Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1889-08-16
THE LORD REJECTS SAUL.
LESSON VII, THIRD QUARTER, IN
TERNATIONAL SERIES, AUG. 10.

Text OF the Lesson, j sam. Nv, lO-23-Com-
nit Verses ea, P3-Golden Text, I Sam.
Nv, 13-Con. nentary by the Rev. ID. NJ.
stearns.
compiled from Lesson Helper Quarterly by per-
mission Of II. S. Hoffman, publisher Philadel-
phia
The intervening chapters between this les
son and the last one are chiefly occupied with
Sauls first victories over the Philistines and
also over the Moabites Ammonites and
Edomites; but there Is a sad statement con-
corning Saul, and precious one concerning
Jonathan, his son, to each of which we ought
to give good heed for our own profit The
first refers to Saul's foolish conduct and DISC
bedience in the matter of the sacrifice (chap.
xiii, SD, which brought from Samuel the
message, snow thy kingdom shall not con-
tinue; the Lord hath sought Him a man
after his own heart;" the second is the noble
conduct of Jonathan and his armor bearer
and the good word, There is no restraint to
the Lord to save by many or by few" We
may, if we will, be men and women after
Gods own heart, and daily profit by the good
word of Jonathan. The lesson today is the
story of Saul's disobedience in the matter of
the Amalekites.
10. "Then came the word of the Lord unto
Samuel" Sauls orders were, go and smite
Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they
have" ". 81; but he saved Agag the king
alive and spared the best of the sheep and
oxen ". 81. Thus, as in the matter of the
sacrifice already referred to, he did what
seemed right to himself, acting upon his own
| Judgment rather than the express command
of God.
IL. ut repenteth me that l have set up
Saul to be king" So in verse IS "the Lord
repented that He had made Saul king over
Israeli" and yet in verse 30 it is written, 1.-THE
strength Of Israel will not lie or repent, for
He is not man that He should repent"
Compare also Mum. xiii, 49,; Ps. OK, 4. Now
the question is how to reconcile these appar-
ent contradictions, for the contradiction is
only seeming not real. We must first get
firm ground on which to stand, and we have
it in the fact that God of Truth lisa. lxv,
1G) cannot lie; and God to whom all His
works are known from the beginning Of the
world ACTS Ky, lS capnot possibly make q
mistake or be sorry for anything He has
DONE Even the treatment of Jesus by Herod,
Plate, the Gentiles and Israel was only what
| God had determined before to be done (Acts
iv, 81, 2S), but that did not lessen the guilt
Of Herod and the others God certainly
knew beforehand just how Saul would turn
out how long He would have to bear with
him, and just when He would set him aside
and put David in his place. When God in
His infinite wisdom, doing what He always
knew that He would do, seems to us to change
His mind and do new thing, He is said In
Scripture to repent; man, on the other hand,
repents when he actually does change his
mind, and does what be had not intended be-
fore to do.
at grieved Samuel, and he cried unto the
II
before us in the Scriptures as two men whose
hearts are one with God on behalf of Israel,
and the power Of their pleading is referred to
in Jer. XIV, l. Let us remember that God has
His mark upon those who sigh and cry be-
cause of the sins and denominations of Chris
tians. (1zeli. tx, A.
u. saul came to Carmel and, behold, he
set him up place" The Revised Version says
he set up monument. 1t seems to have been,
like Absalom's place III Sam. xviii, IS, a pill
lar rather for his own glory than the glory
of God, rather to commemorate his own
name than the name of Jehovah.
Is. blessed be thou of the Lord: l have
performed the commandment of the Lord ="
This was Saul's greeting when Samuel came
to him: if in the previous Verse we see his
vanity, surely here we see hypocrisy. This
is q covering of sin which cannot prosper,
reminding us of the people pure in their own
eyes, yet not washed from their filthiness.
H. "What meaneth then this bleating of the
sheep, y Il AMI the lowing of the oxenl' All
things are naked and open to the eyes of Him
with whom we have TO do; and from Him
who searcheth heart and veins no secrets can
be hid All sin will be sure to find us out
sooner or later, unless confessed, forsaken
or forgiven Heb. iv, ID; Mum. xxi, 80.
10. The people spared the best of the
sheep and Of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the
Lord thy Cod Being cornered as we say,
he now puts the blame on the people, yet
seeks to justify them by saying it was for the
Lord, but his heart is somewhat shown in his
saying the Lord thy God, instead of 1.-THE
Lord our God" 1t is evident that Saul did
not know the Lord, he did not understand
that the Lord wants nothing that belongs to
His enemies
10. stay, and l will tell thee what the
Lord hath said to me this night" Blessed
Samuel who talked with God and with whom
God talked, who sought only TO know the
mind of God and do it; when he came to die
it would not be very great change for him,
for he had from his youth lived with God
and served Him. Why should we not in our
daily life thus walk with God, careful above
all things to know what He hath said, that
we may believe it and do it.
II. when little in thine own sight,
the Lord anointed thee king over Israel. VI
Had Saul only continued little in his own
sight and sought TO he great in the eyes of
the Lord who had exalted him, all would
have been well, but he forgot the Lord and
thought more of Saul and his deeds.
Is. The Lord sent thee on journey, and
said, Go, and utterly destroy the sinners the
Amaleldtes," Saul was not required TO give
his opinion, or make any suggestions, but
only to do as he was told. Jesus who loved
to say that the Father sent him. could also
say, Il do always those things that please
Him" John viii, Ii, Is %, 20 and He says
to the Father concerning us; las Thou hast
sent me into the world, even 50 have also
sent them into the world" John xvii Is
but our commission instead of being, go,
destroy, fight against, is go We into all the
world, and preach the gospel to every crea-
ture." Mark xvi, 15.)
10. Thou didst not obey the voice Of the
Lord, but didst evil In the sight of
the Lord" II seems hard for some people 70
realize that God sees all their actions, and
even the motives for their actions and no.
ticeS all things: vet il is written that THE