Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1889-08-23
DAVID Is AMOUNTED KING.
LESSON VII, THIRD QUARTER, IN
TERNATiONAL SERIES, AUG. 25.

Text of the Lesson, I Sam. XVI, i-13-Com-
nit Verses 11-13-Goiden Text, I Sam.
xvi. documentary by the Rev. ID. NJ.
stearns.
Compiled from Lesson Helper Quarterly by per
mission of H S Hoffman, publisher, Philadel
phia-
l. "And the Lord said unto Samuel, How
long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing l have
rejected him from reigning over Israel" So
difficult Is 1t for us to side with God, regard
less Of our own thoughts or feelings or prefer
ences, that even the great and good Samuel
Is here seen clinging In his heart for he went
not near him, chap. XIV, 49, to Saul after the
Lord had rejected him. We must remember
that the Lord did not reject Saul until Saul
had persistently rejected and disobeyed the
Lord CHAPS xiii, Is, IA; Nv, 90, so that Saul
had no one to blame but himself for the loss
Of his position.
~ will send thee to Jesse, the Bethlehem
lite, for have provided me a king among his
sons" So it is written In the Psalms, HE
chose David also His servant, and took him
from the sheepfolds;" and again, ~ have
found David my servant, with my holy oil
have anointed him" (Ps- xviii, 70; lxxxix,
co. "Promotion cometh neither from the
east, nor from the west, nor from the south,
but God is the Judge; He putteth down one
and setteth up another Ps. lxxv, az Let
the children tell how Bethlehem (thehouse Of
bread had already become famous in Bible
history in connection with Rachel and Ben
jamin, Boaz and Ruth; and let the older
scholars ponder the deep things in these Incl
dents
9. "How can got If Saul hear it, he will
kill me-" This does not sound like the utter
ance of faithful, fearless follower of the
Lord God of Hosts 1t might be said to Sam
uel, "Who art thou that thou shouldest be
afraid Of man that shall die, and
forgettest the Lord thy Makerf' lisa. Ii, IL,
13)
g. ~ will show thee what thou shalt do;
and thou shalt anoint unto Me him whom I
name unto thee" The servant of the Lord
has only to move forward calmly and In per-
feet confidence In his captain and he is always
promised sure guidance. II will instruct thee
and teach thee In the way which thou shalt
GO" "Thine ears shall hear q word behind
thee saying, this is the way" 1T shall be
told thee what thou must do 1T shall be
given you what ye shall speak, (ps. xxi,
s; lisa. Xxx 21; Acts tx, 6; Matt. K, 49,
4. "And Samuel did that which the Lord
spal1e" This is now as it should be, the word
Of the Lord prevails, and the servant is SIM
ply obedient and comes to Bethlehem leaving
God to carry out His own plans and manage
His own affairs in His own wise way. When
we are thus passive and also obedient IN His
hands, all will be well and His purpose I'M
hindered. "The elders of the town trem-
bled." Here Is another indication of lack of
fellowship with God, for If their hearts were
right and their conduct right there would
have been rejoicing instead Of trembling at q
visit from the Lords servant; but probably
they, too, were clinging to the disobedient
king. God is the God of Peace, and Jesus
the Prince of Peace; it is only where there is
persistent enmity to God that there is need
for a sword instead of peace.
g. ~ am come to sacrifice unto the Lord. y
He uses the very words which he WIS told to
use ". 2, and that is always the right thing
to do. Jesus Himself said only what the
Father told Him John xii 40; Jeremiah and
Ezekiel were to speak only the Lords words
Uer. i, 10; Eek. iii, 4, 10, IL, n; and when
we Us messengers of the Lord confine our
selves to the Lords message, rather than give
our thoughts about it, surely we shall be most
pleasing TO Him
\. "The Lord looketh on the heart" A,
the first of Jesse's sons stood before Samuel
there was something about him which caused
ointed but how solemn the word of the Lord
~ have refused him" Let us again repeat
that in the matter Of salvation the Lord re-
fuses none who come to Him; but this is q
matter Of special service, and it is not stature
nor a fair countenance He seeks, but heart
right with Himself, "a man after his own
heart" CHAP. xiii, 14.
$40 Jesse made seven Of his sons to pas,
before Samuel; and Samuel said unto jesse
the Lord hath not chosen these" Here
then, Is an apparent failure; the Lord had
i said to Samuel that He had provided king
from among Jesses sons, and yet here are al
the sons whom Jesse had thought it necessary
to bring; and for this special service, this
place of honor all are set aside, the RICH,
man has not appeared Gods thoughts ant
ways are as much higher than ours as HEAVIER
is higher than earth and how few seem Il
know His thoughts or understand His coun
sci
IL. "Send and fetch him, for we will moi
sit down till he come hither." So everything
has to stand still till the sighted son i
brought In reply to Samuel's question as t.
whether these seven were all his sons Jess
replied that the youngest was at home keep
ing the sheep, and it was for him that they
were now sending and waiting. If we tudg'
from cnhp XVII, =, IL would seem that 6Orn'
Of David's older brothers did not accept cheer
fully their being rejected, nor did they soor
forget 1t, but were jealous of him. Only th'
grace Of God, and abundance of it, can enable
us to act upon the precepts, In honor pre-
ferring one another" and "In loneliness Of
mind let each esteem other better than them
selves" Rom xii. 10; Phil ii, 81 But mas
much as His grace is sufficient for us, and HI
would have us do 1t, let Us aim at it and rely
upon him for the sufficient grace. We ar,
not told whether David took kindly to beinl
left at home that day to keep the sheep, bu
We may hope thac he did, for a spirit Of meek
ness seems to characteiize him But there il
one great lesson here which | wish that al
might lay to heart, and that is, that if W,
meekly and fully follow the Lord, and rely
upon Him, He will always get US where Fl,
wants US, and where He does not want US, q
course, we will not want to be Remember
ing this will enable us to live above all rea
or fancied Sights from others and keep us il
His own place. Two or three precepts which
cover this point will be found in Ps xxxvii
~; Prov, XVI, 3; Phil Nv, G.,
II "And he sent, and brought him IN -