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2 Kings Chapter
Eleven
2 Kings 11
Chapter Contents
Athaliah usurps the government of Judah
Jehoash made
king. (1-12) Athaliah put to death. (13-16) The worship of the Lord restored.
(17-21)
Commentary on 2 Kings 11:1-12
(Read 2 Kings 11:1-12)
Athaliah destroyed all she knew to be akin to the crown.
Jehoash
one of the king's sons
was hid. Now was the promise made to David
bound up in one life only
and yet it did not fail. Thus to the Son of David
the Lord
according to his promise
will secure a spiritual seed
hidden
sometimes
and unseen
but hidden in God's pavilion
and unhurt. Six years
Athaliah tyrannized. Then the king was brought forward. A child indeed
but he
had a good guardian
and
what was better
a good God to go to With such joy
and satisfaction must the kingdom of Christ be welcomed into our hearts
when
his throne is set up there
and Satan the usurper is cast out. Say
Let the
King
even Jesus
live
for ever live and reign in my soul
and in all the
world.
Commentary on 2 Kings 11:13-16
(Read 2 Kings 11:13-16)
Athaliah hastened her own destruction. She herself was
the greatest traitor
and yet was first and loudest in crying
Treason
treason! The most guilty are commonly the most forward to reproach others.
Commentary on 2 Kings 11:17-21
(Read 2 Kings 11:17-21)
King and people would cleave most firmly to each other
when both had joined themselves to the Lord. It is well with a people
when all
the changes that pass over them help to revive
strengthen
and advance the
interests of religion among them. Covenants are of use
both to remind us of
and bind us to
the duties already binding on us. They immediately abolished
idolatry; and
pursuant to the covenant with one another
they expressed mutual
readiness to help each other. The people rejoiced
and Jerusalem was quiet. The
way for people to be joyful and at peace
is to engage fully in the service of
God; for the voice of joy and thanksgiving is in the dwellings of the
righteous
but there is no peace for the wicked.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on 2 Kings》
2 Kings 11
Verse 1
[1] And
when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead
she arose and
destroyed all the seed royal.
She destroyed —
This was the fruit of Jehoshaphat's marrying his son to a daughter of that
idolatrous house of Ahab. And this dreadful judgment God permitted upon him and
his
to shew how much he abhors all such affinities.
Verse 2
[2] But Jehosheba
the daughter of king Joram
sister of Ahaziah
took Joash
the son of Ahaziah
and stole him from among the king's sons which were slain;
and they hid him
even him and his nurse
in the bedchamber from Athaliah
so
that he was not slain.
They hid —
Jehosheba and her husband Jehoiada.
Bed-chamber —
Which was in the house of the Lord. So that it was one of those chambers
adjoining to the temple
that were for the uses of the priests and Levites
only: which made it more proper for this purpose. Now was the promise made to
David bound up in one life. And yet it did not fail. Thus to the Son of David
will God
according to his promise
secure a spiritual seed: which tho'
sometimes reduced to a small number
brought very low
and seemingly lost
yet
will be preserved to the end of time. It was a special providence that Joram
tho' a king
a wicked king
married his daughter to Jehoiada
a priest
an holy
priest. This some might think a disparagement to the royal family; but it saved
the royal family from ruin. For Jehoiada's interest in the temple
gave her an
opportunity to preserve the child: and her interest in the royal family
gave
him an opportunity of setting him on the throne. See what blessings they lay up
in store for their families who marry their children to those that are wise and
good.
Verse 4
[4] And
the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the rulers over hundreds
with the
captains and the guard
and brought them to him into the house of the LORD
and
made a covenant with them
and took an oath of them in the house of the LORD
and shewed them the king's son.
The house — Into
the courts of that house
for into the house none but the priests or Levites
might enter.
Verse 5
[5] And
he commanded them
saying
This is the thing that ye shall do; A third part of
you that enter in on the sabbath shall even be keepers of the watch of the
king's house;
Of you —
Levites
who were distributed into twenty four courses
to minister in turns
each course consisting of about a thousand men for a week.
Enter in —
That come into the temple to attend your ministry.
King's house — Of
that part which lead to the king's palace
which Athaliah now possessed.
Verse 6
[6] And a third part shall be at the gate of Sur; and a third part at the gate
behind the guard: so shall ye keep the watch of the house
that it be not
broken down.
Sur —
The chief gate of the temple.
The guard —
Either
1. the king's guard. Or
2. the guard of the temple; this gate was in
the south-side.
So
… — So
you shall guard all the gates or entrances into the temple that neither
Athaliah nor any of her soldiers may break in.
Verse 7
[7] And
two parts of all you that go forth on the sabbath
even they shall keep the
watch of the house of the LORD about the king.
That go
… —
Who having finished their course
should have gone home
but were detained
2 Chronicles 23:8.
Shall keep —
While the rest guard the entrances into the temple; these shall have a special
care of the king's person.
Verse 8
[8] And
ye shall compass the king round about
every man with his weapons in his hand:
and he that cometh within the ranges
let him be slain: and be ye with the king
as he goeth out and as he cometh in.
Ranges —
Or
fences
the wall wherewith the courts of the temple were environed.
