Our path in life lies along the brink of a river or the edge of a cliff; and we may by a step - a single step - at any moment meet our fate. The asseveration of David may be regarded as the expression of a strong conviction ("As Jehovah liveth," etc.) of -

I. THE SOLEMNITY OF DEATH. The event is a serious one. To leave familiar scenes and beloved friends, to "be missed" from our accustomed place is a saddening thought. But what gives solemnity to death as well as life is its moral aspect, its spiritual and Divine relations.

1. It terminates our earthly probation - severs our immediate connection with the privileges, means, and opportunities by which character is proved and the soul prepared for another state. When this step is taken, all these things belong to the past.

2. It ushers us into the Divine presence; no longer partially concealed by the veil of material things, but fully revealed in light, which reveals the moral attitude of every human spirit and judges it "in righteousness." "After death" (and following close upon it) "the judgment" (Hebrews 9:28). "We must all be manifest before the judgment seat of Christ," etc. (2 Corinthians 5:10).

3. It fixes our future destiny, in weal or woe. "What is a man profited," etc.

II. THE UNCERTAINTY OF LIFE. The step must be taken, but when we know not. That we may be duly impressed by a truth which all admit, but few adequately realise, consider -

1. The frailty of the body, and the innumerable dangers to which it is exposed. "Between us and hell or heaven there is nothing but life, the most fragile thing in existence (Pascal).

2. The facts of daily observation. What occurs to others so often, so suddenly and unexpectedly, may occur to ourselves. We have no guarantee that it will not. "Man's uncertain life is like a raindrop on the bough, amid ten thousand of its sparkling kindred, and at any moment it may fall."

3. The declarations of the Divine word. "Man knoweth not his time," etc. (Ecclesiastes 9:12). "Ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life?" etc. (James 4:14). Why should we be left in such uncertainty?

(1) To teach us the sovereignty of God and our dependence upon him.

(2) To accord with our present probationary position, which necessitates the proper adjustment of motives to our freedom and responsibility.

(3) To enable us properly to perform the ordinary duties of life, in connection with which we are appointed to serve God here and prepare for his service hereafter.

(4) To check presumption in devoting undue attention to the affairs of this life and neglecting those of the life to come.

(5) To lead us not to put the event out of our minds altogether, but rather to constant preparation for it and for the life that lies beyond. "The last day is kept secret that every day may be watched" (Augustine). "Take ye heed, watch and pray, for ye know not when the time is" (Mark 13:33). "Be ye therefore ready also, etc. (Luke 12:40).

III. THE NECESSITY OF WATCHFUL PREPARATION. Seeing that at any instant the step may be taken, it plainly behoves us to be always ready.

1. By seeking and maintaining a right state of heart (John 3:2, 14).

2. By diligent, faithful, and persevering performance of duty.

3. By constant and prayerful committal of our souls into the hands of God. So, whenever the step is taken, it will be "only a step" out of the shadows and sorrows Of earth into the glory and joy of heaven. - D.

The word in this verse rendered "sacrifice" is in the margin of our English Bible rendered with somewhat greater felicity "feast." There comes to view, therefore, in the narrative an unusually interesting fact; namely, that the family of Jesse continued to keep up their residence in Bethlehem, and carefully observed the household festivals through the year, as in earlier days they had been accustomed. The members of that scattered circle summoned each other regularly to a social reunion annually.

I. THE ADVANTAGES FOUND IN THE OBSERVANCE OF THIS YEARLY THANKSGIVING FESTIVAL.

1. Of course, first and chief of these is the consideration that for all God's love and care for us there is due at least full acknowledgment of the hand which has given them to us. "Count up your mercies." A day in each year is surely not too much to be given to this formal rehearsal before God of our plentiful gains and prosperities.

2. In the second place, there is manifest advantage in these annual festivals growing out of the cultivation of our domestic affections and the perpetuation of our home tastes and feelings. It mingles religion with our best sympathies. He cannot be called a manly man who did not feel himself a weaker man from the month when his praying mother died and was buried, or who does not feel himself a braver, better man, if now perhaps the beloved old voice still lives to be his counsel and his inspiration.

3. Again: there is a manifest advantage in these thanksgiving festivals found in the perpetuation of ancestral memories to which they are calculated most strongly to minister. It is instinctive in the heart of every true man and woman to desire to live beyond the limits of an immediate generation. We toil hard for many a season to keep our name unsullied and preserve our fair fame unstained for the sake of our offspring.

4. And this leads me on to mention a fourth advantage derived from this annual feast; namely, the opportunity it offers for kindling and quickening a true patriotism in the hearts of the people.

II. With this exhibition of manifest advantages I CAN HARDLY NEED TO ARGUE FURTHER FOR SUCH OBSERVANCE OF THE DAY. If we go with David at all on his errand, it must be in imagination only. And I think it will be profitable now to ask and answer where he did go.

1. To his own city.

2. In the second place, I suppose David went straight as was possible to his own home in Bethlehem.

3. Then, finally, I imagine David would want to go to various houses of his brethren. I take this from the fact that this day's invitation was given by his brother.

(C. S. Robinson, D. D.)