I. NO MAN, HOWEVER HIGHLY EXALTED, IS EXEMPT FROM WEAKNESS. "I am this day weak [tender, infirm], and an anointed king." The most absolute monarch cannot do all he would. Truly good men, though anointed and endued with spiritual power, are by no means perfect, but are "compassed with infirmity." The weakness of a strong man is felt:

1. In contending against the evil that surrounds him and presses in upon him like "the proud waves."

2. In performing the duties that rest upon him, and attaining the ideal of character at which he aims. "I will walk within my house with a perfect heart," etc. (Psalm 101:2-8).

3. In effecting the purposes which he may have formed for the good of others.

II. THE WEAKNESS OF A STRONG MAN IS OFTEN OCCASIONED BY HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER MEN. "And these men, sons of Zeruiah, are too hard [rough, obstinate, powerful] for me." His relationships with them (formed, it may be, independently of his choice, and conducive, in some respects, to his good) not unfrequently:

1. Enable them to acquire undue power, and incite them to pursue a presumptuous, obstinate, unjustifiable course. "A man's foes are they of his own household" (Matthew 10:36; Numbers 12:1).

2. Bring him into intimate association with those who have little sympathy with his noblest feelings, and expose him to the influence of their adverse principles (Luke 9:54; Matthew 16:22, 23).

3. Become an occasion of hindrance, temptation, and peril. For, unlike him in whom the prince of this world "had nothing" (John 14:30), every man possesses an inward, carnal propensity on which outward evil may take hold, and thereby cause him to stumble.

III. THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF HIS CONDITION FILLS HIM WITH DEEP DISTRESS. "I am this day weak," etc., which is a complaint of:

1. Painful restraint imposed upon him with respect to conduct he cannot approve.

2. Necessary endurance of men whom he cannot punish, and with whom he may not, out of regard to his own position and the common good, enter into open conflict.

3. Partial and not altogether blameless failure in the fulfilment of the obligations of his high calling. David has been severely condemned for not punishing the sons of Zeruiah; but in order to justify such condemnation, we should have a better acquaintance with all the circumstances of the case. He was not without sinful infirmity. Yet whose conviction of what is absolutely right exactly corresponds with his consciousness of actual performance? "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

IV. THE CHIEF ALLEVIATION OF HIS TROUBLE IS CONFIDENCE IN THE RIGHTEOUS RETRIBUTION OF GOD. "Jehovah reward the doer of wickedness according to his wickedness." This is expressive of:

1. Dependence on the Divine power to accomplish what he himself cannot do.

2. Faith in the Divine permission of unrequited evil for a time, for wise and beneficent ends.

3. Desire for the maintenance, vindication, and triumph of eternal righteousness in the earth (vers. 22-30). "The Lord will render to him according to his works" (2 Timothy 4:14). "Jehovah shall reward," etc. This was the text to which Lady F. Cavendish directed attention on the occasion of the lamented death of her husband, Lord Frederic Cavendish; and which was so remarkably fulfilled in the fate that afterwards overtook his assassins. "It is the hope of the oppressed and the patience of the saints." - D.

I. SOME DISAPPOINTMENT IS SURE TO FOLLOW UPON THE ATTAINMENT OF OUR HOPES AND TO INTERMINGLE WITH OUR JOYS. Men struggle for riches all life long, and when they have gained them, oft have no power of enjoyment left. The argosy of food is just coming into port, but somehow is caught by the tide, driven behind the pier, and wrecked on the rugged rocks outside. The topmost step of the throne is reached, the sceptre grasped, the crown placed on the head, when the thorn is felt pressing into the tender brow and the paean of joy is toned by the minor note of sorrow. This is not the invariable experience, but general. One might say that the exceptions establish the rule.

II. THESE BALANCINGS IN LIFE ARE INTENDED BY THE AUTHOR OF ALL LIFE. God has not promised that ease shall always follow on effort, nor full peace come immediately a victory is won. It is of the Divine appointment that those who have wealth, powers, or high position shall often have also strong jealousies, bitter annoyances, severe domestic troubles, great losses, unfulfilled expectations, and harsh regrets over unrealized ideas. That man of genteel manners and calm exterior has a very Vesuvius in his breast. You see not the throes that disturb his soul. So poverty and weakness, sickness and solitude, as well as strength and riches, have their balancings. Power can grow out of privation, and strength out of suffering, while ennui may be the offspring of pleasurable ease and satiety of constant satisfaction. All happiness has its alloy and all sorrow its surcease. This is by Divine arrangement. These thoughts should teach us —

1. To find all our joy and strength in God.

2. To be thankful for any balancings that may develop being and life.

3. To see to it that we so live that no painful counterbalancing may follow upon this life in the future; to be careful lest the very greatness of the glory and richness of the reward should only make us feel how meagre was our earth-life and unpardonable our spiritual coldness.

4. That we should never let despondency seize us, remembering these balancings in life.

5. Many are weak and know it not. They are anointed heirs of God, kings and priests, but through sin they are weak every day. David knew what he had lost when Abner was taken; but many so live that they ignore the loss they suffer by their wilful ignorance of Christ, through whom alone any can be really strong and kingly in spirit.

(Frederick Hastinas.)