in caves or seeking the protection of heathen kings, it must have
seemed as if God had forgotten him, and once David did almost break
down, but he rallied, took a fresh hold, and "carried on."

Now, fellows, it must be a fine sight to see a man receive a royal
crown, but it is a finer sight when there are fine qualities in a man
deserving honour and reward. No head deserves a crown unless there
are crowning virtues in the life. What were some of the qualities in
David which merited a crowning on that great day?

One was his faith. Faith in God; faith in his fellow-man; faith in
himself. It takes faith even to start anywhere, and it takes more
faith to arrive. David's faith was of the coronation variety.

Another was his patience. David waited. He did not try to force
matters. Whenever God was ready--that was David's time. In one of his
great psalms, he wrote: "I waited patiently for the Lord, and he heard
my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry
clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings." David's
patience was crowned.

Another was David's continual kindness to a foe. He was even kind to
Saul's memory and rewarded the men who reverently took Saul's body
from the wall of Bethshan and gave it decent burial. David's chivalry
was crowned.

But, fellows, the fine thing to know is that the same princely
qualities can exist to-day in each one of us; not for crowns on our
heads, but for a great satisfaction in our hearts. Faith, patience,
and a knightly spirit are just as possible possessions now as they