Verse 12
[12] And
he brought forth the king's son
and put the crown upon him
and gave him the
testimony; and they made him king
and anointed him; and they clapped their
hands
and said
God save the king.
Testimony —
The book of the law
which he put into the king's hand
to mind him of his duty
at his entrance upon his kingdom
which was to read and write out that holy
book
Deuteronomy 17:18
and to govern himself and his
kingdom by it: the law of God being frequently and most properly called a
testimony
because it is a witness of God's will
and man's duty.
Verse 15
[15] But
Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of the hundreds
the officers of the
host
and said unto them
Have her forth without the ranges: and him that
followeth her kill with the sword. For the priest had said
Let her not be
slain in the house of the LORD.
Host — Of
these companies of Levites
who are elsewhere called the Lord's host
and now
were the king's host.
Verse 17
[17] And
Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and the people
that
they should be the LORD's people; between the king also and the people.
A covenant — A
sacred covenant whereby he solemnly engaged both the king
and people
that
they should be the Lord's people; that they should renounce
and root out all
idolatry
and set up and maintain God's true worship.
Between the king —
This was a civil covenant
whereby the king engaged himself to rule them
justly
and in the fear of God; and the people obliged themselves to defend and
obey him.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on 2 Kings》
11 Chapter 11
Verses 1-21
And when Athaliah
the mother of Ahaziah
saw that her son was
dead.
The history of Athaliah
The blackest names in the long roll of the world’s infamy are
those of kings and queens
and amongst them Athaliah is not the least
abhorrent. In this woman’s life
as here sketched
we have--
I. Hereditary depravity. We find in
this woman
Athaliah
the infernal tendencies of her father and her mother
Ahab and Jezebel. Though they had been swept as monsters from the earth
their
hellish spirit lived and worked in this their daughter. We have an immortality
in others
as well as in ourselves. In this fact we are reminded--
1. That the moral qualities of parents may become physical tendencies
in the children. The man who voluntarily contracts habits of falsehood
dishonesty
profanity
incontinence
drunkenness
and general intemperance
transmits these to his children as physical tendencies.
2. That the evil moral qualities of parents
reappearing in their
children in the form of physical tendencies
is no complete justification for
the children’s wickedness. This is clear
3. That the way to raise the human race is to improve their moral
qualities. In this woman’s life we see--
II. Outwitted
wickedness. No doubt this woman
who thought she had destroyed all the “seed
royal
” considered she had made her way to the throne clear and secure. For six
long years she had no conception that one had escaped her bloody purpose. Now
it was revealed to her
and her disappointment maddens her with vengeance
and
excites the desperate cry
“Treason
treason!” It is ever so. “He disappointeth
the devices of the crafty. History abounds with the examples of the bafflement
of wrong. The conduct of Joseph’s brethren
Ahithophel
Sanballat
Haman
and
the Jewish Sanhedrim in relation to Christ
are instances. Craftiness uses lies
as concealment and defence
but the eternal law of Providence makes them
snares. In this woman’s life we see--
III. Just
retribution. Those who plot the destruction of others often fall themselves.
Here is
Malign succession
A wicked mother left behind her a wicked daughter. What else could
be expected but that the demoniac Jezebel should be reflected and repeated
so
far as character and conduct were concerned
in her daughter Athaliah? How very
often such a malign succession is seen! Henry VIII. was terribly given to executing
any of his subjects who opposed him. His elder daughter
Queen Mary
led the
awful persecution against Protestants in which so many martyrs were burned
including Bishops Ridley
Hooper
Latimer
and Archbishop Cranmer. Had she had
a gentler father her disposition might have been more merciful. (Christian
Commonwealth.)
Athaliah
Observe a very strong peculiarity in human nature
as shown in the
conduct of Athaliah. She went into the temple and saw the young Joash with a
crown upon his head
and she shrieked out
“Treason
treason!” Poor innocent
Athaliah! Who would not pity so gentle a dove
with a breast of feathers and a
cruel dart rankling in it. Sweet woman
gentle loving creature
injured
queen--her hands were perfectly clean; she was the victim of a cruel stratagem;
she was outwitted by heads longer than hers; she
poor unsuspecting soul
had
been brought into this condition
and all she could do was to cry in injured
helplessness
“Treason
treason!” How moral we become under some circumstances!
How very righteous we stand up to be under certain provocations! Who could but
pity poor Athaliah
who had nursed her grandchildren with a wolf’s care? We do
this very self-same thing very often in our own lives. Where is the man who
does not suppose that he has a right to do wrong? But let other people do
wrong
and then hear him. Given a religious sect of any name whatsoever
that
has the domination of any neighbourhood
and the probability is that that
religious sect will
use its supremacy somewhat mischievously in certain circumstances. It will not
let anybody who opposes its tenets have an acre of ground in that
neighbourhood
nor will it allow any sect that opposes its principles to build
a church there. No
it takes a righteous view of the circumstances; it will not
trifle with its responsibilities; it can allow no encroachment; it is charged
with the spirit of stewardship
and must be faithful to its sacred obligations.
