The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1889-10-16
DAVlD'S THANKSGIVING.
International Sunday School Lesson
October 40. 1889.

OCtsD0r HOs 1OOVs
Especially arranged from S. S. ouarterly.l
LESSON TExr-2 Sam. 7:lS.29
GOLDEN TExT-In every thing give thanks:
for this is the will Of God in Christ Jesus
concerning you. IThess. Sis.
CENTRAL TRUTH-God's wonderful good.
ness calls for thankfulness and praise.
TINE-Not long after B. c. 1912, the date
Of our last lesson.
PLACE-Jerusalem, the city Of David, the
religious capital.
DAvID-Aged "A, in the fourteenth year of
his reign.
PRoPHErs-Nathan; and Cad, the prophet
Of the exile.
PsALMs-The Messianic Psalms, such as
Q, 16, %, As, no, lis.
PARALLEL ACCOUNT Chron. l7:IS-27
DAvID's DEsIRE-David, when settled in
his kingdom, desired to build temple for
Gods worship III, q.
Cons PRoMIsE-But God knew il was not
best for David to do this. Other work
must be done first Besides, David was q
man Of war, but Gods house must be q
temple of peace q Chron. 22:s; $3.50.
Hence God promised him that His son
should build the temple, and that the King. |
ooAA ohouiu iClllull III I1lo ldulllY forever, |
David was also permitted to make great
preparations for the temple Il Chron. IS ,
and 1919. This promise was fulfilled in
the Kingdom Of Christ, ''David's greater
son" luke l :32, 80; Acts 2:9S-31).
HELPS OVER HARD PLACEs-1S. Then went
King Daoid in: to the tabernacle. And sat.
probably upon his heels, in the Oriental
method OF reverence before superiors. o.
Wherefore thou art great: no miracle of
power, not even the measureless creation
with its infinite number of worlds, shows
the greatness Of God so much as does HIS
goodness and love in the redemption of
man, and the everlasting Kingdom of His
saints. %. And aoldt one nation in the earth
Il like thy people: Gods people were a
peculiar people. Q) They were Gods peo-
pie, serving and worshiping Him, guided
and blessed by Him. (2) They were a re-
deemed people, aDhom God tcent to redeem for
people to Himself. He redeemed them
from the bondage Of Egypt at great cost, as
he now redeems His people from the bond
age Of sin. (3) They manifested to the rest
Of the world Gods goodness. And to make
Him name: not that HE might for Him
self enjoy the praises of men, but that He
AAAShp va PiS LID SOOuuCoS anu uldhS
known His love, so that all the world might
see it and be drawn to Him, to love
Him and to become His people. az 10 do
for pou (rather them great things and terrible:
such as the plaques upon Egypt, the path
through the sea, the law from Sinai, the
crossing Of Jordan, the possession OF the
Land of Promise. The whole history of the
church, from the coming of Christ till TO-
day, is full of great things God has done for
His people. a. A people unto thee forever:
true Of the natural Israel in measure, "for
they stilkexist, though scattered and peeled;
and there are many glorious promises yet to
be accomplished in them and for them.n
But completely fulfilled only in the kingdom
Of Christ whose people are children of Abra.
ham by faith. That kingdom is growing,
widening, increasing, and will never end
The temple David wished to build, his songs
Of praise, his victories over his enemies, his
organized hosts, his kingdom, are fore.
CLEANS Of the future of Christ's everlasting
kingdom.
CoMxENrs-Many of us have had Chris.
tian parents who, before we knew any thing,
were planning for our welfare. Owing
to their prayers and faith, we have enjoyed
blessings that are far beyond our power OF
computation. From our childhood up we
have enjoyed so many mercies that they
are really more than we could count. The
past has been so full that we can
truly say: "Surely goodness and mercy
have followed me all the days of my life
When the teacher has gone over the past,
he may 60 on to consider the present That,
too, is so full Of mercy that with David
we may say: "Who am Ir' that Thou
shouldst so distinguish me above others, in
filling my cup to overfowings 1t would
take sheets of paper for the scholars to
write down all for which they are called
upon to give God thanks. We only too
often think that we have more trials
than we have blessings; but that is
because the trials make deeper
| impression on US, and we are apt to
remember them longer. 1--WE write our
mercies on the sand, but our sorrows on
tablets Of brass" But there is hardly any
one in this world so badly of that they can
not, even concerning the present, write
down more blessings than burdens
Then there still remains the future.
Gods goodness to us is not going to stop to-
day. Even If it did, we should have occa-
sion to be grateful for the past. But the
future is going to witness q great many
favors, Of which we shall be the partici
pants, even though we are not worthy Of
them. And in the case OF the believer,
there is all Eternity, which is full OF bless
ings SO vast that the eye hath not
seen, neither hath the car heard, neither
hath 1t entered into the heart of man
to conceive what God has in store for His
children. Few of us have had in our lives the
sorrows that David had had when he spoke
the words OF the lesson, and many Of US have
had more blessings than he had enjoyed.
There Is probably not one who would ex-
change his present blessings for those of that
King, and yet there are many Of US who
have not given God thanks as heartily ss
he did The Jewish monarch has outdone
the Christian child in the matter Of praise
to God for oil that he has received. This is
a great evil. If you want to know what God
thinks of the duty of praise look up the first
verses OF the Psalms and see how many OF
them begin with al injunction to praise
God. Then if you will take the trouble Ia
look at your coicordance under the word
PRAISE" you will gain some idea of wha,
God has said about this duty. Most Chris
tians pray like good beggars, but praise. as
though the words stuck in their throats
Praise more and for awhile pray less, and
you will be better of and far more cheer
full than you perhaps have been. Certainly
you will have better idea OF how much
there is in your life to give God praise for
REV. A. F. Schaufier. 'gCrg gy~
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS.
l. We should desire the interests of God.
kingdom beyond all other things.
2. God sometimes answers our prayers il
better way than we expect. 49,
8. Gods promises are yefy rich and won
| derful ~ -