Sermon 70: 1 Samuel 19:1-7

1. Now Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul's son, loved David greatly. 2. And Jonathan told David, saying: My father Saul seeks to kill you: therefore, please, watch yourself in the morning, and remain hidden, and conceal yourself. 3. And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field, and I will speak about you to my father, and whatever I see I will tell you. 4. So Jonathan spoke good things about David to his father Saul, and said to him: Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and his works are very good for you. 5. And he placed his life in his hand, and struck the Philistine, and the Lord wrought a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced; why therefore do you sin against innocent blood, killing David, who is without fault? 6. When Saul heard this, placated by Jonathan's voice, he swore: As the Lord lives, he shall not be killed. 7. And so Jonathan called David, and told him all these words: and Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was before him as he had been yesterday and the day before.

Here first it should be observed that the malice of wicked men and despisers of God increases day by day until it ends in desperate impudence; and on the contrary that God's children, freed from one danger, fall into another, and yet are always miraculously preserved by him. This appears from what is here narrated about Saul, who moves every stone so that David may be killed. And indeed earlier he had hoped to so crush him that he would not appear to be conscious of his slaying: since he thought David would never escape the hands of the Philistines, and so he himself would be beyond all suspicion. For he could, as many usually do, feign mourning, and conceal the greatest joy in his heart. But when Saul perceived that he had wasted effort in setting traps for David, and that God had defeated his expectation and hope, he begins now openly with loose reins to rage, and to bring forth the cruelty he had long fostered within, and urges his son Jonathan and the rest of his servants to kill David. From this his blindness and fanatical fury appears. For if he had sought David's death only with Jonathan, or with three or four servants as accomplices, some place for shame might still have seemed to remain: but when he urges all his ministers to slaughter, it appears that he had become shameless and could no longer dissimulate David's death. Therefore he seems now utterly desperate, and savage and fierce, stripped of all human feeling and decency, to have come to such madness and stupor that he now neither fears God nor men, neglects men's esteem and good reputation, and does not shrink from being called a murderer, and indeed a treacherous one, of his faithful servant. From which it is proven to be true what I touched on before, made conspicuous in the person of Saul: that the wicked at last reveal the malice and wickedness they have long dissimulated, and proceed to such madness and fury that they are no longer restrained by any shame, nor by distinction of good or evil. Which must be observed all the more diligently, since many often sin more grievously in this respect. For example, one who sets his mind to theft will at first shrink from cutting someone's throat, content to have taken his purse, completely averse to murder; but once the devil has invaded his mind, he so hardens and agitates it, that at last with loose reins he is carried to any crime. And this Paul himself teaches when he says that those who have been cast by God into a reprobate mind become past feeling, so that they not only reject all reverence and decency before men, but even have dead consciences, so that they are no longer restrained by the fear of God, by which alone men can be restrained from rushing headlong into vices, and so much the more they provoke the wrath of the Lord

against themselves. And here this contempt for the Lord seizes the wicked, who hardened their face for any crime. For no one becomes wicked suddenly: therefore there is hope that he who begins to do evil may still be kept in his duty: but he who has grown accustomed to evil receives from God a recompense fitting for his deeds, namely, by God he is wholly given over to the devil, from which the supreme contempt for the divine name is born. And just as wicked men are not touched by the reverence of God, nor are they moved by his judgments, which they try with all their might to render void: so also among men, like a brazen-faced harlot, they have lost all shame, and are no longer affected by any distinction of good or evil, but wish to confound heaven with earth, so that the world may be disturbed by the utmost confusion of all things. Since we see these things so frequent in the world, God must be earnestly invoked, that he not forsake us and abandon us to ourselves: but rather, when we are tempted to evil, even if the vice still lies hidden in the inmost recesses of the heart, that he open the abscess and expel the pus, lest cut off within, it suffocate the very heart. Therefore when such examples are set before us, we ought to be touched to the quick and turn to God with ardent vows, lest he cast us into so deadly a fall. Moreover, since we see that men thus gradually withdraw from God, and at last wander so far that they cannot be recalled to the way, and from there see that this evil has occupied men's minds in all ages, this should not surprise us in this time, when we shall see hypocrites for a time displaying some appearance of good, and at last brought forth by God and as it were placed in a theater, so that their shame may appear before all -- indeed, may even become known to children: but it warns us with utmost zeal to flee such contempt of the divine name, lest we be found at last more harmful than these men.

And this appears from the narration of that speech which Saul had to his son Jonathan and all his servants, by which he seems to have sought disgrace and perpetual infamy for himself voluntarily. For he openly betrays his treachery, his hatred of David, and his utmost cruelty. From this then let us learn what Paul admonishes, that those who do not honor God as is fitting are given over by him into such confusion that they do not even spare their own honor, but voluntarily expose themselves to the mockery of all. Thus God is wont to avenge those who despise his majesty. For he reveals himself to us with this end, that we may obey him and exhibit due reverence; and we should know that we have been created by him for this end, that he may be glorified in us. Let us therefore learn to dedicate ourselves wholly to him -- body and soul, that is -- in all purity. Indeed, if it should befall us to be so wretched that we rush headlong into any crime, and come to such impiety that we strive to despise God's name and profane his glory, it is certain that he has many ways of avenging himself. For he will cast us into such great stupor that we shall neglect to maintain our reputation among men: which is contrary to nature. For who does not know that men cover their disgrace as far as they can, and want their reputation among all to be sound and inviolable? But those whom God has cast into a reprobate mind are restrained by no shame, no consideration of themselves, indeed they seem to make their shame manifest before all out of design, and to publicly proclaim their cruelty, treachery, and crime. We therefore, if we are wise, and if we do not wish to fall into such things, let us learn to worship and revere God, and to give ourselves wholly to him with candor and simplicity. For that saying of the prophet of the Lord which we heard above is true: I will honor those who honor me, and I will involve those who despise and make little of me in ignominy and disgrace; which we are taught by experience itself to be confirmed.