So it cants and whines
whatever its name be: if it be the name we bear religiously
so much the worse. We speak of no particular sect
or of any sect that may be
placed in such peculiar circumstances as to claim the domination and supremacy
in any neighbourhood. Now let any member of that sect leave that particular
locality and go to live under a different set of circumstances
and apply for a
furlong of ground
or for a house that he may occupy as tenant; then let it be
found that his religious convictions are a bar to his entrance upon the
enjoyment of local properties and liberties
he will call “Persecution
persecution!” How well it befits his lips. The very man who in one district
persecuted to the death those who opposed him removes to another locality where
a screw is applied to his own joints
and he cries out
“Persecution--persecution!”
It is Athaliah’s old trick
and will have Athaliah’s poor reward. See how the
cry of the wicked is unheeded. She was a woman
and by so much had a claim upon
the sympathy of the strong. No man’s heart went out towards her in loyal
reverence. With what judgment ye judge ye shall be judged. With what measure ye
mete it shall be measured to you again. “As I have done
” said a sufferer of
old
“to others
so the Lord hath requited me.” Though hand join in hand
yet
the wicked shall not go unpunished. If you are treating any of your family
your wife or husband or child
with base cruelty
it will surely come home to
you some other day. (J. Parker
D. D.)
Verses 1-21
And when Athaliah
the mother of Ahaziah
saw that her son was
dead.
The history of Athaliah
The blackest names in the long roll of the world’s infamy are
those of kings and queens
and amongst them Athaliah is not the least
abhorrent. In this woman’s life
as here sketched
we have--
I. Hereditary depravity. We find in
this woman
Athaliah
the infernal tendencies of her father and her mother
Ahab and Jezebel. Though they had been swept as monsters from the earth
their
hellish spirit lived and worked in this their daughter. We have an immortality
in others
as well as in ourselves. In this fact we are reminded--
1. That the moral qualities of parents may become physical tendencies
in the children. The man who voluntarily contracts habits of falsehood
dishonesty
profanity
incontinence
drunkenness
and general intemperance
transmits these to his children as physical tendencies.
2. That the evil moral qualities of parents
reappearing in their
children in the form of physical tendencies
is no complete justification for
the children’s wickedness. This is clear
3. That the way to raise the human race is to improve their moral
qualities. In this woman’s life we see--
II. Outwitted
wickedness. No doubt this woman
who thought she had destroyed all the “seed
royal
” considered she had made her way to the throne clear and secure. For six
long years she had no conception that one had escaped her bloody purpose. Now
it was revealed to her
and her disappointment maddens her with vengeance
and
excites the desperate cry
“Treason
treason!” It is ever so. “He disappointeth
the devices of the crafty. History abounds with the examples of the bafflement
of wrong. The conduct of Joseph’s brethren
Ahithophel
Sanballat
Haman
and
the Jewish Sanhedrim in relation to Christ
are instances. Craftiness uses lies
as concealment and defence
but the eternal law of Providence makes them
snares. In this woman’s life we see--
III. Just
retribution. Those who plot the destruction of others often fall themselves.
Here is
Malign succession
A wicked mother left behind her a wicked daughter. What else could
be expected but that the demoniac Jezebel should be reflected and repeated
so
far as character and conduct were concerned
in her daughter Athaliah? How very
often such a malign succession is seen! Henry VIII. was terribly given to
executing any of his subjects who opposed him. His elder daughter
Queen Mary
led the awful persecution against Protestants in which so many martyrs were
burned
including Bishops Ridley
Hooper
Latimer
and Archbishop Cranmer. Had
she had a gentler father her disposition might have been more merciful. (Christian
Commonwealth.)
Athaliah
Observe a very strong peculiarity in human nature
as shown in the
conduct of Athaliah. She went into the temple and saw the young Joash with a
crown upon his head
and she shrieked out
“Treason
treason!” Poor innocent
Athaliah! Who would not pity so gentle a dove
with a breast of feathers and a
cruel dart rankling in it. Sweet woman
gentle loving creature
injured
queen--her hands were perfectly clean; she was the victim of a cruel stratagem;
she was outwitted by heads longer than hers; she
poor unsuspecting soul
had
been brought into this condition
and all she could do was to cry in injured
helplessness
“Treason
treason!” How moral we become under some circumstances!
How very righteous we stand up to be under certain provocations! Who could but
pity poor Athaliah
who had nursed her grandchildren with a wolf’s care? We do
this very self-same thing very often in our own lives. Where is the man who
does not suppose that he has a right to do wrong? But let other people do
wrong
and then hear him. Given a religious sect of any name whatsoever
that
has the domination of any neighbourhood
and the probability is that that
religious sect will
use its supremacy somewhat mischievously in certain circumstances. It will not
let anybody who opposes its tenets have an acre of ground in that
neighbourhood
nor will it allow any sect that opposes its principles to build
a church there. No
it takes a righteous view of the circumstances; it will not
trifle with its responsibilities; it can allow no encroachment; it is charged
with the spirit of stewardship
and must be faithful to its sacred obligations.
