Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1896-07-23
THE SUNDAY. SCHOOL.


u
Renections Of IN Eiexatlns chAfsctcf
-wholcsome FOOD, for Theuaht--
Studying the scripturai Lsssoa In
steliiscntly and Proatabiy. IA
i 2n, 40 i,f|
Lcsson for July 20. iN
Golden Text.-''In thee, o Lord, do !
put my trust. FPS. II: LID ou4 slpp
Gods Promises to David is the subject
/ or this lcsson-2 Sam. Z: 4-10. David be-
came settled, IN his palace, repulsed his
enemies, and after period OF time, the
limits Of which are not definitely fixed, he
desired to build a permanent house for
the Lord, in place o. the tent in which be
had placed the ark q Sam. q: 1-3). He
communicated this desire to the prophet
Nathan, who gave his endorsement to the
| plan This, however, was upon the pro-
phet's own judgment, solely, for he re-
ccived a contrary revelation from the
/ Lord, as narrated in the lesson.
Explanatory.
IA. "The wora Of the Lord came unto
Nathan; notice how clearly the writer dis
| tinguishes between Nathan's personal
opinion, expressed during the day. and
the divine message that came to him by
night-Nathan is here mentioned for
the first time. Though comparatively
small space is given to his life in the
books of Samuel and Kings, he seems to
have occupied position nearly as inn
portant as that of the prophet Samuel.
4 During the reigns OF David and Solomon
he stood near the throne and was trusted
counselor. Few men would have ventur-
cd to rcbuke the king as Nathan did az:
LID. He was probably entrusted with
the education Of Solomon, and was prom
inent in the events which preceded the
coronation Of solomon Il Kings chap. -.
1t appears from ChrDn.Flo: 20, and 2
Chron. 3: 20, that Nathan wrote q history
i of David's reign and part of SOlomon's,
and this was undoubtedly one of the
sources Of tn, books OF Samuel, Kings
and Chronicles. AS statesman, prophet,
and historian, he therefore deserves to
rank among The foremost men of his
time. Among those who are called pro-
phcts in the Old Testament, there were
some whose chief service was rendered in
advising and warning kings and rulers;
4 others who We're pre- eminently preachers
n to the people Nathan belonged sto, the
| first class, EzrkieI to the second, while
Isniah combined both these funetions.'pH
%. my servant David" title Of dis
tinction, applied only to few leaders OF
the nation. - Moses, Joshua, etc.
"Shalt thou bald me house, the ques-
tion is softened negative. The-paraiicl
verse in I Chron has "thou shalt not"
q. Whereas should be "for."--Notice
that Jehovah Is represented as dwelling
in his sanctuary in the same sense, APP
! parently, that the king dwells in his pal
ace. Compare the idea of God in the
prayer made b. Solomon at the dedication
of the temple n 2 Chron. 6: IS: But
will God in very deed dwell with men on
the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven
of heavens cannot contain thee; how much
less this house which L have built" Evil
IDENTIFY the expressions attributed to- Solo
mon belong TO Il more advanced stage of
religions thought; possibly the ideas of
the time when Chronicle was compiled
had their influence on the form of those
expressions. Atany rate, there Is an in
teresting contrast between lhe concep-
tions of God IN these two passages.
Z. "Spake 1 word with any OF the
tribes of Israel" i Chron. II: q has
Judges for tribes" and this wonld
seem to give better sense to the follow
|
means those tribes which were chosen to
lead the rest OF the people, as Ephraim,
Benjamin, Judsh.-The idea Of the verse
is, that up to this time Jehovah had pur-
posely kept his worship in a state appro-
pirate to wandering nation. because Is
rael had not been ready for more perma-
nent and elaborate system.
50. "Now tiicrefore:" The connection
Al. .~I. al II
Outline, is: Since David has offered TO
build house for the Lord, which request
is for good reasons, denied, therefore. in
consideration OF his piety, and especially
his position as the chosen servant of the
Lord. his own house (or family shall be
esta blishSd.-"I took thee from the
shcepcote-and l was with thce-and
have cut off, eic.:" these arc facts prov
ing that the Lsrd has chosen Dayid for a
great destiny. The promise then begins;
the phrase ''ard have made thee a great
name" should be in the future tense, not
in the past "aDd will make thee aigreat
name" Or. W ,.~
10. "And VIII plant them" frequent
figure for the establishment of a. nation.
common in the prophets. shall
the children OF 'wickedncss afflict them
any more, as bcforetimc:" The nation is
to have peace and prosperity, which viii
lead to the time when David's plan, for a
divine habitation may be realized.
IL. "And as since the times" Notice
that this is part of the preceding, verse.
l-"And have caused thee to rest" land
/ will cause thee to rest (R.VD:-"That
the Lord will make thee house," Da-
vid had wished to build for the Lord a
house of cedar: the Lord promises to es-
tablish for David house of descendants,
royal family. There is a double sense
of the word 'Souse" in Hebrew just as
in English. This is not wholly new
promise to David; see Sam. %; rs. But
the following verses add premises that
were new. ~"
L.. IL will set up thy seed after thee"
referring to 'Soanon in the first instance,
and after him 20 the whole line Of David's
successors on the throne down to the Bah
| v!onian caDtivitv, And in tho tIltimntp