The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-11-16
THE REJECTION OF SAUL
the INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY
SCHOOL LESSON FOR TO-MORROw
As Expoundsd by Rev. Edward l.. feii'
The Effect OF sauPs Rejection ----
Upon samuel.

God calls men 1nto MS rabhs 10 hs"e
his battles; he does not call them into
captivity to cut OF their feet. The TACT
that Saul was callsd to the throne by
one who never repents of his actions
did not secure HIM on II. regardless OF
his own actions. He was not set on
the throne as a child stands tin sol
der Against the wall. He vas hot
petrifed. He was man still. with
heart to keep. with temptations to guard
AGAINST, and with a will to be laid hourly
upou tbs altar Of God. God never eA"
ats any man to = station where ne heeo
no longer watch. That Sauis sum-
which rose 80 resplendently In the morn
ing" should have ''set in an awful 'ias-
edy OF darkness and storm is, tnen'
no reflection upon Jehovah; II means
not that God changed, but that saul
changed.
The news OF Sauls rejection, though
not wholly unexpected, was 'srr1pie
shock to Samuel. 1T repenteth me-
said the Lord speaking after the man
ner Of men. that | have set up saul
TO be king" "And IL grieyed samuel
dignatlon and grief-"and he cried unto
the Lord all night" 1t cut the old man
to the heart that Saul should so fool
ishly throw himself away. He was in
dignant at the evil which Sauls con-
duct had brought on the nation. He
was filled with grief for Saul. IL Is
worth while to analyze these feelings.
Note that while the old prophet is filed
Ind tnp No
anger upon Saul His heart Is full OF
grief for the foolish king, ard he prays
for him. II seems strange that one can
study a scene like this, and still retain
the silly modern notion that n Christian
must be incapable of indignation. There
is not hero in the Scriptures who bears
the slightest resemblance TO the sickly
ideals OF bioodless saints. IL is hardly
probable that the particular requests
which Samuel made were granted, but
we may be sure that what he really
wanted was the good OF Israel. and n
God did not answer the prayer OF his
lips, he answered the prayer that was
deep down in his soul.
With a heavy heart. but a determined
spirit the old man went the next day
to inform Saul of his rejection. saul
met him with a lie. Il have performed
the commandment OF the Lord" he said.
God had sent him TO utterly DESTROY the
Amalekites and their substance, and he
had yielded to the temptation 20 save
the king OF the Amalekites probably TO
grace his triumph, and also the best OF
the cattle. He knew that ne had not
performed the commandment OF the Lord,
but he felt that If he could keep It from
Samuel he would be safe. How careful
we are 10 hide our sins from good men.
forgetting all the while that the eye
OF the Holy one against whom
we are SHINING is upon US, Little
did Saul imagine that Samuel knew all
about IT. and that the Information had
come from God himself.
Il have performed the commandment
OF the Lord And Samuel said What
meaneth then. this bleating OF the sheep
In mine ears?' Alas, We can no more hide
sin than we can hide ourselves from
God. Murder will out The voice OF
the brothers blood crieth from the
ground A missing tack In the print OF
a shoe convicts the burglar. All nature
cries. Thief, thieri No doubt saul IN
wardly despised those sheep, and wished
them dead a thousand times, but ne nad
10 keep up appearances. Ana that al
WAYS means more lying. III - WONDER
full how one lie will multiply itself.
Nothing will stop IL, except confession.
When a man breaks down and eonFessss,
he has enough OF lying-at least. Tor
season-and IL is easier to tell the truth
next time. THE people spared the per,
of the sheep and OF the oxen 10 saer'nce
unto the Lord thy Cod IL was "se-
less to hold 10 hts assertion WIN 'he
sheep bleatlng In his ears ana :" 10
took. the usual course OF those ""o 10
not the courage 10 make an honest 80.
saaston and tried TO smooth out mat
tiers. partly by putting the Diane GA ms
neonle and partly by acting the hypo-
crirs The claim that the people Kept
the best of the cattle TO sacrifice unto
the Lord was a miserable subtefiuse'
for even il they did intend 10 offer them
20 the Lord, they expected TO nave the
lions share for themseives-the nesn OF
thank offerings being always appropriated
for sacrihcial meals.
The rebuke which followed was such
as only Samuel could administer. fnt
in everyday vernacular 1t would reao'
There was a time when you were no
body. and you Knew IL. you said so.
And God put upon you such nonors d.
Won never could have imagined. IRON
the least OF the families of the smallest
of the tribes he raised you 10 De the
head of the tribes of Israel. IL was
the Lord who made you king. And yet'
after ali he has done for you, you nave
dared 10 disobey him. Why have you
done this?"
Again Saul tried TO extricate himself
from the meshes in which he was every
moment becoming more and more en-
tangled. Again he urged that the sheep
and oxen were taken to sacrifice unto the
Lord. Suppose they were replied the
prophet. does that make the matter
any better? Hath the Lord as great
delight IN burnt-offerings and sacrifices
as In obeying the voice OF the Lordy'
Poor Saul. like a great many people M
our day. had forgotten that to obey Is
better than sacriice-that devotion IS no
substitute for duty. II seems never Ia
have occurred TO him that his rebel
lion" was a. much the renounc'ng OF
God a. Is the seeking from witches the
knowledge that can only come from God
that his "stubbornness' in resisting God
was nothing short OF "idolatry." eSalt-
ing as il did. his own will above God.
The awful rebuke reached US climax
I'm the announcement Of the kings ~
lection II sounds like death-sentence
Because thou has rejected the word OF
the Lord. he hath also rejected thee from
being king" Because" That ~ the
awful part OF the sentence which Heav-
en- pronounces upon the dsobedient.
There IL q cause. and the cause Is In
ourselves. II Saul could have persuaded
himself that IL was all a matter OF chance
or within. or If he could nave felt that
the cause lay elsewhere thar in Himself.
even then the sentence would have sunk
into his heart like lead what r'Us' IL
have been. weighted as IL was with the
undeniable charge that he hid frcught
IL all upon himself? II IL heaven when
We can think OF what God has iona