The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1889-07-19
F8AMUEL THE REF0RMER.


LESSON III, THIRD QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, JULY 21.
Text of tho Lesson, Sam. vii, 1-12-Com-
init to Memory Verses s-4-Golden
Text, lisa. I, 16, I7-Commentary by the
Rev. d. NJ. stearns.
Compiled from Lesson Helper Quarterly by per.
mission of II. S. Hoffman, publisher, Philadel.
phial
l. "And the men of Kirjath- -jearim came
and fetched up the Ark Of the Lord.n This
holy vessel, the Ark OF jehovah which was
the most sacred vessel in tho 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, 5, is to mo
one Of the most interesting Of Bible studies,
and speaks to me Of Jesus both us God and
man, Gods law in His heart, delighting to do
tho will of God, fulfilling all Righteousness,
tho end Of the law for Righteousness to every
one that beieveth, our mercy seat, our hidden
mamma, our High Priest chosen by God, the
great head of the church from whom tho
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 1t 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. I, 19)
2. "Whiie the ark abode in Kirjath- -jearim
it was twenty years; and au tho
house Of Israel lamented after the Lord"
We know from II Sam. vi, 1-3, that the ark
tho 1,o,,ca oP 4, ,.,,,,,
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.
5. Return unto the Lord with all your
hearts, put away the strange gods, d
prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve
Him only" This was tho 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 tho hand Of the Philistines.
5. II will pray for you unto the Lord" In
Jas. v, 1o, weare told that stthe efrectual, fer
vent prayer of righteous man availeth
much" and we know that Moses by his in
tercession saved Israel from destruction more
than once. In Jer. XIV, /, 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 tGen. Xxx, 9, ~; and Abraham's in
tercession for Sodom Q5en. xviii, 90 -993 is O
memorable occasion. 1t 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
VIC really desire for His glory.
9. "They gathered together, drew water,
poured 1t out before the Lord, tasted on that
day and said there, We have snned against
the Lord" The pouring out Of water SYM
bolizcd their helpless and penitent condition;
they were as water split on the ground,
which cannot bo gathered up again III Sam.
xiv, 1N; they had nothing to plead but their
guilt and their great need, and convinced of
this they Surn with fusting unto the Lord.
Z. "The Philistines heard" Let tho peo-
pie of God come together in true humility to
seek Him and the enemies of God will be sure
to hear of it. It is surely true that 'tSatan
trenbles wien he sees the weakest saintupon
his knees" and if one praying saint makes
him tremble 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 havo gathered unto tho Lord. 1t is
not necessary to suppose that the Philistnes
understood the true meaning of Israels gath
eling, but the devil understood it and he in
cited the Philistines onward.
s. 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 stthe Lord
our God, and they have right to say it
now since thoy have truly turned to Him,
and He will undoubtedly provo Himself to be
"the Lord their Cod" for He says, 'scall
upon me In the day Of trouble;I will deliver
thee and thou shalt glorify me- Psalms |,
10. In tho same way Hezekiah asked Isaiah
to prny unto God for Judah, when they were
besieged by the army of Sepnacherib, and
God heard isaiah xxxvii, a, @. The words
"cease not' remind us Of tho command to
"pray without ceasing" Il Thes. v, 10, and
wo remember that when Moses hands were
held up Israel prevailed, and when they were
let down Amaleis prevailed (Ex. xvii, 11).
o. "And Samuel took a 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 typilles the sacrifice of the Lord
Jesus, who is all offerings in one, the only
sacrifice for sin; und reminds us that without
that only in se name and i by % virtue Of the the
merits of Christ can We draw near or come
to God GIeb. tx, 20; Acts iv, 12) 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 tho sacri-
fee; thus trusting he came with confidence
i'll God and was heard. In l John v, II, Is,
we read that "This is the confidence We have
in Him, that if we ask anything according to
His will lie heareth us, aud il We know that
lie hear Us, whatsoever we ask, we know
that we have the petitions that we desired Of
Him"
10. "The Philistines drew near to battle
against Israel; but tho Lord thundercd with
n great thunder < and discomflted
them.". The Philistines may have Thought
that as they conquered even whom 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 1t
was simply q battle between men and men,
but now Israel was relying upon God, and 1t
was conflict between tho PLilistines and the
God Of Israel, and consequently they could
not but be snlltten. Thunder is the voice of
Jehovah (Ps xxx, 8, 4; Job xxxvii, Is;
John xii, 2s, 29) and when He speaks In judg-
ment mono can stand before Him, ali 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 ore not yet made manifest; but lot
every teacher show tho scholars from tho
word Of God that there Is wrath for all who
morcy may for each end any time, therefore,
Is f,rt, ,r,S,{pl plylr k<,G LA