The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-11-27
SABBATH SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOE
DECEMBER 1.
Lesson Text. ssDavid Ano1nted,"
Samuel XVII, 1-13--GoldeR
Text: 1 Samuel xvi, .
Commentary.

1. ~ will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehem
ite for have provided me a king among
his SONS" The last verse OF the previous
chapter shows that, although Samuel came
not near Saul any more. vet he chung to him
In his heart. 1t is searching question, Am
. I wholly with God in everything. or do I in
any sense cling to that which He has disap-
proved? Observe the words II will send"
II have provided" In Saul's case II was
God indulging the people, but now IT Is God
! working and choosing for His pleasure. See
Ps. lXxviii., 70; lxxxix., 19. %.
2. Take an heifer with thee and say, am
come to sacrifice to tbe Lord It is not like
! Samuel to be afraid Of Il man elsa. H.. 12).
but the least lack Of fellowship with God IS
apt to cause poor vision. and tremblings of
heart. and fears and forebodings. When God
speaks. it is not ours to reason. but simply
obey. "Willing and obedient" are the words
for US if we would eat the good Of the land
and see the power Of the Lord Elsa. l., 19).
He sees the end from the beginning always
knows what He will do CIsa. xlvi., 10; John
vi, g..
! 8. II will shew thee what thou shalt do"
| Here Is sure guidance. Samuel had only to
. trust and obey. The Lord sends, provides,
shows and names. and Samuel watches to
see His way. The same Lord will guide us
in all that which He requires of US, and we
may in quietness and confidence dwell'with
Him for His work Elsa. Xxx, Is; Chron.
tiv.. 23). AS to His guidance see Ps. xxxii.,
! s; lisa. XXX, 21; Xviii, II. To enjoy Him
and be led by Him we must be as clay in the
hands ofthe potter, with no will OF our own.
l. "And Samuel did that which the Lord
spake and came to Bethlehem, and the eld-
ers OF the town trembled at his coming"
There was no occasion to tremble II they had
been walking with God. The godly man
can say, "What time am afraid will trust
in Thee" Or. better still. II will trust and
not be afraid" Cps. lvi., 8: lisa. xiii, p. The
Lords thoughts to His people are always
thoughts OF peace Ger. xxx. IL; Ps. lxxxv..
s; John xiv, 27). To believe what He says
and do what he tells US Is always pleasing
unto Him.
S. "I am come to sacrifice unto the Lord;
sanctify yourselves and come with me to the
sacrifice" He uses the very words OF the
Lord (vsrse p. and in this he was very safe
and right. The Lords messenger should say
exactly what the Lord tells him. Thus did
jeremiah ami Ezekiel and our Lord Jesus
Christ also (Jer j.. 7; Eek. H.. Z; ill, 4, II;
John xii, 49). We are never, under any cir
cumstances, to lie, but we are not supposed
always 10 tell all we know to everybody.
6. '.Surely the Lords anointed Is before
Him." This said Samuel as he looked upon
Eliab, Jesses oldest son, but had he been
looking to the Lord and watching for His
message he would not have spoken thus.
It seems SO easy for US to look away from the
Lord and use our own eyes or our own
judgment. But all this we must contend
against and prayerfully and patiently seek
md wait Els guidance.
T. "M.an looketh on the outward appear
ance, but the Lord looketh on the heart"
Not until the heart Is right are we in any
sense right before God. The natural heart.
or carnnl mind, Is enmity against God and
never Gun be made better (Rom. viii, y. but
when we receive Jesus Christ we are said to
be born anew, or from above. and then we
have new heart, which cannot sin, while
the old can do nothing but sin. This Is the
work o. the Spirit through the Word. A per-
son may be outwardly all that can be de-
sired, even to moral character. but If the
heart IS not q new heart, If Christ Is not
there. al else goes for naught. Ponder
John v. II. The whole world Is wrong, and
will be till the heart gets right, which Is Is
rael AMI Jerusalem, and the throne ofDavid.
$40. "Neither hath the Lord chosen
this" "The Lord hath not chosen these"
AS the seven sons Of Jesse passed before
chosen" Let US bear in mind that this was
, question Of service, not Of salvation. For
salvation the word ever stands, Him that
comett to Me I will in mo wisescast out"
(Jchn vi. 3i). But for service 1t Is still true
that "iew are chosen" not because the Lord
does not want them, but because they do not
want Elim they are not willing to submit
wholly to Him, and His Word and His ways;
not willing to have Him think for them, and
act through them and live just to please Him
in all things.
! II. "There remaineth yet the youngest, and
behold he keepeth the sheep" This was
Jesse's reply to Samuel's question as to
whether all his sons were present or not.
Jesse evidently was expected 70 bring all his
sons, but he supposed the lad David would
not be wanted, and that was just where he
was mistaken. 1t is generally the unlikely
one that is wanted and the unlikely and un-
expected thing that happens. Let US keep
nothing back from God. but yield to Him
every whit that He may use what He pleases.
David was the eighth son (vii., 12), which is
suggestive of the resurrection Man, and
the resurrection day. the man who to the
Jews was so unacceptable that they killed
Him. It has made me laugh in my heart
many time to see all those big brothers
passed by and set aside, and the whole pro-
ceedings at a standstll until little David Is
sent for and arrives upon the scene. We do
not know how David took his being left at
home that day. Perhaps his mother COM
forted him if he needed any, but we may
learn this lesson. Where God wants you to
be there He will put you.
12 "And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him,
for this is he" When at last the surprised
boy arrived. this was the Lords message to
Samuel. This is our first introduction to the
man after Gods own heart. who is mentioned
about 1000 times in the Old Testament, and
fifty in the New. Even his outward appear
ance Is fair TO look upon, but his heart is
right with God, and he has already learned
to trust Him for great things (chapter xviii,
34-37). =,
49, Then Samuel took the horn Of oil and
anointed him in the midst of his brethren,
and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David
from that day forward" The revised YER
sion says. "Came nightly upon DAVID"
which makes the meaning more plain, as the
Spirit must have been on him before. By
comparing II Sam. H., 4, and ", 8, with this
verse we see that David was amounted three
times. The full significance of this we shall
see some day in Christ, the true David or Be-
loved. David, though anointed, waited long
for the throne and suffered much. Our
David is still waiting for His throne and
Kingdom and we must rejoice to wait and
suffe- with Him (II Tim. H., II; Rom. viii,
1S).--Lesson Helper