er Saul loyally and
faithfully. There is no word of his having opposed Saul, set himself up
against him, boasted of himself, or in any way brought his anger down
upon him. Saul is his king, and David has been loyal and true to him.
But Saul's envy has grown to hatred, and that to murder. He murders the
priests, with all their wives and children, for having given bread and
shelter to David. And now David must flee into the wilderness and set up
for himself, and he flees to the cave of Adullam (1 Samuel xxii.); and
there you see the Bible does not try to hide what David's position was,
and what sort of men he had about him--his brethren and his father's
house, who were afraid that Saul would kill them instead of him, after
the barbarous Eastern fashion, and among them the three sons of Zeruiah,
his sister; and everyone who was discontented, and everyone who was in
debt, all the most desperate and needy--one can conceive what sort of men
they must have been. The Bible tells us afterwards of the wicked men and
men of Belial who were among them--wild men, with weapons in their hands,
and nothing to prevent their becoming a band of brutal robbers, if they
had not had over them a man in whom, in spite of all his faults, was the
Spirit of God.

We must remember, meanwhile, that David had his temptations. He had been
grievously wronged. Saul had returned him evil for good. All David's
services and loyalty to Saul had been repaid with ingratitude and
accusations of conspiracy against him. What terrible struggles of rage
and indignation must have passed through David's heart! What a longing
to revenge himself! He knew, too, for Samuel the prophet had told him,
that he should be king one day. What a temptation, then, to make himself
king at once! It was no secret either. The people knew of it. Jonathan,
Saul's son, knew of it, and, in his noble, self-sacrificing way, makes no
secret of it (1 Samuel xx.). What a temptation to follow the fashion
which is too common in the East to this day, and strike down his tyrant
at one blow, as many a man has done since, and to proclaim himself king
of the Jews. Yes, David had heavy temptations--temptations which he
could only conquer by faith in the Living God. And, because he masters
himself, and remains patient and loyal to his king under every insult and
wrong, he is able to master that wild and desperate band of men, and set
them an example of patience and chivalry, loyalty