walls with the blind and the lame. But David had set his heart upon winning the citadel of Zion; he commanded the rocks to be scaled, and excited the ambitious emulation of his warriors by promising high military distinction to him who should first enter the stronghold. Joab performed this feat of valour; Jebus was taken, David made it his royal residence, and called it Jerusalem. The fortress grew into a large city, it was gradually extended, and its walls were strengthened. The fame of this new capital spread far and wide; it reached Hiram, the king of Tyre, who sent skilled workmen and the wood of his much-prized cedar trees for the building of a palace. At this time more sons were born to David, and among them Nathan and Solomon.

Now Israel's old enemies, the Philistines, set out to attack them again. They proceeded up to the valley of Rephaim, south-west of Jerusalem, on the frontier between Judah and Benjamin; but David, encouraged by Divine oracles, marched out to meet their army, defeated it repeatedly, and pursued the fugitives northward till Gazer.

93. THE ARK BROUGHT TO JERUSALEM.

[2 SAM. VI.; 1 CHRON. XV.]

Nothing seemed now wanting to the glory and greatness of Jerusalem but the holy Ark, the symbol of the Divine holiness. It had for many years been left in KirjathJearim. David determined to hallow his residence by its presence. So he marched out with 30,000 chosen men of Israel, and proceeded northward to Kirjath-Jearim. He took the Ark from the house of Abinadab, and placed it in a new cart led by Uzzah and Ahio, Abinadab's sons. As the procession moved onward, there was a burst of music and song, David and his followers playing on harps

and psalteries, and on timbrels, cornets, and cymbals. But as they advanced, the oxen broke away from the cart, and Uzzah placed his hand on the Ark to protect it. For this disregard of the Law he was visited with instantaneous death. David and the people paused, afraid of the Lord's anger. Unwilling to proceed with the Ark after this fatal occurrence, the king caused it to be brought into the house of Obed-edom, the Gittite, who lived near at hand. There it was left for three months, during which time God's blessing descended upon Obed-edom and his whole family. Thereby encouraged, David resumed his former intention of bringing the Ark into his own city of Jerusalem, and he made great preparations for its appropriate reception. Leaving aside the highly coloured account of the First Book of Chronicles, we learn, from the simpler narrative of the elder historian, that this time, the Ark was not entrusted to a rude cart and unsafe oxen, but that it was borne aloft upon the shoulders of chosen men. Singers and musicians with their numerous instruments followed in a long train, whilst before the Ark went David dressed as a priest in a linen ephod, singing and dancing, and indulging in every kind of enthusiastic rejoicing. At very frequent intervals, the procession stopped in order to offer solemn sacrifices to God. A shout of delight rang from the walls of Jerusalem as the holy Ark was borne into the city. It is not impossible that for that occasion. the following beautiful Psalm, the twenty-fourth in our collection, may have been composed:

The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods. Who shall ascend to the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place? He that has clean hands and a pure heart; who does not lift up his soul to vanity, nor swears deceitfully he shall receive the blessing from the Lord,

and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of those that seek Him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah. Selah. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,

and be lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, lift them up, O ye everlasting doors, that the King of Glory may come in. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory. Selah.'

The Ark was carried to the Tabernacle, which was prepared for its reception, and which was now to become truly the Sanctuary of the nation. Then the feelings of David are supposed to have again thus shaped themselves into words (Psalm xv.):

'Lord, who shall abide in Thy Tabernacle? who shall dwell in Thy holy hill? He that walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart; he that backbites not with his tongue, nor does evil to his fellow man, nor raises up a reproach against his neighbour; in whose eyes a vile person is contemned, but who honours those that fear the Lord; he that swears to his own hurt, and changes not; he that puts not out his money to usury, nor takes bribe against the innocent: he that does these things, shall never be moved.'

Holocausts and thank-offerings commemorated an event so important in the religious history of the Hebrews; and David pronounced a blessing over the people in the name of God. Great public festivities followed, enhanced by the liberal distribution of royal bounties. All were filled with joy and hope and gratitude. One heart alone seemed unmoved at this soul-stirring spectacle. Michal, seeing David from her window leaping and dancing before the Ark, despised him in her heart, and upbraided him on his

return from the solemnities. She was punished by God for her pride and mockery by remaining childless.

One last wish was now uppermost in David's heart: the city of Jerusalem yet wanted its crown, a Temple, where the Ark of God, no more enclosed in a movable tent and between perishable curtains, would rest worthily enshrined. He consulted the prophet Nathan, who bid him follow the inclination of his own mind. But the Lord appeared to the prophet in a vision, and declared His will, that not David should build the Temple but his son and successor, whose peaceful reign would be unstained by bloodshed, and who, if obedient to the Divine precepts, would be singularly blessed. At the same time God repeated the most glorious promises of help and favour to David and his posterity for ever. The king poured out the gratitude of his heart in a fervent prayer of praise and thanksgiving.

94. DAVID'S VICTORIES.

[2 SAM. VIII.-X.]

The king's energies were now entirely employed in crushing the neighbouring enemies, who were a perpetual danger to Israel. He boldly ventured upon wars of aggression. He was successful everywhere, and he enriched the land with the spoil he took from the heathen foe. He smote and subdued the ever-restless Philistines, and destroyed the independence of their chief town Gath. He invaded Moab, slew the greater part of the soldiers, and imposed upon the people a heavy tribute. He marched against Hadadezer, king of Zoba in Syria, whose empire extended from the vicinity of Damascus eastward to the borders of the Euphrates. He vanquished his armies, subjected his people, and sent the best of his horses to

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Jerusalem, while he disabled the rest. The king of Damascus, justly alarmed at these conquests, came to the aid of the king of Zoba, but he was equally unfortunate, and succumbed to the marvellous activity and valour of David: 22,000 of his men were slain; Hebrew garrisons occupied the chief towns of Syria; and the people were compelled to pay annually a heavy impost. The famous golden shields belonging to the warriors of Hadadezer were brought to Jerusalem, and later deposited in the Temple. From several Syrian towns rich in mines David took immense quantities of copper. Toi, the king of the illustrious Syrian commonwealth of Hamath, rejoiced at the defeat of his rival Hadadezer, sent messengers to Jerusalem, bearing as presents vessels of gold and silver and copper, which David likewise dedicated to God. Lastly, he smote the Edomites in a decisive battle in the Saltvalley, to the south of the Dead Sea; he killed 18,000 of the enemy in the combat, the memory of which he perpetuated by a great monument; and Idumæa became a dependency garrisoned with Hebrew troops.

This unparalleled succession of victories not only established David's power, but spread abroad the glory and the dread of his name. He was looked upon as one of the mightiest rulers of the East. He reigned over all Israel, and executed judgment and justice to all his people.' He was now anxious to prove his good-will towards the fallen family of his predecessor Saul, and to discover if there was anyone left to whom he might show kindness for the sake of Jonathan; so he addressed himself to Ziba, who had formerly been a servant of Saul. From Ziba's lips he heard of the lame son of Jonathan, Mephibosheth, now grown a man, who lived with his young son Micha in Lodebar, a little town in Gilead. With generous delight, he sent for Mephibosheth and his son, received them with gladness, gave them the land that had belonged to Saul,