So it cants and whines
whatever its name be: if it be the name we bear
religiously so much the worse. We speak of no particular sect
or of any sect
that may be placed in such peculiar circumstances as to claim the domination
and supremacy in any neighbourhood. Now let any member of that sect leave that
particular locality and go to live under a different set of circumstances
and
apply for a furlong of ground
or for a house that he may occupy as tenant;
then let it be found that his religious convictions are a bar to his entrance
upon the enjoyment of local properties and liberties
he will call
“Persecution
persecution!” How well it befits his lips. The very man who in
one district persecuted to the death those who opposed him removes to another
locality where a screw is applied to his own joints
and he cries out
“Persecution--persecution!” It is Athaliah’s old trick
and will have
Athaliah’s poor reward. See how the cry of the wicked is unheeded. She was a
woman
and by so much had a claim upon the sympathy of the strong. No man’s
heart went out towards her in loyal reverence. With what judgment ye judge ye
shall be judged. With what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again.
“As I have done
” said a sufferer of old
“to others
so the Lord hath requited
me.” Though hand join in hand
yet the wicked shall not go unpunished. If you
are treating any of your family
your wife or husband or child
with base
cruelty
it will surely come home to you some other day. (J. Parker
D.
D.)
Verse 2-3
Jehosheba . . . took Joash the son of Ahaziah
and stole him from among
the king’s sons which were slain.
Stolen from death
Grandmothers are more lenient with their children’s children than
they were with their own. At forty years of age
if discipline be necessary
chastisement is used; but at seventy
the grandmother
looking upon the
misbehaviour of the grandchild
is apologetic
and disposed to substitute
confectionery for whip. There is nothing more beautiful than this mellowing of
old age toward childhood But here we have a grandmother of a different hue. It
is old Athaliah
the queenly murderess. She ought to have been honourable. Her
father was a king. Her husband was a king. Her son was a king. And yet we find
her plotting for the extermination of the entire royal family
including her
own grandchildren. But the six years expire
and it is time for young Joash to
come forth and take the throne
and to push back into disgrace and death old
Athaliah. The arrangements are all made for political revolution. The military
come and take possession of the temple
swear loyalty to the boy Joash
and
stand around for his defence.
I. The first
thought from this subject is
that the extermination of righteousness is an
impossibility. Superstition rises up and says: “I will just put an end to pure
religion.” Domitian slew forty thousand Christians
Diocletian slew eight
hundred and forty-four thousand Christians. And the scythe of persecution has
been swung through all the ages
and the flames hissed
and the auto da fe
rattled
and the guillotine chopped
and the Bastile groaned; but did the foes
of Christianity exterminate it? Did they exterminate Alban
the first British
sacrifice; or Zuinglius
the Swiss reformer; or John Oldcastle
the Christian
nobleman; or Abdallah
the Arabian martyr; or Anne Askew
or Sanders
or
Cranmer? Great work of extermination they made of it. Just at the time when
they thought they had slain all the royal family of Jesus
some Joash would
spring up and out
and take the throne of power
and wield a very sceptre of
Christian dominion. Infidelity says: “ I’ll just exterminate the Bible
” and
the Scriptures were thrown into the street for the mob to trample on
and they
were piled up in the public squares and set on fire
and mountains of indignant
contempt were hurled on them
and learned universities decreed the Bible out of
existence. “In my Age of Reason I have annihilated the
Scriptures
” said Thomas Paine. “Your Washington is a pusillanimous Christian
but I am the foe of Bibles and of churches.” O
how many assaults upon that
Word. Said one man
in his infidel desperation
to his wife: “You must not be
reading that Bible
” and he snatched it away from her. And though in that Bible
was a lock of hair of the dead child--the only child that God had ever given
them--he pitched the book with its contents into the fire
and stirred it with
the tongs
and spat on it
and cursed it
and said: “Susan
never have any more
of that stuff here!” How many individual and organised attempts have been made
to exterminate that Bible. Have they done it? Have they exterminated the Bible
Society? Have they exterminated the thousands of Christian institutions whose
only object it is to multiply copies of the Scriptures
and throw them
broadcast around the world? Yea
if there should come a time of persecution in
which all the known Bibles of the earth should be destroyed
all these lamps of
life that blaze in our pulpits and in our families extinguished--in the very
day that infidelity and sin should be holding jubilee over the universal
extinction there would be in some closet of a backwoods church a secreted copy
of the Bible
and this Joash of eternal literature would come out and come up
and take the throne
and the Athaliah of infidelity and persecution would fly
out the back door of the palace
and drop her miserable carcass under the hoofs
of the horses of the king’s stables. You cannot exterminate Christianity! You
cannot kill Joash!
II. The second
thought from my subject is
that there are opportunities in which we may save
royal life. You know that profane history is replete with stories of strangled
monarchs and of young princes who have been put out of the way. Here is the
story of a young king saved. But why should we spend our time in praising this
bravery of expedition when God asks the same thing of you and me? all around us
are the imperilled children of a great king. They are born of Almighty
parentage
and will come to a throne or a crown
if permitted. But sin
the old
Athaliah
goes forth to the massacre. Murderous temptations are out for the
assassination. But sin is more terrific in its denunciation. It matters not how
you spell your name
you come under its knife
under its sword
under its doom
unless there be some omnipotent relief brought to the rescue. But blessed be
God
there is such a thing as delivering a royal soul. Who will snatch away
Joash? This afternoon
in your Sabbathschool class
there will be a prince of
God--some Cromwell to dissolve a Parliament
some Beethoven to touch the
world’s harp-strings
some John Howard to pour fresh air into the lazaretto
some Florence Nightingale to bandage the battle wounds
some Miss Dix to soothe
the crazed brain
some John Frederick Oberlin to educate the besotted
some
David Brainerd to change the Indian’s war-whoop to a Sabbath song
some John
Wesley to marshal three-fourths of Christendom
some John Knox to make queens
turn pale
some Joash to demolish idolatry and strike for the kingdom of
heaven. There are sleeping in your cradles by night
there are playing in your
nurseries by day
imperial souls waiting for dominion
and whichever side the
cradle they get out will decide the destiny of empires.
