Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1896-09-03
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
THOUGHTS WORTHY OF CALI
REFLECTION.
A Pleasant, Interesting, and Instruct
i've Lesson, and Where II May DO
Found-A Learned and Concise Re-
view Of the Same.


Found-A Learned and Concise Re-
view Of the Same.
Lesson for September @.
Golden Text.-"Blessed are they that
dwell In thy house: they will be still
praising thee."-Ps. S4:4.
This lesson Is found In i. Chron., -:
GIG, and has for its subject "Dayid's
Love for Gods House" David's last
years, after the rebellion had come TO an
end by the death Of Absalom, were not
free from trouble. Shortly after his re-
turn from Mahanaim to Jerusalem, new
rebellion broke out, headed by Sheba the
Bichrite, man of the tribe of BenJa-
min, who for time drew after him
large following. Amasa, to whom David
had promised the command of the army
in place of Joab QI. Sam, 10: 49,, was
ordered to put down the rebellion. but
was treacherously murdered by Joab,
who thus added one more TO his long list
of crimes. Joab then pursued and cap
tured Sheba, who was, executed Then
followed the Numbering of the people,
which, probably on account of the vaini
glorious spirit in which II was under
taken by king and people. was punished
by plague ga: LID. The remainder
of David's life was probably passed in
seclusion. He was gathering materials
for. the temple, as he had been for years;
now, however, by purchase and exchange
rather than by conquest. NOtwithstand-
ing the impression of gloom that is pro-
duced by the narrative of David's later
years, the kingdom must have been in
creasing in outward prosperity. for when
Solomon took the throne it was at the
zenith of its glory. The cherished desire
of David's heart, the building of tenn
pie to the Lord, which had been denied
him but promised to his son, forms the
subject of this lesson. The interview here
recorded is taken from Chronicles because
it does not appear in ii. Samuel.
Explanatory.
1T was in my mind to build an house,
the aged king speaks regretfully of the
icost cherished plan of his whole life,
which had not been accomplished. Soon
after his establishment in Jerusalem, it
will be remembered, he had proposed this
;alan to Nathan Lesson A.. Even the
Lords message given through Nathan on
that OCCASION, however, does not seem
10 have put it out of his mind, for the
further message quoted in verse eight
was presumably subsequent to that.
Because thou hast shed much blood
upon the earth in my sight:" in neces-
sary warfare. ii there be any reference
here to Uriah or other victims of David $
personal enmity. it is not indicated. The
reason assigned is simply that military
renOwn is not n good recommendation
for temple builders. IL the Hebrew re-
ligiOn had been one which abhorred the
shedding of blood, like some Asiatic re-
ligions, this would easily be understood;
but since the very foundation principle
of Old Testament worship is sacrifice,
since the temple itself is but a mag
niiied and glorified altar, the explanation
is not so simple.
WHO shall be the man of rest the
name Solomon means peaceful.
lie shall be my son, and l will be his
father" u promise of especial care and
guiiance.-"I will establish the throne
of his kingdom over Israel forever" on
the contrary Solomon's house reigned over
the nation only few years; over frag-
T,ent of tie nation only three centuries.
The everlasting rule of Christ over a
successor of Israel, must be taken as the
fulfllment of the promise.
Build the house of the Lord thy God,
as he hath said Of thee" the prophecy is
II motive for the performance.
And give thee charge concerning Isra-
el:"' guidance and instruction to enable
Solomon to rule wisely.
Prosperity is conditioned on obedience
TO divine commands. This thought. which
runs through the earlier books of the Old
Testament, is the principal subject of the
book of Job, the problem of which is the
suffering of the righteous and the pros
perity of the wicked.
I'm my trouble:" or "my affection. y
Apparently David refers to the troublous
times of his reign, broken by wars for
eign and domestic, and by dissension in
his own household hundred thousand
talents of gold, and thousand thousand
talents of silver" there can be no doubt
that the numbers i'm the books Of Chroni-
Giles are used loosely, to Indicate large
quantities. This tendency appears again
and again. For illustration it will be suf-
ficient to refer to the price paid by David
for the threshing floor of Araunah the
Jebusite. In III. Sam. "a: "a, the price
is stated as fifty shckels of silver; i'm /.
Chron.. 81: %, it is given as 600 shekels
of gold. Similar instances can easily be
found. To attempte to explain them all
as errors in the transmission of the text
is as unnecessary as it is unsatisfactory
1t is merely an. oriental way of stating
things emphatically; we multiply adjec-
fives. they multiply numerals. Though
the weight Of the talent is not fixed with
accuracy. the sum of gold and silver here
indicated is certainly far larger than Da-
vid could have accumulated.
''Workmen:" many of them doubtless
were foreigners, skilled in masonry, metal
working. etc. David's reign had not
been favorable for the development of the
mechanic arts to n degree sufficient for
the building Of the temple
"Of the gold. the silver. and the bra IS.
and the iron. there is no numbers" the
same idea is expressed above by the ex.
aggerated figures.
Next T.esson-"David's Gratitude 10
.sGOd."-II. SAM. %: 4O-51.
-. 30
.ytftst
- a