F the twelve men whom Jesus chose to be His companions and heralds during the brief years of His earthly ministry, two alone can be said to have stamped upon the infant Church the impress of their own individuality. These two were John and Simon. Our Lord Himself, by the titles which He gave them, indicated the distinctions of their character, and the pre–eminence of their gifts. John was called a Son of Thunder; Simon was to be known to all ages as Kephas, or Peter, the Apostle of the Foundation stone.1 To Peter was granted the honour of authoritatively admitting the first uncircumcised Gentile, on equal terms, into the brotherhood of Christ, and he has ever been regarded as the main pillar of the early Church.2John, on the other hand, is the Apostle of Love, the favourite Apostle of the Mystic, the chosen Evangelist of those whose inward adoration rises above the level of outward forms. Peter as the first to recognise the Eternal Christ, John as the chosen friend of the living Jesus, are the two of that first order of Apostles whose names appear to human eyes to shine with the brightest lustre upon those twelve precious stones, which are the foundations of the New Jerusalem.1Yet there was another, to whom was entrusted a wider, a more fruitful, a more laborious mission; who was t

quered fortunes of David—His early prosperity as King—Hiscareer darkened—Uriah and Bathsheba—Joab's power over David—The birth of Solomon—Significance of David's remorse.FEW careers have been more chequered than that of David; few even of the lives recorded in the sacred volume are more deeply instructive. The ruddy shepherd-lad, who tended his few poor sheep in the wilderness, rapidly sprang into the great warrior, the darling and hero, the poet and ruler of his people. Gaining yearly as Saul lost, superseding even Jonathan in the favour of the multitude, he had been so openly regarded as the future wearer of the crown, that the king's jealousy drove him into outlawry, and repeatedly sought his life. Save from im- minent perils, and from incessant temptations to adopt a career of crime, he had shown such consummate tact and skill as the chief of a dangerous band, that on Saul's death he had been chosen king by the tribe of Judah, and solemnly anointed at Hebron. After he had reigned seven and a half years as King of Judah, the murder of Ishbosheth, son of Saul, left Israelfree to elect a successor, and David was unanimously invited to rule over the Twelve Tribes. Then began a period of un- exampled prosperity. He gained secure possession of the City of Jerusalem, and consecrated it by the translation of the Ark thither from Gath-Rimmon. He strengthened his throne by aCourt, a Bodyguard, and an Army. God "made him a great name like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth."1 He became the father of a large and beautiful family, He was recog- nized not only as a King, but also as a Psalmist and Prophet. At1 2 Sam. vii. 9.