Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1895-12-12
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON XII, FOURTH QUARTER, INTER
NATIONAL SERIES, DEC. Is.


PROV. xviii, 24-Commentary by the Rev.
d. VI. stearDs.
32. And Jonathan answered saul, his
father, and said unto him, Wherefore shall
he be slains What hath he doneg" After
David had slain Goliath and had finished
speaking with Saul, it il written that
Jonathan, son Of Saul. loved David al his
own soul and gave him hi robe and ear
ments and sword and bow and girdIe
(chapter xviii, 1-5D, and that Saul also
set him over his men Of war and would let
him 60 no more home. But when the
women sang Saul has slain his thousands
and David hi ten thousands txyiii, 7),
then saul became jealous and sought to
take Davids life. Having rejected the
Lord by his disobedience, he became the
prey Of an evil spirit, but the Lord was
with David and prospered him (xviii,
lO-l6). As Saul's prosecutions of David in
creased, David said one day to Jonathan,
a. the Lord liveth, and Az thy soul Iiveth,
there j. but n step between me and death"
Xxx, 81, but Jonathan could not believe
that his father meant death TO David and
so agreed to sound his father OK, 12) in
David's absence, and then let David know.
Saulis answer was that David must die
lverse BID, hence Jonathan reply as in this
first verse of our lesson
33. And Saul east javelin at him to
snite him, whereby Jonathan knew that
il was determined Of his father to slay Da-
yid- = II there was anger enough in Saul
to kill his own son, then it was certainly
poor prospect, humanity speaking for Da-
vid. We see In Saul what may become of
a man when he rejects God Saul might
hive been the Lords own representative,
honored by God and man, for everything
was put within his reach for his good.
34 He was grieyed for David, because
his father bad dune him shame" There
fore hH arose from the table and went away
without eating. n IL easy 10 fast when
the heart II grieved, and If our love to
Jesus Christ was more like the love Of
Jonathan to David we would be more sen
sitive concerning the sights put upon our
Saviour and not find pleasure and degree
of satisfaction in persons and places and
things which dish0nor Him Oh for a
whole heart for Christi
35. And it came to pass in the morning
that Jonathan went out into the field at
the time appointed with David, and lit
tie lad with him. See the story OF this
appointment in verses rs to 23 and note
Jonathan n faithfulness in keeping it,
Our comfort il not id our faithfulness in
keeping our word, but in the faithfulness
of our covenant keeping God and Saviour
See David's comfort when he came to his
dying hour (II Sam. xiii, 81 See also
Cor j, n; *, 1S; Thess. v, "a; III Thegs,
iii. 3
36 And he said unto his lad, Run,
find out now the arrows which | shoot.
And as the lad ran he shot an arrow be-
yond him" | suppose any lad would
cheerfully 60 anywhere with the kings
son for any manner of service III Chron.
xviii, 3lD Think how cheerfully Samuel
ran At the supposed call Of Eli three times
in succession in one night. Let the ques-
tiOn search us Am l a ready and cheer
ful messenger for the King and His Son at
all times? CII Sam. xv, 15.l
37 Jonathan tried after the lad and
said, r. not the arrow beyond theefn Zee
the significance VI this in verse 22 How
it must have gone to Dayid's heart, for 1t
was even as be feared He must separate
himself even from Jonathan. he must be-
come a stranger and flee for his life be-
cause an enemy IL on the throne which
rightfuily belongs To him. But it j. all
part of the foreordained plan for him, and
God : way for him I'd reach the throne in
due time See Eph ii, 10; Math. xvi. "a.
3S And Jonathan cried after the lad,
Make speed, haste, stay not. An addi-
tional grievous word for David from the
heart that loved him ~ it, own life but it
was for David's sake and just because
Jonathan loved him 80, for 1t hurt Jona-
than as much, if not more, than David
All that God says or does to us is infinite
he 4 I,ot
is love and goodness and mercy, as God
secs il, and We must trust Him.
39 But the lad knew not anything,
only Jonathan and David knew the mat
ter 30 we % on not knowing He
holds the key of all unknown, and we are
glad When He asked Philip about feed
ing the 5000, it was only to prove him,
for He Himself knew what He would
dol (John Nj, 81 The lad with the loaEes
knew nothing. but Wa evidently ready to
be used Jesus knew from the begin
ming p and that is enough
40. And jonathan gave his artillery
(R v weaponsl unto his lad, and said
unto him, Gn, carry them tO the city
The lad' y business wa simply 10 do what
he was told; rim after the arrows, gather
them up, bring them To his master and
now take them home His master knew
what he was about, and the lad did not
need u know There are many things
which we now do not need to know; we
do need to obey and to have implicit conf
dence in our Master, and in all that He
DOES. Thus in quictness and in confidence
we shall find strength lisa xxx, 15l.
Whatsoever the King docs should please all
His people (II sam iii, 36)
a. And they kissed one another and
wcpt one with another, until David ex-
Ceeded. Their love w3As wonderful, pass
ing the love of women iii sam i. 26l-
There WAS nothing that they would not do
for each other il il lay in the power Of
either 10 do it. Yet this was but the faint
est shadow Of the lOvc OF Christ to us.
Junathans love uGSt him much and
brought him much service, vet 1t was
steadfast to the end David never injured
Jonathan nor rejected nor wounded his
love The love Of Jesus cost Him SO years
of absence from home and Of humiliation
and suffering indcscribable, and il was all
for His enemies Behold what manner Of
love III John iii, p, 3l
Az And Jonathan said to David. GO in
peace And 50 they parted, each having
the peace of God in the midst Of much
tribulation. See John xvi, 80; xiv, "a;
Math. xxiy, 6. They met again, and Jon
athan strengthened David's hand in God
and bade him fear not, telling him that
he DAVID N$ould Vet be king In Israel
and he would be next to him (chapter
xiii, l7). such self renouncing is very
rare II is truly Christlike. As next
week lesson viii be n Christmas lesson,
and the next review. we will not return
to thu Old Testament story till July, 1895.
What better thought could we carry with
rs than that which l. here shadowed forth,
the love OF the Kings Son who Loved
me and gave Himself for me. He has
given Himself and all the benefits Of His
finished work to each one who accepts
Him. He shall be king and W. shall REIGN
with Him REV. 1, ,, q; ", q, lu)