Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1895-10-24
SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS.
NUMBER III
The SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON lV- FOURTH QUARTER, M
TERNf.TiONAL SERIES, OCT. ~.

Text or the Lesson, sam. iii, 1-13-Mem-
ory Verses. 1-4-GoIden Text I Sam.
iii. documentary BY the Rev. ID. M.
stearns.
/. "And the child Samuel ministered
anto the Lord We have set forth in this
book the blessings Of submission ana obe-
dience and the opposite. Hannah, in the
bitterness Of her soul, looked unto the
Lord, and He heard her and gave her this
child Therefore she called his name Sam
uel which means asked of God (chap-
ter i, 20, margin). When she had weaned
him, she returned lin w the Lord Cchapter
j, 2S, margin) Then She praised God in
the beautiful words of chapter ii, 1-1O In
this song we have the first use ~ the word
Messiah, II translated His anointed''
(verse 10; see also verse 85). we have
also in chapter i, 3, II, the title Lord of
hosts" for the first time. Both of these
titles suggest many things concerning the
kingdom, and in this book, sometimes
called the first book of Kings, Y we have
the story Of the first two kings, one a man
after the Lord = heart
?, 3. Ere the lamp of God went ont in
the temple Of the Lord, where the ark of
God was" Eli was now Old and was not
walking before God i'm the matter Of his
sons, and very early lid the morning the
lord came to talk with this child. Samuel
Of whom it il written that he ministered
unto the Lord, grew before the Lord. the
Lord was with him and revealed Himself
to Samuel In Shiloh by the word of the
Lord chapters ii, II, Is, 2l. rs; iii. 10. 21l.
See how even child may minister unto
the Lord and have place In the Lords
house and receive messages from the Lord
while older ones are passed by. Many
things are still hidden from the wise ana
prudent and revealed unto babes (AIath.
xii 25) The thing that greatly pleases
God Is to live before Him" and "unto
Him, seeking in all things His glory"
4. The Lord called Samuel. and he an
swered, Here am l. !" It is evident from
verse 10 that He called him by name. This
makes us think OF that beautiful verse in
Isa- xiii, l: Fear not, for have redeemed
thee 4 have called thee By thy name;
thou art mine And also of Isa. Vi. !.
where the Lord says, Whom shall send.
and who viii 70 for usYi' And the prophet
answers, Here am I; send me-" How
beautiful to be ready for His every call. an
ear always open to Himl
5. And he ran unto Eli and said, Here
am /, for thou calledst me" But Eli did
not recognize that it was the Lord calling
him and 50 told him to lie down again.
Eli had not the ear for God which he should
have had. and God saw it, and that He
could communicate with him only through
Samuel. 1t was a rare thing TO get word
from the Lord in those days, and visions
such as those granted to Abram and Jacob,
Moses and Joshua were unknown. See
verse Il r. VI, margin.
6. And the Lord called yet again. sam
ueL Behold the patience Of the Lord,
Samuels readiness and Ellis continued
dullness How difficult it often il for the
Lord 70 get our ear and make known to US
His viii What a contrast to watching
to see what He viii say unto US or
watching daily at His gates (Hab. ii, 1;
Prov. viii, 34).
Z. Now, Samuel did not vet know the
Lord; neither was the word Of the Lord vet
revealed unto him" He must have known
the Lord through Moses and Joshua. but
not yet BY direct communication Known
means to perceive, understand, acknowl-
edge, SO there may easily be many degrees
in knowledge. When Paul said, THAT X
may know Him" (Phil- iii, 10), he certain
III knew Him as Saviour and Lord, His
wisdom and His righteousness, but be
longed TO know Him better.
81 And the Lord called Samuel again
the third time. And Eli perceived that the
Lord had called the child The third
time did Samuel rise and promptly 20 To
FIJI, believing that he called him. What
unwearied ohediencel What blessed s0ni
When be would tell his mother Of his ex-
perience and how he had acted, how glad
she would bel / think this is the only in
stance Of God speaking directly to a little
boy, but all, young and old, may hear His
voice in His written word tJohn vi, 63D.
9. If He call thee, say, Speak, Lord,
for Thy servant heareth.n Eli il BY this
time wide awake and also wide awake To
the fact that the Lord has something to
say, but not directly To him. 1t Is prOba-
bic that be remained awake till he heard
the tidings, and then he would be more
awake than ever Awake, thou that
sleepest, - is a good word for many Of US.
1t would be wise also To say, Speak.
Lord, for Thy servant heareth, whenever
we open our Bibles, and it would also be
appropriate To add the prayer i'm Ps. cxiz.
49,
TO- "AnG the Lord came and stood and
called a. at other times, Samuel, Snmuell'
This is the fourth time that He came and
called, suggesting the question, How often
has He called usY And have We a. yet sub
missively said, Speak, for Thy servant
hearethsn The attitude VII a servant Ks
well described in these words: Ready to
do whatsoever my lord, the king, shall
appoint. " For any manner Of service,
wholly at thy commandment (II Sam.
XIV, 10; Chron- xviii, 2l)
IL IA. And the Lord said to Samuel,
Behold, will do a thing in Israel at which
both the ears Of every one that heareth it
shall tingle. " And then follows the thing
that He will dO--a Judgment upon the
house of Eli ~ told to Eli by man of
God some time before and fully recorded
in chapter ii, 27-36 Mercy always pre-
cedes judgment, for God IL slow to anger
and plenteous in mercy. He had given Eli
fair warning, but Eli had hOn0red his sons
above God iii, 29l. The law was very Sc
we're, but very plain concerning rebeIlious
sons (Deut. xxi, lS-2ll, and the ruler who
refused to see the law carried out because
the transgressors happened 10 be his sons
certainly thought more of bis sons than Of
God Only those can truly serve the Lord
who serve Him In sincerity and i'll truth
tJoshua xiv, l4), or, as our Lord Jesus
said. mi He that lovrth father or mother,
son or daughter, more than Me Il not
worthy Of Ne (Math. <, 81 In the
morning Eli called Samuel and begged
him to hide nothing from him that the
Lord had said, 50 Samuel told him every
whit and hid nothing Eli certainly am
Swered in the right spirit, for Ne said, ''It
is the Lord; let Him do what seemeth Him
good" (versc lS). He makes W. think of
Job, who under his great affiiction said:
The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken
away. Blessed be the naIne of the Lord 4"
1t may be that the faithfulness Of Samuel
In this hard matter I'd Eli wa stel On
the way to his being established as a
prophet tverse 20). See i'm chapter iv, 17,
IS the judgment fallen.