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1 Samuel
Chapter Six
1 Samuel 6
Chapter Contents
The Philistines consult how to send back the ark. (1-9)
They bring it to Bethshemesh. (10-18) The people smitten for looking into the
ark. (19-21)
Commentary on 1 Samuel 6:1-9
(Read 1 Samuel 6:1-9)
Seven months the Philistines were punished with the presence
of the ark; so long it was a plague to them, because they would not send it
home sooner. Sinners lengthen out their own miseries by refusing to part with
their sins. The Israelites made no effort to recover the ark. Alas! where shall
we find concern for religion prevail above all other matters? In times of
public calamity we fear for ourselves, for our families, and for our country;
but who cares for the ark of God? We are favoured with the gospel, but it is
treated with neglect or contempt. We need not wonder if it should be taken from
us; to many persons this, though the heavies of calamities, would occasion no
grief. There are multitudes whom any profession would please as well as that of
Christianity. But there are those who value the house, the word, and the
ministry of God above their richest possessions, who dread the loss of these
blessings more than death. How willing bad men are to shift off their
convictions, and when they are in trouble, to believe it is a chance that
happens; and that the rod has no voice which they should hear or heed!
Commentary on 1 Samuel 6:10-18
(Read 1 Samuel 6:10-18)
These two kine knew their owner, their great Owner, whom
Hophin and Phinehas knew not. God's providence takes notice even of brute
creatures, and serves its own purposes by them. When the reapers saw the ark,
they rejoiced; their joy for that was greater than the joy of harvest. The
return of the ark, and the revival of holy ordinances, after days of restraint
and trouble, are matters of great joy.
Commentary on 1 Samuel 6:19-21
(Read 1 Samuel 6:19-21)
It is a great affront to God, for vain men to pry into,
and meddle with the secret things which belong not to them, Deuteronomy 29:29; Colossians 2:18. Man was
ruined by desiring forbidden knowledge. God will not suffer his ark to be
profaned. Be not deceived, God is not mocked. Those that will not fear his
goodness, and reverently use the tokens of his grace, shall be made to feel his
justice. The number smitten is expressed in an unusual manner in the original,
and it is probable that it means 1170. They desire to be rid of the ark.
Foolish men run from one extreme to the other. They should rather have asked,
How may we have peace with God, and recover his favor? Micah 6:6,7. Thus, when the word of God works
with terror on sinners' consciences, they, instead of taking the blame and
shame to themselves, quarrel with the word, and put that from them. Many stifle
their convictions, and put salvation away from them.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on 1 Samuel》
1 Samuel 6
Verse 1
[1] And
the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months.
Seven months — So
long they kept it, as loath to lose so great a prize, and willing to try all
ways to keep it.
Verse 3
[3] And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not
empty; but in any wise return him a trespass offering: then ye shall be healed,
and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.
It shall be known —
You shall understand, what is hitherto doubtful, whether he was the author of
these calamities, and why they continued so long upon you.
Verse 4
[4] Then
said they, What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him?
They answered, Five golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to the
number of the lords of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on
your lords.
Emerods —
Figures representing the disease. These they offered not in contempt of God,
for they fought to gain his favour hereby; but in testimony of their
humiliation, that by leaving this monument of their own shame and misery, they
might obtain pity from God.
Mice —
Which marred their land by destroying the fruits thereof; as the other plague
afflicted their Bodies.
Verse 5
[5]
Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that
mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel: peradventure he
will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your
land.
Give glory —
The glory of his power in conquering you, who seemed to have conquered him; of
his justice in punishing you, and of his goodness if he relieve you.
Verse 6
[6] Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh
hardened their hearts? when he had wrought wonderfully among them, did they not
let the people go, and they departed?
Wherefore, … —
They express themselves thus, either because some opposed the sending home the
ark, though most had consented to it; or because they thought they would hardly
send it away in the manner prescribed, by giving glory to God, and taking shame
to themselves.
Verse 7
[7] Now
therefore make a new cart, and take two milch kine, on which there hath come no
yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them:
Milch kine, … — In
respect to the ark; and for the better discovery, because such untamed heifers
are apt to wander, and keep no certain and constant paths, as oxen accustomed
to the yoke do, and therefore were most unlikely to keep the direct road to
Israel's land.