III. The third thought
from my text is
that the Church of God is a good hiding-place. When Jehosheba
rushes into the nursery of the king and picks up Joash
what shall she do with
him? Shall she take him to some room in the palace? No; for the official
desperadoes will hunt through every nook and corner of that building. Would God
that we were all as wise as Jehosheba
and knew that the Church of God is the
best hiding-place. O
men of the world
outside there
betrayed
caricatured
and cheated of the world
why do you not come in through the broad
wide open
door of Christian communion? I wish I could act the part of Jehosheba to-day
and steal you away from your perils and hide you in the temple. How few of us
appreciate the fact that the Church of God is a hiding-place. More than that
you yourself will want the Church for a hiding-place when the mortgage is
foreclosed; when your daughter
just blooming into womanhood
suddenly clasps
her hands in a slumber that knows no waking; when gaunt trouble walks through
the parlour
and the sitting-room
and the dining-hall
and the nursery
you
will want some shelter from the tempest. Ah
some of you have been run upon by
misfortune
and trial; why do you not come into the shelter? I said to a
widowed mother after she had buried her only son--months after
I said to her:
“How do you get along now-a-days?” “Oh
” she replied
“I get along tolerably
well
except when the sun shines.” I said: “What do you mean by that?” when she
said: “I can’t
bear to see the sun shine; my heart is so dark that all the brightness of the natural
world seems a mockery to me.” Oh
darkened soul
oh
broken-hearted man
broken-hearted woman
why do you not come into the shelter? I swing the door
wide open. I swing it from wall to wall. Come in! Come in! You want a place
where your troubles shall be interpreted
where your burdens shall be
unstrapped
where your tears shall be wiped away. (T. De Witt Talmage
D.
D.)
The fallacy of evil
The transaction with which the text is connected belongs to that
series of bloody events which were involved with the destruction of the house
of Ahab. Among those who were slain in the fierce onslaught of Jehu
was
Ahaziah
King of Judah. Hearing of his death
his mother Athaliah
the daughter
of Jezebel--her daughter in disposition as well as by birth--resolved to secure
the kingdom of Judah for herself; and to that end
she put to death
as she
supposed
the
entire brood of her own grandchildren; and having perpetrated this unnatural
slaughter
she ascended the vacant throne. But the text informs us that to this
wholesale murder there was one exception. Joash
the infant heir of Ahaziah
was by his aunt
Jehosheba
wife of Jehoiada the high priest
snatched from the
fury of the usurping queen
and concealed in the temple. Athaliah maintained
her guilty reign for six years. It was a cruel
oppressive
and idolatrous
reign
sternly calculated to foment the opposition of all who were loyal to the
legitimate government and the ancient religion
and to cement their union. At
length Jehoiada
under oath
disclosed his secret to some of the chief men of
the Jewish nation
and
having secured the alliance of the military and the
priesthood
broke out with a successful revolution. Upon a day appointed
the
guard and the people having assembled in the temple
Jehoiada brought the young
Joash out before them. Having anointed and crowned him
the people clapped their
hands
shouting
“God save the king!” This entire transaction suggests the
fallacy of evil
the falsehood of sin. And so this incident of a very ancient
time is applicable to all time. To some it may appear a very superfluous task
to urge an argument against evil in itself. Up to this point it may seem that
all argument is
foreclosed. It may be thought that the very term “evil” suggests all the
argument that is necessary. The moral sense of every man repudiates it.
Nevertheless
evil prevails; not often
it is to be hoped
in such shapes of
conspicuous and revolting wickedness as in the case of the Jewish queen
but in
countless other shapes
both in public and in private.
