A. The famine, on the pestilence, rather than war; for he chose rather to fall into the hands of God than of man, 2 Sam. xxiv. 14.

59 Q. Which of these two judgments did God send upon the land?

A. A pestilence, that destroyed seventy thousand men in three days' time, ver. 15.

60 Q. How was this pestilence stopped?

A. When David saw the angel of the Lord stand between heaven and earth, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem, he and the elders of Israel fell upon their faces, clothed in sackcloth; and David confessed his crime, and prayed that the anger of God might fall on himself, rather than on the people, 1 Chron. xxi. 15, 16.

61 Q. How did God manifest his acceptance of him?

A. He bade the prophet Gad order David to build an altar, and offer sacrifices on that very spot of ground, on the thrashing-floor of Ornan: and when David prayed, fire came from heaven and consumed. the sacrifices, 1 Chron. xxi. 21-26.

62 Q. What was the trouble that David met with from his son Adonijah ?

A. When David was old, Adonijah set himself up for king, 1 Kings i. 1, 5.

63 Q. How came Adonijah to be so insolent?

A. His father humoured him too much all his life, and never displeased him, ver. 6.

64 Q. What did David do under this trouble?

A. He proclaimed Solomon, the son of Bathsheba, king, in his own life-time and Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, anointed him king of Israel, ver. 34, 38, 39.

65 Q. Why was Solomon preferred, when he was a younger brother?

A. Because God chose him to the kingdom, and gave David some notice of it, 1 Chron. xxii. 8-10. and xxviii. 5-7.

66 Q. What became of Adonijah ?

A. He submitted to Solomon, who spared him for that time, though for a new fault he put him to death afterwards, 1 Kings i. 50, 53. and ii. 2, 24.

67 Q. How long did David reign in all ?

A. Forty years, and then he died in his bed in peace, 1 Kings ii. 10, 11.

68 Q. What were David's remarkable characters, besides that of a musician, a warrior, and a king? A. He was a great poet and a prophet, 2 Sam. xxiii. 1, 2.

63 Q. Wherein did his skill in poesy appear?

A. Not only in his admirable elegy on Saul and Jonathan, but on several occasions: he wrote the greater part of the book of Psalms, which are the finest pieces of ancient poesy, and he was called "The sweet Psalmist or Israel,” 2 Sam. xxiii. 1.

70 Q. Wherein doth it appear that he had the gift of prophecy?

A. Because these Psalms were written by divine inspiration; for in some of them there are many things evidently foretold concerning Christ, Luke xxiv. 44. Acts ii. 29, 30.

71 Q. What further evidences are there of his being a prophet?

A. He had a particular revelation made to him by the Spirit of God of the pattern of the temple, which Solomon his son was to build, and of the orders of the priests and Levites, and of several things relating to the worship of God, which he gave to his son Solomon, 1 Chron. xxviii. 11-13, 19.

72 Q. What did David do towards the building of this temple before his death?

A. He made a vast preparation of gold and silver and jewels, and other materials, and gave the pattern of every thing to his son Solomon, as he received it of God, 1 Chron. xxii. 5, 14. and xxviii. 11, 19. and xxix. 2,

CHAPTER X.

OF THE REIGN OE SOLOMON AND REHOBOAM OVER ALL ISRAEL, AND THE DIVISION OF THE NATION INTO TWO KINGDOMS.

1 Q. What was the general character of Solomon? A. That he was the wisest of men, 1 Kings iii.12, and iv. 31.

2 Q. Wherein did his wisdom towards God appear? A. In that he asked not long life, nor riches, nor honours, bnt understanding and knowledge to govern so great a people, 1 Kings iii. 7, &c.

3 Q. What was the first instance of his wisdom in the government?

A. His deciding the quarrel between two women who contended about a child, and giving the child to the true mother, 1 Kings iii. 16-28.

4 Q. How did he find out the true mother?

A. He commanded the child to be divided in two, that each woman might have half: then the tenderness and love of the true mother appeared in yeilding up her pretensions to it, rather than see it divided, 1 Kings iii. 25, 26.

