Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1896-07-03
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON /, THIRD QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, JULY 5.

DRY verses, 5-1-GOlden Text Ps. Ncui,
L Commentary by the Rev. u. II.
stearns.
l. And it came to pass after this that
David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall
! 90 up into any of the cities of JUDAH
A1d the Lord said unto him, Go up"
David was still in Ziklag with his 900, for
Achish, king of the Philistines, had given
him that town q Sam. xvii, 2, 6; IL
Sam. i, u. Saul and his three sons were
now slain, having fallen before the Philis-
tines Il Sam. xxi, 1-6). David had
many years before been anointed king by
Samuel Il Sam. xvi, l, 13), but he had
waited patiently for the removal of Saul
by God 5 own hand rather than lift hand
against him 20 obtain the throne. Saul
was wholly in Davids power on at least
two occasions, but he refused to lay a fin
ger upon him q Sam. xiv, 6; XVI, O.
~. He was content to be an outcast from
Israel until Gods time should come. He
is n wondrOus type of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who, although the King of the
Jews and the heir to David's throne, is
atill rejected and despised, but His time
will como and then all who, like David's
600, have been with Him in His rejection
shall share with Him His glory.
2. so David went up thither, and his
Two wives aieo." The Lord having told
him to 90 up and to what city, he is ODE
dent 1t was Dlvid's custom to Inquire Of
the Lord IL al matters Of tie kingdom q
sam. xiii .. 4. 10, y; xxx, 5; II sam.
" 10, s3J; he did not lean upon his own
understandings, nor upon the wisdom of
others, but relied wholly upon tod Fps.
xXxvii, 3; Prov. iii, o, 81. The same Lord
will JUS as surely guido any one today as
He guided David. and He is lookine over
the world to find such people that lie may
show Himself strong for them Oil Chrun.
xvi, -.
3. And his men that were with him
did David bring up. every man with his
/ household, and they dwclt in the cities of
Hebron They Lad identified themselves
with him in his rejection, and noAv he
would care for them in his kingdom. We
shall see the full significance of these two
women. Dayid's wives and these men and
/ their households when the kingdom
comes, but meantime let us he encouraged
to be faithful to our blessed Lord by such
words Of His as Luke xiv, IA; xxi, $3.50;
Rev. xxi, -. And do not fail to get the
comfort that there is in the thought of the
| household being with you. See Gen. vii,
| |; Joshua vi, %; Acts xvi Is, a.
t. And the men of Judah came, and
there they anointed David king over the
house of Judah" This is Davids sec
ond amounting, but lie is only king of Ju-
dab as yet; later we shall see him anointed
again as king of all Israel (chapter V, 8, 81.
The significance of these different anoint-
ings and his gradual taking possession of
the kingdom will also be fully seen when
our Lord shall come again. Is He at pres
ent Lord Of your whole being or only of a
portionf He gives Himself wholly to us,
and He wants the whole of us for Himself
(Rom. xii, l, q Titus ii, IA, r. W.
.. Blessed be ye of the Lord, that We
have shown this kindness unto your Lord,
even unto saul, and have buried him. "
The Philistnes had cut off Saul's head
and had fastened his body to the wall of
Beth-shan q sam. xxi, g. 100, but the men
of Jabesh Gilead had kindly removed the
bodies and burned and buried them.
When the enemies of our Lord had
thought to give His body burial with the
wicked Joseph and Nicodemus kindly
gave it careful burial in Joseph's new
tomb The bodies of all, both just and I'M
just, shall be raised again (Acts xiv, Is;
John V, 2S).
6. Il also will requite you this kindness
because We have done this thing" If
David, when he came to the kingdom,
would remember and reward every act of
kindness to himself and even to those for
whom he had respect for the Lords sake,
how much more will our blessed Lord,
when He comes to His kingdom, see that
not even cup of water shall lose its re-
ward Mark tx, 40. EVERY man shall re-
ceive his own reward according to his own
labor" Il Cor. iii, S. His own words are,
Behold, l come quickly, and my reward
Is with me, TO give every man according as
his work shall be- (Rev. xxi, 12). Thou
shalt be recompensed at the resurrection
of the just (Luke xiv, 14)
4 Therefore now let your hands be
strengthened and be ye valiant" Com
pairing chapter xxi, 33, and Hab iii, 10,
where the word here translated valiant
is there translated power and
strength, and in reference to God, we
learn that the only way TO be really valiant
is to rely upon Him to whom it is said,
The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is
mighty (Ieph. iii, ~. David reminds
them that he is now king, and therefore
they should be encouraged. Our strength
is that our Lord is always with u.s. and we
can sing, Tho Lord Jehovah is my
strength and my song" lisa. xii, p.
$40. "Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, was 40
years old when he began to reign over Is
rael and reigned two years. But the house
of Judah followed David" According to
1 Chron. viii, &c., tx, 80, Saul had four
sons, three of whom were slain with him
in battle Il Sam. XXI, q. This one,
whose name, according to Young, means
man of shame" was still left to be a
thorn in David's side, an adversary to the
kingdom, but David waxed stronger and
stronger, and the house of Saul waxed
weaker and weaker" (chapter iii, y. Alb
ner fell out with Ish- bosheth and turned
to David, while Ish-bosheth himself was
murdered in his bed Since satan showed
himself an adversary TO God and His peo-
pie in the garden in Eden he has been &C
lively engaged in the same business but
he and all his followers shall in due time
meet their doom (Math. XIV Al; Rev. Xxx,
10; xxi, 81 but 1.-The Lamb shall overcome,
tor He is Lord of lords and King of kings,