622 LECTURES AND ESSAYS [1887 



cannot be a true and powerful force in favour of right 

 conduct. If Jahvism had not been in its origin a national 

 religion, it could never have become a practical force ; its 

 ethical influence within the nation was the necessary basis 

 of its ethical influence on mankind. M. Renan seems to 

 think that David s devotion to Jahve was not true religion 

 because he consulted oracles and because he was sometimes 

 treacherous and cruel to the enemies of his country. But 

 this only means that a good man would not act now as 

 David did nearly three thousand years ago. The test of 

 individual piety is not whether a man strikes out a new 

 code of morals in advance of his age, but whether in the 

 fear of God he does his duty loyally and trustfully accord 

 ing to the standard of his times, and when he sins returns 

 to God in true and honest repentance. So much can 

 safely be said of David, and it can also be said of him that 

 in the most critical moments of his life he maintained that 

 calm and resolute submission to the Divine will which 

 makes the strength of a truly religious character and 

 raises the servant of God above the fear of man. 



THE END 



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