I. The insecurity
of evil. This is very clearly illustrated in the incident before us. Athaliah’s
scheme was a sweeping one. It was summary in its execution. The argument which
she employed was the sword; and it seemed as though all obstacles had gone down
before it. But one point was left exposed
and through that point entered
destruction. And it is wonderful how common such mistakes are
even in the most
cunningly planned iniquity. When the evil-doer has arranged all his devices
and they seem to be turning out just as he would have them turn out
very often
he seems smitten by judicial blindness
and he leaves some clew by him
unperceived. Or we may say Providence gathers up some witness in its concealing
folds
and lo! all at once it leaps out upon him. Take some of the grosser
instances of iniquity. The thief
as he supposes
clears away every thread of
detection; but
in the most unthought of way
the keen eye of justice picks out
some slender filament of guilt
and presently the entire web is dragged into
the light. The calumniator constructs his charge so-plausibly
that as it seems
his victim can find no flaw for escape
when accidentally some minute test of
truth is applied
and the lie
shriven
and shows all its blackness. The murderer drops some bloody hint of
his deed. He makes a footmark in the leaves
or babbles his secret in the
revelations of a dream. But let us proceed to the consideration of less
conspicuous instances. A man conducts business on a system of petty frauds. For
a while they glide quite smoothly
and he secretly chuckles at his own
practical demonstration that dishonesty is the best policy. But in time his
meanness gets wind: custom drops off
and he sinks in credit. Or his good fortune
if good fortune he has
is tainted by his reputation
men will worship a golden
calf for the sake of the gold; but there is apt to be a polite sniffing at
gilded carrion. Another finds it convenient
now and then
to oil the hinges of
opportunity with a little lying. Quite likely he does so with very slight
compunction or thought. It may serve his purpose. And yet it is just as
possible that he will find a nest of trouble in it. Perhaps
in some unlucky
moment
the truth strikes him flat in the face
and brings him to open shame.
Or he has to fabricate a series of lies to support the first
until the chain
breaks of its own weight
or tangles and trips him; and it turns out that it
costs more to keep a set of lies in tune than it would to have told the truth
in the outset. A man who cannot afford to lose money by speaking the truth
and
who has enthroned himself on lies
is always likely to encounter some
uncomfortable Joash that will bring him down. Then
again
there are some evil
devices that one cannot carry out alone--they must be helped by other people;
and this creates the insecurity of participated council. The confederate may be
bribed to treachery
or become conscience-stricken. At least we may be quite
sure that one who will connive at fraud or mischief can have but slight
anchorage in principle; and no seal of “honour” so-called
or even of interest
is strong enough to assure the wrong-doer that he is not plotting with a town
tattler or a State’s evidence. The doctrine of consequences is a doctrine of
secondary considerations
which a good man does not want
and which a bad man
means to dodge. And that is
a very ungodly sorrow which is only sorry for the exposure
Nevertheless this
is one argument against evil: its methods and its instruments are insecure.
Good men will make mistakes. Good men will commit oversights. Perhaps they are
more likely to do so than those of the other class. Trusting simply to the
right
they may not keep their wits so keenly on the alert. Men who undertake
to engineer a bad enterprise are very apt to be what are called “smart men.”
There are not many downright wicked fools. It is quite possible
that
for a
time
the knaves will foil mere righteousness; and
where cleverness is the
only point in consideration
they may show themselves superior to those who are
simple enough to trust in honesty. And throughout every department of human
action
there is this essential difference between fraud and truth
treachery
and loyalty--whatever exposure may take place
the good man has no reason to
fear. The exposure may demonstrate that he was weak in judgment
or unskilful
in execution; but the right motive will redeem his work. But the least slip may
ruin the knave and unfrock the hypocrite. The short-sightedness of the right
intention is an honest
mistake; the oversight of the base purpose is a fatal error. Therefore
in the
first instance insecurity means a very different thing from what it does in the
last. Yes
life is an uncertain sea
and the good as well as the bad may suffer
the shipwreck of their hopes. But the one has done the best he could. He has
laid a well-intended course
studying his chart
and observing heaven. The
other of his own accord has run his ship among quicksands and breakers. Both
are liable to mistakes; but
I say once more
the insecurity of the good is not
like the insecurity of the bad.
II. There is
another argument against evil in the fact
that in any wrong course there is an
intrinsic incongruity. This truth
perhaps
is easier felt than expressed. But
I may be able to convey some idea of my meaning by saying that evil does not
tally with truth. It cannot profoundly and completely simulate the good. In one
word
it is contrary to God. Now
I have already admitted that evil methods do
sometimes--indeed
I must say do frequently--succeed. Nevertheless
I do not
admit that this triumph is a final triumph. Very likely it will turn out that
the consummated guilt does not set well. It wears a doubtful aspect. Suspicion
warps it
although detection may not lay it open. It does not fit snug into the
general order. I have spoken of a tainted reputation. And I ask
does not a bad
man find it Somewhat difficult to hide his real character? The process is apt
to develop undue clumsiness
or extra facility
too little heat
or too much
zeal. The painting is over-coloured; or else it is quite evident that the face
is wax and the eyes are glass. Some time since
I was examining a sample of ore
that looked very much like gold: I was informed that the material has often been
taken for gold. Perhaps in nine hundred and ninety-nine cases out of a thousand
it would pass for gold. Is there
then
no test by which it may be
distinguished from the nobler metal? Yes: it does not weigh quite so much as
gold. So base-metal acts
that look like shining gold
may sometimes get
weighed. So do the elements of sin sometimes burst their glittering disguises;
guilty passion glares through all the proprieties; and in the witnessing
presence of God’s own universe the intrinsic incongruity of evil appears.
Besides this
we must remember also that wrong always occupies the place of
some right. It exists by repressing that right. Therefore it is exposed to the
re-action of that right. Referring to instances that are important enough to
remain visible above the horizon of time
we find
that
as the world moves
there goes on a rectifying process. Justice sifts and sifts
until the verdict
abides with the right
even though “canonised bones” are stirred in their
cerements
and the graves give up their dead. As we retreat from the past
the
eternal disc of truth emerges from temporary obscurations
while on the great
ecliptic of history everything fails into its proper posture. The schemes of
wicked policy
and the idols of a deluded veneration
lie crushed and exposed.