Moreover, the children of God ought not to promise themselves the utmost peace and rest in this world: but on the contrary they should expect perpetual war and battle as long as they survive, so much so that one evil follows another, and as wave succeeds wave, so that through a thousand mortal dangers they barely drag out their life in this world. Yet not all men's condition is equal: nor are all exercised with such hard misfortunes as we see David. For God spares his own, whose weakness he knows. But David, since he was a figure of our Lord Jesus Christ, is set before us as an example to which we should conform ourselves. For this also is known: that our Lord Jesus Christ is the example of all the faithful, just as Paul declares in chapter 8 of Romans, when he admonishes and exhorts the faithful to patience, setting forth the example of our head Jesus Christ, who has set himself before us as an example which all should imitate, and seek no better condition than was his. He teaches us therefore that we ought to follow him, and this very thing in David is set before us as an exemplar to be imitated. For when God helped David, exercised in such various ways and so many temptations, with his help, and freed him from dangers, we are admonished that we must pass through fire and water, as the Prophet says in Psalm 66 — that is, all things, however hard, must be undergone by us, and we must struggle with many difficulties and afflictions, nor should rest be promised us as long as we live on earth, as if after one or another struggle we were to be tranquil, but new difficulties and temptations are always to be expected, by which God is wont to test the faith and patience of his own. Thus we see David first not far from the jaws of the grave, when Saul hurled the spear at him, which was fixed in the wall. Then escaped from such great danger, again sent against the Philistines, that he might be extinguished by their arms. But although these were grievous and full of dangers, as God he seemed to have cast off all care for him, yet in reality he showed that his life and safety were of concern to him, since he protected him in all those dangers and at last restored him safe and unharmed. Now therefore let us consider the fury of Saul, who, having dropped all pretense, rages openly, and publicly reveals the hatred against David that he had previously harbored in his heart, and as if by a given signal summons enemies to attack him. Therefore if God has exercised us with various trials, let us not lose heart, nor be so soft and effeminate that after one or two battles we desire, like veteran soldiers, to obtain discharge from our commander. Rather let us know that the present life is compared not only to a race course that those who have entered must run to the end, but to a continuous war that will not end as long as we live. Let us therefore, with eyes lifted to heaven and our anchor cast there, await the end of our labors and rest. Indeed God sometimes grants us certain periods of leisure on this earth, but only so that with renewed strength we may approach battle more eagerly and be ready to follow God wherever he calls.

Furthermore, in Saul it is evident that men are not to be greatly trusted, since for the most part they prove both inconstant and treacherous, even though they simulate and display friendship. For we see that David, whom Saul previously held in high esteem, and whom his servants loved and honored, now comes into the hatred of both Saul and his servants; they plot his murder among themselves, and no one opens his mouth to defend him. Only Jonathan, Saul's son, dares to defend the cause of the wretched and innocent man, and to maintain his faithfulness and nobility of spirit. From this it is evident, as I said before, that not all men are to be trusted — which David himself, taught by experience, teaches us: 'Do not trust in men, in whom there is no faithfulness.' David's patience, moreover, will serve as a lesson that we should not trust feigned friends who smile when we enjoy prosperous fortune but desert us in difficult and uncertain times — as often happens — but rather place all our hope in God. If he has once received us into his protection and patronage, let us not doubt that he himself will raise up friends for us in uncertain times, who will defend our innocence and help with their aid, just as he raised up Jonathan as a patron for David. For Jonathan, daring to plead David's cause before his father, threw himself into great danger. For he saw that his father was driven by fury at intervals, and like a fanatic would foam out his rage; therefore when he dares to set before his eyes the disgrace of the deed, and to reprove his own father, there is no doubt that he put himself in danger of death, and was accordingly helped by the special grace of God and strengthened by his Holy Spirit. This we ought to imitate, and relying on God's aid, to shrink from no dangers, showing God this honor: that we commit our life to him, whose proper task it is to defend it — not only by his own power but also by raising up creatures and men by whose aid we are helped, as it pleases him; and to whom, if perhaps they are terrified by the magnitude of dangers, he supplies both courage and strength by which they overcome all difficulties and never desert us, but constantly help even at the risk of their own lives. This, then, is to be observed when it is said that Jonathan alone dared to defend David's innocence before his father.

