wives, as was customary in those times; and among them was
Michal, whom he had long ago reclaimed from the man to whom she had been
given by the unprincipled Saul.

[Illustration: The Woman of Canaan.]

David, whose undisputed authority, and admiration of the beautiful
Bathsheba, deceived him, blinding his moral vision, thought all was
safe. Death and royalty seemed to cover forever his sin.

But never was a man more mistaken. God sent Nathan, a fearless, faithful
prophet, to rebuke him. So the seer went to him, inquiring what should
be done with a man who had robbed a poor neighbor of his only and pet
lamb. The king, who was really loyal to God, and just in his aims,
indignantly said that the robber should die, and the lamb be restored.
Then Nathan fixed his eye on the king, and, pointing to him, exclaimed
courageously, "Thou art the man!"

David bowed his head and wept under the pointed reproof, and began to
cry, "Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, oh, God, thou God of my
salvation."

What a fine example of faithful preaching, and of an honest hearer! This
illustration of true penitence, which is given in the picture at the
beginning of this history of the kings, suggests a good story of modern
date. Jacob, an intelligent negro, was bribed and intoxicated to make
him commit murder. He was convicted of the crime, and sent to the State
prison for life. He could not read, but a bible was in his cell, and he
learned so rapidly that soon he could pick out the words and get the
meaning. He would run his finger over each letter of the fifty-first
Psalm, especially the fourteenth verse, until he enamelled it with his
touch. The bible is still kept by an excellent man, as a relic of
prison-life. For Jacob was pardoned, went to the lovely town of C-,
N.Y., and became an eminent Christian. His monument is one of the
highest in the cemetery.

The Scriptures describe David as "a man after God's own heart." By this
we are not to understand that David always acted rightly, or that God
approved of all he did. Its meaning is, that, in his public capacity, as
king of Israel, he acted in accordance with the true theory of the
theocratical government; was always alive to his dependence on the
Supreme King; took his own true place in the system, and aspired to no
other; and conducted all his undertakings with reference to the Supreme
Will. He constantly calls himself "the servant (or vassal) of Jehovah,"
and that, and no other,