Freedom in the Church of England Author:Stopford Augustus Brooke Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: 43 THE ATONEMENT. Psalm iii. 1. 2, 3, 4. This is a morning psalm, as the fourth, which follows it, is an evening psalm. There is a high probability that t... more »he tradition which refers them both to the time when David fled from Absalom's advance to Mahanaim is a true tradition. The third psalm would then belong to the first morning after that on which David left Jerusalem, and the fourth to the evening following. David left Jerusalem early in the morning. He passed through the outskirts, over the brook Kidron, and took the ascent of Olivet, amid the loud wailing of the people of the city. He reached the mountain-top at noon; there he met Hushai, and sent him back to confound the counsel of Ahitophel. As he descended the rugged path on the other side, there rained upon his head the stones and curses of Shimei, adding their store of sorrow to that which was too much. It was not till evening fell that he reached the ford of Jordan. There he snatched a short slumber, while he waited for the news of how things were going in Jerusalem. ' I laid me down and slept.' At midnight he was roused with the message—' All is safe for a time ; the pursuit is delayed; get over the river at once to Mahanaim.' David sprang to hisfeet, his old energy returning. ' I rose up again, for the Lord sustained me;' and at break of day they had all reached the other side in safety. Then, as the sun rose, making into a blaze of glory all the dew-drenched western bank—seeming like God's summons to activity—David's impulsive, poet heart began to thrill with gratitude and courage, and this psalm rushed in a moment to his lips. If this be true, a vivid interest draws us to the psalm. It is the unpremeditated expression of the passionate feeling of a great man's heart at a great crisis in his life. We ...« less