The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1903-07-23

the cave at Endor had their fulfill
ment.
And the falchion by thy side
To thy heart thy hand shall guide:
Crownless, breathless, headles, fall
Son and sire, the house of Saul!'
THE TEACHERS LANTERN.
A splendid career was possible to
Saul. He was every inch a king,
physically. His majestic form and
stature awed his enemies, gave cour-
age to his adherents. He was mod
est at the start; showed self-control
and tact; had some generous impulses,
undoubted courage, and genius for
tactics.
What ruined him was his lack of
conservation to God. He never rose
to any adequate appreciation of his
high calling. He could never bring
his will into alignment with Gods
will. He never learned obedience.
His self-will ended in making him a
hypocrite, a traitor to God, an insane
foe to his fellows and to himself.
The rejection of Saul was not an
arbitrary matter or piece of caprice on
the part of Providence. 1t was just
as necessary as the expulsion from
the orchestra of the musician who
will not observe the directors baton.
Saul Indignantly persisted in strik-
ing false notes, and spelling the har-
monies of devine symphony. He
was repeatedly admonished and Civ
en- new opportunities; but he was
bent upon striking such notes as he
pleased.
To each rational soul kingdom is
committed. 1t may seem a small af-
fair in the sight of man. Not so in
the sight of God and angelsl The
mortal qualities required are the
same as those demanded of Saul
Will our tiny Kingdoms each be ruled
according to the Divine ideal? That
question is now solving in all human
hearts. The event is for veal or woe
eternal. Saul is colossal wreck, but
he is not the only one on the shore of
time. Observation-Disclosures, exact,
and loyal-is indispensable. There
is no substitute. The perfection with
which we do something else is no
mitigation of the offense. There is
no scale of equivalents. The consci-
GUS deviation of hairs breadth
spoils all. The fat of rams can not
take the place of obedience.
We are inclined to resent it. But
Sauls offense is really very common.
Total surrender to God is the hardest
lesson of a lifetime. Most of us are
on the hunt of what we deem equiv
alents. The life too often gives the
lie to the conservation hymn which
we sing quite sturdily.
Some geese betrayed the Gauls in
their night attack upon Rome. A
cock gave the lie to peter. Bleating
sheep and lowing oxen Knocked Isra-
els king when he asserted that he had
performed the Lords commandment.
The animal kingdom often takes
the witness stand against the sinner.
Jefferson, of Broadway Tabernacle
utters trenchant words when he says:
And Samuel said, What meaneth,
then, this bleating of the sheep in
mine ears, and the lowing of the OK
en- which hear? That is an embar-
RAISING question for sinner to an
swer. You assert your innocence,
and yet my senses take knowledge of
the evidence of your guilt. You say
you do not drink too much: what
meaneth, then, this reddening of the
eyes and trembling of the hand? You
say your heart is clean: what mean
eth, then, this rottenness that trick
les now and then into your talk? You
say you're an honest.m an: what mean
eth, then, this style of living which
runs beyond the limits of your in
come? You say you are Christian:
what mean these scores of duties un-
performed, bleating evidences of your
unfaithfulness? Why pirate about
your innocence when your sins are
believing in my ear? No guilty man
can safely deny his guilt until he
teaches steers not to below, and learns