Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1889-07-19
SAMUEL THE REFORMER.
LESSON III, THIRD QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, JULY Fl.

Text of the Lesson, I Sam. vii, I-1s-Com-
init to Memory Verses 3-4-Golden
Text, lisa. 1, 10, documentary by the
Rev. d. NJ. stearns.
Compiled from Lesson Helper Quarterly by per-
mission of ii. S. Hoffman, publisher, Philade
phia.I
l. And the men of Kirjath-jearim came
and fetched up the Ark of the Lord" This
holy vessel, the Ark of Jehovah, which was
the most sacred vessel in the Tabernacle, or
in the Temple, the same Ark being used in
each, and which Is mentioned now at least
thirty-five times since chap. iii, 3, Is to mo
one of the most interesting of Bible studies
and speaks to me of Jesus both as God and
man, Gods law in His heart, delighting to do
the will of God, fulfilling all Righteousness,
the end of the law for Righteousness to every
one that believeth, our mercy seat, our hidden
mama, our High Priest chosen by God, the
great head of the church from whom the
cherubim are formed, the revelation to us of
the Fathers love and eternal purpose and
yet, though it thus talks Of all these glorious
things, the full significance of it will not be
known till the temple of God is opened in
Heaven, and there is seen in His temple the
Ark of His Covenant REV. xi, 49,
q "While the ark abode in Kirjath-jearim
1t was twenty years; and all the
house of Israel lamented after the Lord"
We know from II Sam. vi, l-3. that the ark
was in the house of Abinadab very much
longer period than twenty years; but the last
clause of this verse may indicate that this
was the period that elapsed after the return
of the ark before Israel was awakened from
her sin to gather together unto the Lord.
8. "Return unto the Lord with all your
hearts, put away the strange gods,
prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve
| Him only" This was the exhortation of
Samuel to Israel as they lamented after the
Lord, and he assured them that if they would
thus sincerely turn to God He would deliver
them out of the hand of the Philistines.
8. 81 will pray for you unto the Lord" In
Jas. v, l6, we are told that 1.-THE effectual, fer
vent prayer of a righteous man availeth
much, II" and we know that Moses by his in
tercession saved Israel from destruction more
than once. In Jer XIV, l, Moses and Samuel
are associated as men mighty in prayer God
told Abimelech that Abraham would pray
for him and thus bring blessing to him and
his house Gen. Xxx, Z, ~; and Abrahams in
tercession for Sodom Gen. xviii 20-33 is a
memorable occasion. II is to be feared that
much prayer is simply saying words, but that
only is true prayer which is asking from the
heart, in the name of Jesus, for that which
we really desire for His glory.
9. "They gathered together, drew water,
poured it out before the Lord, tasted on that
day and said there, We have sinned against
the Lord" The pouring out of water SYM
bolized their helpless and penitent condition
they were water split on the ground,
which cannot be gathered up again Oh SAM
xiv, 14; they had nothing to plead but their
guilt and their great need, and convinced of
this they turn with fasting unto the Lord.
Z. 1.-THE Philistines heard" Let the peo-
pie of God come together In true humility to
seek Him and the enemies of God will be sure
to hear of it. 1t is surely true that Satan
trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon
his knees" and if one praying saint makes
him tremble a nation in true penitential
prayer must make him awfully afraid, so
that we do not wonder that the Philistines
gather against Israel when they hear that
Israel have gathered unto the Lord. It Is
not necessary to suppose that the Philistines
understood the true meaning of Israels gath
ering, but the devil understood it and he in
cited the Philistines onward
8. Cease not to cry unto the Lord our
God for u.s." This was their prayer to Sam
uel 1t is good to hear them say ''the Lord
our God," and they have right to say it
now since they have truly turned to Him,
and He will undoubtedly prove Himself to be
1.-THE Lord their Cod" for He says, Call
upon me In the day of trouble; will deliver
thee and thou shalt glorify me-" Psalms l.,
49,. In the same way Hczekiah asked Isaiah
to pray unto God for Judah, when they were
besieged by the army of Sennacherib, and
God heard isaiah xxxvii, 4, o.. The words
| I'D tha
pray without ceasing' Il Thes v, n, and
we remember that when Moses hands were
held up Israel prevailed, and when they were
let down Amalek prevailed lex. xvii, 11).
0. "And Samuel took sucking lamb and
offered burnt offering wholly unto the
Lord, and Samuel cried unto the Lord for
Israel, and the Lord heard him." The burnt
Offering typifes the sacrifice Of the Lord
Jesus, who is all offerings In one, the only
sacrifice for sin and reminds us that without
shedding OF blood there is no remission, and
that only in the name and by virtue of the
merits Of Christ can we draw near or come
to God Heb. TX, ~; Acts iv, l2.) Samuel
did not approach God because he was holy or
trusting In his merits, but only as one who
believed God and came trusting In the sacri-
fee; thus trusting he came with confidence
In God and was heard. In John V, II, Is.
we read that 'This is the confidence we have
in Him, that if we ask anything according to
His will He heareth us, and if we know that
He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know
that we have the petitions that we desired of
Him.
10. 1.-THE Philistines drew near to battle
against Israel; but the Lord Numbered with
great thunder and discounted
them" The Philistines may have thought
that as they conquered even when the ark
was in the camp of Israel, so they would con-
quer now, but circumstances had changed.
AT that time Israel relied on the ark, and it
was simply a battle between men and men,
but now Israel was relying upon God, and it
was conflict between the Philistines and the
God of Israel, and consequently they could
not but be smitten. Thunder is the voice of
Jehovah Cps. xxx, 3, 4; Job xxxvii, Is;
John xii, 2s, 29 and when He speaks in judg-
ment none can stand before Him, all His
enemies must fall. How thankful we ought
to be that God In His mercy is speaking to us
SO lovingly in His word and that His judg-
ments are not yet made manifest but let