But furthermore it should be noted that Jonathan does not plead David's cause as one who is a suppliant begging for pardon, but gravely defends his innocence and accuses the father himself of cruelty, ingratitude, and malice. Great therefore was Jonathan's faithfulness and sincere candor. For if he had merely become a suppliant to his father and tried to reconcile David to him in the manner of men, begging for his life, and yielding to the father's will, and as it were letting the sails go with the winds, and confessing that David was indeed guilty but that mercy should be shown to him — as courtiers are accustomed to soothe the ears of kings and princes with such blandishments, and to calm angry men, so that they do not entirely condemn the accused but yet concede something as true that their evil mind had dictated against all right and justice — there was nothing of this sort in Jonathan, whom God so directed by his Holy Spirit that he performed the office of a faithful friend. For it would have been too little for David merely to have his life spared; if disgrace and ignominy had been heaped upon him, he deserved by right to be adorned with the highest honors. For woe, says the prophet, to him who calls good evil and evil good, and turns light into darkness. Therefore if Jonathan had only tried to preserve David's life, and had flattered his father Saul by conceding part of what he charged against David, it is certain that he would have betrayed his friend's cause, and though he would have been a friend to David, he would have been injurious to God. But David's cause was not so important or precious as God's cause; and so Jonathan rightly pleads David's cause before his father in such a way that it rests most firmly on right and justice. Therefore whenever we wish to help with our authority those who are oppressed by unjust judgments and sentences, let us know that we must consider not only their persons so as to preserve their lives, but above all their cause, which we ought to defend with all our might — lest the same thing happen to us as to Pilate, who indeed wished to snatch Christ from the hands of the Jews who were seeking his death, but only after inflicting public disgrace upon him. But such dissimulation cannot please God; therefore, when striving for the advantage and benefit of friends and neighbors, we must take care not to allow them to be disgraced, and not to betray the justice of their cause under the pretext of preserving their lives, or to trample it underfoot, approving the lies and iniquity of the wicked as if by our own vote. But the very words of Jonathan are worthy of more careful examination: 'Jonathan spoke good things of David to Saul his father, and said to him: Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and his works are very good toward you.' Since, says Jonathan, David has not wronged the king in anything, Saul acts all the more unjustly in persecuting him. Jonathan therefore reproaches his father for his ungrateful spirit, for he not only recounts David's good deeds but also says that David has not sinned against the king. Nor indeed could Saul have been excused before God even if he had avenged some private injury by David's death. For God's law was already written, and indeed nature itself has inscribed in men's hearts that evil should not be repaid for good; therefore not even with nature itself as teacher was it lawful for Saul to take vengeance on David. And Jonathan did not wish to exempt his father from divine retribution if he should avenge himself on David for having been injured; but he makes the sin graver and increases the crime when he says that David has in no way sinned against Saul. For it is repugnant to nature itself to seek the destruction of one from whom you have received a benefit. Jonathan's frankness is indeed praiseworthy, freely condemning his father's fault and commemorating David's good deeds toward his father. For, he says, 'he has in no way sinned against you, and his works are very good toward you.' Therefore the utmost ingratitude appears here joined with the utmost malice. For it is inhuman to attack and treat contemptuously one from whom you have received no harm; how much more cruel and monstrous, then, to pursue with hatred and plot against the life of one to whom you are bound by many benefits, and whose singular devotion and many good deeds toward you are evident? Truly such men are worse than brute animals themselves. For even a dog recognizes the one from whom it has received a piece of bread, and even lions become tame and are domesticated, as is evident from many stories of the pagans. In short, we see that brute animals recognize their masters and benefactors. Infants before they reach childhood recognize their nurses, from whom they draw life, and in whose breasts they place their security. But those whom God has endowed with sense and reason, which cannot be expelled by any force — since the very sense of conscience burns within and compels them to acknowledge those from whom they have received benefits — must they not be more than savage and barbarous if, having received benefits from someone to whom we owe our life and who has devoted himself to our advantage, we strive by wicked arts to take away his life? With these arguments Jonathan constrains his father, and a king at that; and he presses further when he adds, 'and you saw it and rejoiced.' It often happens indeed that we receive some benefit from someone, about which the matter is not certain; but when a recognized benefit is nonetheless disregarded and neglected, our malice is all the greater and deserves greater condemnation. That circumstance is therefore noteworthy when Jonathan, anticipating his father, says: 'You cannot pretend any ignorance, nor do you need any inquiry; you yourself saw David's spirit, you rejoiced in his good deeds, and therefore you are not ignorant how much you owe to him whose death you seek. His benefits toward the people were supreme, his benefits toward you supreme, when he rescued both you and the people from the hands of enemies; you surely owe him your crown, without whose help we had fallen into the power of the enemy. There is no need of witnesses, nor of any inquiry — you yourself are a sufficient witness; you rejoiced in his valor.' Now that joy of Saul flowed from a natural affection, because God had taken pity on the king and the people; therefore, since he was now the mortal enemy of the one who had been the cause of such great joy for him, who would not rightly regard him as a monster? Surely fire and water will sooner be reconciled than those two such contrary affections. For one who has been blessed by benefits from someone, unless he has cast off all natural feeling and reason, at least honors him with respect, and at least holds in his heart the gratitude he cannot repay. Therefore Saul is desperate and utterly insane, since he converts the occasion of joy that was offered to him into hatred, and pursues the author of that joy worse than a serpent, and seeks his utter destruction. For this reason Jonathan's integrity and generosity are most highly to be commended, because he did not dissemble his father's faults but openly revealed to him his disgrace.

And indeed he looked further still — namely, that his father's business was not merely with David, or with a mortal creature, but with the living God himself. It was much to have reproached his father with cruelty and ingratitude, as we saw before, but Jonathan so exaggerates David's benefits that he wishes his father to rise up to God himself, when he says, 'and the Lord wrought a great salvation for all Israel.' Would you then undo the hand of God? For what else is David but the hand of God, through whom he worked, and whom you nonetheless persecute? See therefore with whom you have to deal, and against whom you declare war. Truly among men themselves you will be heard as perfidious and ungrateful, and indeed so that no one will trust you any longer, but the whole people will abominate you and say: Are you not injurious and insulting to God? For what else is David but the image of God's presence? Will you then oppress an innocent man, and against God's will — whom you cannot dethrone from his seat — will you slaughter the one whose ministry he has used? Him, I say, whose memory ought to endure forever, because by his hand we were delivered from imminent danger? Therefore Jonathan rightly concludes: 'Beware then of sinning against innocent blood by killing David, who is without guilt.' These things therefore Jonathan brought forth before his father, which the Holy Spirit wished to be committed to writing, so that we may draw useful doctrine from them, and each of us apply these admonitions and exhortations to ourselves. Therefore if we afflict with violence and injuries those from whom we have suffered no wrong, it is certain that we will sin with inexcusable malice. Even if we are not entirely free from blame, when some appearance of an injury done to us needing to be avenged presents itself — since God will one day punish those who strive to repel force with force and repay evil with evil — although the papists have gone so far in impudence as to teach that it is a difficult and arduous thing to forget injuries and to do good to our enemies, and that therefore that admonition is a counsel for attaining perfection, not an express divine command: thus they have dared to blaspheme against God. Truly such quibbles and evasions will not help them before God, who commands us to fight against ourselves; and when we feel a struggle within us and resistance against God's commands, to call upon him to tear from our hearts all enmity, vengeance, and appetite for revenge, and to pour in a spirit of gentleness and meekness. But especially if some desire to harm the innocent has seized our mind, let us recall this teaching to memory; and let us not only be grateful for benefits received but also repay them. For no vice is more detestable among men than ingratitude — concerning which the pagans themselves said it was unnecessary to establish laws, since it is sufficiently inscribed by nature in everyone's mind that gratitude should be returned for benefits received, and no one can pretend any ignorance; and therefore there is no need for any laws or exhortations to compel men to their duty. Nevertheless that vice of ingratitude is all too common and has struck roots all too deep in our hearts, until God eradicates it completely and cleanses us from it. Therefore let us diligently meditate upon the sentence uttered through Jonathan's mouth: and if we are bound to love even those to whom we are tied by no benefits, much more should we remember that those who have bound us to themselves by many benefits are to be loved; and let us give them no occasion to complain about us, as if we had lightly passed over their good deeds toward us and neglected them with an ungrateful spirit. Above all, therefore, let us fix this principle more deeply in our minds: if we have been ungrateful toward men — even though they remain peaceful and calm, not seeking vengeance, and not ceasing to do us good — we will one day give account to God, against whom we wage war, and we will have a most powerful adversary when we are injurious to his creatures; since whatever gifts come from men have first emanated from God. Therefore if someone has brought help and assistance in difficult and uncertain matters, let us recognize him as God's instrument and minister, and ascribe the benefit to God himself; and on the contrary, if we have been ungrateful toward our benefactors, let us not be ignorant that God himself is offended by our ingratitude. These things indeed must be carefully meditated upon by us, and we must also hold that those who repay good with evil will one day give account to God, who will take up their cause and treat as guilty of offending his majesty those who are willingly ungrateful toward men who will seem to have provoked God himself. Moreover, just as we ought to hear the precepts of Jonathan as a faithful teacher, so it is fitting that we follow him also as an example, in reproving and rebuking those whom we see rushing headlong into evil, as fury ought to be checked according to the occasions that are offered by God. Therefore we must diligently heed what Paul admonishes: that we should not consent to envy, hatred, enmity, and other such vices, but also that we should reprove the works of injustice — which teaching is not the peculiar duty of one or another believer alone, but is common to all. Therefore if we wish to fulfill our duty toward God, when we see someone being entrapped by fraud, when we see treacheries, when we observe signs of cruelty and savagery directed against someone, it is our duty to resist such plans with all our might, and not only to admonish privately but to reprove sinners publicly, and as faithful defenders of God to uphold and defend right and justice. For it is certain that if by our silence we betray the cause of the innocent, and if when God has given us the ability to resist the wicked plans and violence of the ungodly we fail to do so with all our might, we will be counted among the wicked by the Lord, and there will be no room for excuse before him, from being judged to have consented to evil. And for this reason the prophet Jeremiah once lamented, deploring the corruption of his times, that no one could be found who would take up the cause of truth, that all were blind and mute. By these words he teaches that those sin with intolerable sloth who, when they have the ability and opportunity to resist the wicked, nevertheless dissemble and turn their eyes away and stop their ears, lest they seem to have seen or heard.

