall be afraid out of their close places. 47 The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of the rock of my salvation. 48 It is God that avengeth me, and that bringeth down the people under me, 49 And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies: thou also hast lifted me up on high above them that rose up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man. 50 Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name. 51 He is the tower of salvation for his king: and sheweth mercy to his anointed, unto David, and to his seed for evermore. Chapter 23 1 David, in his last words, professeth his faith in God's promises to be beyond sense or experience. 6 The different state of the wicked. 8 A catalogue of David's mighty men. OW these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said,1 2 The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. The first seven verses of this chapter are printed as a chant in the Revised Version. Saul's Despair BY CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS, EXHIBITED IN THE ENGLISH ROYAL ACADEMY IN 1906. + "But the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.”—I. Sam., 16, 14. W HILE David thus grew in purity and power, the life of Saul, the king, sank ever into blacker deeps. Had Saul been only an evil man, he might have been less unhappy, being blinded and thus ignorant of his own fall. But he could never forget those earlier days when he had been indeed the chosen of the Lord, when he had listened to Samuel's teachings and profited under his guidance. Now, the king had grown covetous, and false, and treacherous. He no longer felt confidence in God, nor had he that earlier desire to aid his people. He used his kingship for his own selfish ends. Yet at times something of his ancient inspiration, his youthful courage and joy and noble purpose still returned to him. He was still the one man strong enough to defend Israel from the Philistines. In addition to his naturally increasing gloom, Saul was also troubled by a specific malady; "an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him;" he had fits of actual insanity. Sometimes a brooding melancholy took possession of him, he sank into a stupor of sadness from which his servants could not rouse him. Or if roused, he flashed out into sudden murderous frenzy, striking wildly at those whom most he loved. |