From them —
Which would stir up natural affection in their dams, and cause them rather to
return home, than to go to a strange country.
Verse 9
[9] And
see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to Bethshemesh, then he hath
done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand
that smote us: it was a chance that happened to us.
His own coast — Or
Border, that is, the way that leadeth to his coast, or border, namely, the
country to which it belongs.
Then he, … —
Which they might well conclude, if such heifers should against their common
use, and natural instinct, go into a strange path, and regularly and constantly
proceed in it, without any man's conduct.
Verse 12
[12] And
the kine took the straight way to the way of Bethshemesh, and went along the
highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the
left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border of
Bethshemesh.
Beth-shemesh — A
city of the priests, who were by office to take care of it.
Loving —
Testifying at once both their natural and vehement inclination to their calves,
and the supernatural power which over-ruled them to a contrary course.
The lords went — To
prevent all imposture, and to get assurance of the truth of the event. All
which circumstances tended to the greater illustration of God's glory.
Verse 14
[14] And
the cart came into the field of Joshua, a Bethshemite, and stood there, where
there was a great stone: and they clave the wood of the cart, and offered the
kine a burnt offering unto the LORD.
They —
Not the lords of the Philistines, but the Beth-shemites, the priest that dwelt
there.
Offered the kine —
There may seem to he a double error in this act. First, that they offered
females for a burnt-offering, contrary to Leviticus 1:3. Secondly, that they did it in a
forbidden place, Deuteronomy 12:5,6. But this case being
extraordinary, may in some sort excuse it, if they did not proceed by ordinary
rules.
Verse 18
[18] And
the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines
belonging to the five lords, both of fenced cities, and of country villages,
even unto the great stone of Abel, whereon they set down the ark of the LORD:
which stone remaineth unto this day in the field of Joshua, the Bethshemite.
Villages —
This is added for explication of that foregoing phrase, all the cities; either
to shew, that under the name of the five cities were comprehended all the
villages and territories belonging to them, in whose name, and at whose charge
these presents were made; or to express the difference between this and the
former present, the emerods being only five, according to the five cities
mentioned, verse 17, because it may seem, the cities only, or
principally, were pestered with that disease; and the mice being many more
according to the number of all the cities, as is here expressed: the word city
being taken generally so, as to include not only fenced cities, but also the
country villages, and the fields belonging to them.
Abel — This
is mentioned as the utmost border of the Philistines territory, to which the
plague of mice extended. And this place is here called Abel, by anticipation
from the great mourning mentioned in the following verse. It is desirable, to
see the ark in its habitation, in all the circumstances of solemnity. But it is
better to have it on a great stone, and in the fields of the wood, than to be
without it. The intrinsic grandeur of divine ordinances ought not to be
diminished in our eyes, by the meanness and poverty of the place, where they
are administered.
Verse 19
[19] And
he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the
LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men:
and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a
great slaughter.
Had looked —
Having now an opportunity which they never yet had, it is not strange they had
a vehement curiosity to see the contents of the ark.
Of the people — In
and near Beth-shemesh and coming from all parts on this occasion.
Verse 20
[20] And
the men of Bethshemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God?
and to whom shall he go up from us?
Who is able, … —
That is, to minister before the ark where the Lord is present. Since God is so
severe to mark what is amiss in his servants, who is sufficient to serve him?
It seems to be a complaint, or expostulation with God, concerning this great
instance of his severity.
And to whom, … —
Who will dare to receive the ark with so much hazard to themselves. Thus when
the word of God works with terror on men's consciences, instead of taking the
blame to themselves, they frequently quarrel with the word, and endeavour to
put it from them.
Verse 21
[21] And
they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjathjearim, saying, The
Philistines have brought again the ark of the LORD; come ye down, and fetch it
up to you.
Kirjath-jearim —
Whither they sent, either because the place was not far off from them, and so
it might soon be removed: or because it was a place of eminency and strength,
and somewhat farther distant from the Philistines, where therefore it was
likely to be better preserved from any new attempts of the Philistines, and to
be better attended by the Israelites, who would more freely and frequently come
to it at such a place, than in Beth-shemesh, which was upon the border of their
enemies land.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on 1 Samuel》
06 Chapter 6
Verses 1-21
Verse 1
And the ark of God was in the country of the Philistines.