Moreover, something more is to be observed in Jonathan's deed. For by accusing his father's malice, he seemed also to provoke him to anger, and by this means not only not to promote David's safety but to throw himself into open danger. Nevertheless these things did not hinder Jonathan from freely pleading the cause of an innocent and just man before his father. And this we ought to imitate: and therefore, although many things can deter us from our duty — namely, fear of imminent danger, or of offending those who hold great authority — nevertheless we must proceed in our duty with a willing spirit, and cast far from us such thoughts as prevent us from defending the cause of the wretched. Rather let us hear God demanding what the duties of our office require, and let us commit ourselves entirely to him, not doubting that he will help the struggling at the opportune time and protect them against injuries. Let Jonathan be an example of this: that God never forsakes those who walk sincerely and candidly before him. For what, I ask, prevented Saul from becoming angry against his son Jonathan? Could not Saul have repelled his son even with insult? 'Who are you to dare to reprove your father?' For the arrogance of fathers toward their children is well known, if the children dare to admonish them about anything. 'You,' they say, 'you abortive, will you reprove me? Will you give me counsel and teach me what I should do? It is rather my place to admonish and reprove you.' With these and similar words Saul could have rebuked Jonathan, and could have held up his royal power against him, so that royal majesty would be added to paternal authority — which Jonathan ought to have revered, and not so violated or made light of it, so that a son and subject would reprove his father and king as if an equal or companion. But God restrained Saul as if with certain chains and held him back, lest he boil over in anger and like a wild beast attack the one admonishing him. From this, therefore, let us learn to struggle against all difficulties, and let us not doubt that God will be present to help us when we have followed his word; and though we may have men as adversaries who by various arts deter us from our duty, bid us lose heart, and persecute us with the utmost force, yet relying on God let us patiently bear all injuries and await timely help. Indeed something more appears here: namely, that God makes room for his grace contrary to all human expectation, so that the labor of those who follow God is not in vain — which ought to serve as a spur to perform one's duty with a willing spirit for all whose service God wishes to use. For you often see many resisting, and making the stubbornness and arrogance of those they would reprove, or their own insignificance and ignorance, or the fear that they would labor in vain among the obstinate, their excuse, and thus as it were washing their hands, lest they seem to have sinned and departed from their duty. But this is a vain pretense and empty excuse, because such men do not realize that by departing from their duty they sin against God and as it were bring him disgrace and dishonor, since he commands them to stand for justice and righteousness, and to oppose all injustice and wrongdoing with all their strength, and to condemn wicked plans. Therefore, since God commands this, there should be no doubt that he will bless their obedience, and will either give ears to the deaf to accept admonitions, or repay a deserved reward, and consider our service pleasing and acceptable; or if we have to deal with savage men, he will tame them and make them gentle contrary to everyone's expectation. This is conspicuous in Jonathan's example, so that there can be no doubt that God accepts our obedience and blesses our labors when we have applied our effort to following what he has prescribed in his word without reluctance.

Since Saul obeyed Jonathan's warnings, let us recognize that we deserve a hundredfold heavier punishment from the Lord if we do not give place to admonitions but are obstinate. Indeed Saul did not always show himself compliant to those admonishing him well, as will appear later, and he persisted in his wicked course without reason and justice; nevertheless God wished him at this time to comply with his son's sound counsel, and to be an example for us to imitate. It was indeed a remarkable thing that a fanatic and furious man, arrogantly raging against God himself, foaming with wrath, full of malice and rebellion and eager for revenge, was nevertheless moved by his son's admonition and so bent that, reconciled to David, he ceased plotting his death. Therefore if Saul, so wicked and flagitious, nevertheless acquiesced in the admonition of his son Jonathan — although he was severely reproved by him and accused as ungrateful and a murderer, not indeed in so many words but with this meaning, supported by solid reasons — what do we think will happen to us, and what excuse shall we offer, if indeed we profess to be willing to be God's children and to worship and revere him, and yet cannot give place to admonitions, but gnash our teeth and go beyond the bounds of reason, stubbornly clinging to our wicked course and rushing headlong to worse? Surely it is certain that we will be far worse than Saul, and therefore our condition is to be pitied, since a dreadful punishment awaits those who will stubbornly defend their cause. Therefore whoever it may be who admonishes and reproves us, and whatever his condition, and even if he is distinguished by no authority, yet we must hold that the reproof comes from God, the author of truth; and if we reject it, it is certain that God is greatly offended.

And let this suffice concerning Saul, who, although he pursued David with the most bitter hatred even to death, nevertheless gave place to his son's sound counsels and admonitions, and, aroused by the stings of conscience, even affirms by oath that he will abstain from the planned murder and receive David back into favor — by which oath he wished in some way to bind himself and submit himself to God, and to renounce his cruelty and malice. For it is certain that by this oath Saul wished not only to assure Jonathan that he would desist from what he had begun, but also to testify that his sin displeased him and grieved him deeply, and that he wished to show himself obedient to God and to comply in all things. Therefore he voluntarily binds himself by oath, lest he be carried away by wicked desires and succumb to temptation, but that he might firmly resist them. He therefore binds himself by oath so that if he breaks faith, he may rightly be punished by God as impious and wicked. This oath therefore was therefore equivalent to a profession before God that he was renouncing his former vices, so as to devote himself entirely to the worship of God and to persevere in it with all his might — prepared, if he should do otherwise, to pay the deserved penalties for his crimes. And the purpose of this oath is apparent, since he had been deeply moved by Jonathan's words and aroused by the sense of sin and the very sting of conscience. But this feeling was not lasting, since shortly afterward he returned to his old ways. But let us recognize that God set him before us as an example, from which we might learn to be affected with shame for our sins when God sends monitors, and to put on a new mind, so that we not only condemn our sins but also detest and renounce them, and renounce all wicked desires, and so struggle against them that we prevail, until at last, subjected to God's will, we no longer resist his commands.

Now then, etc.

1. Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan loved David greatly. 2. Jonathan told David, 'My father Saul seeks to kill you. Please be on guard tomorrow morning and stay in a secret place and hide yourself.', 3. 'I will go out and stand beside my father in the field, and I will speak about you to my father. And whatever I see, I will tell you.' 4. Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul and said to him, 'Do not let the king sin against his servant David, since he has not sinned against you, and since his deeds have been very beneficial to you.' 5. 'For he took his life in his hand and struck the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great deliverance for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by putting David to death without cause?' 6. Saul listened to Jonathan's voice, and Saul swore, 'As the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death.' 7. Then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan told him all these words. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as he had been before.

Here we should first observe that the malice of the wicked and despisers of God grows with every passing day until it reaches the point of shameless desperation. And on the other side, God's children, delivered from one danger, fall into another, yet are always miraculously preserved by Him. This is clear from what is narrated here about Saul, who leaves no stone unturned in his effort to have David killed. Earlier he had hoped to destroy David in such a way that he would not appear to be involved. He expected David would never escape the hands of the Philistines, and so he himself would be beyond all suspicion. He could, as many do, have feigned mourning while concealing his greatest joy. But when Saul realized his traps had accomplished nothing and God had overturned his expectations, he now begins to rage openly, giving full rein to his fury, bringing out the cruelty he had long nursed within himself — urging his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David. His blindness and fanatical fury are unmistakable. If he had only sought David's death with Jonathan's help, or with three or four servants as accomplices, some sense of shame might have seemed to remain. But when he calls on all his household to take part in the murder, it is clear he has become utterly shameless — no longer able to hide what he is doing. He appears now completely desperate: savage and fierce, stripped of all human feeling and decency, fallen into such madness and stupor that he no longer fears God or men. He has no regard for his reputation, and does not shrink from being known as a murderer — indeed a treacherous murderer — of his own faithful servant. This confirms what I touched on before, plainly visible in Saul: the wicked eventually expose the malice and wickedness they have long concealed, and proceed to such madness and fury that they are no longer held back by any sense of shame or any distinction between good and evil. This deserves our most careful attention, since many sin more gravely in exactly this way. Take for example someone who sets his mind to theft. At first he would shrink from violence — content to take a purse, completely opposed to murder. But once the devil has invaded his mind, he hardens and agitates it, until at last with every restraint gone he is driven to any crime. Paul himself teaches this when he says that those whom God has cast into a reprobate mind become past feeling — they not only cast off all reverence and decency before men, but their consciences go dead. They are no longer held back by the fear of God, the only thing that can restrain men from rushing headlong into vice. And the more they sin, the more they provoke the wrath of the Lord

against themselves. This contempt for the Lord takes hold of the wicked who have hardened themselves for any crime. No one becomes thoroughly wicked overnight. So there is still hope for the person who is beginning to do evil — he may yet be held back. But the one who has grown used to evil receives from God a fitting recompense: God gives him over entirely to the devil. From that surrender comes complete contempt for God's name. Just as such wicked men are unmoved by the reverence of God and try with all their might to make His judgments meaningless — so before men they become like a brazen woman, having lost all shame. They are no longer affected by any distinction between good and evil. They want to confuse heaven with earth and throw the whole world into utter chaos. Since we see these things so frequently in the world, let us earnestly call on God not to forsake us and abandon us to ourselves. When we are tempted to evil — even when the vice still lies hidden in the deepest recesses of the heart — let God lance the abscess and drain the poison before it closes up inside and suffocates the very heart. When such examples are placed before us, let us be pierced to the core and turn to God with fervent prayer, that He not cast us into so deadly a fall. Moreover, since we see that men gradually withdraw from God and at last wander so far that they cannot find their way back — and since this evil has occupied men's minds in every age — let this not surprise us in our own time. We will see hypocrites displaying some appearance of goodness for a while, until at last God brings them out and places them on a kind of stage so that their shame becomes visible to all — indeed even to children. But this warns us with the greatest urgency to flee such contempt of God's name, lest we be found at last to have fallen even further than these men.

This is clear from the speech Saul made to his son Jonathan and all his servants — a speech by which he seemed to voluntarily seek his own disgrace and permanent infamy. He openly exposed his treachery, his hatred of David, and his extreme cruelty. From this let us learn what Paul warns: those who do not honor God as they ought are given over by Him to such blindness and confusion that they do not even protect their own reputation — they voluntarily expose themselves to the mockery of all. This is how God is accustomed to punish those who despise His majesty. He reveals Himself to us for this purpose: that we may obey Him and render the reverence He is due. And we should know that we were created by Him for this very end — that He may be glorified in us. So let us learn to dedicate ourselves wholly to Him — body and soul — in complete sincerity. For if it should happen to us that we rush headlong into any crime and come to such impiety that we strive to despise God's name and profane His glory, it is certain He has many ways of avenging Himself. He will cast us into such great blindness that we will neglect to preserve our own reputation among men — which goes against all natural instinct. Everyone knows that men conceal their disgrace as much as they can and want their reputation to be sound and inviolate among all. But those whom God has cast into a reprobate mind are held back by no shame, no self-regard. They seem almost to advertise their shame before all by design — publicly proclaiming their cruelty, treachery, and crimes. If we are wise, then, and do not wish to fall into such things, let us learn to worship and reverence God and give ourselves to Him completely in honesty and simplicity. For the word of the Lord through the prophet is true, which we heard above: 'Those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise and make little of Me I will cover with ignominy and disgrace' — a truth that experience itself confirms.

