3716—"Thou Shalt Not Kill"
By Editor
Please explain the sixth commandment: "Thou shalt not kill." David killed, and other supposed just men. L. H. Yes, they did. It is not for us to judge their life in detail. God judges from motive. Sometimes they were His agents. They lived in a different age from what we do. They lived under a different régime. God's kingdom was a theocracy, and God Himself was King, and the Lord commanded men sometimes to execute His sentence. David had more than one wife; he ought not to have had; but after all, he may have lived up to the light that he did have much better than do men who have very much more light now. It is not for us to judge men, because we do not know just the light and the temptations which they had; and when we read the story of their lives, it is well for us to take into consideration all their environments, and the instruction which they received.