He now sent for Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, who had retired when Bath-sheba came in, and for Benaiah the captain of the guards, to whom he gave these orders.

"Take," said he, "with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon," (this was a fountain south-east of Jerusalem;) "and let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon. Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead: and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah."

To this Benaiah answered, Amen, invoking the divine sanction, and praying that as the Lord had been with David, he would in like manner be with Solomon, and make his throne even greater than that of his father.

It is both affecting and instructive to see this aged monarch thus anxious to discharge, to the last, the duties which devolved upon him, and ready to meet the exigencies of the very trying. situation in which he was placed with firmness and promptitude. Nothing but an unshaken faith in that God in whom he trusted, and who, as he said, had redeemed him out of all his distresses, could have inspired him with this extraordinary decision of purpose. Look, my young friend, to

the same source of wisdom and strength, in the midst of trials and difficulties however appalling, and you shall be sustained under them. As long as life lasts; in the decline of years; and oppressed it may be with the infirmities of age, as was David, like him hold out in the performance of duty, and let death find you the persevering and faithful servant of the Lord

CHAPTER XXXIX.

Solomon is anointed king, and pardons Adonijah. David assembles certain of the people, and addresses them. He gives a charge to Solomon.

The orders of the king were immediately carried into execution. Zadok anointed Solomon with the sacred oil taken from the tabernacle. The trumpet gave gladsome note of the event. The people shouted, "God save king Solomon ;" and the multitude following after him, as he returned to Jerusalem, filled the air with the songs of joy and the strains of musical instruments, "so that the earth rent with the sound of them."

Adonijah and his party were near enough to

hear it. The well-known blast of the trumpet had already roused the fears of Joab, and he asked the cause of the commotion. A messenger with the reply was at hand, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest.

"Come in," said Adonijah, "for thou art a valiant man, and bringest good tidings.".

But his message was a fearful one to the rebels. He told them all that had taken place, that David had actually caused Solomon to be crowned, and that he was then sitting on the throne of the kingdom, receiving the congratulations of the people. "Moreover," he added, "the king's servants came to bless our lord king David, saying, God make the name of Solomon better than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne. And the king bowed himself upon his bed. And also thus said the king, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which hath given one to sit on my throne this day, mine eyes even seeing it."

This news filled Adonijah and his adherents with consternation, and they fled in all directions. Finding himself forsaken, and dreading the vengeance of Solomon, this victim of a reckless and disappointed ambition, sought refuge in the sanctuary, and laying hold of the horns of the altar, hoped in the sacredness of the place to find a refuge.

Solomon was speedily told of this, and that

Adonijah was imploring forgiveness, and begging that his life might be spared.

"If he will show himself a worthy man," was the reply of this magnanimous prince, "there shall not a hair of him fall to the earth: but if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall die."

The pardon with these conditions was conveyed to Adonijah, who being brought into the presence of the new king, bowed himself before him with the usual forms and expressions of allegiance. He was then permitted by Solomon to return in peace to his own house.

To give stability to the throne which Solomon now occupied, and to ensure the loyalty of the nation towards him, the next step which David took, was, to call together a great assembly of his people at Jerusalem. All the princes of Israel were there, the princes of the tribes, and the captains of the companies that ministered to the king by course, and the captains over the thousands, and captains over the hundreds, and the stewards over all the substance and possession of the king and of his sons, with the officers, and with the mighty men, and with all the valiant

men.

The priests and the Levites, also, were there. These amounted, in David's time, to thirty-eight thousand; of which twenty-four thousand were to set forward the work of the house of the Lord, six thousand were officers and judges; four thou

sand were to be porters; and four thousand were to praise the Lord with the musical instruments which David had caused to be made for that purpose. But this number must eventually have been much increased; for we find that by a regulation of David, not long before his death, the Levites were separated, from twenty years old, and upwards, for the service of the temple. Till that time they had been numbered from the age of thirty years and upwards.

There were twenty-four courses, determined by lot, both of the priests and of the Levites, and as many courses, also, of those who were skilled in sacred song, and played on musical instruments, under appropriate leaders, and all for the service of the temple on common days, and upon the great festivals. The porters were in four great divisions, to correspond to the four gates of the temple, among other duties acting as guards, under their respective captains; and certain of the Levites were placed over the treasures of the temple, and over the treasures of the dedicated things. Other necessary arrangements were made, at the same time, with regard to all the matters, ecclesiastical and civil, that show the consummate wisdom and energy with which David acted, and the immense power of his kingdom. The military force was divided. into twelve courses, of twenty-four thousand men each, each course serving a month, and being