The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-09-11
SABBATH SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOR
SEPTE1IBER Is. "
Lesson Text: "David sparing Saul =
1 Sam. xiv, 4-17-Golden
Text: Rom. xii, IL
Commentary.

David's life, is now completely in Dayid,s
power and his men seem to suggest that now
he slay him; but as David himself had cried
s''Be merciful unto me, o God, be mercdfM
unto me" CPS. u, and Iitle), 30 he would
show mercy even to Saul, and Is content To-
lay no hand upon him, but simply cut on the
skirt Of his robe privily to show him aftar-
our King could any moment overthrow and
Danish Satan forever from this earth, and
He will do it in due time but he Is content
to wait patiently, and permit His people and
His earth to groan little longer. ~
5. sDavid's heart smote him because be
had cut of SauPs skirt" Even for asserting
this slight token Of his power, he feels con-
demned. His enemy was of his guard and
unable to defend himself, and David would
rather meet an enemy, If be must be met as
he met the lion and the bear and Goliath.
In open fight, that the power Of God might be
manifest There is nothing Of the Spirit Of
Christ in secret sayings or doings which VIII
not bear the light. 4. isi e.
6. sThe Lord forbid that I should do this
thing unto my Master, the Lords anointed" r.
FTere Is another view Of the case; Saul was
not acting like the anointed OF the Lord
should act, his life did not testify in thst di-
rection, but as to his Office he was sthe,
anointed Of the Lord, /" and therefore responss
sible to God to act as such; and II he faileds
itwas for the Lord and notfor David to deal
with him. Two great practical thoughts ara,
presented here: Il we are children Of God by
faith Of Christ Jesus, then we have received,
the Spirit, and are anointed kings and priests
unto God, and are responsible every day to,
walk worthy of our High Calling; and on
the other hand, though failure and even sin
may be manifest in the lives Of the anointedy
Of the Lord, it is for their Lord and not for
their fellows to judge and chasMn them
z. $50 David stayed his servants with.
these words; Saul roseup out OF:
the cave and went his way We may do.
very much by kind words and the manifesto
tion of Christ-ike spirit to hinder others
from speaking against or touching In any
way the anointed Of the Lord. We should
remember that it Is written, he that touch.
eth you topcheth the apple Of Bis eyer
(Zech. il, 81 Every redeemed one, however.
full Of failure, Is dear to God; even Israel, in,
all her sins, He called stthe dearly beloved Of
His souln (Jer. xii, ~ Saul rising up
and going IFS way, unconscious Of the loss OF
part Of his robe, reminds us that when We
are not in the Lords way we may lose many
things and yet be IN conscious OF i: ,ai
8. fsDavid - cried after Saul, say
ING. MyIord the King Z . and stopped
with his face to the earth Notwithstanding
Dayid's fearsand ofttimes questionable con-
duct, here is truly humble and forgiying
spirit. Whatever were his sins, his heart
was in the main right with God, and his fail-
ures tell us the truth Of that which he him-.
self wrote: sVerily, every man at his best
estate is altDgether vanity tPs. xxx, 81
%. srWherefore nearest thou man's words,
saying, Behold David seeketh tiny hurtE
Saul had turned deaf ear to the words OF
God, and was giving heed to the lying andde-
ceitful words Of men, and was, therefore TAR
from the way Of peace. The only resi-, t,of
soul for man Is upon the words and thoughts
Of God; but how fsw, even among Chris
dams, rest quietly theres The words Of this
or that man, what some one has said or re-
ported, is constantly needed, and there IS
therefore, such unrest, while all the while
the God Of peace Is speaking peace and long
ing to give peace to all who viii hear Him.
As to the false reports that David sought;
Saul,s hurt, is it not commonly believed by;
the unsaved that to be a Christian would de-;
prive them Of some happiness OF, in other
wordA that Jesus is seeking their hurts
10, II. .'some bade me hll thee; batmine
eve spared thee; y . yet thou hnntest
INV s5ul to take it.n Here David reconts
the incident In the cave, and displays as
proof of the truth of il the part Of Sauis sroba
which he had cut of, thus testifying most
unmistakably that there was no evil in his
heart against Saul .3s
10. 'aFhe Lord Judge between me and thee,
and the Lord avenge me Of thee; but my hand
shall not be upon thee" This is beautiful on.
,Dayids part; this is surely casting his burden
upon the Lord. Oh, what resting place II
Is; we have not to fight our own battles Tor
it Is God who fghteth for Us; we have MOTTO.
defend our reputation, but commit al unto
Him: we have no revenge to take, but mas
much as whosoever toucheth US toucheth the
apple Of Gods eye, just let Him see TO it N,
His Cwn good time and way. !.
13. ssWickedness proceedeth from the
wicked, but mine hand shall not be upon
thee" II the boys Of all our Sunday-schools
would act upon this principle, and remem-
bering that wicked words and deeds proceed
from wicked hearts, avoid all such, refusing
even, when injured by them, to lay q hand
upon them, it might be that some wicked
hearts would be Won by such spirit and
learn Of the new and clean heart which alone
can act in such way. II men and women
who bear the beautiful name Of Jesus would
in this respect show more OF His spirit, hqT
many they might win to Him. s.
IA. 'tAfter whom dost thou pursue? After
a dead dog, after fea." David was as
harmless to Saul as a dead dog, for he had
no thought. of doing him any injury; but
Saul, tempted by the evil spirit Of envy which
had taken possession of him, fancied Ill
manner of things against David, and his
fancies were helped by the liars and
slanderers about him. How many wretched
people live to-day who imagine that evil Is
surely coming to them from this or that
direction, while the truth Is that the Inn
aginary source of evil is as harmless as
dead dog or a flea. .
is. s'The Lord be Judge, =. - and see
and plead my cause and deliver me out OF
thine hand" "Judge nothing before the
time, until the Lord come" I'VE shall al
stand before the Judgment seat of Christ"
s,Every one Of us shall give account OF him.
self to God" These are some helpful words
Of the Holy Spirit upon this matter from the
New Testament.
16 ttSaul said: Is this thy voice, my son
David? And Saul lifted up his voice and
wept." There are many such words and
tears nowadays, but they do not amount to
anything. That they did not mean much
XVI, where we see him as hotly as ever pur-
suing David to take his life. Saul had good
occasion to weep, for he had sinned greatly
against David and against God; and If his
tears had indicated true penitence, it had
been well for him; but heseems to stand with
Esau and Judas and others whose repentance
needed to be repented of, and whose sorrow
was not heart deep.
II. "And he said to David, Thou art
more righteous than I, for thou hast reward
ed me good, whereas. have rewarded thee
eyil.n These are true words from Sauls lips,
and if you read to the end of the chapter and
notice all he said, and especially the words
about David and the kingdom, and if this
was the last we ever heard Of Saul, we might
say: s'Well, surely Saul is changed man,
for he could not otherwise talk this way"
But alas for the wickedness Of our incurably
deceitful hearts! his words were true words,
but his heart was not right with God.-Les-
SON Helper.
WILLIAM q. ABLE is farmer near