the cities of our God: and the Lord do that which seemeth him good."

These arrangements being made, Joab advanced to the attack. The Syrians were soon routed and put to flight. Consternation, at the sight of this, seized the Ammonites, and they also fled before Abishai, seeking protection within the walls of Medeba. The army of the Israelites immediately withdrew from the field of battle and returned to Jerusalem, not following up the victory, either in the pursuit of the Syrians, or the siege of the city. From this it would appear that Joab was instructed not to aim at conquest, or to seek the destruction of the enemy; another striking proof of the pacific and magnanimous disposition of David.

But the self-sufficient Syrians, mistaking this movement of the Israelites for one of mere cowardice, and mortified at their late defeat, rallied again in vast numbers, at the call of king Hadadezer, Shobach being commander-in-chief of the forces, and came back to renew the war. David now went in person, at the head of an immense army, to meet them. Passing the Jordan, he came to Helam, a city supposed to be situated on the river Euphrates. Here the two armies encountered each other, and a severe battle ensued. David gained the victory. The Syrians fled before him. Immense numbers of them were slain, of those who fought in chariots, and on horses,

and on foot. Shobach, the commander of the Syrians, was slain by David's own hand. The success of his arms, with his personal prowess and skill, so terrified the various kings who were subject to Hadadezer, that they were glad to accept of offers of peace from David, and became tributary to him. The Syrians, too, we are told, no longer dared to afford the Ammonites any aid in their future conflicts with the Israelites. See Psalms 20 and 21.

CHAPTER XXVII.

David's conduct in the case of Bath-sheba and Uriah.

David was now nearly, or quite fifty years of age; about twenty having elapsed since he was crowned king of Judah at Hebron, He had advanced, as we have seen, from one degree of prosperity to another, till he found himself the monarch of the most powerful nation on earth; beloved by his people; dreaded by his enemies; and enjoying the greatest of all blessings, the peculiar protection and favor of Jehovah.

Alas! that in the midst of such unexampled prosperity, he should forget his obligations to

the Author of it, and suffer himself to fall into sin by yielding to the temptations which assailed him. It cannot be, that at this time he felt deeply his dependence on God, and daily and fervently raised his supplications in secret, for the wisdom and grace which he so much needed. His successes had probably inflated his pride and self-reliance. He had gained the most triumphant victories over his earthly enemies, but now he had spiritual ones to contend with, more formidable on account of their subtlety and power. He had slain the commander of the Syrian hosts with his own arm; but he had now to cope with the prince of darkness, while a traitor lurked within his own bosom, and was ready to betray him into the hands of this terrific adversary of souls.

David had returned from his victory over the Syrians, to Jerusalem, and after the lapse of a year, despatched the whole of his military forces under Joab, to carry on the war against the Ammonites, while himself remained behind. The Israelites, having had several encounters with the enemy, in which numbers of the latter were slain, laid siege, at length, to Rabbah, one of their principal cities.

It was in this posture of affairs that the temptation assailed David to which allusion has just been made. He was led by it to desire to have as his wife, (although he could not expect to be

married to her, for she was already the wife of another,) a very beautiful woman of Jerusalem. Her name was Bath-sheba. Her husband was Uriah the Hittite, who was absent, at this time, with the army under Joab. David sent messengers to her, that he might carry his purpose into effect, and was successful. She was brought to the palace. She returned home a grievous sinner in the sight of God. David, too, incurred enormous guilt. He knew the divine commands, but violated them. He coveted his neighbor's wife. But his sin ended not here. Crime leads on to crime, and he who yields to temptation, and commits one sin, knows not where his guilt will end.

He wished to conceal his crime, and especially to keep it from Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba. He sent for him to return from the army to Jerusalem. Uriah came, and David used several expedients to get him to return to his own house, and live with Bath-sheba and his family as usual. Uriah, a brave and patriotic soldier, would not do this while his fellow-soldiers and his general were still prosecuting the siege, and thus David was involved in still greater difficulty. A new and dreadful temptation presented itself to his mind. He began to think that if Uriah was dead, he should not only thus be rid of one who could give him a great deal of troubie, but that he could then soon marry Bathsheba. But he dared not order Uriah to be put

to death, for it would be too outrageous an enor. mity. He resolved to accomplish by stratagem what he shrunk from doing openly. He despatched Uriah back again to the army, with a letter to Joab, and by this means made the man whom he had so grossly injured, the unconscious instrument of his own destruction. That letter contained the injunction, "Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die."

Joab had not the moral courage to disobey the order. He may have been wicked enough, too, to hope that a compliance with it would serve to promote his worldly interests by ingratiating himself still more with his sovereign. At any rate, he made use of the first opportunity to carry the wishes of David into effect. For soon ordering an assault upon the city which, it will be recol lected, he was besieging, Joab took care to assign Uriah a place among the foremost, and where he would be exposed to the greatest danger. Some of the men of Rabbah made a sally, while others discharged their arrows from the walls, and a severe conflict ensued. Uriah fell, as had been expected, being deserted, it is probable, by those who might have sustained him and his party; and some of the Israelites were also slain.

Joab immediately sent a messenger to David, to inform him of what had happened. He took