News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-08-01
THE |. S. S. LESSON.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOR
AUGUST 4.
Lesson Text: saul Chosen of the
Lord" 1 Sam. tx, 15-27-GO1den
Text: Prov. viii, IS
Commentary.

After q continued ana persistent demand
OF the people for a king, that they might h
like other nations, notwithstanding the de
scription of the way their king would treat
them, Samuel rehearsed in the ears of the
Lord all the words of the people, and the
Lord said: "Harken unto their voice and
make them a king viii, 81, %. 1t would
then seem that Samuel, having sent every
one to his city, waited upon the Lord to know
what next to DO and how to find the king.
Is. NOW, the Lord had told Samuel in his
ear a day before Saul came, saying The
revised version says: '"The Lord had re
vealed unto SamueI'- Many words of God
crowd to my pen as l think of Samuel
meekly waiting to know Gods will, and
God, our Heavenly Father, SO lovingly guild
ing His servant, who relied P Him:
The meek will He guide in judgment, and
the meek will He teach His way" 81 will
instruct thee and teach thee in the way
which thou shalt go" Chine ears shall
hear a word behind thee, saying: This is the
way, walk We in it," Sin all thy ways &C
knowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths"
lPs. XIV, 9; xxi, s; lisa. Xxx, 21; Prov.
iii, o.. All these are true for us to-day,
and if we sincerely want to know the will of
God that we may do it, we may be perfectly
sure that He will show us His way.
l6. "To-morrow, about this time, L will
send thee a man." Samuel was therefore ex-
pecting confidently to meet the man whom
God had selected; just where he should meet
him and how he would know him he left TO
God, whom he served, but in confidence made
preparation for him. Now, as we read the
first part of this chapter, ard see by what a
series of apparently most natural events Saul
was brought to Samuel, all unconscious of
what awaited him, we must surely be COM
PEELED TO believe that there is a God i'll whose
hand our breath is and whose are all our
ways and that though a mans heart may
devise his way the Lord directeth his steps.
II. THE Lord said unto him, Behold the
manr' All prophets, priests and kings in
Israel were as to their office mot their char
acter) types of the greatest prophet and true
Priest-King, Jesus of Nazareth; and as we
read of this first king chosen to reign over
Israel and hear the words: behold the
man." we are at once carried forward to a
day when the God of Samuel and of Israel
stood in human form before the people for
their acceptance or rejection, and the Roman
Governor said: behold the man! Behold
your Kingn John xix, 5, IA and although
then and still rejected He shall yet sit on the
throne of David and reign over the house of
Jacob forever and the people shall be all
righteous, luke l., so, 50; Isa., TX. 81
IS. Tell me, l pray thee, where the seer's
house is" A prophet was before time called
a seer ". 81 that is one who sees
al eyes cannot see. Saul and his servant
had given up seeking the asses and were now
seeking the nan of God if perchance he
might tell them where the lost animals might
be found; and as they come near to the city
certain young maidens going out of the city
to draw water inform them tina the seer is
just before them having come to the city that
day, and that there is a sacrifice in the high
place Tvs. lib, so Saul stands face to face
with the man he seeks, not knowing that
Samuel expected him.
10. 81 am the seer" How like this is to
the reply of Jesus to the woman at the well,
and to the blind man: Il that speak unto
thee am He" 1T is He that talketh with
thee.n John iv, &c; tx, 81 Eye shall eat
with me to-day" How surprised he must
have been; as much so, perhaps, as Zaccheus,
who only wanted to see Jesus, but was called
down from the tree to receive Him into his
house.
90. "Set not thy mind on them; for they
are found" If we would consult Him who
is perfect in knowledge and is always with us
Dob. xxxvi., a we would more readily find
our lost things.
81. "a Beniamite, = 3 = smallest Of
the tribes, X y = my family the least OF
all the families" Benjamin, since the
slaughter of Judg. Xxx, 464S, was literally
the smallest of the tribes in point of num-
bers, and it may have been in the same re-
spect that Saulsfamily was also the least, for
bis father is said in verse l to have been a
mighty man of power or substance.
22-24. $50 Saul did not eat with Samuel
that day" What a day of surprises for
Saul! Samuel expects him, speaks to him of
8 high place in Israel, invites him to a feast,
gives him the chief place at the feast, and the
I'LL pm LlDh VI bAlt IL Il ~ oDCNAaAlN
reserved for him, while all that Saul had in
view when he came to Samuel was that he
might recover the lost asses of his father.
earthly-things,=thinking of nothing higher,
while there is a feast and u kingdom and great
honor awaiting them, of which they are
utterly ignorant.
25. Samuel mmun with Saul upon
the top of the house, This was after the
feast when they were come dow from the
high place into the city, and Saul and Samuel
we're alone. We are not left in ignorance as
to the subject of their conversation, for chap
ter K, 16, implies that the communion was
concerning the kingdom,
26. up, that | may send thee away" So
spake Samuel to Saul, very early next morn
ing. Just as the three apostles had soon to
come down from the Mount of Transfigura-
ton where they would fain have remainoS.
SO Saul must go forth from this holy place
and return to take up for a little season the
ordinary affairs of life. Though by faith in
Christ Jesus we are now children of God and
joint heirs with Christ, seated with Christ In
the h~eavenliness Rom. viii, II; Eph. IL, o.;
yet we must go forth day by day into the or
binary affairs of life, there to glorify God
while we wait for the kingdom.
81. 'Stand thou still a while, that / may
show thee the Word of God" The servant
was told to pass on and thus Samuel and
Saul were again alone with God. Samuel
then annointed him Captain or Prince tR.
W over the Lords inheritance, foretold four
events which should come to pass hat day,
and gave him certain commands until he
should see him again and shew him what to
do. The events foretold that morning, all of
which came TO pass that day CHAP. K, 81,
teach me that as l begin each new day, all
the events of the day, all the people L shall
meet and all they shall say to me, are all
foreknown to God and foreseen by Him, and
therefore it becomes me to be still and know
that He is God, and that He is making all
things work together for my good (Ps. XVI,
10; Rom. viii, 2Sl.-LessOn Helper.