The memory of the tyrant blackens
and the martyr has his palm. No wrong can go
down secure and compact through the ages. It does not assimilate with God’s
order
and it bears no fertility of blessedness in its bosom. The celestial movements
may seem slow and wearisome: nevertheless
“the stars in their courses fight
against Sisera.” There is no peace for the wicked
though robed in the most
splendid success. There is no security for the wrong
however sealed and
established. Evil may seem to be as well as the good. But it is not as well.
Like that guilty Jewish queen
it falsely occupies the throne; and sooner or
later justice comes
like the lawful heir
and claims the birthright.
III. But
after all
the great argument against evil is the essential nature of evil. Suppose
Athaliah
instead of being overtaken by that signal punishment
had kept the
throne
and died in ripe old age
a crowned and successful sovereign. Would
anyone really envy Athaliah’s career? Would her position have been a desirable
one? Would it have been really a success and a blessing? No. The essential evil
in her case appears in what the guilty woman was in herself. Here
then
is the
actual point. We must reject evil for what it is in itself; and
in this
all
its sophistries are exposed. Surely there is no instance in which a man
deliberately elects wickedness for itself alone
and as the final cause of his
action. No man who employs fraud or falsehood maintains that his chief good is
in the fraud or falsehood. They are his instruments. Hence
he defends them
or
acquiesces in the use of them. Thus he lies and cheats
not for the heartfelt
satisfaction of lying and cheating
but for the purposes of a worldly policy.
He spins some dishonest scheme
because he thinks this the best way to secure
his end. He would just as soon use the morality of the Ten Commandments if he
thought the stock was as available. But
agreeably to his experience
falsehood
makes the money stick to his fingers a little closer than clean-handed honesty
will. And that is why he uses falsehood. But now here arises the consideration
that evil does become an end
remains an end
when the object sought for has
failed or vanished. The gains of the unscrupulous seeker may crumble
his
pleasure may taste upon his lips like the lees of dead wine
and in the end of
his ambition he may find only the arrows of calumny or the scoffings of popular
change. But the evil itself does not desert him. The agent which he has
cherished and used--the falsehood and the baseness--stick and abide in his
soul
which he may have forgotten
but upon which at some time he must fall
back. There
within
--in the elements of his own personality
--what meanness
and accusation
what woe and ruin! All the capital that the guilty man
possesses is this perishable stuff without
and within a world whose dark
recesses he dares not fathom
in which lurk ugly memories and fearful thoughts
and where conscience rolls its low
deep thunder. (E. H. Chapin.)
Verse 10
King David’s spears and shields
that were in the temple of the
Lord.
New use for old trophies
When David had fought with an adversary
and overcome him
he took
away his armour and his weapons
and as other victorious heroes were wont to
do
he bore them home as mementoes of his prowess
the trophies of the battle.
These were placed in the house of the Lord. Perhaps David at the same time
dedicated in like manner the shield and the sword which he had himself used in
battle. After Solomon had built the temple
these trophies
which seem to have
been very numerous
were hung up there. So they adorned the wails. So they
illustrated the valour of noble sires. So they served to kindle emulation
I doubt
not
in the breasts of true.hearted sons. Thus it was while generations sprung
up and passed away; till at length other days dawned
darker scenes transpired
and sadder things filled up the chronicles of the nation.
I. It is well for
us to hang all our trophies in the House of the Lord. We
too
are warriors.
Every genuine Christian has to fight. Every inch of the way between here and
heaven we shall have to fight
for as hitherto every single step o our
pilgrimage has been one prolonged conflict. Sometimes we have victories
a
presage of that final victory
that perfect triumph we shall enjoy with our
Great Captain for ever. When we have these victories it behoves us to be
especially careful that in all good conscience we hang up the trophies thereof in
the house of the Lord. The reason for this lies here: it is to the Lord that we
owe any success we have ever achieved. We have been defeated when we have gone
in our own strength; but when we have been victorious it has always been
because the strength of the Lord was put forth for our deliverance. You never
fought with a sin
with a temptation
or with a doubt
and overthrew it
except
by the Spirit’s aid. This will save us from pride and self-sufficiency.
Scarcely can God trust us with a victory
lest we begin fingering it with our
own hands
as if our own ingenuity
our own wisdom
or our own strength had
done marvels.
II. These trophies
may come in useful at such times as we cannot foresee
and under such
circumstances as we wot not of. Little could David have thought when he gave
Abiathar the sword of Goliath
that he would ever go to the priests of Gad and
ask them to lend him a sword
and that they should say
We have no sword here
save the sword of Goliath
the Philistine whom thou slewest in the Valley of
Elah
behold it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. He gave it to God
but
he did not think that he would ever have it back again with a priestly blessing
on it
so that he should be able to say
“There is none like that: give it me.”
