Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1872-11-21
&eadiuq fur the Sabbath.
CONDUCTED BY
REV. ROBERT LATHAM.
lOriginal.]
SAUI,S DISEASE.


he became involved in great and lasting trou-
bles When Samuel delivered the bitter re-
buke that God commanded him to administer
to Saul, and had hewed Agag the king OF
the Amalekites in pieces, he turned away
from Saul. This act of Samuel betokened no
good to Saul, and he took hold of the skirt of
Samuels mantle and it rent. This was indie
ative of Saul's future history. Samuel at
once understood what was portended by this
apparently trivial event. He then delivered
the bitter prophecy that God had rent the
kingdom of Israel from Saul and given it to
his neighbor. 1t does not appear that SAM
uel, at that time, knew who that neighbor
was. Samuel went to Ramah, and in due
time God sent him to the house of Jesse, a
member of the tribe of Judah, and resident
of Bethlehem, town in the northern part of
the territory belonging to the tribe of Judah,
and but short distance south of Jerusalem.
David, the eighth son of Jesse, was pointed
out by God as the proper successor Of Saul.
1t is probable that but short period Of time
elapsed from the interview of Samuel with
Saul after the battle with the Amalekties
and the amounting Of David. AS soon as
David was anointed king, the spirit of the
Lord came upon him and departed from
Saul. David was not only chosen to be the
successor of Saul, but was also endowed with
qualities of mind which eminenty fitted him
for his future position. All those kingly
qualities of mind which Saul once possessed,
we're taken away from him and given to Da-
vid. Saul was not only deprived Of every
thing that fitted him for his position, but an
evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. 1t is
not easy to tell what we are to understand by
the expression, "evil spirit from God" Some.
times Saul acted like a man laboring under
mental arrangement; and at other times his
acts were more like those of 6end of despair,
than of any other creature. We may suppose
that Saul experienced all the misery that is
conveyed to the mind by the words regret,
remorse and despair. He regretted that he
had so acted as to forfeit his claim to the
kingdom, and his soul was filled with indes-
cribable remorse on account of sense OF his
guilt in not strictly obeying the commands
of God and he, no doubt, despaired Of ever
being able to again secure the favor Of either
God or the people of Israel. 1t is more than
probable that this state of things was in the
providence of God brought about in what we
are accustomed to call natural way. His
health failed He became weak and feeble.
His stomach became deranged and the ner-
vous system disorganized. He grew first
peevish, then jealous, and finally devilish.
But there seems to have been something more
than all this wrong with Saul. At certain
times he seems literally to have been posses
ssd of devil, or rather to have been possessed
by the devil. In various portions of the New
Testament, we read of persons possessed with
devils or demons. There are many reasons
for believing that the persons referred to in
these cases were not simply under the infu-
ence of demons; but that the demons we're in
some way in them. Christ sometimes, as in
Luke, 4: 1914, addresses the demons as we'll
as the person possessed with them. In the
case Just referred to, the demon seems to have
been possessed both with the power Of speech
and the gift of reasoning. The unclean spirit
cried out and asked if Jesus had come to des-
troy the demons. We know of no mode Of
Interpretation which will warrant us to take
these passages in Luke, and in many other
places of the New Testament, in any other
than literal sense. I do not pretend to be
able to understand how the thing can be; but
the fact dare not deny.
Now, although it is highly probable that
cases of persons possessed with devils or dem
ons, were more common during the time of
our Saviour's human residence on earth than
they were before or have been since, we are
persuaded in our mind that some persons,
prior to the coming of our Saviour, were pos
sessed with devils, and we think there are
many men in the present period of the worlds
history that may, with eminent propriety and
with great truthfulness, be said to be possess
ed with demons in some cases dumb, in 9TH
ers deaf; in some cases hundred tongued dev-
lis, and others with demons unclean and ma
licious Saul, we think, besides his mental
malady, was also possessed with demon, as
was the individual spoken of in Luke, 4: 80.
God went out of Saul and the devil immedi-
ately entered into him. 1t is said that the
evil spirit was from God. This expression
means that God permitted an evil spirit to do
what it did do. God abandoned him and
the devil commenced his reign. This is the
way God always has done and always will do.
Sauls case was no exception to the general
rule The plainly expressed rule by which
God always acts is this: When men do not
like to retain God in their knowledge, God
gives them over to reprobate mind, (Rom.
1: 2S) and sends them strong delusion, that
they should believe lie. 2 Thessalonians,
Q: II. No sane man can reflect upon the
terrible consequences which followed the dis
obedience of Saul, and not tremble. The
thought of being abandoned by God and sent
forth into the world, a raving maniac, with all
the natural affections blotted out and a spirit
of malice and hatred implanted in the heart
and fostered by every passing event, is intole-
rable. Death in any shape and form is ten
thousand times more desirable To be torn
in pieces, limb by limb, would be a blessing
compared with such a state. Who does not
shudder when he thinks what may be the
consequences of disobeying the commands of
God? To be abandoned by friends is great