God's children must not promise themselves complete peace and rest in this world. On the contrary, they should expect perpetual war and struggle as long as they live — one hardship following another, wave after wave, so that they drag out their lives in this world through a thousand mortal dangers. Not all, however, face the same degree of difficulty. Not everyone is tested with the kind of hardships we see in David. God spares His own according to their weakness. But since David was a figure of our Lord Jesus Christ, he is set before us as an example to which we should conform ourselves. It is well known that our Lord Jesus Christ is the pattern for all the faithful — as Paul declares in Romans 8, where he calls the faithful to patience by setting before them the example of our head Jesus Christ, who placed Himself before us as an example that all should imitate, and not seek a better condition than was His. Paul therefore teaches us to follow Christ, and David is set before us as a concrete example of that same principle to be imitated. When God helped David through such varied and intense trials and freed him from dangers, we are reminded that we must pass through fire and water — as the prophet says in Psalm 66 — that is, however hard things may be, we must endure them. We must wrestle with many difficulties and afflictions and not expect rest as long as we live on earth, as though after one or two struggles we could be at peace. New difficulties and temptations are always to be expected, by which God tests the faith and patience of His own. So we see David nearly in the jaws of death when Saul hurled the spear at him that stuck in the wall. Then, having escaped that great danger, he was sent against the Philistines to be consumed by their weapons. Although those dangers were grievous and seemed to show that God had cast off all care for him, in reality God was showing that David's life and safety mattered to Him — protecting him through all those dangers and at last returning him safe and sound. Now therefore let us look at Saul's fury as he drops all pretense, rages openly, and publicly declares the hatred against David that he had previously kept in his heart — summoning enemies against him as if by a signal. So if God has exercised us with various trials, let us not lose heart. Let us not be so faint and soft that after one or two battles we want, like veterans, to be discharged from duty. Let us know instead that this present life is compared not only to a race that must be run to the finish, but to a continuous war that will not end while we live. With eyes lifted to heaven and our anchor cast there, let us await the end of our labors and our rest. God does sometimes grant us seasons of respite on this earth — but only so that we may renew our strength, approach the next battle with greater eagerness, and be ready to follow God wherever He calls.

Saul's behavior also makes clear that men are not to be greatly trusted — since most prove both inconstant and treacherous, even when they show and display friendship. We see that David, whom Saul had formerly held in high honor and whose servants had loved and respected him, has now become the target of Saul and those very servants. They are conspiring together for his murder, and not one of them opens his mouth to defend him. Only Jonathan, Saul's son, dares to stand up for the cause of this innocent and endangered man and to maintain his own faithfulness and nobility of character. This confirms what I said before: not all men are to be trusted. David himself, taught by experience, says as much: 'Do not trust in men, in whom there is no faithfulness.' David's experience also teaches us not to trust in those who smile on us when things are going well but desert us in difficult and uncertain times — which happens all too often. Instead, let us place all our hope in God. If He has once received us into His protection and care, let us not doubt that He Himself will raise up friends for us in uncertain times — friends who will defend our innocence and come to our aid. Just as He raised up Jonathan as a defender for David. Jonathan put himself in great danger when he dared to plead David's cause before his father. He could see that his father was seized by fury at intervals and would foam out his rage like a madman. So when he dared to place the shame of the deed before Saul's eyes and rebuke his own father, there is no doubt he was risking his life — and was accordingly helped by God's special grace and strengthened by His Holy Spirit. We ought to imitate this example. Resting on God's help, let us not shrink from any danger — showing God this honor: that we commit our lives to Him, whose proper work it is to defend them. He defends them not only by His own direct power, but also by raising up people and instruments through whom He helps us, as He sees fit. And to those He has raised up, if they are daunted by the magnitude of the dangers, He supplies both courage and strength to overcome every difficulty and never abandon us — even at the risk of their own lives. This is what we must observe in the fact that Jonathan alone dared to defend David's innocence before his father.

We should further note that Jonathan does not plead David's cause as a suppliant begging for mercy — he gravely defends David's innocence and accuses his own father of cruelty, ingratitude, and malice. Great, then, was Jonathan's faithfulness and honest candor. If he had merely gone as a suppliant to his father and tried to reconcile him to David in the ordinary way — begging for his life, yielding to the father's will, going with the wind — and if, like courtiers who soothe the ears of kings with flattery and calm angry men by conceding that the accused is somewhat guilty but deserving of mercy — if Jonathan had done any of that, he would have failed David entirely. There was nothing of that sort in Jonathan. God so directed him by His Holy Spirit that he performed the office of a truly faithful friend. It would not have been enough for David merely to have his life spared. If disgrace and shame had been piled on him, the man who deserved to be honored with the highest honors would have been treated as a criminal. For woe, says the prophet, to those who call good evil and evil good, and who turn light into darkness. If Jonathan had only tried to preserve David's life and had flattered his father Saul by conceding part of what Saul charged against David, he would have betrayed his friend's cause. He would have been a friend to David in name but actually harmful to God. But David's cause was even more important than David himself — it was God's cause. So Jonathan rightly pleaded David's case before his father in a way that rested firmly on justice and right. Whenever we wish to use our influence to help those who are oppressed by unjust judgments, let us understand that we must not only consider their personal welfare and safety, but above all their cause — which we must defend with all our strength. Otherwise we will end up like Pilate, who wanted to save Christ from the Jews who sought His death, but did so only after publicly disgracing Him. Such dissembling cannot please God. So when we work for the good of friends and neighbors, we must take care not to allow their honor to be stripped away — not to betray the justice of their cause under the pretext of preserving their lives, not to trample justice underfoot by approving the lies and iniquity of the wicked as though we were casting our own vote for them. The very words of Jonathan deserve careful attention: 'Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul and said to him: Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and his works have been very good toward you.' Since David has done the king no wrong, Jonathan says, Saul acts all the more unjustly in persecuting him. Jonathan therefore rebukes his father for his ingratitude — not only recounting David's good deeds but also pointing out that David has not sinned against the king. Nor could Saul have been excused before God even if he were taking vengeance for some real injury from David. God's law was already written, and nature itself has engraved in men's hearts that evil should not be repaid for good — so even by nature's own teaching it was unlawful for Saul to take vengeance on David. Jonathan did not intend to excuse his father from divine punishment if he were avenging a genuine injury. He was making the sin heavier and the crime greater by saying that David had done Saul absolutely no wrong. For it goes against nature itself to seek the destruction of someone from whom you have received a benefit. Jonathan's honesty is commendable — he freely condemned his father's fault and recalled David's good deeds toward him. 'He has in no way sinned against you,' he says, 'and his works have been very good toward you.' So the height of ingratitude is joined here with the height of malice. It is inhuman to attack and treat with contempt someone who has done you no harm. How much more cruel and monstrous, then, to pursue with hatred and plot against the life of someone to whom you are bound by many benefits — whose singular devotion and outstanding service are clearly visible? Truly, such men are worse than brute animals. Even a dog recognizes the hand that fed it. Even lions are tamed and become domesticated, as many pagan stories show. Brute animals recognize their masters and benefactors. Infants before they even reach childhood recognize the nurses who give them life and in whose care they find security. But those whom God has given sense and reason — a conscience that burns within them and compels them to acknowledge those from whom they have received benefits — must they not be more than savage and barbarous if, having received benefits from someone to whom they owe their very life, they strive by wicked schemes to take that life? With these arguments Jonathan pressed his father — a king, no less. And he pressed further: 'And you saw it and rejoiced.' It often happens that someone receives a benefit without being entirely sure of it. But when a clear and recognized benefit is still disregarded and neglected, the malice is all the greater and deserves heavier condemnation. That is why Jonathan's added point is so telling: 'You cannot plead ignorance. You do not need witnesses. You yourself saw David's valor. You rejoiced in his good deeds. You know very well how much you owe to the man whose death you seek.' 'His service to the people was immense, his service to you was immense — when he rescued both you and the people from the hands of enemies. You owe him your crown. Without his help we would have fallen into the power of the enemy. No witnesses are needed, no inquiry is required — you yourself are a sufficient witness. You rejoiced in his valor.' Now that joy of Saul came from a natural affection — because God had shown pity on the king and the people. Yet he is now the mortal enemy of the man who was the source of that great joy. Who would not rightly regard him as a monster? Fire and water would sooner be reconciled than those two such contrary affections. One who has been greatly benefited by someone — unless he has thrown off all natural feeling and reason — at the very least honors that person with respect, and at the very least holds gratitude in his heart even if he cannot repay it. So Saul is desperate and utterly mad — taking the very occasion of joy given to him and turning it into hatred, pursuing the author of that joy worse than a serpent, and working toward his complete destruction. For all these reasons Jonathan's integrity and generosity deserve the highest praise: he did not conceal his father's faults but openly confronted him with his own disgrace.

Jonathan looked further still: he wanted his father to understand that his quarrel was not merely with David, or with a mortal man, but with the living God Himself. It was already a great thing to have reproached his father with cruelty and ingratitude, as we saw. But Jonathan presses the point even further, magnifying David's service until it reaches up to God Himself, when he says: 'And the Lord brought about a great deliverance for all Israel.' 'Would you then undo the hand of God? What is David but the hand of God, through whom He worked — and whom you nonetheless are persecuting?' 'See therefore with whom you are dealing and against whom you are declaring war.' 'Even among men you will be seen as treacherous and ungrateful — no one will trust you again. The whole people will regard you with horror and say: Are you not insulting God? What is David but the visible expression of God's work? Will you oppress an innocent man and, against the will of God — whom you cannot dethrone — will you kill the one whose service He used? The one whose memory should endure forever, because by his hand we were delivered from imminent destruction?' Jonathan therefore rightly concludes: 'Beware of sinning against innocent blood by killing David, who is without fault.' These are the things Jonathan brought before his father, and the Holy Spirit wished them recorded so that we might draw useful teaching from them — and each of us apply these admonitions and exhortations to ourselves. So if we afflict with violence and harm those from whom we have suffered no wrong, we will certainly sin with inexcusable malice. Even if we are not entirely free from blame — when some appearance of an injury calls out for vengeance — God will one day punish those who strive to repay force with force and evil with evil. The papists have been so bold as to teach that forgetting injuries and doing good to enemies is a difficult and ambitious achievement, a counsel for those seeking perfection — not a direct command of God. That is sheer blasphemy. Such evasions will profit nothing before God, who commands us to fight against ourselves. When we feel a struggle within and resistance against God's commands, let us call on Him to tear out of our hearts all enmity, all desire for revenge, and to pour in a spirit of gentleness and meekness. And especially if any desire to harm the innocent has seized our minds, let us recall this teaching. Let us not only be grateful for benefits received but actually repay them. No vice is more detestable among men than ingratitude. The pagans themselves said there was no need to establish laws against it — nature has written gratitude in everyone's mind clearly enough that no one can plead ignorance, and therefore no external laws or exhortations ought to be needed to bring men to their duty. Yet that vice of ingratitude is all too common and has sunk all too deep into our hearts — until God eradicates it completely and cleanses us of it. So let us meditate diligently on the lesson spoken through Jonathan's mouth. If we are bound to love even those to whom we owe nothing, how much more ought we to remember and honor those who have bound us to themselves by many benefits — and give them no cause to complain that we have brushed off their kindness with an ungrateful spirit. Above all, let us fix this principle deeply in our minds: if we have been ungrateful toward men — even when they remain peaceful and keep doing us good without seeking vengeance — we will one day give account to God. We will have a most powerful adversary when we injure His creatures, since every gift that comes through men flows first from God. So if someone has helped us in difficult and uncertain times, let us recognize him as God's instrument and minister and ascribe the benefit to God Himself. And on the contrary, if we have been ungrateful toward our benefactors, let us not be ignorant that God Himself is offended by our ingratitude. These are things we must think about carefully. And we must hold this: those who repay good with evil will one day give account to God, who will take up their cause and treat as guilty of offending His majesty all those who are willingly ungrateful toward men — for by their ingratitude they seem to have provoked God Himself. Moreover, just as we should hear Jonathan's words as a faithful teacher, so we should also follow him as an example in rebuking those we see rushing headlong into evil — fury must be checked by the occasions God provides. So we must carefully heed Paul's warning: we should not consent to envy, hatred, enmity, and such vices — but we must also expose and rebuke works of injustice. This is not the special duty of a few believers but is common to all. So if we wish to fulfill our duty toward God: when we see someone being trapped by fraud, when we see treachery being laid, when we observe signs of cruelty and savagery being directed against someone — it is our duty to resist such plans with all our strength. Not only to admonish privately but to rebuke sinners publicly, and as faithful defenders of God to uphold and defend right and justice. For it is certain that if we betray the cause of the innocent by our silence — if God has given us the ability to resist the wicked plans and violence of the ungodly and we fail to use that ability — we will be counted among the wicked by the Lord, and we will have no excuse for having consented to evil. For this reason the prophet Jeremiah once lamented, mourning the corruption of his times, that no one could be found to take up the cause of truth — all were blind and mute. By these words he teaches that those who have the ability and the opportunity to resist the wicked, but instead look the other way and stop their ears lest they seem to have seen or heard anything — they sin with an intolerable laziness.

