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About this time, God sent a
famine upon the land of Judah; it continued year after year, for three
years. David knew that there must be some reason for this; he feared
that God was displeased, and was punishing his people for some sin; so he
determined to go and inquire of God why this dreadful famine was
sent. And God told David why it was. He said, "It is for
Saul, and for his family, because he slew the Gibeonites." You
remember who the Gibeonites were. They were those people who, in the
time of Joshua, had behaved so deceitfully, that they might persuade the
Israelites to make peace with them. And Joshua and the Israelites
did make peace with the Gibeonites, and promised them to remain always
among the people of Israel. But Saul had broken his solemn promise;
he had slain some of these Gibeonites, and this had displeased God, and
caused Him to punish the land by the famine. When
David knew why the famine was sent, he determined directly to put away the
sin which had made God so angry. So he sent to the Gibeonites, and
said, "What shall I do for you, and how shall I make an atonement,
that ye may bless the inheritance of the Lord?" Then the
Gibeonites answered, "We will have neither silver nor gold, but let
seven of the sons of the man who consumed us, be delivered unto us, and we
will hang them up before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul." David
promised to do as the Gibeonites required, but he spared Mephibosheth the
son of Jonathan, because of the Lord's oath that was between them,—between
David and Jonathan the son of Saul. But the king took seven men of
the family of Saul, and delivered them up; and the Gibeonites "hanged
them in the hill before the Lord; and they fell all seven
together." Then Rizpah, the mother of two of them, took
sackcloth, and spread it on the rock, and there she sat watching the dead
bodies of her sons, and mourning over them; and she suffered neither the
birds to rest on them by day, nor the beasts by night. David heard
what Rizpah had done, and no doubt he pitied her, and felt for her; and he
showed all the honor and kindness he could to Saul's family, by gathering
their bones and burying them with the bodies of those who were
hanged. Though David felt he must be just, yet he could show
kindness and pity too. And
now what are we to learn from this story? It shows us what a solemn
thing a promise is, and how angry God is if we forget or break our
promises. God never forgets his promises: and He commands us
to remember ours. The story teaches us too, that it is right to be
just,—to punish those who do wrong according to what they deserve.
This is the duty of kings and rulers, and they should do it, as David did,
though it may distress and vex them, because it is God's command.
"He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of
God." 2 Samuel 23:3. A ruler should be "the
minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth
evil." Romans 13:4.
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