Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1895-11-16
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL,
LESSON vi. FOURTH QUARTER IN
TERNATlONAL SERIES. NOV. IL.

Text Of the Lesson. sam. ~. 1928 Mem
Org verses. 10. II-Goiden Tezs. ss.n.
Nv. as-commentary BY the Rev. u. n.
stearns.
10. IL. ut repenteth Ne thai l have set
up Saul 10 be king, for he is turned back
from following Me ard hath not performed
My commandments" When the Kingdom
was given 20 Saul, both he and the people
We're reminded by samuel that II they
would only obey the Lord and serve Hira
In truth all might be well (chapter XII. ] =.
24). But saul had only reigned two years
when he proved disobedient and was told
that the Kingdom would be given 10 an
other. even man after Gods own heart
(cbapter xiii, /. I3, I4) In the chapter for
today another act Of disobelience is record
ed, which brings matters 10 a crisis. As
to the Lords repenrings so often referred
to, We must remember that lie never
changes His mind, nor is sorry fer any
thing He does (serse %; Mum. xiii, lg),
but when He comes TO point where He
seems 10 Us 10 make a now departure,
which from eternity He knew that He
would just az that point, lie IS said TO ne
pent See Acts XIV, is.
r. "He set him up place" Or, as IN
ii Sam. xviii, Is. pillar after his own
name. 1t was not, as IN chapter xix, 30. an
altar unto the Lord. but something 70
magnify himself Jesus never magnified
Himself, but always His Father t-lohn
xviii a.. Paul determined that Christ
should be magnified in his body either by
life or death (Phil. j, POI.
Is. Blessed be Thou the Lord; / have
performed the commandments of the Lord. =
When we compare verses and 9 of this
chapter, we wonder how Saul could say
that he had performed the commandment
Either he misunderstood the command, or
perverted il, or deliberately lied. There Is
a generation that are pure in their own
eyes, but whose cOyereth his sins shall
not prosper prov. Xxx, ~; xviii, 49,.
Unless we have heart right with God
and honestly seek only His pleasure the
devil will make us believe that black is
white Gil Thess. ii, 10, ID.
IA. what meaneth then this bleating
of the sheep in mine ears and the lowing
of the oxen which hears" 1t is an old
word, but true as God Himself. " BE sure
your sin will find you OUT (Num. xxi,
23) The word was 10 smite Amalek and
utterly destroy all that they had (yerse -.
Dead sheep and oxen tell no tales, but these
were telling that saul hadnot obcyed God.
10. The people spared the best of the
sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice unto the
Lord thy God I" Under the plea OF for a
good object Saul socks TO justify the
thing done. That his heart is wrong, and
he knows it, is seen in his saying that the
people did it, and it is also seen In his
saying 1.-THE Lord thy God, :" inste2d of
"the Lord our God" God wants nothing
from the enemy either for sacrifice or serv-
ice.
IS. "Then Samuel said to Saul, Stay
and / will tell thee what the Lord hath
said to me this night And he said unto
him, Say on" We look back to the morn
ing when Samuel said to Saul, "Stand
thou still awhile that may shew thee the
word of God (chapter TX, 27), but what
a contrast! Then it was message of
grace, but now one of judgment. Observe
that as in Samuel's childhood, SO now in
his advanced years God still talks with
him in the night season.
IL. "When thou vast little In thine own
sight, the Lord anointed thee king over Is
rael' See chapter TX, 81, and compare
Judg. vi, To- 1t is good to be and to
continue little in our own estimation. 1t
is better to say with Paul, II know that in
me-that is, in my flesh--dwelleth no good
thing (Rom. vii, 49, We read that King
Uzziah was marvelously helped till he
was strong, but when he was strong his
heart was lifted up to his destruction QI
Chron. XVI, 10, 16). My highest place is
lying low at my Redeemer's feet.
IS. 1.-THE Lord sent thee on a journey,
and said Go, and utterly destroy the sim
ners the Amalekites. - The reason of this
command is seen in Elk. xvii, $40, and
the Lords determination is in verse Ia.
But He is long suffering, not willing that
any should perish, and SO He suffered them
to continue over 400 years-surely an
abundant time for repentance, but they
continued sinners before God.
10. Wherefore then didst thou not obey
the voice of the Lord9" Being redeemed
to God by the precious blood of Christ, the
great word for all the rest Of our life IS
willing and obcdient' lisa. i, Is, 19).
See Tx xix, 5, g.. 1t is not ours to ques
ton or reason or to put our construction
upon His commands, but simply and
cheerfully to obey. Consider the obedience
Of the Levites in Elk. xxi, 1928, and see
the commentator in Nal. ii, as.
90. YEA have obeyed the voice Of the
Lord, and have gone the way which the
Lord sent me, and have brought Agag, the
king of Amalek" Here he confesses to
have saved the king, who was certainly i'm
cluded in the destruction, and yet insists
that he had obeyed the Lord. 1t is the old
story so common today of perverting the
word of the Lord (.Ier. xiii, 36) and of
thinking that He does not mean just what
He says, but his language is generally fig
urative or has some other meaning.
21. "But the people took Of the spoil to
sacrifice unto the Lord thy God" He still
puts some blame upon the people, but now
acknowledges that the sheep and oxen
should have been utterly destroyed. An
opinion of our own as to how the Lord
wants things done is very dangerous. His
commands are very plainly stated (Deut.
xvii, s; Hab. ii, q, and our part is
prompt, implicit and unquestioning obedi-
ence. His thoughts and ways are as far
above and better than ours as heaven than
earth Why. then, question themS
22 Behold, to obey is better than sao-
rifice and to hearken than the fat of rams.
Mercy and the knowledge of God are more
desirable than sacrifice or burnt offering
(Hos. vi, 81. See the Saviour's indorse-
ment of this in Math. tx, ID; xii, Z. All
sacrifice and burnt offering pointed to
Him, and He was the perfection of obcdi-
ence and submission to His Father, who'll
" yielded to Him that He might do all the
works and speak all the words. The COM
mand TO obey the voice of God preceded
any reference whatever TO burnt offering
and sacrifice (Jer. vii, %, 23).
go Because thou hast rejected the
fHo ord Il, -, finx,