The Tupelo journal., 1903-07-31
HI SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson I'm the International Series
for August 2, 10O3-Samuel
AnOints David.
H LESSON TEXT.

Z. But the Lord said unto Samuel. Look
not on his countenance, or on the height
OF his stature; because / have refused him
for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for
man looketh on the utward appearance,
but the Lord looketh on the heart.
3. Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made
MIN pass before Samuel And he said,
Neither hath the-Lord chosen this.
8. Then Jesse made Shammah pass by
And he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen
this.
TO- Again Jesse made seven of his sons
to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said
unto Jesse. The Lord hath not chosen these.
II. And Samuel said unto Jesse. Are here
all thy children? And he said. There re-
malneth yet the youngest, and, behold, he
keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto
Jesse, Send and fetch him; for we Will not
sit down till he come hither.
II. And he sent and brought him in. Now
he was rudy, and withal of a beautiful
c~ountenance. and goodly to look to. And
the Lord said, Arise, anoint him.; for this
Is he.
IL. Then Samuel took the horn of oil,
and anointed him in the midst of his breth-
rem; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon
David from hat day forward. So Samuel
rose up. and went'to Ramah.
GOLDEN TEXT-Man lOoketh on the
outward appearance, but the Lord
lOOketh on the hearth Sam. 1857.
OUTLINE OF SCRIPTURE SECTION.
Samuel's errand. SAM, 16:l-2.
Inc sacrince. sam, 1874, S.
Inc inspection. sam, $3.50.
The amounting. ...............1 Sam, 16:1l-1s.
David and Saul...............1 SAM, 16:14-23.
Enthusiastically about 1865 B. c.
PLACE.-Ramah, Bethlehem and Gil
beah.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
We think none the less of Samuel
for taking to heart so keenly the dis
appointing failure of Saul. He
mourned for him as for an only son.
His grief seemed to cut the nerve of
his public ambition. How long he did
nothing about it, we do not know. II
may have been years or only a few
months.
But he was finally aroused to take
action for Israel's future. The
dynasty of Saul must soon end. Who
should succeed him? Twelve miles to
the south of Ramah lay the famous
town of Bethlehem, the home of Jesse,
the grandson of Ruth and Boaz. His
fine family of eight stalwart sons was
doubtless known to Samuel, whose
judicial journeys for many years had
given him a wide acquaintance. One
morning, under divine impulsion, the
old prophet took his own horn of sa-
cred oil and walked to Bethlehem.
His arrival causes surprise and fear
at Bethlehem. Apparently his visits
had been infrequent in his later years,
and only some momentous errand
could have drawn him from his quiet
retirement at Ramah. The people
tremble as they think how the old
Puritan prophet treated his enemies.
and half suspecting some UNPUBLISHED
criminal among their number, they
ask: "Comest thou p~eaceably?"
Quickly he allays their fear and quiets
all suspicious; laconically
his purpose to sacrifice, and bids them
prepare themselves and join him.
"Sanctify yourselves" Wash your
persons and put on clean clothing
Geikie.
The sacrificial rite having been at.
tended to, Samuel now devotes himself
to the business which was the real
cause of his coming. He goes to
Jesse's house and interviews his sons.
Each youth is measured by the lofty
standard of the divine ideal for the
kingship. Eliab, the oldest, is in the
full strength of robust manhood. At
first thought the prophet is inclined to
accept him and look no further. But
his divinely-inspired second thought
outward appearance. The memory of
the handsome young Saul haunts him.
He turns away. He scrutinizes the
faces of six more of Jesse's sons in
turn, searching for kingliness in char.
acter. None of them meets Jehovah's
requirements.
"Goodly to look upon" Something
in David's face and manner betokens
the boys developing possibilities. Be-
ing youthful and unframed, he was
the more susceptible to Samuel's in
fluence. Early youth is the time for
amounting for ones life mission.
"Then Samuel . anointed him
in the midst OF his brethren" The
ceremony was not understood by the
brothers. They little dreamed the of
fce intended was the kingship. Prob
ably the prophet revealed his full pur-
pose to David; and what a deepening
effect it must have had upon the
young mans life!
A strange malady had attacked the
king-a species of insanity or perhaps
only violent dependency. induced by
his growing evil temper. This distem-
per was found to yield to the soothing
effect of music. and the young shep-'
herd musician from Bethlehem was
brought TO court to charm into good
humored sanity the king whose sue
cessor he was destined to be. Here he
soon became a favorite, and in due
time he was made the kings armor-
bearer.