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Who is there that has not wished that God would give him the choice of the evils which he had to suffer; and who is there that would not have been seriously embarrassed if that wish had been fulfilled? But, it may be said, the text does not support that view. Does it not?

1. David was very much troubled when the time for decision came: he was "in a great strait."

2. His choice was more devout in form than in substance; for, had he chosen defeat in war, he would still have been "in the hand of God."

3. It is highly probable that, after the choice was made, David was doubtful of its wisdom. We may consider —

I. THE ELEMENT OF CHOICE IN THE EVILS OF LIFE. — Two things are open to us here.

1. One relates to the measure of trouble we experience. By healthy habits, by obedience to the laws of our spiritual and our physical nature, by keeping within the lines of wisdom and virtue, by commending ourselves to the approval of man and also of God, we may materially reduce the measure of evil which otherwise we should endure.

2. The other relates to the kind of trouble we are called to face. It is often left to our choice to decide whether we will meet the dangers, the difficulties, the temptations, the trials of our condition in life, or those of the opposite condition — whether those of ignorance or of learning, of loneliness or of society, of obscurity or of conspicuousness and responsibility. It may be timidity or cowardice that inclines us to the one, and high-minded courage that incites us to the other; or it may be modesty and wisdom that urge us to the one, and nothing better than an unhallowed ambition, or even an exaggerated sense of importance, that allures to the other. Ii; behoves us, as we stand in front of the future, with our path in life before us, very earnestly to seek the guidance of God, that we may choose that course, the perils of which we may face with hope, the evils of which we shall endure with calmness and fortitude.

II. THE WORKING OF THE DIVINE HAND IN THEM. The measure and the nature of our troubles is uncertain. That they will come is as certain as anything can be. No "good fortune," no sagacity, no caution will exclude them from the experience of life.

1. Our preference in regard to their form. Like David, we prefer to feel ourselves in the hand of God rather than in the hand of men. We feel that our burden is heavier when it is due to human carelessness, and heavier still when due to human heartlessness and malignity. The severest aggravation of trouble is where the evil that has been wrought is the work of some near relative or some familiar friend, or some old colleague from whom we had a right to expect quite opposite treatment (see Psalm 4:12-14). We feel that if we are to have suffering or sorrow we should much prefer the unaccountable sickness, or the unavoidable loss, or the inevitable bereavement which we can refer at once to the ordinary will of God.

2. The truth we recognise when we consider it. As we think on this subject we realise that all trouble is ultimately of God.

(1) Much of it is penal, the just consequence of ill-doing, the outcome of those laws which originate in Divine holiness.

(2) Much of it is disciplinary; it is the pruning, the refining process of Him who is seeking spiritual fruit; it is the ordering of the wise and faithful Father of spirits (Hebrews 12:1-12).

(3) All of it is permissive. If the sparrow does not fall without the Divine permission, how much less does the obedient son or daughter suffer grief or pass through troublesome times or go down to death without the sanction of the present and watchful Lord. So that, whatever comes and whencesoever it comes, we are free to think and say, "Thy will be done, Lord"; the trial never comes to us when we are not "in the hand of the Lord."

3. The attitude we should assume toward it. Even when we have to reproach ourselves, or even when we are obliged to condemn our neighbours or our ancestors as the immediate authors of our trouble, we may and we should accept it as that which comes in the providence of God.

(1) We should bow submissively to His will who (to say the least) suffers us to be tried as we are.

(2) We should seek from Him the sustaining strength which will empower us to bear all things unrepiningly and even cheerfully.

(3) We should have an open mind to .perceive, and an open heart to welcome the practical lessons which our heavenly Father is desiring to teach us.

(William Clarkson, B. A.)

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KJV: So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Choose thee

WEB: So Gad came to David, and said to him, "Thus says Yahweh, 'Take your choice: