soldier and of a deeply
religious disposition. He was not without his faults, but in spite of
them developed a great empire.

Analysis.

I. His Reign Over Judah a Hebren, Chs. 1-4.

II. His reign Over All Israel, Chs. 5-10.

III. His Great Sin and Its Results, Chs. 11-20.

IV. An Appendix, Chs. 21-34.

For Study and Discussion. (1) How David became king. (2) His victories
in war. (3) His great sin and some of its consequences. (4) His
kindness toward his enemies (see also his attitude toward Saul
recorded in First Samuel). (5) The kindness of God as illustrated by
the story of David's kindness to Mephibosheth, Ch. 9. (6) David's
psalm of praise, Chs. 22-23. (7) The different occasions when David
showed a penitent spirit (8) The great pestilence. Ch. 24.

* * * * *

Chapter IX.

First and Second Kings.

Name. The name is taken from the Kings whose deeds they narrate.

Contents. It takes up the history of Israel where Second Samuel left
off and gives the account of the death of David, the reign of Solomon,
the Divided Kingdom, and the captivity.

Purpose. The political changes of Israel are given in order to show
the religious condition. Everywhere there is a conflict between faith
and unbelief, between the worship of Jehovah and the worship of Baal.
We see wicked kings who introduce false worship and righteous kings
who bring about reforms and try to overthrow false worship. Israel
yields to evil and is finally cut off, but Judah repents and is
restored to perpetuate the kingdom and to be the medium through
which Jesus came.

The Kingdom of Solomon. Solomon began in glory, flourished a while and
then ended in disgrace. He sacrificed the most sacred principles of
the nation in order to form alliances with other nations. He attempted
to concentrate all worship on Mount Moriah, probably hoping that in
this way he might control all nations. He finally became a tyrant and
robbed the people of their liberty.

The Two Kingdoms. This is a sad story of dissension and war and
defeat. Israel or the northern kingdom was always jealous of Judah. It
was by far the stronger and possessed a much larger and more fertile
land. There were nineteen king, from Jeroboam to Hoshea, whose names
and the number of years they reigned should be learned together with
the amount of scripture included in the story of each. Judah or the
southern kingdom was always a little more faithful to the true
worship. There were twenty ki