And when
in after years
he hung up the swords and shields which he had taken
away from Philistine heroes
he did not surmise that one of his descendants
of
the seed royal
would find the need to employ his own
his grandsire’s
or
further back
from himself--his forefathers’ trophies--in order to establish
himself on the throne. We never know
when we praise God for mercies
hut what
the very praises might come back into our bosoms
and the offerings we make to
God in the way of thankfulness may be our own enrichment in the days to come.
Did you ever have a personal
mental
moral conflict with some great dragon of
besetting sin? If so be you have been enabled to smite it valiantly
and slay
it utterly
I know you have gained trophies to hang up in the house of God. To
do so will be of no small advantage to yourselves
because you can take them
down and use them in future; and you will find they are footholds of your
strength to fight with the next sin that comes upon you. The strength which God
has educated and fostered in the last struggle will greatly assist you in the
next. The man who gives way to one sin will very readily give way to another
but a man who through
God’s grace has won a very high vantage ground by mastering one sin
will be
very likely to win another. The spoils taken from the last Philistine will help
us to go forth and win more
and in the name of God we shall get the victory.
Now it is a fine
a noble thing
when you have had a conflict in your own soul
with some plausible heresy
some seductive perversion of the truth
and have
put it to flight with the sword of the Spirit
which is the Word of God; it is
a noble feat
I say
to capture the arms of your assailant and to use the very
weapons of the adversary
against him. You have detected his sophistry
you have found out devices
and
now for the future you will not be so readily carried away with every wind of
doctrine. This time
you are too old to be taken with his chaff. You were
deceived once
but by God’s grace you are not willing any longer to lend a
ready ear to the fair speech which casts a mist over plain facts
hut you
henceforth resolve to prove the spirits whether they be of God. So from the
spoils of past conflicts you are made strong to win present victories.
III. Ancient weapons
are good for present use. I should like to show you this by taking you on to a
battle-field. We will go to it. It is not Sadowa or Sedan
it is a grander
arena far--the old seventy-seventh. Turn to the seventy-seventh Psalm
and you
have a battle-field there. Should you ever have to fight the same battle
by
looking through this Psalm
you will see David’s shields and spears
and you
will soon learn how to screen yourself with the one
and how to do exploits
with the other.
Here is David fighting with despondency. I daresay some of you are afflicted
with it. But observe how he fought with it. The first weapon he drew out of the
scabbard was the weapon of all-prayer. And how grandly he used it! “I cried
unto God with my voice
even unto God with my voice.” Despondency soon flies
when a man knows how to ply this all-conquering and ever-useful weapon of
petition to the Most High. Then note how he used this weapon continually. “My
hand was stretched out all night
” saith he
according to the marginal reading of
the second verse. If the first prayer did not help him
he prayed again. When
he had used the weapon of prayer
what did he do next? Be took out another
spear. It was that of remembering God. He had long enough pored in thought over
himself and his present sinfulness and weakness
and now he remembered God’s
mercy
God’s faithfulness
God’s loving kindness
God’s power
God’s covenant
God in the person of Christ. Oh! this is indeed to prepare a salvo against the
enemy
and to fortify one’s own position with fresh succours. He can win the
battle that knows how to use this artillery of remembering God. Going on with
the strategy of war
what next? Why
in the fifth verse we read how he
maintained his courage and his constancy--“I considered the days of old.” He
enquired of hoary fathers
and looked back upon the inspired traditions
if I
may be allowed the expression
of the early Church. He turned to see whether
God ever did forsake any of His people. But now he used another weapon. He
looked to his own experience--see the sixth verse. “I called to remembrance my
song in the night.” Past experience acknowledged gratefully
and taken as the
index of what the future will be--this is another of David’s shields and
spears.
IV. Did not David
herein prefigure Him that was to come--David’s son and David’s Lord? Jesus
Christ
our King
has hung up many shields and spears in the house of the Lord.
Sin--Christ has borne it in himself
endured its penalty and overcome it; He
has hung up the handwriting of ordinances that was against us as a trophy in
the house of the Lord. He has nailed it to the cross. Satan--our great foe--He
met him foot to foot in the wilderness
and discomfited him--met him in the garden--overcame him on the cross. Now
hell
too
is vanquished--Christ is Lord. The prince of the power of the air is
but his servant. The King of kings hath led captivity captive
and all the
crowns of this prince of the power of the air are hung up as trophies. Broken
are their spears: their shields all battered and vilely cast away
hang up as
memorials of what Christ has done. Death
too
the last enemy
Christ hath
taken spoils from him when He rose again himself from His prison house
and
ascended on high
leading captivity captive. And the enmity of the human heart.
When we look round the temple and see the shields and spears hung up
we say
“Who did those shields and spears belong to?” One says
“Why
that is the
shield and spear of John Newton
the old blasphemer!” Glory be to God
Christ
conquered him. Whose shield and spears are those? Why
that is the shield and
spear of John Bunyan
the blasphemer on the village green. God’s mercy
conquered him. What will heaven be when all of us shall be trophies of His
power to save
and when our bodies shall be there as well as our Souls! “O
death
where is thy sting? O grave
where is thy victory?”--when not only
souls
but bodies shall be in heaven too
all trophies of what Christ has done
when He plucked His people from the jaws of the grave and delivered them from
the grasp of the sepulchre. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》