There is something more to observe in Jonathan's action. By accusing his father's malice openly, Jonathan seemed to be provoking his anger — and by doing so, not only failing to help David's safety but throwing himself into open danger. Yet none of this deterred Jonathan from freely pleading the cause of an innocent man before his father. We ought to imitate this. Many things can deter us from our duty — fear of imminent danger, or fear of offending those in authority. Nevertheless, we must press on in our duty with a willing spirit, pushing aside the thoughts that prevent us from defending the cause of the vulnerable. Let us rather hear God calling us to what the duties of our office require, and commit ourselves entirely to Him, not doubting that He will help those who struggle and protect them against harm at the right moment. Let Jonathan be our example here: God never forsakes those who walk sincerely and honestly before Him. What prevented Saul from turning his anger on his own son Jonathan? Could he not have brushed Jonathan off with insults? 'Who are you to dare reprove your father?' Fathers' arrogance toward their children when children presume to correct them is well known. 'You, you little upstart — will you reprove me? Will you give me counsel and tell me what to do? It is my place to admonish and reprove you.' With such words Saul could have put Jonathan in his place, adding his royal authority on top of his paternal authority — an authority Jonathan ought to have respected, not treated so lightly as to rebuke his own father and king as though he were an equal. But God restrained Saul as if with chains and held him back, so that he did not boil over with anger and attack the one rebuking him like a wild beast. From this, then, let us learn to press on against all obstacles, and not doubt that God will be present to help us when we have followed His Word. Even if men stand against us — deterring us from duty by various arts, telling us to give up, persecuting us with great force — let us rest on God, patiently bear all injuries, and wait for help at the right time. And there is something more here: God makes room for His grace contrary to all human expectation, so that the labor of those who follow God is never wasted. This ought to spur everyone whose service God wishes to use to perform their duty with a willing spirit. You often see many people making excuses — citing the stubbornness of those they would rebuke, or their own insignificance, or the fear that laboring among the obstinate would be useless — and so washing their hands of the matter, as if they could not be held responsible. But that is a vain pretense and an empty excuse. Such people do not realize that by abandoning their duty they sin against God and in a sense dishonor Him — since He commands them to stand for justice and righteousness, to oppose all injustice with their full strength, and to condemn wicked plans. Since God commands this, we should have no doubt that He will bless our obedience — either by opening the ears of the stubborn to receive correction, or by rewarding our service as pleasing and acceptable to Him, or if we are dealing with savage men, by taming them and making them gentle contrary to everyone's expectation. Jonathan's example makes this unmistakably clear: there can be no doubt that God accepts our obedience and blesses our labors when we have applied our effort, without reluctance, to following what He has prescribed in His Word.

Since Saul obeyed Jonathan's warning, let us recognize that we deserve a far heavier punishment from the Lord if we refuse to receive admonitions and remain stubborn. Saul did not always respond well to correction — as we will see later, he persisted in his wicked course without reason or justice. But God chose to use this moment as an example for us — causing even this fanatic, furious man to yield. It was truly remarkable: a man who raged arrogantly against God, foaming with wrath, full of malice and rebelliousness and hungry for revenge, was yet moved by his own son's admonition and so softened that, reconciled to David, he stopped plotting his death. So if Saul — so wicked and depraved — could still yield to his son Jonathan's correction, though Jonathan rebuked him sharply and accused him of ingratitude and murder, not in so many words but by clear implication and solid arguments — what excuse will we offer, we who claim to be God's children and to worship and reverence Him, if we cannot receive correction but gnash our teeth and go beyond all reason, stubbornly clinging to our wicked course and plunging headlong into worse? We will certainly be far worse than Saul, and our condition is to be pitied — for a dreadful punishment awaits those who stubbornly defend their own cause. So whoever may admonish and correct us, and whatever that person's standing — even if he carries no great authority — let us hold that the reproof comes from God, the author of truth. If we reject it, God is greatly offended.

Let this be enough on Saul, who — though he was pursuing David with the most bitter, murderous hatred — still gave way to his son's sound counsel and admonitions, and, stung by conscience, even swore an oath that he would abandon the planned murder and restore David to favor. By this oath he was in some way seeking to bind himself to God and to renounce his cruelty and malice. By this oath Saul wanted not only to assure Jonathan that he would stop what he had started, but also to testify that his sin displeased him deeply and grieved him — that he wished to show himself obedient to God and to comply with His will in all things. So he voluntarily bound himself by oath, lest he be carried away by wicked desires and yield to temptation — intending to resist them firmly. By binding himself with an oath, he was saying: if he broke faith, God would rightly punish him as impious and wicked. The oath was therefore a kind of profession before God — renouncing his former vices and committing to devote himself entirely to God's worship and persevere in it with all his strength — prepared, if he should do otherwise, to pay the deserved penalties for his crimes. The sincerity behind this oath is apparent: Jonathan's words had moved him deeply, and he was aroused by the sense of his sin and the sting of conscience. But the feeling did not last. Shortly afterward he returned to his old ways. Nevertheless, let us recognize that God set him before us as an example — so that we might learn, when God sends us those who correct us, to be moved by shame for our sins, and to put on a new mind. Not only to condemn our sins, but to detest and renounce them, to renounce all wicked desires, and to struggle against them so that we prevail — until at last, brought under God's will, we no longer resist His commands.

Now then, etc.