web of intrigue is woven round him, he takes no notice. If
reconciliation is proposed, he cheerfully goes back to the palace. If
his life is threatened he goes home. He will not stir to escape but for
the urgency of his wife. So well had he already begun to learn the
worthlessness of life's trifles. So thoroughly does he practice his own
precept, "Fret not thyself because of evil-doers;" "rest in the Lord,
and wait patiently for Him." (Psa. xxxvii. 1, 7.)

This section gives also a remarkable impression of the irresistible
growth of his popularity and influence. The silent energy of the Divine
purpose presses his fortunes onward with a motion slow and inevitable as
that of a glacier. The steadfast flow circles unchecked round, or rises
victorious over all hindrances. Efforts to ruin, to degrade, to
kill--one and all fail. Terror and hate, suspicion and jealousy, only
bring him nearer the goal. A clause which comes in thrice in the course
of one chapter, expresses this fated advance. In the first stage of his
court life, we read, "David prospered" (1 Sam. xviii. 5, margin), and
again with increased emphasis it is told as the result of the efforts to
crush him, that, "He prospered in all his ways, and the Lord was with
him" (verse 14), and yet again, in spite of Saul's having "become his
enemy continually," he "prospered more than all the servants of Saul"
(verse 30). He moves onward as stars in their courses move, obeying the
equable impulse of the calm and conquering will of God.

The familiar Scripture antithesis, which naturally finds its clearest
utterance in the words of the last inspired writer--namely, the eternal
opposition of Light and Darkness, Love and Hate, Life and Death, is
brought into sharpest relief by the juxtaposition and contrast of David
and Saul. This is the key to the story. The two men are not more unlike
in person than in spirit. We think of the one with his ruddy beauty and
changeful eyes, and lithe slight form, and of the other gaunt and black,
his giant strength weakened, and his "goodly" face scarred with the
lightnings of his passions--and as they look so they are. The one full
of joyous energy, the other devoured by gloom; the one going in and out
among the people and winning universal love, the other sitting moody and
self-absorbed behind his palace walls; the one bringing sweet clear
tones of trustful praise from his harp, the other shaking his huge spear
in his madness; the one ready fo