News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-07-25
THE [. S. S. LESSON.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOR
JULY %.
Lessoi1 Text: ''Israe1 Asking for a
King" 1 Sam. viii, 4-2O-GoIdeh
Text: 4 Sam, viii, 10
COMMENTARY.

Commentary.
-, 4: ''Then allnshe elders of rssss,, adhered
themselves together, and came to Samuel
unto Ramah." After the defeat of the Phil
istines recorded in the last lesson, they trou-
bled Israel no more all the days of Samuel,
for the hand of the Lord was against them;
there was peace also between Israel and the
Amorites CHAP vii, Is, Ia, so that their re-
brought them victory over their enemies,
and peace and prosperity because the Lord
was with them. Samuel was the Lords rep
resentative in their midst and sought their
true welfare in the sight of God. As their
judge he went in circuit from year to year
to Bethel, Gilgal and Mizpeh, and
had his home at Ramah, or Ramathaim
Zophim, in Mount EphraiIn, where
also his father and mother had lived,
and where he in due time died and was buried
q Sam. l., l.; XIV, y after having anointed
to their office the first two Kings over all
Israel, Saul and David. Samuers house and
altar unto the Lord at Ramah CHAP. vii, n
remind US of Abraham's tent and altar Gen.
xii, s; xiii, 49,; as pilgrims here we should
be well content with any place of sojourn that
the Lord may give u.s. but be sure to have in
the home an altar unto the Lord, whole
hearted reliance upon the merits of His sac
rifce and constant communion with Him.
5. make us a King to judge us like all the
nations" God had chosen Israel that they
might be unto Him peculiar treasure above
all people-a kingdom of priests an holy ma
ton lex. xix, 8, o., or, as Balaam said:
''The people shall dwell alone and shall not
be reckoned among the nations" Mum.
xiii, 81. God had made them higher than
all nations. He Himself was their King; His
power was their strength His presence their
glory, and this request was like saying:
eve do not care to be so different from
other nations; let us have King that we can
see and let us be like other people"
6. 1.-THE thing displeased Samuel, y
Samuel prayed unto the Lord" Samuel was
one with God; from child he had ministered
to the Lord, and i'll this request he saw their
sin and downfall and was grieved for them
and jealous for the glory of God.
z. "And the Lord said unto Samuel =
they have not rejected thee, bnt they have
rejected Me that 1 could not reign over
them" Their conduct was not q surprise to
God; He had foressen it all, and knew from
the beginning their evil hearts and how they
would treat Him de xvii, 14, yet He loved
them, many a time He forgave them, heard
them and delivered them when they cried
unto Him, sent them prophet after prophet to
win them back to Him, and finally sent His
own Son as their Messiah, but even Him they
rejected and crucified, saying: I'VE have no
King but Caesar" The time will yet come
when they shall receive the Lord Jesus as
their King and rejoice in Him and He in
them before all the nations of the earth DER.
xiii. 5-6; Lu l., 49, 33).
8. "They have forsaken Me and served
other gods; so they do also unto thee" Sam
uel seems to have felt that they were turning
against him. and that it was poor treatment
of him even if he was told to ask for a King
to take his place; this was a natural feeling,
and we are all apt to give way to 1t, but the
servant of the Lord must remember that when
he is despised or rejected or prosecuted for the
truths sake, that it is the Lord who is thus
treated and not the servant merely, and the
Lord will see to it luke x, IS; Acts TX, 4,
3. SO the Lord encourages Samuel by tell
ing him that this conduct of Israel is nothing
new, that it is just the way they have acted
ever since they left Egypt, and that in his
being thus treated he is enjoying fellowship
with the Lord whose servant he is.
9. "Hearken unto their voice. y yet
protest solemnly." God wants cheerful, Will
ing service, the love of Christ constraining;
He does not love that which is done grudg-
ingly. THE Lord loveth a cheerful giver,"
in spiritual as well as in temporal things;
but when He sees His people bent on having
their own way, He sometimes gives them
their request though it brings leanness into
their souls. Cps. cvi., 49,
TO- Samuel told all the words of the Lord
unto the people" Just as when, as a child,
he told Eli every whit of the Lords message
CHAP. iii, 49, even though it was message
of Judgment, so now he declares faithfully
all the words of the Lord. He is no man
faithfully Gal. l., 10; DER. xiii, %, leaving
results to God.
II. This will be the manner of the King
that shall reign over you.n A God of love
will not let His people rush into ruin blindly.
Many a year did Noah tell the people plainly
of the judgments that would surely come if
they continued in their sins. Even Pharaoh,
who boasted that he knew not Jehovah, was
not 2xSrfhr2 %,sh3nt n i,isiee al oa
must know beforehand how he viii treat
them and what they may expect from him.
11-17. HE will takeo Six times in these
verses are these three words repeated; it is !
the number of perfect oppressor as 666 is
the number of the last great oppressor
of the people of God ere the kingdom comes
Rev. xiii, 49,. Contrast the seven Il wills
of God III Elk. vi, 6-S; Lev. XVI, 3-13, and
notice how God is always giving while this
King is said to be always taking and not
once is he spoken of as giving. Not only will
he be an oppressor of the people, but he will
be robber of God, for it is twice said Tvs.
Is, 10 that he viii take the tenth, which
Gods special portion tSee Lev. xvii, 30, 80,
and appropriate it to himself. If it should
be asked "Will q man rob God? see the
question and answer in Nal. iii, s, and ask
your own heart if you are in any way APP
propriating to your own use, either of time
or money, that which belongs to God
IS. "And we shall cry out in that day, be-
cause of your King, which ye shall have
chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you
in that day" God fills His people with such
blessings that they cry out and shout for Joy
lisa. xii, O., but this will be cry because of
oppression, and inasmuch as they voluntarily
accept the oppreSsor instead of the delivereI
they are told that it will be vain for them to
cry unto the Lord prov. j., 1928; lisa. j.,
Is; Mic. iii, A.. As we sow we must reap
Gal. vi, Z; Hos. viii, \.
49, NAY, but we will have q King over
US" Thus, though fully forewarned, they
80 III, = 4
have their own way regardless of conse-
quences. Faithful Samuel is to them a man
of past age he is behind the times, good old
man, but in their estimation now in his dot
age; so like the people in the days of Jere-
miah they seem to say: las for the word
the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee, but
we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth
forth out of our own mouth"
20. THAT we may be like all the nationsn
Thus our lesson begins and ends. They want
a man rather than God, a visible King to rule
over them, go before them, and fight their
battles In Deut i, 30, it is written 1.-THE
Lord your God, which goeth before you, He
shall fight for you;" so also in Elk xiv, IA;
Josh. xiii, 10. But they take these very
words and ask for man who shall do this
for them instead of God deliberately reject
ing the Almighty who redeemed them and
asking for an arm of flesh to lean on; and
they were the people of God, exalted above
all the nations by His wonderful works on
their behalf, that they might magnify His
name among men and glorify Him. But
they now ask to be excused from being such
a peculiar people and beg to be allowed to
come down on level with other people. If
the conduct of that church or Sunday-school
or Society of Christian Endeavor which con-
descends to worldly ways of raising money,
or pretending to do the Lords work, is not
here pictured forth then my spiritual vision
is dim. Let us trust in the Lord and honor
Him and rejoice to be peculiar people,
Lesson Helper.