When "David was old, and full of days" he contemplated his own death and what should then ensue - who should succeed him on the throne, and what should be the work and history of the nation he had governed. We are reminded of -

I. OUR DESIRE TO KEEP A HOLD UPON THE FUTURE. As the king, like all other monarchs, earnestly desired that, after his death, his own sou should sit upon his throne; as he took the necessary steps to secure this by summoning all the leaders in the kingdom and giving them charge concerning him (ver. 2), so we desire to retain as much hold on human life as we can, even when our eyes shall be closed to its scenes and our ears be deaf to all its voices. Either in the person of those who are our second selves - the children of our love and our charge - or through our deliberately uttered wishes in documents or dying words, we desire to make ourselves felt, as the possessors of power, by the generation which will remain when we are no longer on the earth.

II. OUR POWER TO CARRY OUT OUR WISHES. "David made Solomon his son king over Israel." He had the constitutional right to nominate his successor, and by solemnly designating him as such in the presence of "all the princes of Israel" he ensured his occupancy of the throne. There are ways by which we can make ourselves felt in the days which succeed our own.

1. By indoctrinating our children with our own beliefs and instilling into their minds our own spirit, we may live on in them and in their lives.

2. By bequeathing our property in such a way that future generations shall have cause to remember us (e.g. the founding of parks, hospitals, homes, etc.).

3. By documents which are valid in law by which we decide the way in which our property shall be used or our relatives be circumstanced.

III. THE LIMITATIONS OF THIS POWER. David could only make Solomon king by calling all his counsellors together and getting them to ratify his own decision; and then he had to leave the issue to Solomon's own discretion. Had he (Solomon) acted as foolishly as his son afterwards acted, the throne would soon have passed away from him, and his father's eager anticipations would have been defeated. Do what we may to retain a hold on the future through those who should be the inheritors of our principles and the executors of our will, we cannot really ensure anything we may devise. Those on whom we rest our strongest hopes may disappoint all our expectations and overthrow all our plans. The statesman's great measure is repealed, the warrior's proud conquest is undone, the millionaire's splendid fortune is dissipated, the nobleman's "house" is extinguished, the discoverer's invention is superseded, the writer's chief work is shelved, the teacher's famous doctrine is exploded; the world moves on and leaves us all behind. We need some better solace in the declining hour than the expectation that the kingdom will go to our sons, and thus be retained by ourselves. And we have a better one in -

IV. THE CHRISTIAN ASPIRATION. There are two worthy and honourable ambitions we may cherish respecting the future.

1. To live on, ourselves, in another sphere. Though not acting directly on the men and things we leave behind us, we shall be living and acting elsewhere in some other province of God's great domain. Enough for us that, in the sphere which God chooses for us, we shall be using our powers for good - more than enough, for that will be a wider sphere, and they will be "enlarged and liberated powers.

2. To leave behind us in many hearts and lives the holy influence we have been exerting. If day by day we are scattering the good seed of the kingdom" in true thoughts, in holy principles, in Christ-like impressions, these must and will appear again in other lives, and be again resown to reappear in others still; thus shall we have a blessed share in a far future, even in this lower realm. - C.

The pathos of David's action will be more clearly recognised if we remember that the literal translation is, "Now David had become satisfied with days." Satisfied with days, but not satisfied with labour. David had seen all the contents of time, in poverty, persecution, honour, end majesty, and yet he was anxious for the consolidation of his empire and the construction of the temple. When the heathen poet described the death of a philosopher it was under the image of a guest who had to the full enjoyed the feast. David as a guest of the Lord had himself sat long enough at the table of time, and now he was desirous that his son should take up the service and enjoyment of the empire, whilst he himself went forth to the mysteries of another state. Old age can do for the future what mere youth is not permitted to attempt.

(J. Parker, D. D.)