The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1903-07-17
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON ~. THIRD QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, JULY 10
Text OF the Lesson. sam. xii, 1925.
Memory Verses, 23-25-Golden Text,
Sam. xii, 2i-Commentnry Prepar-
ed by Rev. ID. VI. stearns.

sired. and, behold the Lord hath set a
king over you.
In verse l we hear Samuel saying,
"Behold, | have hearkened unto your
voice in all that We said unto me and
have made IA king over you Now he
says that the Lord did il, for he was
the Lords representative. If believers
would accept the truth that we are
here in Christ's stead our lives would
tell more for Him III Cor. V, 20; John
xvii, 1Sl. Israel now had a king, like
other nations, but they had put man
i'm the place Of God, for Samuel re-
minded them, THE Lord your God was
your king" verse ~. When we re-
member Rom. vi, rs, ITO whom We yield
yourselves servants TO obey, his serv-
ants We are TO whom We obey" we
should be able TO see if we are putting
any person or thing in the place Of God.
a. Is. If we will fear the Lord and serve
Him and obey His voice -" But if We
will not obey the voice of the Lord, but
rebel.
Although they have sinned and God
has given them their desire yet here is
n way of blessing still left To them. Je-
hovah must and will be magnified eli
Their in blessings upon an obedient peo-
pie or in, judgment upon the unbeliev-
ing. He redeemed Israel from Egypt
that they might keep His command
ments and serve Him and be peculiar
treasure unto Him above all people,
willing and obedient people enjoying
Y 4 - IGo
10. Obedient service was the way Of
blessing diSobedience the way of the
hand of the Lord against them. Moses
called heaven and earth TO witness
against them that he had set before
them life and death, blessing and ours
ing, and he entreated them TO choose
life Deut. xxx, 49,.
1918. Now therefore stand and see this
great thing which the Lord will do before
your eyes. - So Samuel called unto
the Lord. and the Lord sent thunder and
rain that day, and all the people greatly
feared the Lord and Samuel
A deep conviction and hatred of sin
is a grand thing for any child Of God,
for otherwise one may lightly tamper
with sin and grieve the Spirit 1t was
a most unusual thing to have rain dur
ing wheat harvest, and that the people
might hear Gods own voice diSapprov-
ing Of their action and not think Of it
as merely Samuel's disapprOval he said
he would ask God TO speak 10y sending
thunder and rain that day, which he
did. and God SO answered him, and the
people saw SamuelS oneness with God,
and they feared greatly. 1t was some
thing like Elijah's prayer that the Lord
would show His oneness with him by
sending fire IL Kings xviii, $500 We
remember also that on one occasion
when the Lord Jesus spoke To His Fa
Their the Father answered Him by
voice from heaven, but the people said
that it Numbered John xii, 2S. 29).
10. 20 And Samuel said unto the people:
Fear not; We have done all this wicked
ness. Yet turn not aside from following
the Lord. but serve the Lord with all
your heart
The special manifestation of God in
the thunder and the rain at such an
unusual time seemed to convince the
people that they really had snned in
asking for Il king, and they entreated
Samuel to pray for them that they
might not be punished. The power of
the intercession of Moses and Samuel
is seen in Jer. Nv, l. where the Lord
speaks Of time when even such as
they could not avail. That time had
not yet come so Samuel urges them TO
turn to the Lord and. being forgiven.
TO serve Him henceforth with the
whole heart. What precious words for
us are these: IF we confess our sins,
lie is faithful and just to forgive us
our sins and to cleanse us from all I'M
righteousness" Il John /, 81.
81. % For the Lord will not forsake HIS
people for His great names sake because
IL hath pleased the Lord to mako you His
people
When once we become the Lords re-
deemed people, no power can pluck us
out of His hand John X, 27-29D, and
where He begins a work He will finish
ii 0'hil. /. 6; rs. cXXXviii. 81. He knows
us thoroughly before He chooses us,
and. having chosen us, He will perfect
us, but He may need to Chasten us and
that He viii not fail to do as He sees
that we need it. Consider Amos i'll, .;
Heb. xii, ), 6. He testfies repeatedly
concerning His rebellious Israel that
ali heaven did or will do for them is all
| for His names sake (Ezek. Xxx, 8; xiv,
/ 22, a; XXXvi, 21, %. jeremiah prayed.
( 80 Lord, though our iniquities testify
/ against us, do Thou it for Thy names
sake" der. xiv. - For His names
sake we have the forgiveness of sins q
John ii, ~.
1926. Only fear the Lord and serve Him
In truth with all your heart, for consider
how great things lie hath done for you.
Samuel assures them that it would
be sin for him to cease to pray for
them and that he would continue to
teach them the good and the right way,
but that they must let their minds
dwell upon the great things the Lord
had done for them and thus be con-
strained to live in His fear and serve
Him with the whole heart In verse Z
he said, stand still that | may reason
with you before the Lord OF all the