5 Q. What special care did Solomon take for the worship of God?

A. He built that temple for which David had made so large a preparation. It was a most glorious palace, built of cedar and fir, and olive wood, and hewn stone, with most amazing expense of gold, and silver, and brass, and precious stones, both for the adorning of the house itself, and for the holy vessels thereof, 1 Kings vi. and vii. He built also two distinct courts about it, one for the people of Israel, and one for the priests, all which were called "the Temple," 2 Kings xxiii. 12. and 2 Chron. iv. 9.

Note, In this temple of Solomon there does not seem to be any "court of the Gentiles," but only "the court of the priests," in which the house of God or sanctuary

stood, and "the court of the people," to which all Israel resorted: : nor can I find the Gentiles forbidden by any express word of God. See 2 Chron. vi. 32. One was "the outer court," and the other "the inner court."2 Chron. vi. 9. and 1 Kings vii 36. Nor were the people excluded from the inner court. See 2 Chron. xxiii. 10. In the second temple, which was built by Zerubbabel, after the captivity, we do not read of any "court of the Gentiles," at the building of it. But in following years, when there were more frequent communications and transactions with Gentiles, there was a partition made, called Chell, to divide them from the Jews, and the other part of the outer court was left for the Gentiles. In the temple which Herod built, and which was in our Saviour's time, there was a court made on purpose for the Gentiles, and those Jews which were unclean. But this division does not sufficiently appear to be of divine appointment, though, it must be confessed, "the partition wall" in Eph. ii. 14. seems to refer to it.

6 Q. In what form did he build it?

A. In imitation of the tabernacle of Moses and the court thereof, but with vast and universal improvement in the grandeur, riches and magnificence of it, by the pattern that David his father received from God, and gave to him, 1 Chron. xxii. 5. and xxviii. 11. 19.

7 Q. On what spot of ground did he build it?

A. On Mount Moriah, not very far from Mount Zion in Jerusalem: it was the place where Abraham. was called to offer his son Isaac, and where God appeared to David when he stopped the pestilence, 2 Chron. iii. 1. and Gen xxii. 2. and gave him a miraculous token of his acceptance, by fire from heaven consuming his sacrifice, 1 Chron. xxi. 26.

Note, Though the temple was built on Mount Moriah, yet the name of Zion is still preserved by the following holy writers, as the place of the sanctuary; partly because David had written so much in his Psalms concerning Zion, where the ark and tabernacle stood in his days, and made the name familiar to the people;

and partly because Zion was literally the city of David, and, in a typical sense, the city or residence of Christ. And indeed Zion and Moriah may be accounted but two distinct heads of the same mountain; and though there was a valley between them, Solomon joined them by a bridge, that he might easily pass from his palace in Zion to the temple. Josephus makes mention of it more than

once.

8 Q. How did Solomon dedicate this temple to God?

A. By assembling all the men of Israel, by bringing thither the ark, and the only things from Zion, by a devout prayer to God, by music and praises, by a feast of seven days, and a vast number of sacrifices, 1 Kings, viii. and 2 Chron. vi. and vii.

9 Q. In what manner did God show his approbation of it?

A. He filled the house with a cloud of glory to represent his taking possession of it; he sent fire down from heaven to consume the sacrifices; and he appeared in the night to Solomon, and assured him he had heard his prayer, and chosen that place for a house of sacrifice to himself, 2 Chron. vii. 1—3, 12.

10 Q. Wherein did God bless the reign of Solomon? A. By giving him prodigious treasures and magnificent state, and spreading the fame of his greatness and wisdom over all nations, 1 Kings x.

11 Q. What peculiar honours were done to him on this account?

A. The princes round about him coveted his friendship, and gave him their assistance and many presents, and the queen of Sheba came to visit him, 1 Kings ix. and x.

12 Q. What satisfaction did she find in this visit? A. She was astonished at the sight of his grandeur and wisdom, and confessed that the one half of it was not told her, 1 Kings x. 1--10.

13 Q. Wherein did Solomon displease God afterwards?