Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1883-10-31
Sunday School Lesson Notes.
BY REV. j. o. SHERBJRN.



nation for some time. The exact number
of years is not known. probably he mus
have been AT least five years king before
the events of this lesson; and some thnl
that he must have reigned three times a
long as that lie has been very prosper
Gus, in the main; the power OF the Philis
tines had been weakened by terribl,
defeat. This had been obtained more bl
the direct aid of Jehovah through iona
than and MS armor-Eearer. than by th'
skill or valor of Saul. In connection witt
this victory Saul had committed offerings
to the Lord in the absence of Samuel
For This lie was sternly rebuked ant
Samuel solemnly declared that Coz
had rejected him from being king
After the sutjugalion of the Phislistines
Sanl went by divine command to punish
the Amalekites who dwelt to the south O
Judea. They had opposed the people o.
Israel in their journey to Canaan, and
Saul was commanded to utterly extirpate
them His expedition was a success, ant
the conquest complete. But Saul and hi
men neglected to carry out their commits
sion fully. They spared Agag, the kins
of the Analekl tes, and took of the best OF
the i0cks and herbs that fell into their
hands, and were with these trophies.
making their way home when Samue
met them, and our lesson opens. Sau
was not found at Carmel, place moi
far from Hebron, as Samuel expected
hut report came that the king and his
army had left the highlands Of that region
and had gone down to Gilgal, near th'
Jordan. 1t is not altoge her clear what
meant by the statement that she set up !,
place" at Carmel. If we were to TAX
the most natural English sense of th'
= ords, we should understand that h,
located his camp here for short period /;
but lbose ,quainled with Hebrew under
stand that he set up as memorial som
trophy or monument to commemora e
his triumph. Learning that the king h d
gone, Samuel followed at once and wa
very graciousy received by Saul witt
the salltation "blessed be thou of tn
Lord,' He is very prompt and apparen,
ly Joyful to announce that he has fulfilleo
the commission which was given him
but Samuel checks him ut once by nqur
ing, what was the meaning of the looine
and bleallng which he heard There ar,
some things in this narrative whicl
tend to make it appear that Saul was no
conscious of having committed any sin in
the matter. And we all know how easy
it is for man 10 deceive himself. Saul
may have thought of the matter only as to
the utility of his conquest, and we have
plenty of people now who view things
only in that light, he may have said tn,
purpose of the campaign is fully mer.
The power of the tribe is broken, their
towns destroyed their country left DESC
late, and their king made captive; all
this he had done, but instead of doing it
in the way of obedience to God, he had
suffered greed, and love of display to
come in for a share, hence the rebuke
and severe punishment. Saul made two
very poor attempts to excuse his trans
gressions; the first was by shouldering
the blame upon the people, and the second
by declaring that the purpose of sparine
the tlocks and herds was that they might
offer a sacrifice unto the Lord. This was
doubtless only subterfuge to give kind
of p'ous look to the transaction.
The world has not quite outgrown that
kind Of folly and sin. Many persons quiet
their consciences, and deceive themselves
by thinking that Il general purpose to do
well, and payment of church dues will
offset some questionable business transac
tions, and help TO atone for vicious habits,
and somehow compensate for the rental OF
their store Easements as liquor saloon;
but such men ought to read often the
words of Samuel 10 this victorious king
who thought TO "play sharp with his
maker. Samuel would not suffer these
excuses to proceed, but at once put the
matter clearly and fearlessly before the
king. This is the purport of his message.
He says to Saul, God chose you from
among all Israel to be king over his peo-
pie. Whatever Of exaltation you enjoy is
his Gift. lie himself sent you on a special
expedition, against his enemies. with
exact orders, you have dsobeyed, and
acted from greed rather than in homes
obedience to God. Saul manifests not the
least penitence at this rehuke, but contin-
ues to excupate himself and try to put the
blame upon the people. The prophet
saws nothing Of the meanness of this con-
duct. but keeps on mcrcilessly in the
exposition of the transgression. The guilt
rested upon Saul in any event. 1T the
people conceived the wrong, it was his
place 10 control them. The power was in
his hand, and as their king il was his
duty TO restrain them. Samuel declares
that the kings conduct vas in lis nature
witchcrait or divnarion. They left the
nlain command of God and consulted
expedicncy or profit, and in spirit that
was not Indifferent from consulting idols.
God had no need of burnt offerings where
there was obedience, he said, and it was
utterly absurd 10 think ofpleasing him with
sacrifices obtained in open disobedience to
his command. Saul at length appears 10
SEQ and acknowledge his sin, and entreats
Samuel TO pardon his sin. A question
may here be raised, whether he humbly
sought forgiveness of God or not. He
proposed to go with Samuel 10 worship
God, and probably he desired Samuel to
int o}dc for him. Men are sometimes
willing that others should mouth their con-
fessions for them, willing even TO repeat
those that have been framed for them
when they would not do the work them
ao1vpe