DAVID'S FAMILY GOVERNMENT.
When the rebellion of Adonijah against the government of his father David, is introduced in 1 Kings i, 5, the record immediately proceeds to state something respecting the training which this young man had had. Thus we read in verse 6: “And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he was also a very goodly man; and his mother bare him after Absalom.” It is hoped that David did better in the case of some other of his sons than he is here recorded to have done in the case of Adonijah. What Solomon tells of his instruction from his father makes it certain that in his own case much pains was taken to lay the foundation of a virtuous character. See Prov. iv. But it was one of the many evil things connected with, and inseparable from, polygamy, that the proper training of children was by it rendered quite impossible. Here is a young man whose father never at any time displeased him by asking him, “Why hast thou done so?” Had not David occasion to ask that question? Undoubtedly he had. “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child,” as Solomon testifies. Prov. xxii, 15. And it is impossible that the conduct of young persons should be so wise that their parents should feel no solicitude to inquire with mingled tenderness and strictness concerning their ways. David either lacked time, or failed to realize the importance of this work, or else had so high an opinion of his own son, that he left this work, in his case at least, entirely unattended to. Surely Solomon did not have to go far from his father's family to illustrate his own proverb that “A child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.” Prov. xxix, 15. David never displeased this young man even by asking a question concerning his conduct; much less had he ever rebuked him for any of his sins. And what was the result of this kind of family government? Did not Adonijah tenderly love so indulgent a father? Perhaps David thought to secure his love in this manner, but he made a most woeful mistake. When he became so much enfeebled with age that Adonijah thought him incapable of withstanding him, he prepared for a second rebellion like that of Absalom. He doubtless meditated the murder of his father David, and at least that of his brother Solomon, the destined heir to the throne. It was, therefore, every way a great mistake on the part of David that he suffered Adonijah to grow up without any exercise of parental correction and reproof. He did not secure his affection to himself; indeed he came near being murdered by him; and he certainly did not train him up for the Lord. And so this goodly young man, so far as form and personal beauty were concerned, grew up in sin, in pride, in vain ambition, in envy, in evil, till he was in heart a murderer even of his own nearest kindred, and in particular of that father who had been so indulgent toward him. Let us learn wisdom from this record of David's mistakes. 1. When the fifth commandment bids children honor their parents, it proceeds upon the assumption, not only that parents have some right to direct the conduct of their children, but also that they have wisdom and experience greater than theirs. The fifth commandment in bidding children thus to look to their parents, throws upon parents a fearful responsibility. 2. God makes it the duty of parents to warn their children of the dangers to which they are exposed; also to instruct them in the principles of virtue; and to put them on their guard against temptation. It is moreover their duty to form their characters to virtue,77and to strengthen in them every virtuous principle. It is also an imperative duty that they help their children to set a watch against sin and Satan just where they discover their greatest weakness to exist. 3. Parents cannot do this work without the help of the Spirit of God. It will not remedy the evil of David's course, that parents exercise a harsh, overbearing, and tyrannical spirit toward their children. Many a promising child has thus been utterly ruined. There is such a thing as uniting tenderness and love with strict and faithful watchcare and discipline. Could parents realize their great responsibility, and the fearful account of the day of Judgment, how would they in agony of spirit seek God for grace to train up their children for him. 4. David never asked his unfortunate son Adonijah, “Why hast thou done so?” It was a terrible mistake on David's part, and one that involved his son in final ruin. Perhaps some readers of the REVIEW have thus acted in the case of their own sons or daughters. If your children toward whom you have thus acted are still young, thank God for that. You may, even yet, save them from final ruin. If they have arrived at comparative maturity, it may be too late for you to correct, in an effectual manner, the wrong you have committed in their cases. It is time for parents to awake. It is a time of the utmost danger for the young. They should have the experience of their parents. The parents should have wisdom and experience with which to benefit their children. Parents should not create such a wall of reserve between themselves and their children. They must enter into the feelings of their children. They must make them their companions. They must make home desirable for them. In short, they must stand in such a relation toward their children that they shall be, above all others, their trusted friends and counsellors.