Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1895-11-29

!. 81 will send thee to Jesse the Bethlc-
hcmitc for l have provided me king
among his sons" The last verse of the
previous chapter shows that, although
Samuel came net near Saul any more, yet
he chung to him in his heart. 1t is IA
searching question, Am | wholly with
God in everything, or do | i'm any SENSE
cling to that which He has disapprovcdY
Observe the words Il will send " o. have
provided. " In Sauls case it was God in
dulging the people, but now it is God
working and choosing for His pleasure
See Ps. xviii, 20; lxxxix 10, 20.
?. Take an hcfcr with thee and say, l
am come to sacrifice to the Lord Ii is
not like Samuel to be afraid of Il man lisa
Ii, 12), but the least lag, 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 ahd
obedient' are the words for us if we would
eat the good of the land and see the power
OF the Lord lisa. i, 19). He secs the end
from the beginning and always knows
what He will do lisa. XVI, 10; John vi, 81
3. 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 in quietness and conf
dence dwell with Him for His work Osa
xxx, Is; l Chron. iv, 23). As to His
guidance see Ps ,Glii, s; Isa xxx, 81;
Xviii, H. TO enjoy Him and be led by
Him we must be Us clay in the hands of
the potter, with no will of our own.
nd x2,i bo
Lord spake and came to Bethlehem, and
the elders of the town tremblcd at his com
ing" There was no occasion to tremble if
they had been walking with God. The
godly man can say, "What time l am
afraid | will trust in Thee" Or, better
STILL 81 will trust and not be afraid FPS
wi, 3: lisa. xii, p The Lords thoughts
to His people are always thoughts of peace
(.Jer. xxx, IL; Ps. lxxxv, s; John xiv
2O. To believe what He says and do what
He tells us is always pleasing unto Him.
D. Il am come to sacrifice unto the
Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with
me to the sacrifice" He uses the very
words of the Lord (vcrse p and in this he
was very safe and right. The Lord 5 mes
sengcr should say exactly what the Lord
tells him. Thus did Jeremiah and Ezekiel
and our Lord Jesus Christ also (.Jcr. l., Z;
Eek. H. Z; iii, I, Il; John xii, 40. We are
never, under any circumstances, to lie
but we are not supposed always to tell all
we know to everybody.
Is. Surely the Lords anointcd is before
Him This said Samuel rs he looked
upon Eliab, Jesscs oldest son, but had he
been looking to the Lord and watching for
His message he would not have spoken
thus 1t seems so easy for us to look away
IN NV
own Judgment. But all this we must con
tend against, and praycrfully and patiently
seek and wait His guidance
:. " Man loOkoth ON the outward appear
ance, but the Lord loolcth on the heart. "
Not until the heart is right are we in any
sense right before God. The natural heart
or carnal mind is cnmity against God and
never can be made better (Rum. viii ~
but when we receive Jesus Christ we are
said to be born anew, or from above. ana
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. person may be outwardly all
that can be desired even TO moral charac-
ter, but if the heart is not new heart, if
Christ is not there all else goes for naught.
Ponder l John y, -. The whole world is
wrong, and Will be till the heart gets right,
which is Israel and Jerusalem, and the
throne of David.
SO. Neither hath the Lord chosen
this. q" 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 IA question of service, not of salvation
For salvation the word ever stands Him
that cometh to me- will in no wise cast
OUT (John vi, 80. But for service it 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.
II. There remaineth yet the youngest
and behold he kecpcth the sheep This
was Jesse's reply to Samael'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. Ii 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 plcascs. David was the
eighth son (Vii, l2), which is suggestive
of the resurrection Man, and the resurrec-
ton day, the man who to the Jews was so
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
if he needed any but we may learn this
lesson, Where God wants you to be there
He will put you.
IL. "And the Lord said, Arise, anoint
him, for this is he When at last the sur
prised boy arrived, this was the Lords
message to samuel. This is our first in
PRODUCTION to the man after Gods own
heart, who is mentioned about 900 times
in the Old Testament and 30 in the New
Even his outward appearance is fair TO
look upon, but his heart is right with God
| ana nc has already learned to trust Him