Terrible aspects of God’s character
At last the ark leaves the land of the Philistines. For seven
terrible months it had spread among them anxiety, terror, and death. Nothing
but utter ruin seemed likely to spring from a longer residence of the ark in
their territories. Glad were they to get rid of it, golden emerods, golden
mice, new cart, milch kine, and all. It is a solemn truth that there are
aspects of God’s character, aspects of the Saviour’s character, in which He is
only a terror and a trouble. These are the aspects in which God is seen opposed
to what men love and prize, tearing their treasures away from them, or tearing
them away from their treasures. It is an awful thing to know God in these
aspects alone. Yet it is the aspect in which God usually appears to the sinner.
It is the aspect in which our consciences present Him when we are conscious of
having incurred His displeasure. And while man remains a sinner and in love
with his sin he may try to disguise the solemn fact to his own mind, but it is
nevertheless true that his secret desire is to get rid of God. (W. G.
Blaikie, D. D.)
Verse 3
Send it not empty.
Superstition the ape of true devotion
These superstitious priests can counsel them not to send away the
ark of God empty, but to give it a sin offering. They had not lived so far away
from the smoke of Jewish altars, but that they knew God was accustomed to
manifold oblations. No Israelite could have said better; superstition is the ape
of true devotion, and if it look not to the ground of both many times it is
hard, by the very outward acts, to distinguish them. Nature itself teacheth us
that God loves a full hand. He that hath been so bountiful to us as to give us
all looks for a return of some offering from us. If we present Him with nothing
but our sins how can we look to be accepted? The sacrifices under the Gospel
are spiritual; with these must we come into the presence of God if we desire to
carry away remission and favour. (Bishop Hall.)
Verse 4
What shall be the trespass offering?
Offerings to the gods
The idea of presenting offerings to the gods corresponding with
the object in connection with which they were presented was often given effect
to by heathen nations. “Those saved from shipwreck offered pictures of the
shipwreck, or of the clothes which they had on at the time, in the Temple of
Isis; slaves and captives, in gratitude for the recovery of their liberty,
offered chains to the Lares, retired gladiators, their arms to Hercules; and in
the fifth century a custom prevailed among Christians of offering in their
churches gold or silver hands, feet, eyes, etc., in return for cures effected
in those members respectively in answer to prayer. This was probably a heathen
custom transferred into the Christian Church, for a similar usage is still
found among the heathen in India.” (Speaker’s Commentary.)
Verse 9
It was a chance that happened to us.
The ministry of chance
The world believes in chance, and without doubt there is some
ground for its belief, but whether that ground constitutes a real foundation we
may doubt. What does chance mean? It means that it is something which happens,
falls out, without being foreseen or intended. Nothing happens unforeseen by
the Great Mind that rules over all. All chance is “direction which thou canst
not see;” but though we do not see it the direction was not the less there.
1. The doctrine of chance has been applied to the formation of the
world. It has been said that the world is the result of the interaction of the
atoms through all the past Eternity, at last falling by chance into an orderly
arrangement. Let us suppose an immense number of alphabets were thrown
together--a sufficient number of them, for instance, to make up the Bible, say
a million of letters or so--and that someone were to be appointed to throw them
up every second through a hundred million of years, is there any likelihood
that they would come down once in such an order as to make the Bible, or a
single book of the Bible, or a single chapter of the Bible, or a single verse?
Neverse Yet that is just what Lucretius supposed to happen with the making of
the world from the interaction of the atoms. There must be intelligence; there
must be design to elicit that which we call the world. The Greek word which we
translate “world” signifies something arranged, something orderly, and hence
beautiful.
