The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1895-11-28
SABBATH SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOR
DECEMBER 4.
Lesson Text; "David Anointed,v l
Samuel XVII, 1-13-Goiden 4
Text I Samuel xvi, =
Commentary.


his sons The last verse OF the previous
chapter shows that, although Samuel came
not near Saul any more. vet he clung 60 him
In his heart. II is n searching question, Am
wholly with God in everything. or do In
;ay sense cling TO that which He has disap-
provedf Observe the words III will send"
II have provided" an Sauls case IL was
God indulging the people, but now IL is God
working aud choosing for His pleasure. See
Ps. lxxyiii., 10; lxxxix., 10. ~.
z. Take an heifer with thee aud say, am
come to sacrifice to the Lord" tits not like
Samuel to be afraid OF man Qsa H., I2O,
but the least lack Of fellowship with God IL
apt 10 cause poor vision, end tremhlngs OF
heart. and fears and forebodings. When God
speaks, II Is not ours to reason. but simply
obey willing and obedient" are the words
Tor us II we would eat the good of tho land
and see the power Of the Lord lisa. l.. 1g)
He sees the end from the beginning always
knows what He will do Elsa. XVII, 10; John
vi, o..
3. III 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 lisa. XXX, IS; Chron.
w.. 23). As TO His guidance see Ia. xxxii.,
81 lsa. NIX, 81; Xviii, II. To enjoy Him
and be led by Him we must be as clay in tho
hands the potter, with no will Of our own.
4. 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 trcmble IL they had
been walking with God. The godly man
can say, 'what time am afraid | will trust
In Thee" Or better still. ~ will trust and
notbe afraid (Ps. wi, 3; lisa. xiii, %. Tho
Lords thoughts To His people arc aiways
thoughts OF peace (Jer. NxlY.. II; IA. lxxxv..
4; John xiv, 27). To believe what lie saws
and do what he tells VA is always pleasing
unto Him.
9. ~ am come 10 sacrifice unto the Lord;
sanctify Yourselves and come with mo TO tho
sacrifice He uses the very words of tho
Lord (versc ~, and In this he was very safe
and right The Lord's messenger should saw
exactly what the Lord tells him. Thus did
Jeremiah and Ezekiel and our Lord Jesus
Christ also der. t.. Z; Eek. H.. 7;iH.. 4, II;
John Kill, ig). We are never, under any cir
cumstances. to lie, but we are not supposed
always to tell all we know to everybody.
g. surely the Lords auointod Il before
Him. This said Samuel as he looked upon
Elinb, Jesse's oldest son, but had he been
looking to the Lord and watching for His
message he would not have spoken thus.
IL seems SO easy for US 20 look away from tho
Lord and use our own eyes or our own
judgment. But all this wa must contend
against, ana prayerfully and patiently sock
and wait His guidance.
Z. "Man loOketh on tho outward appear
ance, but the Lord looketh on the heart"
Not until the heart Is right are we I'm any
sense right before God. The natural heart
or carnal mind, is cnmity against God anu
never can be made better (iom. viii. ~. bur
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 il tho
work OF the Spirit through the Word. A per-
son may be outwardly all that can be- de-
sired, even to moral character. but Il tho
heart Is not new heart, II Christ IL not
there, all else goes for naught Ponder |
John W. IL. The whole world Is wrong, and
will be till the heart gets right, which Is Is
rael and Jerusalem, and the throne OF David.
$40. Neither hath the Lord chosen
this" "The Lord hath not chosen these"
As the seven sons OF Jesse passed before
Samuel the verdict for each was Not
chosen" Let us bear in mind that this was
question Of service, not OF salvation. For
salvation the word ever stands, "Him that
cometh TO Me / will in .no wiseIcast out'
(John vi, 3I). But for service it Is still true
that "icw are chosen" not because the Lord
does not want thom, but because they do not
want Him; they Rre not willing To submit
wholly 10 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.
ILL
behold he keepeth the sheep" This was
Jesse's reply TO Snmuel's question ~ 10
whether all his sons were present or not.
Jesse evidently was expected 90 bring all his
sons, but he supposed the lad David would
not be wanted, and that was Just whore he
was mistaken. II IL generally the unlikely
one that Is wanted and the unlikely and un-
expected thing shat happens. Let us keep
nothing back from God. but yield 10 Him |
every whit that He may use what He pleasrs |
David was the eighth son Cvii.. l2), which Is !
suggestive OF the resurrection Man, and /
the resurrection day. the man who TO tho |
Jews was so unacceptable that they killed |
Him. 1t has made mo laugh In my heart |
many a time TO see ali those big brothers |
passed by and set aside, and the whole pro- /.
ceedings mt n 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 COM /
forted him If he needed any, but wa may /
learn this lesson. Where God wants you 10 .
be there He will put you.
IL. "And the Lord said, Arise anoint him, |
for this is he" When Rt last the surprised
boy arrived. this was the Lords message 10
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,
3i-3D.
10. Then Samuel took the horn Of oil and
anointed MIN IN the midst or hts 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
III Sam. H., 4, and ", 3, with this
verse we see that David was anointed 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
and we must rejoice To wait and
suffer with Him (II Tim. H., II: Rom. viii,
5).-Lesson Helper.