The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-09-04

Of zph after his dcllverance from Saul,
David retired to Gath. where he found
favor With the king and his people Saul.
althoughtruo to his pledge declined moro
and more from tho service Of God and
rcsorted to various expedlents to pre-
y ven his ys Utter 10 S S9wna ab i A0 asr fe
whom he learned OF his fate. Thereafter tho
Amalekites and tro Philstines learning
the deplorable condition Of the land.
sehe or IN c xn d ,ot atse e
service Of David. who attacked and
brought deliverancc TO distressed people.
achieved, Saul attacked the maraudIng
Phllistines, who, appeared In force and who
had long been the chief enemy Of Israel.
These warlike people, residing In the
easterly direction to meet Saul and his
army. The sequcl appears In the lesson
DDTEAT-c Verse !. saula army could
The ancient va1or that had shed such
ulster on. Joshua and Gideon was gone.
Tho heroic and God-fearing leadership Of
the days, gone was wanting. Routed from
one position they retreated to another
Thus they crossed the territory OF Ben
jamin. OF Dan. and OF Ephriam and pene-
trated into the land OF Manasseh. tho VIC
torIous foe pressing constantly upon their
utterly subjugated, Its military power
broken and the land returned to its ori-
ginal owners. At last. near Gilooa. In the.
eastern end ofthe plain Of Esdraelon.
was made. The purpose was to check
tho Invaders and by one desperate strug-
gle to turn them backward from their
engagement. went against the Israelites.
many Of .whom were slain and others Of
them ned, IA scattered and demoralized
force was not to be rallied again;
was terrible loss Of life that day. The
told how great had been the sanguinary
struggle. Israel had staksd ! all al, 4! and lost
mon soldierY. but the officers and tho
king himself had fallen. .s here was jon
athan the true friend Of Ra avs q SAM n.
s s1}n a %here also we're rs twe
brothers, Adinadab and Nilchlshua, s.rick;
en- down by the foe. Thus In one DAY az
the heirs to the throne, the objects Of a
fxed, .were gone, And the bereaXed king
himself was MORALLY wounded. he arch
ers had singled him out and nag sent en-,
their death-d arrows with Z, sure ~, am
recorded in history when an army mas
been routed, its commander attacked G;t, ana
those near to him have fallen.-The pat,
tie OF Gilboa must be reHetl oereo 90 70 Ati
lh nssGfiii5tGeI Ell ( q, s, 81. Saul saw
that his condition was hopeless. His
army was defeatsd.many s. tn nena d Wsrs
. rme more. He was unable to defend him
self in his enfeebled state The approach,
ing Philistines, according to the eauet
Would proceed with acts OF torture, and
he must suffer not only the pain, but the
indignitles that would be he ape u up S'a
him He resolved to pvt t,i an G ha amos lu es
s ssaae As that officer refused, the king
fell his ogn sword ana e efp p,s as
ter and beholding the approach OF me
Philistines, the armor- bearer took MS own
life BY the same method. In those Gays ~ ~
commit suicide than to be killed by !. an
enemy. There was a popular superstition
that invested the latter act with a terror
that dd not belGnF to q the he many sy
OF ending the earthly NE = II 4 r1tles 81
pI P5oeissEss1oN- saul's army was in two 70
east of the Jordan. a division obsory re-
In the time OF the 1 &C., r. E,
In 51 Ses a Of SeS e w
men the others being held as reserve
force force When it was observed that !, the
Philstines were yictoriaus ana tu. man
a aed t' Crossed the jordan and returned
home. That left the country IN fuli ana
Of and no
one remaining to dispute their occupa,
ton. Even some OF the people who HAD "a!
not been in the conflict Joined the fugl-
thus thus by this decisive engagement, the
monarchy Of Saul was overthrown. the
government OF Israel lay IN, ruins, the
old enemy had c9T ne Up an la'o N S was
conquest more complete; It vas ). from m
such depth that David came forward
shortly after to deliver his people ana
TRoPHIbs-tverses 8. 2. TO- s,,1 1t, was va
ton was under the protection Of 8 some ne
uv.as their strength; that according,
9 * g TSe fshlistnes, therefore, thought
hat ther goda ~ had oyea ha
Narrow they went to the field Of battle
to gather trophies They stripped Say!
ina Of ane the Phstines proofs q the
strength and glory of their GOD. rms
Vas a religlo-p patriotic service, designed s
TO 10 Religion, which two affections must i've
~ perfsh together, The people would not
long serve q god who would nqf be d3e1e eng
them or c nghtt h ror vetory Tho Shocking
spec tao Of saul'a head and arn,or In The
f thjs d,snIav vas over the arnor was
the house g, & aa the w sed a Ashta
against aexliii ST the wall OF Bethshan. town
near the battle field .a where rerpos e o3
Il and ,Sa ~ s2pa mhIs last St
saul's head LESS body to public gaze, was
supreme insult to every dsIa ,,,o ~, II
f mTs king. Fortunately, though de-
eaed battle 1sSss haa not e atsSSS
Of national pride in the, heart to arouse
men to resent this insult and TO rescue
Valiant 1i uu'i men set out from Jabesh-Gllead
to B Ef removed the body and bore
away home No r psnbaby t appe ph, t.
tines were quiet satisfied with what they
do do what they, pleased The text * says
a ali since cremation was pract!ced only
by the heather and was abominnted In
IA. FJo,,c al f1,a,,