2. Tendencies, that is, laws, are capable of being observed and
provided for. And this is the great business of man, as Bacon observed, “Man
the minister and interpreter of nature, does and understands as much as his
observations on the order of nature, either with regard to things or the mind,
permit him, and neither knows nor is capable of more.” That is, he is to find
out just what order that is which God has given to nature, and guide himself
accordingly. If things were only to fall out by chance it would be utterly
impossible to foresee or to guide ourselves in view of any event. If we found
that the hard brick of today was soft as its original clay tomorrow, and that
without any perceptible reason; or the strong timber was attacked with a
weakness at varying and uncertain intervals; or that the slate which threw oft
the rain of yesterday was become a sieve to the torrent of today; or that the
window which was translucent had suddenly become opaque; if we could assign no reason
for these sudden changes, and all other things were alike in this, we should be
utterly incapable of any useful work. If the human mind were powerful enough to
take in and calculate all the various forces which enter into the movements of
each, it would be able to show the reasons for the slightest change in the
direction and force of the wind, of the smallest flock of the cloud, and of
every flash of the aurora of the north sky, and of every variation in the
health of the hypochondriac. It is yet possible that science may be able to
predict what was, in former days, only possible to prophecy.
3. But it may be asked, “What do you make of a miracle? Is not that
such a breach of the order and continuity of nature as would be equivalent to
the intrusion of chance?” We say no, for a miracle is only the operation of a
higher law--it is only the result of the influence of the Great Mechanic, who,
surely, should not be left out of our calculation of what is possible in this
complex world of ours. Science should modestly admit that there may be
direction which she cannot see--that there is a Providence “which shapes our
ends, rough hew them as we will”--that outside the framework of nature there is
an intelligent Mind, and that there may be reasons for its interference just as
strong as those which operate on the factory director to mend a broken wheel or
to reduce a too violent motion. This sphere, called in our imperfect vocabulary
that of miracle, is far removed from that of chance, where uncertainty, doubt, and
incapacity ever reign. But it may be suggested here that we should enter into
some inquiry about prayer, and about its power to resist the usual order of
nature, and thus, as it were, to set aside the government of law. Now, here I
would say that, in connection with prayer, we must bear in mind that with its
answer, in the Scriptures, the ministry of angels is closely associated.
Verily, it is a poor science which takes cognizance alone of the seen and
tangible, the weighable and measurable, while there are around us in the
ambient ether, or within us in the recesses of the mind, the ministering
spirits, “sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation.” But
it is to be observed, that whatever is done by these ministering spirits, is
done, not to the production of confusion in the world, but in entire accordance
with the lower laws which science observes. To our thought there can be no
disorder introduced, when the superior forces are taken into account. Let us
take the case of the resurrection of Christ. Science, which took no account of
the Spirit of holiness, no account of the Spirit of God with which He was
filled above measure, said it was not possible that He should rise again; but
the Apostle tells us, it was not possible that He should be holden of death.
God was in Him with such presence and power that death was overcome, and life,
violently taken away, was restored. Without the Divine power in Christ, the
scientific men of the day were perfectly right in assuming the impossibility of
the resurrection; but (and here is no chance, but the presence of mighty cause)
they were all astral in thinking that there was no resurrection for Him. It was
absolutely certain that He should rise again; there was a cause mightier than
death operating to His restoration. All this is certainly according to law, as
Paul says: “The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free
from the law of sin and death.” It may be observed that, at least, in those
cases which have been dwelt upon by pious persons as answers to prayers,
naturalists have invariably reasoned that the same results would have happened
without the intervention of prayer at all--which means that they, at least, did
not find that any disorder occurred by any power which prayer exercised. These
interventions in answer to prayer, by angelic agency or otherwise, seem to give
no reason to affirm that chance has any scope or play in the world. This being
understood, we may also say a word regarding the frequency of such spiritual
agency’s operations. Are they of frequent, or only of casual and fitful
occurrence? Were they confined to Palestine and prophetic periods, or are they
in operation at all times and spheres of the world? It reply, we say, without
doubt, they are always working as they are always living, and working according
to law, that is, according to the direction of God. But we may surely affirm
that they do not interfere with any law of nature, nor are they to be relied on
in answer to any prayer offered up to guard us against calamities which we
might have avoided, or which we have brought on ourselves by want of proper
foresight.
