Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1896-09-10
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
SERIOUS SUBJECTS CAREFULLY
CONSIDERED.

A.
A schoiarIy Exposition Of the Lesson
Thoughts Worthy Of Calm Re1ec-
tion-HaIf an Honr's study Of the
scriptures-Time Well Spent.
Lesson for September Is.
Golden Text.-"rhe Lord Is my rock,
and my fortress, and my deliverer."-Il.
SAM, 22:2. sse+s.s ,--r'.'
Dayid's gratitude to God Is the subject
of this lesson, which il found In H. SAM,
-: 4O-51. The psalm of which the lesson
forms part probably belongs to the
earlier years Of David's reign. The intro
ductory verse indicates this: David
spake unto the Lord the words of this
song in the day that the Lord had Dolly
cred him ont OF the hand of all his enc
mics, and out of the hand of Saul" 1t
may have been written at the time named
In III. Sam, I'll: "And it came to pass,
when the king sat in his house, and the
lord had. given him rest round about
from all his enemies" ETC.; %: 81 seems
to indicate that the prophecy of Nathan
was still fresh in the writer's mind. But
though written early in David's life, the
compiler of the book has placed tile psalm
MT the close of the book. and henceAft
comes late in the series of lessons upon
David. However, it fifty sums up one side
of David's character, and is therefore not
fihappropriately placed. Just why the
committee which selected the lesson be-
gan in the middle of n paragraph Is not
clear. The lesson should have begun mt
verse 3S.
aJ - Explanatory.
,""Tlou hast also given me the necks OF
mine enemies:'' read as in revised version,
'thoh hast also made mine enemies turn
their backs unto me-"
'e.Even unto the Lord" the heather ma
lions in their perplexity are represented
as crying. for help to Jehovah, the God of
tho Hebrews.
IRON the strivings of my peoples"
/ those had not been less harassing to David
I fIihn His foreign wars.--''rhou hast kept
me to'be Mead of the heathen' how dimly
the dominion of David over unbelieving
n,itions round about him foreshadows the
universal rule of Christ; yet how truly.
The future lenses in this and the fol-
lowing verses shonld be past lenses, as
in the preceding: ''served me" submit
ted themselves" faded away" etc.
David is still speaking of what has al
| ready happened, as n cause for gratitude.
"And they shall be afraid out of their
close places" rather, as in revised YER
sion. "and shall come trembling out of
their close places"
Suggestions for study.
OF course no one will think of studying
| the lesson without the rest of the psalm.
To aid in following the progress OF
thought we give division Of the chapter,
! quoted from Kirkpatrick: Verses 2-4, in
troductory invocation of Jehovah 81, the
psalmist's perils. his cry for help; SIG,
| the manifestation of jehovah, for the
discontinue of David's enemies: 1921,
J Jehovah's deliverance Of his servant for
his faithfulness; 22-225. the integrity of
David's life and its reward; 26-2S, the law
of Gods dealings with men; 29-31, Gods
faithfulness attested by the psalmist's
experience; 32-31, the praise of Jehovah
the giver Of victory; 3S-43, David's de-
/ struction of his enemies; 44-fG, the es-
! tablishment of David's dominion; 4I-01,
/ concluding Thanksgiving and doxology.
| The psalm is repeated as Psalm Is. The
differences between the two versions have
given rise to much discussion. Some OF
them are plainly due to the confusion of
similar letters in the original: for in
stance, in verse AZ we find they looked,
In ps.s IS: Al .'they cried" The two
words in Hebrew have almost exactly the
n SAME consonants and could easily have
become confused. In other verses words
and clauses have been transposed, etc.
Besides these merely textual differences,
however there are others which must have
been made by a reviser. Which is the
later form Of the psalm. it is not easy to
say 1t will be interesting tn compare
I, the two forms, in the revised version.
Teaching Hints.
1t will be helpful to recall some Of the
particular instances of deliverance Of
which David speaks. He probably refers
to Saul as well az other enemies of his
earlier years. Look up the story of Sauls
persecution of David and notice how
Gods providence is shown in it all.
Gratitude to God for help in war is not
peculiar to the Hebrew people. 1t is
found in many ancient nations. The AS
syrian kings, in narrating the victories of
ascampaign. nearly always begin by the
help of Assliur my lord, of Ishtar my
lady. (etc.). subdued my enemies" etc.
But how different is the spirit of David
from that of the fierce warriors of Nine
veh. The difference appears more clearly
in the earlier verses of the chapter. No
tice the personal nature Of David's graf
itude Tvs OF. 11-2D; its reference to its
own character, ''thy gentleness hath made
! me great" Tvs. 30. David's God was
very much more than a mere military
expert whose aid was TO be invoked before
going into battle, and who was to be
n thanked for victories
The effect of gratitude upon character.
This is topic that can be brought home
| to all. The habit of recalling ut frequent
intervals the things which we owe to
God is one of the conditions of a happy
life. The picture of David presented in
the Scriptures is that of n man who
thanked God as naturally as he brcathed.
In the morning there was praise for the
morning sun and fresh air and refreshed
body; at noon, gratitude for sustaining
power; ut evening, thanks for guidance
during the day. Not only the great events
| of life seem divinely ordered, but all
things. How one-sidcd is the life Of n
| Christian who is always asking and never
returning thanks. Yet the proportion of
| Thanksgiving to petition in ordinary pub
lie prayers in religious meetings Is very
small. 1t is to be feared that most of us
are inclined to take to ourselves the credit
for the ordinary results Of our labors, for
/ getting that for the original endowment Of
+ talents and for all development of them
i 49,, ;ndohto1 IN (.oI no x,;J xx.oo q