Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1889-10-04
ALL UNITED UNDER DAVID
LESSON l, FOURTH QUARTER, IN
TERNATlONAL SERIES, OCT. 6.

NIT Verses 1-3-Golden Text, Psalms
cxxxili, documentary by the Rev. d.
NJ. Stearns.
compiled from Lesson Helper Quarterly by per.
mission of H. s. Hoffman, publisher Philadel
phia
l. "Then came all the tribes of Israel to
David unto Hebron" After the death of
Saul and his sons as recorded in the last les
son, the way seemed open for David to take
the throne to which he had been anointed
years before, and for which he had so pa
tiently waited; not taking matters into his
own hands and Kidding himself of his enemy as
he might have done OH several occasions but
calmly waiting Gods own time and way.
2. "When Saul was king over us, thou
vast he that leddest out and broughtest in
Israel" They remembered how David, and
not Saul, slew Goliath and delivered them
from the Philistines, and how David after
wards led forth so successfully the armies of
Israel Il Sam. XVIII; but the wonder is that
they did not think of this sooner.
And the Lord said to thee, Thou shalt
feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be a
captain over Israel" Why, then, not carry
out the Lords wishes long ere thisi Let the
questions come home We know that the
rightfu king of all this earth is
Jesus, heir of all things; that He
shall be king over all the earth;
that to Him all kings shall fall down,
and all nations serve Him Heb. i, 2, Zech
xiv, 81 we know also that Zion cannot be
rebuilt till the fullness of the Gentiles be
come in, and the Lord appear in His glory
Rom. XII, 25; Ps. eli, 49, and we know that
the will of the Lord is that the Gospel of the
kingdom shall be preached in all the world
for a witness unto all nations, that thus the
end may come Matt. xiv, ~; knowing
these things, why does not every church, and
every individual believer, rise up and do
something to hasten the time when Jesus shall
be king over all the earth, by striving to
their utmost to preach the Gospel to every
creaturel You answer.
B. "They anonted David king over Israel"
So the Lord had decreed, and so it finally
came to pass for every purpose of the Lord
shall be performed. David does not upbraid
them because of their delay, nor complain of
their past treatment, but meekly makes
league with them before the Lord. He sees
God, and not men, and is still.
t. David was thirty years old when
! he began to reign, and he reigned forty
years" Then all his rejection, humiliation
and suferngs came to him as a young man;
so it was also with Jesus our Saviour and
coming King Young men and women are
apt to think it hard to have to suffer and be
Inundated; let them remember David and
Jesus, and that it is written, ut is good for
man that he bear the yoke in his youth"
s. "ln Hebron seven years and
six months, and in Jerusalem
thirty-three years" 1t is very profitable in
Bible study to associate places with the events
which occurred there. Hebron, a city Of
Judah, some twenty miles south of Jerusalem,
will ever be a delightful place to the Bible
student, not only because of Davids two
anointings and his seven years reign, but also
because of its earlier associations with Abra-
ham, Isaac and Jacob Joshua and Caleb;
there lies, still sacredly guarded, the dust of
the patriarchs, and from the cave of Mach
peah shall yet come forth their glorifed bod
les. Jerusalem, of all cities that have ever been
or ever will be, stands first; there our Lord
was crucifed, there His precious blood flowed
FORTH in Pilates hall, in Gethsemane and on
Calvary, there He was buried and there He
rose from the dead from thence He assembled
to the right hand of God, and thither He
shall return in power and glory TO rebuild
Zion make Jerusalem His throne, and con-
sequently the capital of the whole earth
Ps. eli, l6; Jer. iii, II, 49,
6. "And the king and his men went to Je-
rusalem with the Jebustes." The old name
of Jerusalem was Jebus; it was a great
stronghold, and we read that neither the
children of Judah nor Benjamin could drive
out the inhabitants, but they were allowed
to dwell there with Israel Il Chron. xi, 4,
s.; Josh. XIV, 63; Judges i, 2l.) This was a
standing disgrace to Israel during all their
history since Joshua led them into the land
up to this time; and now, when David de-
termines to wipe out this disgrace, he is told
by these defiers of God and His people that
the blind and the lame are able to hold the
fort against him.
10 Nevertheless, David took the strong
hold of Zion. SO David dwelt in
the fort and called it the City of David" He
who in the name of the God of Israel slew
Goliath went forth in the same great name
against these enemies of God and proved the
faithfulness of Him who had said There shall
no man be able to stand before thee" tDeut
vii, Pa The Jebusites had never before had to
contend with one who so relied upon the God
of Israel and therefore they knew not His
power, and treated Him and His professed
people with contempt. There are in our
churches of today, and in the hearts of many
who are called Christians, both preachers and
hearers, strong corners which are held by the
enemy, and which ought to be possessed by
the Spirit for the glory of Cod but the en-
envy has so long been permitted to hold I'M
disputed possession that he laughs at any
attempt to dislodge him, and so believers and
churches are overcome instead of being over
corners.
TO- And David went on and grew great,
and the Lord God of hosts was with Him. ~
Going and growing are the two words in the
margin; thus should every believer daily ad-
vance, growing in grace and in the knowl-
edge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
I'll Pet lii, 49,, our motto being 'still upward,
still upward still upwardl" remembering
that every winding about makes an enlarg-
ing, and there is always One in the midst
tEzek. xiii n, or this of Paul: "This one
thing do, forgetting those things which are
behind, and reaching forth unto those things
which are before, press toward the mark
for the prize Of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus" phil iii, IL, al Thus shall
our daily life be going and growing; but
We shall never get to it till, like David, we
l al n -