4. There being no such thing, then, as chance, and no violation of
the laws of matter by higher power, it is clearly our duty to know what those laws
are--especially those which regulate the business, trade, profession, or
calling of each. It may be that, after we have done our best, we shall still be
ignorant of many things which it greatly concerns us to know, our ignorance of
the same bringing to us loss, disaster, even death. But that we might, by
exercising foresight, avoid great calamities is certain. One-half, two-thirds,
three-fourths of the accidents that occur, destructive of life and limb, should
have been avoided. Why should scaffolds be continually falling, dashing human
beings to the earth shattered corpses, when a rope of sufficient thickness, or
a pole of sufficient firmness, would have prevented the catastrophe? Why should
the shop fall under its load, when a trifling bond would have hem its walls
perpendicular? Why should a house be burned, when a little care would have
cured a defective flue? Why should the ship sink in the ocean, when a good
lookout would have avoided collision with the iceberg or the other ship
crossing the course. Be it observed, not one of these nor similar accidents but
might have been foreseen and prevented. In every case the material employed
followed explicitly the laws of its own being. The falling scaffold, the
sinking building, the burning city, all took place according to law. When any
great disaster happens to a building, we cannot, on that account, say that
Heaven is enraged against it, or that it is a judgment on it for the
immoralities there nurtured. The judgment is against the folly, the perverseness,
the sin of imprudence, carelessness, want of foresight, or wickedness implied
in the faulty construction for the sake of gain. Say not that those on whom the
tower of Siloam fell were greater sinners than the others in Jerusalem on whom
no such judgment came. What we are concerned with is the vast importance of
prudence and care in regard to every building where human lives might, with
such provision, be imperilled.
5. But still there is one thought which it is important for us to
impress upon you. Place yourselves in no peril to which duty does not
call--nay, let us broaden the injunction, walk in no path to which duty does
not beckon the way, though absolutely safe. We have no promise that we shall
have safety save in the paths of right--nay, not even of bodily safety there.
Though the outer man perish the inner man will live unhurt amid the war of
elements, the wrack of matter, and the crash of worlds. (J. Bonnet, D. D.)
Verse 12
Lowing as they went.
The heart going toward heaven
How many, many times have men gone by their tears to the gate of
heaven who never could have been drawn there by the mere presentation of truth.
As the kine went lowing with the ark, so the heart goes lowing toward heaven,
seeking its own, and finding them, in hope, in imagination, and resting only
when by faith it is brought again consciously near to them in the kingdom of
the Eternal Father. (H. W. Beecher.)
Verse 13
And they of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the
valley.
The harvest field
The words of the text give a harvest scene.
I. Signs from God.
Every harvest scene is a new Divine revelation. Thousands of years have rolled
away since He promised that “while the earth remaineth, seed time and harvest
shall not fail.” In the fulfilment of that promise, how much of God is seen!
1. There is His goodness. Provision is made for man and beast.
2. There is His power.
3. There is His faithfulness.
4. There is His eternity.
He who fulfils today in fields of ripened corn a promise made
thousands of years ago, must be independent of the revolutions of times and
circumstances. It is said that Dr. Johnson took off his hat whenever he passed
a steeple. But he must have a dull soul who feels no reverence when walking
through ripened cornfields. In the harvest fields we see--
II. Life from
death. The grain which the sower dropped into the soil in spring underwent the
process of dissolution and death. For weeks it lay buried in the dust. All this
exuberance of the harvest field has come out of apparent death.
1. It symbolises spiritual labour. The true Christian teacher,
philanthropist, reformer, minister, like the husbandman, has his seed buried
for a time. However, though he dies, the seed lives, and will rise, grow, and
ripen to perfection.
2. This exuberance in the harvest field illustrates human life on
earth. The harvest field reminds us of the true education of man. Like the seed
sown, it is the bringing out of what is in the soul--the moral ego. Some
teachers speak of the mind as a vessel, some as a stone. And the idea is to
fill up the vessel, to polish the stone. But it is neither stone nor vessel; it
is a seed. You cannot fill it, you cannot polish it. You must bring it out. Man
at birth is sown into the earth, like seed, in two respects. The seed existed
before it was sown. Man existed before he was born into this world. The seed
required sowing in order for its development. Man required birth into this
world in order for the development of his powers. As a seed, man differs from
other germinant existences in two respects:--
III. Like from like.
Each seed has come forth in its own kind. Man reaps like what he sows.
1. It is thus in spiritual things.
2. It is thus in bodily development. In the harvest field we see--
IV. Much from
little. Each seed is multiplied, some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred fold.
So wondrously prolific is the seed that one single grain in the course of time
will cover continents. One thought has formed a character and one character has
changed the destiny of a nation. Much from little characterises all God’s
operations. In the harvest field we see--
V. Blessings from
labour. The crops would never have appeared had man not cultivated the soil and
sowed the precious grain. Every harvest field is a testimony to the importance
of human agency. In the harvest field we see--
VI. Maturity from
progress. From the commencement of germination, the seed went on until it
appeared in the multiplied grains of harvest. All things tend to ripeness:--
1. All things in nature.
2. All things in society.
3. All classes of character. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
Verse 19-20
And He smote the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had Looked into
the ark of the Lord.
Irreverent curiosity
The prying men of Beth-shemesh have had their counterparts many a
time in more recent days. Many men, with strong theological proclivities, have
evinced a strong desire to pry into the “secret things which belong to the Lord
our God.” Foreknowledge, election, free will, sin’s punishment--men have often
forgot that there is much in such subjects that exceeds the capacity of the
human mind, and that as God has shown reserve in what He has revealed about
them, so men ought to show a holy modesty in their manner of treating them. And
even in the handling of sacred things generally, in the way of theological
discussion, a want of reverence has very often been shown. It becomes us all
most carefully to beware of abusing the gracious condescension which God has
shown in His revelation, and in the use which He designs us to make of it. It
was an excellent rule a foreign theologian laid down for himself, to keep up
the spirit of reverence--never to speak of God without speaking to God. (W.
G. Blaikie, D. D.)
Uncurbed curiosity perilous
Men may soon be too bold with hidden mysteries; he that modestly
looks upon the sun, sees a glorious torch, and receives a comfortable light;
but he that fixeth his eyes too earnestly upon it, is struck blind, and because
he will see more than he should, comes in the end to see nothing at all. (T.
Adams.)
Dangerous prying into secret things
He that pryeth into every cloud may be stricken with a
thunderbolt. (Eliza Cook.)
The severity and mercy of God
The city of Beth-shemesh (which signifies the House of the Sun)
was now under such an eclipse and darkness, as peevishly to think that God was
over strict, laying the blame all upon God, and none upon their sins (1 Samuel 6:20), and therefore desire
to dismiss the ark as the cause of this rigour. David himself had something of
this sin (2 Samuel 6:8-9), and the Gadarins
much more (Matthew 8:54). God always shows most
severity in punishing His own people, especially in matters that immediately
concerned His worship, and men are not competent judges, because we understand
not the unsearchable reasons of His judgments. Who hath been God’s counsellor,
etc? (Romans 11:33-34), we ought not to search
into God’s secrets, which belong to Him only (Deuteronomy 29:29). It is as unmannerly a
trick to spy into another man’s house with his eyes, as to press into it with
his feet: How much more unlawful was this prying and peeping into the secrets
of God, so expressly against God’s Law? (Numbers 4:15; Numbers 4:18-20). As it is a learned
ignorance not to know what is unrevealed, so it is a sort of madness to pry
into them. It is a wonder that the Philistines were not all cut off (as the
Beth-shemites were here, 1 Samuel 6:19) when they first laid
their foul hands upon it, when they first took it captive; and now again, when
they carted the ark (though upon a new cart), seeing the Lord made a breach
upon David for his doing the very self-same thing (2 Samuel 6:8). No reason can be
rendered for this severity of God against His servants, and His indulgency
towards His enemies, but this, God confers greater privileges upon His own
people, and therefore if they transgress against all their light and love,
etc., He infers greater punishments upon them (Amos 3:2). David and the Beth-shemites
had the light of the law of God by them, and therefore sinned more against
knowledge than those poor blind ignorant Philistines could do: Therefore God
did not only spare them in carting His ark, but also condescended to work this
miracle for their conviction. (C. Ness.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》