The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1895-11-29

l. 81 will send thee to Jesse the Bethle-
hemite for l have provided me king
among his sons" The last verse of the
previous chapter shows that although
Samuel came not near Saul any more, yet
he chung TO him In his heart. 1t is
searching question, Am 1 wholly with
God in everything, or do / I'm any sense
cling To that which He has disapproveds
Observe the words IT will send, T" 81 have
provided" In Saul's case 1t was God in
dulging the people, but now 1t Is God
working and choosing for His pleasure.
See Ps. xviii, 20; lxxxix, 10, 20.
2. Take an heifer with thee and say,
am come to sacrifice to the Lord" 1t Is
not like Samuel to be afraid of man lisa.
II, 12), but the least lack of fellowship
with God is apt to cause poor vision, and
tremblings of heart, and fears and fore
bodings. When God speaks, it is not ours
to reason, but simply obey "Willing and
obedient" are the words for us IL 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 and always knows
what He will do lisa. XVII, 10; John vi, 81.
8. 81 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 i'm quietness and conf
dence dwell with Him for His work lisa
XXX, 10; l Chron. iv, 23). AS to His
guidance see Ps xxi, 8; lisa. Xxx, 81;
Xviii, H. To enjoy Him and be led by
Him we must be as clay in the hands of
the potter, with no will of our own.
4. "And Samuel did that which the
Lord spake and came to Bethlehem, and
the elders of the town trembled at his COM
ing" There was no occasion to tremble If
they had been walking with God. The
godly man can say, what time 1 am
afraid / will trust in Thee" Or, better
still, 81 will trust and not be afraid Cps.
wi, 3; lisa. xii, %. The Lords thoughts
to His people are always thoughts of peace
(Jer. xxx, IL; Ps. lxxxv, s. John xiv,
27). To believe what He says and do what
He tells us is always pleasing unto Him.
8. 81 am come to sacrifice unto the
Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with
me to the sacrifice" He uses the very
words of the Lord (verse %, and in this he
was very safe and right. The Lords mes
senger should say exactly what the Lord
tells him. Thus did jeremiah and Ezekiel
and our Lord Jesus Christ also (Jer. l., a;
Eek. H. z; Iii, 4, II; John xii, 49). We are
never, under any circumstances, to lie,
but we are not supposed always to tell ALI
we know to everybody.
8. "Surely the Lords anointed is before
Him." This said Samuel as he looked
upon Eliab Jesse's oldest SOD, but had he
been looking TO the Lord and watching for
His message he would not have spoken
T.
from the Lord and use our own eyes or our
own judgment. But all this we must con-
tend against, and prayerfully and patiently
seek and wait His guidance.
z. MAN 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 carnal mind, is enmity against God and
never can 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 of the Spirit through the
Word. A person may be outwardly all
that can be desired, even to moral charac-
ter, but if the heart is not a new heart, If
Christ is not there, all else goes for naught
Ponder John V, IL. The whole world is
wrong, and will be till the heart gets right
which is Israel and Jerusalem, and the
throne of David.
$40. Neither hath the Lord chosen
this. a" 1.-The Lord hath not chosen these. 4"
AS the seven sons of Jesse passed before
Samuel the verdict for each was mot
chosen. Let us bear in mind that this
was a question of service, not of salvation.
For salvation the word ever stands Him
that cometh to me- L will in no wise cast
out" John vi, 80. But for service il is
still true that "few are chosen" not be-
cause the Lord does not want them, but
because they do not want Him; 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
IL. 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 to 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 unexpected thing that hap
pens. 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 resurrec-
ton day, the man who to the Jews was SC
unacceptable that they killed Him. 1t has
made me laugh in my heart many a time
to see all those big brothers passed by and
set aside, and the whole proceedings at a
standstill 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 comforted him
il 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 sur
prised boy arrived, this was the Lord s
message to Samuel. This is our first in
PRODUCTION to the man after Gods owl
heart, who is mentioned about 1000 times
in the Old Testament, and so in the New.
Even his outward appearance Is fair Il
look upon, but his heart Is right with God
and he has already learned to trust Hin
for great things (chapter xvii, 1880.
10. "Then Samuel took the horn of oil
and anointed him In the midst of his breth
rem, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon